Universal Studios Japan — Attraction in Osaka

This is a tough one, because there are good and bad points, but I want to start with the negatives as I think they outweigh the positives. First, language. I know you're in Japan, but in any country at a tourist destination, especially a global one like Universal, you expect a level of communication and language. So many nationalities visit, and English is the second language they spoke but the amount of staff with little to no English stunned me. Simple English like directions, wait time or even at times HELLO was met with nothing but a Japanese bombardment response. Mario Kart broke down when I was there. They had one staff member with a sign saying so. The poor woman was surrounded by almost every nationality you can think of being asked in English what's going on. They chose the staff member with 0 English replying on Google translate. This is at a worldwide amusement park. For families with kids, and battling the heat, and for general convenience, that lack of English you find really can hinder your day and experience.

Next, the price and queues. My wife, 3 year old and I got the Express 7 pass. Any express pass is a MUST and they're so expensive. The wait time to ride enjoyment ratio IS NOT WORTH IT. The Hippogriff ride had a 2 hour wait time, the ride is a junior coaster that lasts 1-2 minutes. Harry Potter Forbidden Journey is a nausea simulator. I will say I did the flying dinosaur ride, the main big thrill ride at the park, and that was a real adrenaline shooting rollercoaster ride. But even that was spoiled as you are met with a barrier and told in Japanese to put your stuff in a lock box, but then there's no one telling you where to go after or any directions. And there's stairs to the left, right and some around the corner and you mix in with people coming down the stairs off the ride. I almost went out of the ride without even going on it. Took me 4 staff members to get a simple "up" response but then I went up the exit and had to go down and around again. And imagine if I did that without the express pass and had been waiting 90-120 minutes!

Here's my perhaps controversial take. Nintendo world is so overrated. It was so busy you couldn't even get into the zone. You needed to QR code and wait your turn to even join a queue to even get into the area! Imagine flying to Japan and not even getting into the zone you wanted to without paying the crazy express pass prices. And when you're in, it's nice to look at but without the further expenditure of the power up band it's just plastic statues of Nintendo characters. As for the rides on Nintendo world,Mario Kart Bowser's Challenge was such a let down. It was honestly rubbish. You wear this kind of little plastic shield on your helmet that's akin to 3D classes, but the immersion is awful. It's like the opposite of the Harry Potter ride which was perhaps TOO immersive. The plastic doesn't cover all your eyesight so you can even see the track below, so the idea you're driving your kart is a joke. The ride grinds to an almost halt twice and it's basically just a 3D version of a Switch Mario Kart race but hardly immersive at all because your peripheral vision can just see all the track and mechanisms. Yoshi ride was nice with my little daughter but for a little kids ride why are there no 4 people carriages? Every ride kids could go on felt like they were in twos. But that's a small gripe. Nintendo world was probably the least interesting and certainly the most over hyped part of this park.

Finally the food. Combined with the low English levels outside each eating place, there are never any seats, wait times can be hours and food varies. Fortunately we had our own food and seemed to eat at restaurants when others didn't. For example we are at the 3 Broomsticks later on and there was 0 queue and tons of seating.

So let's go to the good. The EXPERIENCE. The rides on the whole are average but the zone designs and just being in the areas felt good. My wife and I love harry potter and we went in the day and when it got dark and it looked and felt...

Get to the park at least an hour before official opening time, and secure your timed entry pass to Super Nintendo World! You cannot enter Super Nintendo World without it!!

This is very important! If you don't get it early, you might not be able to get it later, if there are a lot of people at the park.

The park usually opens ahead of schedule, (I arrived at 8am and the park website said they opened at 9am but there were already tons of people inside!), so don't worry about having to wait if you show up early.

Please note you cannot get timed entry pass until after you have scanned your ticket QR code at the entrance and entered the park. Be there early!

FAQ about Timed Entry Ticket: Q: Is Super Nintendo World access included in the general park entry ticket?

A: Yes. The general admission tickets grants access to ALL areas of the park accessible by the public.

Q: Can I book the Timed Entry Ticket before coming to the park?

A: No, the Timed Entry Ticket is free. You must get it through the USJ app.

Q: When can I use my Timed Entry Ticket?

A: When getting a timed entry ticket through the app, a list of available timeslots will be displayed for you to choose. For example 10.30am - 11.30am. The you'll get a QR code on your phone and it will be scanned at the Super Nintendo World entry gates. You will have to be at the entry gates in the timeslot specified. If you arrive earlier, or later, you might not be able to enter. Pleaw note there might be a long line to get to the entry gates. Make sure you don't arrive 10 minutes before your timeslot expires.

Q: Can I book multiple timeslots for Timed Entry if I want to exit and reenter at a later time?

A: You can only book one timeslot at a time. If you want to book a new one, you will have to wait until the previous timeslot has expired. Meaning if your timeslot is 10am to 11am you'll have to wait until after 11am to book again.

