Universal Studios Japan - Tips for getting the most out of your tickets (without having to get an Express Pass!)

Visiting Universal Studios Japan was one of the highlights of our Japan trip. Who would want to miss visiting the Wizarding World of Harry Potter?! (Definitely not us!) But after reading a lot of reviews about the place, I knew we had to have a game plan if we wanted to get the most out of our tickets (and based on our long, exhausting, but fun day, I believe we did get our money's worth).

Based on the numerous reviews I've read online about Universal Studios Japan, most recommend getting the Universal Express Pass since there are so many people going to this amusement park. Honestly, you would think that going on a weekday and not a school holiday would help you avoid the crowd, right? But we went on a weekday (Tuesday) and a school day, but there were still so many people! I estimate about 90% local and 10% tourist.

The crowd going to USJ - this was before 9 in the morning.

So... do I recommend getting the Universal Express Pass? If you have the funds, then why not? But since my family and I were on a budget and didn't want to spend another 6,000 yen on the pass, we just went with the regular 1-Day Studio Pass, which cost 7,400 yen per adult and 4,980 yen per child (4 to 11 years old). Kids under 4 are free.

Here are my tips for getting the most out of your Studio Pass:

1. Buy Advance Tickets - either online or through partner hotels/agencies

Did you know that you can actually buy your admission tickets on the USJ website (https://www.usj.co.jp)? Yes, you can... but not on the English site - only on the Japanese site. This can be a problem for people who can't read or understand Japanese (like me), so I'm linking to this blog that explains step-by-step on how you can purchase tickets on the site: buying advance tickets on the USJ website. My brother was the one who purchased our tickets on the website. But if you find this too complicated, then you can purchase in advance through partner hotels and agencies. 

Buying advance tickets will definitely save you time since you don't have to wait in line to purchase tickets once you arrive at the park - you can go straight to the entrance like we did. 

More time to take pictures since we already have tickets. :)

2. Designate one person to get the Timed Entry Tickets to the Wizarding World of Harry Potter

Since the Wizarding World of Harry Potter in USJ is fairly new (opened in July 2014), it continues to bear the brunt of the crowd going to the park. So to avoid getting it too congested, USJ requires you to have timed entry tickets to enter that part of the studio (the timed entry is supposed to be only for peak times, but everyday seems to be crowded in the park).

If you get the Universal Express Pass 5 or 7, then you already have a scheduled time to the Wizarding World of Harry Potter. Since we didn't get the pass, we designated one person in our group to get the timed entry tickets. 

After entering the park, we gave all our studio passes to my brother Coy, who ran to Central Park where the timed entry tickets are being issued (you actually see a lot of people running in the same direction, most likely with the same purpose). He was able to get us a timed entry between 9 to 10am, and we met up with him near the entrance to Harry Potter, which was already getting crowded with lots of people falling in line to enter. Since it was already past 9am, we also fell in line already, and after going through a long, winding, forest-like path with "creepy" sounds according to my son (it's actually the theme song of Harry Potter, which helps you get into the mood of the place), we were finally able to enter the Wizarding World of Harry Potter around 10am.

Is that Harry Potter next to us?!

Hogwarts Express!

After taking some pictures, we headed straight for the Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey 4K3D ride... we queued for about an hour before we were able to finish the attraction, which was pretty amazing even if we didn't understand a thing! (It was in Japanese - all of the attractions are.) When we left the ride, the waiting time of the line was already 3 hours! We also rode the Flight of the Hippogriff, then we wandered around the Wizarding World for a bit, enjoying the wonderful sights. Butterbeer is definitely a must try while you're there!

Hagrid's Hut

Flight of the Hippogriff 

My son enjoying his butterbeer.

Ollivander's Wand Shop

We headed out of the Wizarding World of Harry Potter for a late lunch since The Three Broomsticks (the food place there) was full! Before heading out, make sure you've had your fill of the place, since you may have to get a timed entry again to enter.

3. Once you leave the Wizarding World of Harry Potter, you now have more time to go on rides and wander around the rest of USJ

After leaving Harry Potter, we ate a late lunch at Amity Landing Restaurant across the Jaws ride, then we split up so that some can go on rides while others went to Universal Wonderland so the kids can enjoy. The children had the best time at Universal Wonderland, and thankfully the queues were pretty short for the rides there. 

Everyone loves Elmo!

