Tracey lives on the east coast of Australia and loves exploring her own country and travelling to different parts of the world with her husband and two boys in tow whenever they get the chance. She loves being able to share her hints and tips from her travels to help other families have the confidence to explore near and far. You can find her on Instagram @gogogoexplore
Please note that some changes to ticketing and park entry numbers have been made at Universal Studios Japan, understandably, in order to stop the spread of COVID-19. See the Universal Studios Japan website for more information.
Please note that, as of March 13, 2023, Universal Studios Japan is now less strict with mask-wearing requirements. However, there will be instances where the staff may ask you (and even small children) to wear masks so you will still need to have masks on hand. I have written more about this in my Masks & Kids in Japan blog post here.
Our eldest son is a massive Harry Potter fan so during our trip to Japan we decided we would surprise our kids with a trip to Universal Studios Japan (USJ) in Osaka and visit The Wizarding World of Harry Potter (WWHP).
Somehow, we managed to keep it a secret in the lead up to our trip and for the 3 weeks of our tripand it was worth it to see the look on his face as he entered WWHP and saw the books come to life.
We had an amazing time at USJ and visiting any theme park in Japan is next level because of the Japanese’ commitment to costumes and merchandise.
There were packs of girls all dressed up in Hogwarts uniforms and groups dressed up for Halloween (which lasts for nearly 2 months at USJ), kids and adults wearing all sorts of headbands from Sesame Street to Minions characters.
The people-watching alone is entertaining.
It also seems things are a little more relaxed in the park in terms of Japanese etiquette, people were walking while they ate and drank unlike on the outside.
A day at USJ can easily pass you by if you’re not prepared and just go in cold.
We spent 2 days at the park and are so glad we did, because we definitely learnt some hard lessons on our first day and made some new discoveries on our second day.
Hopefully you can benefit from our experience and get the most out of your time at USJ with some help from our top tips.
TOP TIPS !
BEFORE YOU VISIT
– Plan to visit on a weekday
– Check the Universal Studios Japan website for scheduled shutdowns of rides
– Pre-purchase your tickets
– Download the “WaitingTime for USJ” app
– Consider purchasing an Express Pass
– Purchase SIM cards for each adult (optional)
DURING YOUR VISIT
– Arrive before the advertised opening time and try and stay into the evening if you have the staying power as wait time for rides are shorter.
– Take in an empty drink bottle or buy one in there.
– Grab a Studio Guide (map) and Show Schedule on your way in.
– Use Single Rider
– Wait times are less than shown for both the standard line and for single rider, which were significantly shorter than shown.
– Use Child Switch if you have kids so the adults can ride on the big rides.
– Eat at one of the street carts or grab a whole pizza from the window at Louie’s N.Y Pizza Parlourif you want to save time.
– Explore the merchandise shops (even if you don’t want anything) as they are an experience in themselves, especially in WWHP.
– Universal Wonderland is the best place to spend most of your time if you have small kids.
– If it is a quieter day you do not need a timed ticket to enter WWHP just go straight in and come and go as you like.
– If it is a busy day you will need a timed ticket to enter WWHP which you can get from the numbered ticket booth in Central Park. You will need everyone’s Studio Passes (USJ entry tickets) to get a Numbered Ticket for WWHP and you can select the time of entry on the
machine.
– Go on the Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey Ride in the late afternoon or evening when the lines drop off to a 15-20 minute wait which means you basically go straight on to the ride.
– The Flying Dinosaur, Hollywood Dream – The Ride and Hollywood Dream – The Ride – Backdrop consistently had long wait times throughout the day so try and go on these first thing in the
morning (probably prioritise Backdrop, if you’re happy riding on a rollercoaster that goes backwards, as it doesn’t have the option of single rider).
– If you need to take in a bag, all the rides have an area where you can safely leave it or provide
lockers for when you’re on the ride.
BEFORE YOU VISIT
Plan to visit on a weekday
It seems Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday are consistently the less busy weekdays. We visited over two days on a Wednesday and Thursday and I still found it crowded so I can’t imagine what it would be like on a busy day. You can check the crowd predictor here http://www15.plala.or.jp/gcap/usj/ to see which days will be quieter than others. It is all in Japanese
but it is basically colour coded like traffic lights, green – not so crowded to red – very crowed, you can also get a fantastic in-depth explanation of how to read the crowd predictor here https://tdrexplorer.com/universal-studios-japan-crowd-calendar/
Check the Universal Studios Japan website
Rides at the park are closed periodically for routine maintenance, if you have your heart set on going on a particular ride best check it’s open when you plan to visit so you’re not disappointed. There’s also other useful information about the park including height restrictions for rides so you can plan your visit with kids. Once you’re kids have been measured and are taller than a particular height they will be given a wristband so they don’t have to keep getting measured for every ride.
