Universal Studios Japan
When booking park tickets, you have several options. The studio pass simply allows you into the park for a day. If you have absolutely no plan or desire to ride specific rides, get it and call it a day. However, to enter Super Nintendo World, you will have to apply for a timed entry ticket when you enter the park. These are randomly doled out, and may not align with your schedule. Also, ride wait times unfortunately are very long at this park, so you most likely can’t ride every E-ticket ride this way.
You can also buy Express Pass add-ons. These allow you to guarantee timed entry to Super Nintendo World, as well as 3-4 rides of your choosing based on the package you buy. The downside is they can cost as much as 2x the price of the ticket, sadly making USJ by far the most expensive amusement park we’ve visited in Asia, and it’s not even close. We spent half as much at Disney Shanghai, Disney Sea, and Disney Hong Kong. However, this was the only way for us to experience everything in our short time as we had to leave the park early to fly out. If you have more time and desire less rides, you may be able to go without any express passes.
Super Nintendo World
Super Nintendo World is the most visited part of Universal Studios Japan. Mario was my childhood. I started with a SNES and played nearly every Mario game for every console all my life. When we walked up and heard the chiptune Special World Theme at the entrance pipe, I almost cried. Everywhere in this area is immaculately themed. The park features perfectly recorded iconic Mario tracks for every piece of music. Of course, you can also get a Mario band and collect coins and join the fun, this is truly a triumph of modern park design. I fully admit my love of Mario biases me, but I don’t care—it was a beautiful experience.
Mario Kart: Koopa’s Challenge
Truly, this was the greatest queue line I’ve ever seen. Bowser Castle is 100% exactly what it feels like in games, I have never felt so transported into a franchise. Every inch is dripping with details and easter eggs, from book titles to models of the starting planet in Super Mario Galaxy. Even casual people can appreciate the nods to Mario Kart (who hasn’t played at least one round?) The music from the queue was the Mario Kart Wii starting music, and I did tear up eventually.
The ride itself was good, but not as incredible as I had imagined. It’s not a real go-kart of course, and the game mechanic felt a bit obtuse. Regardless, I had more fun than I could have imagined, and I almost wished we didn’t use the express pass so we could spend more time in the queue line.
Minion Park
Minion Park is one of the newer additions to the Universal parks; Universal Studios Japan added it in 2017. There are a few kids rides as well as restaurants and food stalls. Even though it felt a little bare, the theming was very impressive. The houses and buildings perfectly captured the movie’s style, with their exaggerated curves and proportions. It’s a great place for pictures.
Despicable Me: Minion Mayhem
Our first ride was Minion Mayhem. This motion simulator ride transforms you into a minion and sends you flying through zany adventures at breakneck speed. We weren’t prepared for how intense it would be. While motion simulators are usually fun, they don’t typically feel 100% real, especially when they’re stationary like this one. But several times I felt my stomach leave my body as we lurched through the evil lair, it was a fun and intense experience! I recommend you give it a ride if you have time, and don’t skip out like I wanted to.
Amity Village
Amity Village is the most quiet part of Universal Studios Japan, with only restaurants and shops nearby. However, I recommend this area for some peace and quiet because the water is very relaxing, and the area near the exit of Jaws is very slow. That being said, there’s not actually that much to do here, so if you’re not planning on riding Jaws you might not need to visit Amity Village at all. There’s a photo-op with the shark for some reason, but the 15 minute line was definitely not worth it.
Jaws
The main ride in Amity Village is Jaws, aptly named after the Jaws franchise. This is one of the classic Universal rides, and it’s too old for spoilers. You’ll see the shark, and you’ll get splashed. It’s not overly thrilling, but hearing the cute little Japanese girl scream about the shark and then shoot it, made for an unexpected audio-visual experience.
Jurassic Park
Jurassic Park is another classic area of Universal Studios, home to Jurassic Park The Ride, and The Flying Dinosaur. How many times can I say the word Jurassic in this article? Jurassic Park The Ride was closed for seasonal maintenance when we visited, so the area was a bit dead, save for the screams from the coaster above.
The Flying Dinosaur
I’ll be honest, I’m a huge roller coaster lover, but Yemisi is NOT. She hates heights, she hates speed, and she hates intense rides. I can not tell you how she got on this ride but she did. The coaster is a very intense flying coaster with a near-vertical drop and several large inversions. For me, it was a highlight of the year, but Yemisi couldn’t tell you anything about it because her eyes were closed the whole time. Regardless, we both survived and had a great ride, and we’re glad we did it. It’s one of the smoothest flying coasters I’ve been on and the transitions were amazing and unexpected.
Hollywood
Hollywood is the main area of the park and the first place you enter. There are many streets with stores, rides, stalls, and pop-up events. We hadn’t intended to stay here long but there were multiple times we found ourselves coming back to this area because it’s so lively and has lots of food like Shwab’s Pharmacy.
Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba XR Ride
For a limited time in 2024 and 2025, Demon Slayer had several exclusive events and rides at Universal Studios Japan. Yemisi knows a little bit about Demon Slayer, but I do not know literally anything about this franchise. When we saw the ride was limited time and our express pass covered it, we decided to take the usual 3-hour wait and turn it into 15 minutes. Sadly this ride is no longer available, but it’s likely to be replaced by a similar attraction so keep your eyes peeled.
The story seemed really cool, even though I don’t know Japanese. But the ride itself was the star of the show. I have never ridden a VR coaster, so I didn’t expect much. The coaster itself was intense and way faster than I had imagined, and the VR enhanced the experience so much. If I get the chance I will absolutely ride another VR coaster.
The Wizarding World of Harry Potter
If you were raised like me, you weren’t allowed to watch Harry Potter as a kid. So sadly, we didn’t have much context for this iconic area, however as soon as we walked in we knew it was special. The architecture of The Wizarding World is astounding and the immersion was next to none. The magic was in the air and we got some butterbeer and explored the square. We didn’t have time to get wands, but if we were Harry Potter fans I’m sure it would have meant everything to us.
Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey
The theming going into the castle was unbelievable. I’m not sure I’ve ever felt so immersed in a queue line. When we sat down I thought the ride would be very simple, but I was shocked when we lifted in the air and flew over the castle! I really felt transported to the Wizarding World like no other ride. If there’s one thing Universal excels at with rides, it’s immersive projections. When we got to the Death Eaters, I realized why my mom didn’t let me watch it, that was scary stuff lol. I do recommend this ride though, it was one of our favorites because of its amazing magical story.
Castle Walkthrough
If you don’t want to (or can’t) ride the ride but want to experience the immersion of the castle, you are allowed to walk through by entering the normal line. At a point, you can split off and simply go through the normal queue without having to ride anything. You get to see the great visual effects of the interior of the castle yourself, all the way up until the loading area. We were a bit confused because it seemed like we might be in line again accidentally, but right at the end they let us cross the path and out of the castle. There are even some areas you wouldn’t otherwise see on this route.
Final Thoughts
Universal Studios Japan absolutely surprised us. We have always regarded Universal parks as a step down from Disney, but this was in our top 2 parks of all time, tied with Disney Sea. Maybe it’s something in Japan, but everything from the food, rides, and atmosphere was incredible here. Sadly, we visited just 8 days before the opening of the brand-new Donkey Kong Country, which would have been amazing to witness. But that just means we have to come back one day. We’re so glad we took a day of our visit for USJ and we know you’ll have an amazing time if you visit as well.
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