As requested, blogpost review of UNIVERSAL STUDIOS JAPAN (USJ) in Osaka is up, sharing our experience visiting USJ like trying the rides, watching the parade, meeting Minions, entering The Wizarding World of Harry Potter™, trying the Butterbeer™, ahh we got sooo many things to share.

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2018 trip ended well with our trip to Universal Studios Japan, finally we got our longtime bucketlist checked and visiting one of the most popular destinations in Osaka.

This blogpost is our trip diary, sharing our experience. We also gathered some FAQ about USJ. Hopefully it can help you to plan your trip to USJ someday.

Since each corner is soooo attractive and instagrammable, we couldn’t help ourselves but to take so many pictures, so please enjoy 🙂

You might notice the cute ornament worn by visitors like dinosaur shaped headbands, Minions fluffy hat, etc. All the cute ornaments are available for purchase at souvenir shops fyi.

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USJ is located in Osaka, Japan, around half hour from city center by train. It’s super easy to reach, since train station is located right in front of the entrance (Universal City Station, for more info you can check following link https://www.usj.co.jp/e/access/)

AnakJajan highly recommend you to prepare one whole day to explore USJ since there are so many things to see and do.

We visited USJ on early December 2018, it’s a wonderful time to be there since the whole USJ is decorated with beautiful Christmas ornaments, isn’t it magical??

There’s a gigantic magnificent Christmas tree that happens to be in Guinness World Records as World’s Most Illuminated Tree.

Specially for Christmas season, during the night, we can enjoy spectacular live show called The Gift of Angels III ended by dazzling Christmas tree being illuminated plus firework.

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MINION PARK AREA

Despicable Me Minion Mayhem

http://www.usj.co.jp/e/attraction/despicable-me-minion-mayhem.html

Our first ride was Despicable Me Minion Mayhem where we got to enter Gru’s laboratory transformed ourselves into an actual Minion. It was entertaining and cute.

POP A NANA

We’ve been eyeing on these Minions popcorns since it’s just the cutest!! During our visit, they have special Christmas edition so we got to have it. I got Minion & Fluffy Chrismas Popcorn Bucket JPY 3,480 and Mr. Jajan chose King Bob Popcorn Bucket JPY 3,200, it makes a great souvenir. The popcorn itself tastes yummy too with banana caramel flavor.

Despicable Me! The Cookie Kitchen

Our visit to Minions area has got sweeten up with scrumptious Minions’ Cookie sandwich. I got banana flavored ice cream & fruit, while Mr. Jajan got orange & chocolate one, it’s too pretty to be eaten.

HAPPINESS Café

Still in Minions area, we had our lunch at HAPPINESS Café. The cafe exterior is easy to notice with huge Coke ornaments.

We got Minions Burger & Omurice, isn’t it the cutest?? Surprisingly it tastes enjoyable too.

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The Flying Dinosaur

http://www.usj.co.jp/e/attraction/jurassic-park-the-flying-dinosaur.html

Upon arriving, we got so many messages telling us that The Flying Dinosaur attraction is a must try and of course we wouldn’t want to miss the chance to try it.

At first we were scared but it turned out to be really FUN! It surely lives up to its reputation as thrilling ride, seriously super exciting! Must must try!

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The Amazing Adventures of Spider-Man – The Ride 4K3D

http://www.usj.co.jp/e/attraction/spm.html

This might not be the newest attraction but we were still having so much fun there. Before entering, you will be given 3D glass to wear. The 3D effects are cool and entertaining with so many unexpected surprises like water splashes, fire effect, etc.

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THE WIZARDING WORLD OF Harry Potter™

Welcome to THE WIZARDING WORLD OF Harry Potter™. This place is sooooo awesome and magical, we can see why it’s soooo popular.

Looking at all the buildings and details, it feels like we have been teleported into the movie. The village, Hogwarts, train, snow on the roof, everything looks so magical.

Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey™ (Indoor Attraction)

http://www.usj.co.jp/e/attraction/att_detail/harry-potter-and-the-forbidden-journey.html

Seriously the coolest indoor attraction we’ve ever tried!! The 3D effects are surely a winner where we get to enjoy the wizarding world that unfolds 360 degrees around us. You simply have to try it by yourself.

Three Broomsticks™ Restaurant

https://www.usj.co.jp/e/attraction/att_detail/three-broomsticks.html

Enjoying food and drinks while looking at Hogwarts and serene lake view, what’s better than that??

If you’re looking at a nice place to take picture with Hogwarts on the background, make sure to visit this restaurant.

On our visit to this restaurant, we had the signature Butterbeer™ drink, it’s basically a kind of fizzy soda drink with no alcohol in it, oh by the way, you can purchase the big glass as souvenir.

For maximum experience, you can purchase robe, scarf, wand and other accessories from souvenir shops.

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UNIVERSAL SPECTACLE NIGHT PARADE  -The Best of Hollywood-

As we said earlier, make sure to prepare whole day to visit USJ since there are so many things to do and see. During the night, make sure you don’t miss the night parade.

You can enjoy and see the parade anywhere inside USJ and meet your favorite characters from the worlds of Harry Potter™, Transformers, Jurassic World and Despicable Me Minions.

 

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FAQ

There is some FAQ we received about USJ, we’ll try our best to answer your questions, hopefully it helps:

Q: When is the best time to visit USJ?
A: Well, make sure to check the weather before going, it’s best to avoid rainy day. Usually school holiday on July is the peak season there. We went there on first week of December 2018 weekday, it wasn’t as crowded as we expected, we had great time strolling and playing around.

Q: What is the taste of ButterBeer?
A: It’s basically a sweet soda drink that slightly reminds us of root beer but with sweet foamy cream on top. Oh by the way it’s alcohol free.

Q: Is there any rental shop for Harry Potter’s scarf, robe and wand?
A: No rental service available, but you can buy all the accessories at the souvenir shop.

Q: Is there any hotel nearby?
A: Yup, there are many hotels located just outside USJ within walking distance.

Q: Where to buy USJ ticket?
A: Since USJ is always packed with many visitors, we purchased our ticket from HIS Travel https://www.his-travel.co.id/ so we can save our time from queueing at ticket counter.

Q: What do you think about Express Pass?
A: Well it depends on your budget and also whether you visit USJ during high season or not. If you have more budget, we highly recommend you to get Express Pass so you can save your time because sometimes during high season, the queueing time can be more than 2 hours.

For more questions, you might check their official website https://www.usj.co.jp/e/faq/

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It is indeed true that time flies so fast when you’re having fun. Our visit to USJ was really memorable, we had great time and so much fun exploring and playing around all day long, we promised ourselves to comeback someday. Thank you for reading our trip diary. If you wish to visit USJ, hopefully someday you can be there too 🙂

Address:
Universal Studios Japan
2 Chome-1-33 Sakurajima, Konohana Ward, Osaka
Osaka Prefecture 554-0031, Japan
Instagram: @universal_studios_japan

https://www.usj.co.jp/e/

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