You can also check what special events and shows are on during your visit. We went in mid-October so there were lots of Halloween themed shows and attractions. Also if you go up to a Crew Member and say “trick or treat” they’ll give you a small hard boiled lolly. I didn’t realise how much the Japanese love celebrating Halloween, lots of people dress up in Halloween themed costumes and from 6pm zombies roam the streets. This can be scary for the little ones (if I’m honest I was a bit freaked out, especially by the zombies with chainsaws) but there is a zombie free safe path to and from the entrance to the park. If you’re not sure how to find it ask a crew member and they will point you in the right direction.
Pre-purchase your tickets
While the lines to purchase tickets didn’t seem particularly long on either day that we were there, it’s one less thing you need to worry about. It can also help you out money wise by having a big
ticket item paid for before you get to Japan. We bought ours via Klook and I downloaded the app on my phone and the vouchers were ready to go and get scanned for entry straight into the park.
The Universal Studios website also states that you can buy advance tickets through any of the following websites – kkday, Voyagin, tripadvisor or traveloka. The price of entry can vary depending on the time of year that you visit.
There are 4 different periods with prices for a 1-day ticket ranging from
JPY 7,600 in the low season to JPY 9,200 in the high season.
Download the “WaitingTime for USJ” app
This app was a lifesaver and helped us make informed decisions about what to do next (hello marriage saver). It lists all the rides, their predicted wait times or if a ride is closed. If you click on the rides it also gives you details about the ride including its duration, capacity (how many riders per carriage) height requirements (both accompanied and unaccompanied) and its location in the park.
If you are super keen and love to research hop on it a few weeks in advance, on a day that has the same crowds as predicted for your planned day (or on any day really) and see what times of the day certain rides are busy or quiet and work out a plan of attack.
Express Passes
This is one of the biggest decisions you need to make before you go to USJ. Do you buy an Express Pass? If you can’t avoid being at USJ on a weekend, busy day or just don’t want to have to stress about lining up, it would definitely be worth exploring an Express Pass. However, if you can fit 1.5 or 2 days at USJ into your itinerary and go mid-week (and not on a public holiday), I think it would be a better way to spend your money and spread the fun over two days. That way you’ll also get to fit in
more of the shows and parades too.
There are a range of 3, 4, or 7 ride Express Passes that you can purchase through the same websites as the day tickets. The price will almost double the cost of your entry into the park but also save you lots of time so it’s all about weighing up what’s important to you.
I think if you have quite small kids it probably wouldn’t be worth purchasing one for them. We chose not to buy them as we were there
mid-week when it was not predicted to be a busy day, had the time to visit for 2 days and thought our kids probably wouldn’t like all the rides available on the pass so it wouldn’t be good value for money for them.
It’s a very personal decision and it’s hard to get an objective view about whether they are value for money as everyone has different priorities and everyone’s situations are different.
In our situation we don’t regret not buying them but I can understand why people would opt to buy them.
Get SIM cards (optional)
My husband and I each had data only SIM cards with unlimited data and they were amazing throughout our trip and were especially useful when we needed to separate at USJ for us big kids to
go on some of the thriller rides. They are not vital and it depends what type of visit you want to have at USJ but for us it was great when we wanted to go on the big rides and do Child Switch (see below). It meant that we could message the other person when we were about to go on a ride and then arrange a place to meet up once we were done. It took lots of pressure off, saved us time and avoided the need for pre-organising meeting times and places and made things a whole lot easier.
After speaking to a fellow Aussie Mum who had lost her husband and had no way of contacting him because he had the pocket wifi we were super glad we each had a SIM.
We got our SIMs in Australia before we left and they were delivered express post within 3 days of
ordering them and they worked perfectly and didn’t miss a beat. We got them here https://www.japan-rail-pass.com.au/. Our SIM card was valid for 31 days (there are also 8 and 16
day options) and cost us $59 AUD each plus $6 AUD postage fees. For us, especially as we were travelling with other families during our trip, they were definitely worth it and we would get them again.
Arrive before the advertised opening time
The park opens before the advertised opening time and this is the best time to get on some of the most popular rides with only a short wait time. When we visited the advertised opening time was 9:30am and the first day we arrived a bit after that time (due to missing the train station we were supposed to change at and needing to check-in to our hotel) and pretty much went straight to The Wizard World of Harry Potter and the line for Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey at about 10am was already 90 minutes long!!!