Sesame's Big Drive

Cute and yummy buns

Hello Kitty's Cupcake Dream

Big Bird's Big Top Circus 

Snoopy's Sound Stage Adventure

4. Last Tips!

We  had a great time at USJ - it has a good combination of adult rides and kiddie adventures so that all of us enjoyed. My last tips for you are:

- Come early to the park: USJ is supposed to open between 9am to 9:30am, but they usually open the gates early since there are so many people! We arrived at the park at around 8:30am and people were already going inside. Here is how you get to USJ using the train stations:

Click to enlarge - taken from USJ website

- Leave earlier than closing time: If you don't like crowds, I suggest to leave a little earlier than closing time because there are so many people crowding the train station when the park is closing.

- Go on a weekday and avoid going when it's a holiday in Japan at all costs: Well, I don't have personal experience going to USJ on a Japan holiday, but I've read that it can be super crowded with at least 4-hour queues. There was already a lot of people when we went on a weekday/non-holiday, so what more for a weekend or a holiday!

- Skip the shows if you can't understand the language: We skipped all of the shows since they're all in Japanese. USJ is pretty big so there are lots of things to do even without watching the shows. 

An interesting thing to note is that because we went on October, they had some special "halloween" shows and rides, and instead of a night parade, there were zombies and scary music all over the park past 6pm (no zombies in Universal Wonderland though, since that's the place for kids). We had ridden the Amazing Adventures of Spiderman 4K3D near the back of the park, and once we got out of the ride, the park had turned into the set of a horror movie. We had to walk to the exit of the park passing a lot of zombies walking on the street with creepy music and sounds of a saw. The kids were terrified! My son had read about the zombies coming out past 6pm in one of the brochures, and he was telling me that we had to leave before the zombies came out. I thought at first that they were limited to one part of the park, but they were everywhere! I guess it's fun for adults, especially with a lot of park goers also in costumes, but the horror park just frightened the kids. 

The kids were pretty scared of these zombies all over the park!

Where's my brother?! Hehe

So that's it! I actually think a 2-day Studio Pass is a nice idea if you want to do all (if not most) of the rides and also spend lots of time at the Harry Potter part. This was our original plan, but then we decided to just go for a 1-day Studio Pass. We still enjoyed our other days in Osaka - there are really so many things to do in Japan. I want to go back!

Our Complete 9-Day Japan Itinerary

For those who are curious about what we did in Japan, here's our 9-Day Japan Itinerary! We explored 3 main cities - Nagoya, Kyoto and Osaka.

Nagoya Ekimae Montblanc Hotel

October 13

Arrival at Chubu Centrair Airport in Nagoya

Check in at Nagoya Ekimae Montblanc Hotel (P3,800/night/room)

Watching the dolphin show at Nagoya Public Aquarium

Top of Oasis 21

October 14

Nagoya Public Aquarium

Oasis 21

Ichiran Ramen - yummy and interesting experience!

Nagoya Castle

October 15

Nagoya Castle

Toyota Commemorative Museum

Train to Otsu Ishiyama (Kyoto)

Check in at Reiah Hotel (P3,750/night/room with breakfast! Has more spacious rooms, bigger beds, and super close to the train station. Highly recommended!)

We shot blow darts and threw shuriken at the Ninja Dojo

The whole gang at Ninja Dojo

October 16

Nijo-jo Castle

Ninja Dojo - must do! Super fun!

Nishiki Market

Kiyomizu-dera Shrine

Gion District

Kurama Onsen - love it! Super relaxing and beautiful

Tori Gates at Fushimi Inari Shrine

Samurai Kembu Lesson

October 17

Fushimi Inari Shrine

Samura Kembu Demo & Lesson - another must do! Unforgettable experience!

Train to Osaka

Check in at Airbnb Accommodations near Shin-Osaka Station (P3,300/room/night - we got 3 rooms only here because some of the rooms were bigger - can accommodate 6 adults plus kids)

Tennoji Zoo

Museum of Natural History

October 18

Tennoji Zoo

Okonomiyaki Lunch

Museum of Natural History

Botanical Gardens

Umeda Sky Building

Floating Garden

Osaka Castle

Glico Man at Dotonburi

October 19

Osaka Castle 

Mitsui Outlet Store

Shinsaibashi

Dotonburi

Universal Studios Japan

Wizarding World of Harry Potter

Hagrid's Hut

October 20

Universal Studios Japan!!! (So many people!)

Wizarding World of Harry Potter

Sashimi Platter! So yummy!

