Universal Studios Japan

One thing on the top of our bucket list while we were in Japan was go to Universal Studios.  We love theme parks, and we knew that some of the best theme parks in the world are in Japan.  Before we went to Japan, I joined a Universal Studios Japan/Tokyo Disneyland Facebook page, and they gave great tips about how to avoid the lines as much as possible and how to use the apps to work out which rides to go on and when. 

Because this was probably a once in a lifetime trip for us (we've since decided that we are definitely going back to Japan and are already saving up to do so) I decided that I didn't care how much it cost, I was going to made sure I had enough money saved so that we could buy express passes (and Jay and Harri paid for their own theme park passes), as Universal Studios Japan is one of the busiest theme parks in the world. 

It was a lot more money than I cared to admit, but to be honest it wouldn't have been worth going if we didn't buy express passes as you'd just be standing in lines all day.  After lots of research I decided to buy the express pass 7.  I got lots of tips from the Facebook group and found out that passes are released two months out and that it's best to get them from the Klook app as it can be difficult for international credit cards to on the official websites.  I also read that it's best to avoid going on the weekends as it's so much busier, so we waited until the Monday to go. 

It was lucky I knew to book them two months in advance, as they sold out within a day for the date we were going.  As we had the express passes we didn't have to race to get there and line up early in the morning which was nice.   We did get there just as the park opened, and I thought that we would be there all day to get the most out of it. It didn't shut until 9 pm, so I knew it was going to be a big day. 

As soon as we scanned in, I knew to go on the app to get an entry into Super Nintendo World.  The only way that you can go in is with an entry either on the app or as an express pass, but the entry is free if you get it on the app.  Once you're in you can line up for the rides, but it can still take hours to get on the rides. We had express passes to get on the rides in Nintendo World later in the day as it was getting dark, but we were excited to get an extra entry so we could go in earlier and just have a look around. 

Even though we couldn't understand anything as everything was in Japanese, we loved the Jaws ride and Waterworld show. 

Another one of my favourite rides was the Jurassic Park ride which is a water ride which has amazing theming.  I was worried about getting wet as it was winter, but it wasn't too bad, and we dried off quickly. 

I'm not into Harry Potter at all but was still very impressed with the theming in the Harry Potter area.  We loved the Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey ride, but it made us all feel quite sick afterwards. 

There's a kids roller coaster in the Harry Potter area and before you get on the ride, they let you know that it's a kids ride, and some adults may not fit on it.  I tried to get on, but the bar wouldn't lock down, so they asked me and a few other adults to get off and were so apologetic about it.  I didn't mind at all, especially because the boys still got to go on it, but they gave all the adults that were asked to get off an express pass for any ride within the park for everyone in our group. 

We were so happy because it meant we could go on our favourite ride again, which we already had an express pass for.  We loved the Flying Dinosaur ride so much, but the first time we went on it my heart was racing. It's an extreme roller coast where you are strapped in and then the seat tips you forward so that you are facing the ground the whole ride.  There were a few swear words flying as we went up! 

We also loved the Hollywood Dream rollercoaster. Each seat has it's own speakers and you can choose which song you want it to play (there are four or five options) and you hear that music the whole ride. We were all amazed that we could only hear the song we chose, and not the songs in the seats next to us. 

The boys had fun buying crazy themed hats to wear all day. 

We loved the Nintendo themed pancakes and the cute ladies who were making them in the window. 

All the theming around the park was incredible and it had lots of cool places to eat, but we just grabbed quick food from the food stalls on the streets. 

It was so fun watching the boys' faces as we walked into Super Nintendo World.  All of their childhood dreams had finally come true. It was crazy busy inside, but once you got in you were able to stay as long as you wanted.  The lines for the rides were hours long so we were so glad that we had express passes for the rides later in the day. 

Jay was like a kid at Christmas watching Toad. 

We left Nintendo World after about an hour of looking around and went on some other rides, before coming back later in the day for our ride time slots. 

Even though we had an allocated time for the rides, there was still a bit of a wait inside as the queue to get on the ride is so long. There are lots of things to walk around and see as you get to the front of the line.  It was much faster though as we could go into the express queue.

The boys loved the Mario Kart ride. I had no clue what I was doing, but it was very cool. You come out into this gift shop at the end. 

We then had an express pass for the Yoshi's Adventure ride which a cute little ride that you just sat on, and it went around the top of Nintendo World. 

Someone who follows me on Instagram saw my videos after I posted them, asked me if it was an inside or outside ride as the sky looked so perfect. It was actually outside, and we were so lucky to have amazing sunny weather for most of our trip. Although it was winter we didn't really find it cold. It just felt like a Tasmanian winter and we were warm enough with a jacket. 

There is a new Donkey Kong area that just opened up before our trip, so we were very lucky that we could also go in there as you can only go in there if you have a pass to Nintendo Land.  The theming is amazing in there and we were keen to try out the new Donkey Kong roller coaster - Minecart Madness. 

Unfortunately, the roller coaster broke down as we were lining up for it and it was our longest wait of the day as we weren't sure whether to wait and hope for the best, or to just go as we were getting tired.  I knew that we may not ever be back, so we decided to stick it out and just hoped they were able to fix it before the park closed.  After about 45 minutes it opened up again and we were so glad we waited as it was such a fun ride. It reminded me of the Scooby Doo roller coaster at Movie World as it has lots of unexpected twists and turns and it feels like you are going to fall off the edge of the tracks at times. 

We were leaving Nintendo World after dark, and it looked so much better at night. We were so glad we got to experience during the day and at night. 

We had an incredible day, and it went so fast.  We could've spent a lot more time looking around the shops, but we were tired and felt like we had done all that we wanted to do, plus more and left at about 8 pm. There was no way that we would've got half of the rides or things done, if we didn't buy the express passes. 

We caught a train back to our accommodation near Dotonbori which was only about a half hour ride and were so happy to tick off one of our major bucket list items off our Japan trip list.