The second day we got into the park at about 8:20am (because we stayed the night at an on site hotel) and people were already in the park so they obviously opened even earlier and the lines for
the most popular rides were only about 15 minutes long. This does not last long so if you’re lucky you might get 2 relatively quick rides in (more likely if you use the single rider line) before the lines start to build.
It’s also important to note you cannot leave and re-enter the park which is a bit of a bummer with small kids. We stayed at the nearby Hotel Keihan Universal Tower which was great to help with an early start for one of our days. It was also good when our little guy and husband ran out of puff on the second day they could easily go back to the hotel while I powered on with our older son.
Grab a Studio Guide (map) and Show Schedule on your way in
Under the canopy on the main road after the entrance you will find stands to the side of the road with Studio Guides in various languages. Make sure you gab the right one and this will be your go-to for the day. It has a map, an easy comparison chart of all the rides and their height restrictions, there’s a restaurant and shop guide and also detailed information about WWHP. There’s a handy “Point to Ask” section that you can show to the crew members if you have a particular question.
Also grab the separate sheet that has the Show Schedule on it that’s specific for the period that you are there. There’s only one for all the languages and it shows the times and duration of each of the shows that are on around the park.
Use Single Rider
If you want to pack as much into your day and hate lining up, definitely utilise the single rider lines. It’s not available on all the rides so consult with your Studio Guide or the website to find out which rides have it. You can do it on most of the big rides except for the Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey Ride. In our experience the wait times they show for single rider, in most cases, significantly overestimate the wait time, perhaps as a deterrent. For example, for the Hollywood Dream – The Ride it showed a wait time of 55 minutes and I practically walked straight on to the ride. I met lots of new friends by being their third, fourth or fifth wheel on a ride, which can be a fun experience in itself. Even if you are visiting with older kids or no kids and you all want to ride the same rides, single rider is still worth it for some of the longer lines and you may even get on the same ride in different
rows or worst case one or two rides a part.
Single rider when combined with the Child Switch can streamline the wait times for parents with small kids. One parent can minimise the wait using single rider and the other can be with the kids and then using the Child Switch the next parent can literally go straight on to the ride without anywait time.
Child Switch
As I mentioned above Child Switch allows parents with kids too small (or scared in our kids’ case) to go on the bigger rides and swap over without the second parent having to line up.
Here’s how it works: we didn’t test it but I felt like the kids had to be with you when you asked to do Child Switch to prove that you were eligible to do it. You let the crew members at the entrance to line for the ride that you would like to do Child Switch. The crew members have a special Child Switch slip of paper that they write the date, time and how many people will be swapping. There are wait rooms on each of the rides where the waiting parent can go with kids but we didn’t use these.
Each time we asked if the other parent and kids could go elsewhere in the park and they put a circle around the number for the person swapping to indicate this. If they’re not sure what you mean if you ask for this, try tracing a circle around the number with your finger and that might help.
Once the first parent has been on the ride the second parent shows the slip of paper to the crew members at entrance to the line and they are whisked away to the front of the line and go straight
on the ride. The kids don’t have to be with the parent who uses the Child Switch slip and you don’t need to go on it straight away. I’m not sure if there is a time limit that you have to use the slip by but for one of the rides it was probably 20 minutes before we used the slip and it wasn’t a problem.
Food and Drinks
You can’t take any food or drinks into the park. If you are there in the warmer months try and take an empty drink bottle in, even if it’s a disposal water bottle. We were there in mid-October and it was warm, but I can imagine it gets much warmer in Summer, and the vending machines ran out of water by early afternoon. There are some bubblers scattered around the place and in some of the lines but not many. Water costs JPY 250 from the vending machines and even more from the restaurants and food stalls so if you can stay hydrated and save a bit of money too try and take a drink bottle.
In general food is expensive, which is expected at any theme park and the restaurants get busy with long lines. If you want to eat at one of the restaurants go early, between 11:30 and midday.
Otherwise there are some food carts and stalls where you can just grab takeaway food that’s a bit cheaper and saves you precious ride time. In typical theme park fashion if you’re into eating things shaped like a Minion or Hello Kitty, factor in some time for eating at a restaurant.