Q: Can I book Timed Entry Tickets on behalf of others?

A: Yes, but you must register all tickets in the USJ app first. Once you have registered the tickets for your party in the app, you can select the names you are booking Timed Entry Ticket for, when selecting a timeslot.

Q: How much are Timed Entry Tickets? Timed Entry Pass is FREE and you can get it in the USJ app. That's the name for the Universal Studios Japan app.

Q: How do I get Timed Entry Tickets? 1: Download the USJ (Universal Studios Japan app) and register your general admission tickets in the app. This is a required step and I highly recommend you do this before coming to the park!

3: In the app tap Timed Entry eTickets from the start page and swipe to the bottom. To select Get an eTicket.

4: Select Super Nintendo World, choose a timeslot and hope that you'll get it. If you get it, you'll get a confirmation and a QR code.

5: Go towards Super Nintendo World and show your Timed Entry ticket QR code to the staff at the entrance.

With this visit, I have now been to all Universal Studios parks. This park doesn't have the thrill rides that the others do, but wins on atmosphere, and it's not even close.

I didn't see a single worker who didn't wave and smile, and if you waved back they would get all enthusiastic, and wave and smile even harder. It was adorable and very contagious. So after waving at the first one, I made it my mission to wave to ALL of them because it seemed to make them happy, which made me happier still.

Growing up with Nintendo and Super Nintendo, Super Nintendo World was a huge plus for me. Even if you, or your kids, don't know the old consoles, everyone knows Mario and the gang, right?!

It's still worth a visit and it's so well made! I highly recommend eating at the restaurant too, it's beautiful and kinda fun in there too.

I'm pretty sure the Harry Potter land in this park is bigger than the others too. But it's Super Nintendo World that...

I am going to be harsh here. Sadly I have an Orlando Universal bias. I have been there several times and for me that is the benchmark. Let’s start: As Orlando parks, it gets very very crowded. And don’t think that in the morning is the worst part and later it will get better. It won’t until like 7 pm. Fast pass are not very good, they cost a lot of money but what you received I am not sure it is worthy. I had entrance at Nintendo World at 13:40, and it was a pain to do all the lines. I understood why there are a lot of people doing waiting lines to enter early to the park. My Fast pass allowed me to enter “fast” to Mario Kart attraction, but the fast was not good enough because they gather fast pass and normal line together in on point to show some vids and it was like Hmm for what I paid, it was not worthy. Don King Kong attraction was as insane line, almost 2 hours. The ride is not bad but after that amount of time, you are expecting something amazing, it’s not. If you see that a long waiting time, you will be disappointed. Ok the good part, not everything is bad, once you enter to Mario World, the sight is amazing, they did a really good job (the good experience is not the attractions, it is sightseeing. Yoshi attraction, it is designed for kids, if waiting lines are long, you will be disappointed too here. The watch that people buy to have interaction, well, you will be disappointed 😂, if money is not a problem for you, go ahead and buy the interactive watch. Water world is a show, and it was pretty fun, it exceeded my expectations. There are 3 roller coaster. 5.1 is the Hollywood one, it is similar to Orlando, it is fun. 5.2 there is one in Jurassic Park, for me that was the best attraction, I really enjoyed it. 5.3 one that was something about the space, I went there expecting nothing and it was really fun, I really enjoy it. Jurassic park has the splash attraction as in Island of adventure (same) but the other things in the park are not as good as they are in Island. Careful where you eat, I ate some pizza and they were expensive but crazy, I was in a hurry because I did not have enough time to change restaurant before my Nintendo World pass start to run for me. The pizza were not bad but for the price I paid, 2/5 stars. In general, everything is expensive, if you go with kids be prepared to see your money gone on Mario World. The staff behavior is way better than in US. Japanese are very good at serving while in the US they are there because they did not have option and they hate their lives and everyone else and they want you to know it. So 5/5 for Japanese workers. Being in a park is always fun but just be prepared to face a lot of people. Weird thing is that you will see students everywhere in Japan, and this include the parks, it was a Tuesday and they were in the park with the uniform (in my mind I was like, I chose a weekday to avoid you!) I did not watch the anime attractions, so give them a try, I use my time to get in the other attractions. Jaws were closed, when buying tickets make sure your favorites attractions are open. Your fast pass only work once per attraction, used it wisely. In addition, not in every attraction just a few. You can buy different fast pass that allows you different attraction (of course the most crowded were more expensive the fast pass) You can only enter once in Nintendo World unless there is not many people (maybe in the night you may reenter again) Harry Potter same castle attraction and Hipogryph roller coaster that they have in Orlando. It is basically the same than in Island of adventure with fewer attractions (no they don’t have Hagrid adventure)

Well I will stop because I know that by now I have lost 90% your concentration if you did not left like 7 points...