Kansai International Airport

October 21

Train to Kansai International Airport

Sushi to Go for Lunch (yummy!)

I'll try to continue blogging more detailed stories about our daily itineraries soon. :)

Japan Day 2 - Oasis 21 and Dinner at Ichiran

After leaving Port of Nagoya Public Aquarium, we went back to the railway station and rode the train to Sakae, where Oasis 21 and Nagoya TV Tower is located.

View of Nagoya TV Tower right outside Sakae Station

Sakae is Nagoya's largest shopping area, with lots of shops both above-ground and underground. Since we were not very interested in shopping during this time, we headed to Oasis 21, a multilevel park/mall that has a theme called "Space Ship Aqua." It features an interesting, circular glass roof that has a pond in the middle. People can walk in the glass roof around the pond, and we enjoyed our time there taking pictures and enjoying the cool afternoon weather.

Ground floor of Oasis 21

At the glass roof top

Beautiful view

Big pool of water in the middle of the glass roof

Wacky group pic

Oasis 21 also lights up during the night, making it resemble a space ship even more. But we didn't stay until evening since we decided to eat at Ichiran - yum!

The Ichiran Experience 

Ichiran is about a 10-minute walk from Oasis 21. Good thing the weather was fine, and it was also nice seeing the city of Nagoya as we walked. I actually read about Ichiran before we left for Japan - it had great reviews, which is why my husband and I recommended eating there. It is a well-known ramen place that offers a unique experience in eating ramen. They have branches all over Japan, including Tokyo, Kyoto and Osaka. 

When we arrived, there was already a line - thankfully it wasn't that long yet. 

Lining up outside Ichiran

Basically, Ichiran only features one type of ramen - Classic Tonkotsu Ramen. There is no other kind of ramen available. They have concentrated on one type of ramen to make it as delicious as possible. You have the option of getting additional ingredients, and you also get to customize how you want your ramen to be - more about this later!

Ichiran Ticket Machine

Once you are inside the place, the first thing you need to do is buy your food ticket. Here's where you buy your ramen and additional items you want to add. The basic Ichiran ramen consists of - homemade fresh noodles, classic tonkotsu soup, green onion, sliced pork and Ichiran's original red sauce (but this can still be modified a bit before you give the ticket to the servers inside). For the additional ingredients, you have the option of adding egg, mushroom, extra noodles, etc.

The one with the lighted characters show which seats are available

In this Ichiran branch, there are only 20 seats available. You see which seats are vacant by looking at this information panel. The restaurant features a single booth style place for each person, which lets you concentrate on eating your ramen, and not get distracted by other people. You do have the option of opening the panels in between the booths so you can see your companions.

Most Ichiran branches offer only this style of seating, but there are some which have private booths for small groups, like this one in Nagoya. My parents and one of my sisters with her family were able to occupy the private booth. The rest of us sat on the single booths.

Inside the place, single booth style

My booth - number 6!

Each single booth has a water dispenser, a button for calling the staff, and a window in front that can be opened and closed so they can serve you. You are also given this piece of paper to customize your ramen based on your preferences - make sure to ask for an English one, since they automatically give it in Japanese. 

Customize your ramen

Here, you get to choose your flavor strength, richness of the oil, garlic, green onions, sliced pork (you can choose to remove this), Ichiran's special red sauce, and the noodle texture. You can see which ones I encircled in the above picture. There's also a recommendation for first timers, and make sure not to include the spicy red sauce for kids (or those who don't like spicy food). I only got 1/2 of the Ichiran's special red sauce, but it was already pretty spicy (my husband chose double the red sauce since he loves spicy food).

Finally! Ready to eat!

Finally, our ramen was served! It was really delicious, and there were a lot of noodles! I was pretty full after I finished mine - I decided not to add additional ingredients to my ramen, so I can just enjoy the Ichiran tonkotsu ramen by itself. In addition to the spice, the red sauce definitely adds another depth of flavor to the broth. 

Enjoying our ramen

Busy eating! No red sauce for the kids

At the private booth for small groups (this can fit a maximum of 6 people)

Finally, we all finished our dinner, full and happy. When we left the place, there was a longer line in front.

Longer line when we left!

We headed home afterwards by walking to the train and going back to Nagoya Station. The temperature was pretty cold and we all wore our jackets and hoodies. Watch out for my next post on our next day in Japan - Osaka Castle, Toyota Museum and going to Kyoto. :)