Our top tip for a family is to grab a whole pizza from the window at the front of Louie’s N.Y Pizza Parlour and find a seat out the front and rest the legs before going again. The pizza has 6 slices and there are limited options for toppings. We got a margarita pizza and I think there was also pepperoni and maybe one other option. There was barely any wait for the pizza and you could also get drinks at the window. A whole pizza was JPY 3,800 and on the second day we were desperate and got 2 expensive but refreshing drinks to share that were JPY 380 for a large (a small was JPY 320). One of the days our eldest got a hot dog from a nearby stand for JPY 900, which he seemed to enjoy.
Another good option, if you want a quick bite and like pizza, is Boardwalk Snacks in Amity Village.
You can get a large slice of pizza, fries and a drink for about JPY 1,300. This wasn’t an option for our boys as they didn’t like the toppings they had there.
We didn’t really take much time to look at the various food options and restaurants as we just didn’t have the time. I had a quick look at the Snoopy’s Backlot Café in Universal Wonderland and they had kids’ sets for JPY 900 that had a Snoopy stamped pancake and the other was a ham and lettuce roll.
The set included 2 chicken nuggets, fries, a snack and a drink. So for the kids they weren’t too bad but the choices for the adults didn’t look too appealing. There were 3 sets to choose from that included a soft drink and fries with your choice or spaghetti napolitana, teriyaki beef burger or
shrimp cutlet burger for JPY 1,300 – 1,500.
The Wizarding World of Harry Potter
This was the main attraction for us with our 9 year old who loves Harry Potter. On busy days you need to get a timed ticket from Central Park to enter WWHP. We didn’t need them as we were there on a quieter day.
There are lots of photo opportunities with replicas of the movie sets throughout WWHP and in true Japanese fashion everyone is very respectful about waiting their turn to have a photo.
The main attractions in WWHP are:
– Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey
– Ollivanders wand experience
– Flight of the Hippogriff
– Hogwart’s Castle walk
As you walk into WWHP the wait time sign you see within Hogmedes on the left is for the Ollivanders wand experience. I won’t give too much away but it was fun and was in both English and
Japanese and at the end of the experience you end up in Ollivanders and can browse for a wand of your very own.
You can choose from a big variety of wands at Ollivanders but the one main thing to look out for is original vs magical wands. If you want to get one I highly recommend a magical wand that let’s you perform various spells throughout WWHP and comes with a map to show you where you can do each spell. At each of the locations there is a crew member in their wizard’s hat that will help you with the spell. On the ground there is a metal plate that shows you the pattern you need to move your wand in for the spell and also has the name of the spell. It was a big hit with our Harry Potter fan. A magical or original wand both costs JPY 4,900.
You can give Butter Beer a try and buy it from one of the two carts within WWHP, I recommend going to the second cart beside the stage as the first one tends to be more crowded. Butter Beer is a unique taste so perhaps grab one or two to share and go back for more if you like it. You can buy it either in a disposal cup or a keepsake mug.
Throughout the day there are various performances/stage shows on the WWHP stage that you may enjoy, check out your Show Schedule to see when they’re on.
As you continue through Hogsmede you will see Hogwarts Castle, it’s really impressive and there are plenty of vantage points for good photos. To the left you can enter Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey and to the right you can ride Flight of the Hippogriff.
I loved the Harry Potter ride but my kids, aged 5 and 9, were terrified and scared respectively and only went on it once. If your kids find the dementors, dragons or spiders scary in the movies perhaps give it a miss or risk it and give it a whirl, it’s a personal decision about whether you think your kids will enjoy it. The ride can have some of the longest wait times at USJ during the day. On our first day we had a 90 minute wait and they can get even longer on busier days. During our visit on both evenings the wait time was significantly shorter in the evening. I went on the ride again at about 7pm and it showed a wait time of 20 minutes but I practically walked straight on to the ride after walking through the castle and putting my bag in a locker. If you can hold out to the evening (It is a risk and might be hard, I understand) it’s worth it or if you’ve already been on the ride you can easily get a second ride in the evening.
You can also explore the Hogwarts Castle on the Castle Walk. The entrance is the same for the Harry Potter ride and at a certain point you will be shown in a different direction so you can enter the Castle. You see most of it in the line for the Harry Potter ride but you get more time to look at the details and take photos if you want to (you may have also put your phone/camera) in a locker for the ride and not had a chance to take photos while you were in line). It was still a great experience to see all the things from the books and movies come to life.
The Flight of the Hippogriff is a fun rollercoaster experience and both our kids really enjoyed the ride and it seemed to always have wait times under an hour which was a bonus. As an added extra in the queue you get to see Hagrid’s hut and motorbike and can take photos.
Now I will not say this often as I try to avoid merchandise shops, as my kids are suckers for it and Ifeel like such a meanie saying no to them all the time but they are definitely worth visiting in WWHP.
There are so many things from the books/movies to look at especially if you look up. There are so many details in the shop windows and with the things that you can buy. The merchandise is pricey though – so be prepared.
If your kids can make it until the sun goes down, Hogwarts Castle is worth seeing lit up at night.
During our visit there was the Castle Show: Hogwarts Magical Celebration which it was an amazing light projection show on to the castle. We had a great viewing spot just down from the entrance of the castle and the “Hogwarts Students” were right in front of us. We waited early (from about 6:10pm and the show started at about 6:40pm) as they were setting up barricades for the show and the show actually started about 15 minutes earlier than advertised. Check your Studio Guide or Show Schedule to see what night shows are on in WWHP during your visit.
Universal Wonderland
If you have small kids (probably aimed at kids aged 10 and under) this is where you will spend most of your time. There is a great range of kids’ rides for the little ones in Universal Wonderland. If it’s getting too hot or raining the indoor Snoopy area just to the left of the entrance is a welcome reprieve. There is a fun small rollercoaster inside called Snoopy’s Great Race and lots of different.
Snoopy/Peanuts Area
Snoopy/Peanuts themed activities for the kids to try. During our visit The Flying Snoopy ride had the longest wait times in Universal Wonderland but it does have Reserve and Ride option where you can reserve a time free of charge from the ticket machine near the ride.
The area also has Hello Kitty and Sesame Street themed rides in this area. There’s not a lot of food options in this area, there’s the café that I mentioned above and some Hello Kitty snacks but if they don’t appeal to you, you will have to go elsewhere for food options.
Minion Park
Minion Park is also lots of fun but is not as big as Universal Wonderland so you won’t spend as much time there. There are only two rides in this area being the Freeze Ray Sliders and Despicable Me. Minion Mayhem and the rest of the Park is just really fun to look at all the cheeky Minion statues
around the place.
The Freeze Ray Sliders didn’t have long wait times during our visit and were great for a family of 4 to ride together. The Despicable Me Minion Mayhem ride was lots of fun and was a Virtual Reality type ride that both of our kids really enjoyed and laughed their heads off during the ride. The wait times for the ride can build up during the day so if it’s one of your priority rides try it first thing in the morning. Once you enter the ride the whole experience is about 25 minutes as they set the scene for the ride before you actually get on it. There are screens during this “scene-setting” stage that have English sub-titles so you might need to read it out to your younger kids who can’t read. We persevered with a 45 minute wait on our first day and went on it together and then on the second day the boys went on it first thing with no wait times while I went on the Flying Dinosaur and then we did a Child Switch which worked pretty well but be mindful of the length of Minion ride.
The Minions meet and greet was chaos when we were there with no real system for lining up for a photo and it was every man for himself (very unJapanese) but it was still fun to see the characters.
Other Areas
There are a bunch of other areas and attractions to visit at USJ, I thought I would focus on the big ones to visit with kids because as parents we all know if we don’t plan ahead the day could end in tears for everyone. Even with 2 days at USJ we still didn’t get to see everything and going through the process of writing this up and looking back over the Studio Guide I’ve realised we missed a bunch of stuff. We really didn’t see many of the theatre shows that our kids might have liked like SING on Tour and Shrek’s 4-D Movie Magic wasn’t on while we were there. The normal night parade also didn’t run during our visit and it seemed that it was because of all the Halloween Horror Nights shows were on instead.
As an adult my favourite rides, just because they weren’t like any other ride I’d been on before, were the Flying Dinosaur and Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey and my favourite ride to go on as a family was Despicable Me Minion Mayhem, Flight of the Hippogriff and Snoopy’s Great Race.
Good luck may the theme park fairies be with you.
Tracey lives on the east coast of Australia and loves exploring her own country and travelling to different parts of the world with her husband and two boys in tow whenever they get the chance. She loves being able to share her hints and tips from her travels to help other families have the confidence to explore near and far. She also doesn’t mind a glass or two of Prosecco or Rosé. You can find her on Instagram @gogogoexplore
Please note that some changes to ticketing and park entry numbers have been made, understandably, in order to stop the spread of COVID-19.
From Jo at The Tokyo Chapter,
There will be an exciting addition to Universal Studios Japan in 2021 – A Super Nintendo World section. A Mario-themed Cafe within the park opened October, 2020 ( Please note that, as it is new, it is very crowded at this time. )
The details are very cute. The cafe tables are toadstool mushrooms.
