A Fun-Filled Day at Universal Studios Japan

Welcome back to Team Tala Travels, and in this blog, we will share with you our fun-filled day at Universal Studios Japan!

This blog is just the first chapter of our 3-part Osaka blog series. So, if you want to get notified when the next blog is out, please subscribe to our newsletter!

Are you ready to join us in our USJ adventure? Let’s begin!

Universal Studios Japan

What better way to start our Japan trip other than visiting one of the most amazing theme parks in the world— Universal Studios! 

Tala, our daughter, is so excited to go to this place because many of her classmates consider USJ as their favorite place on Earth! She wanted to find out for herself what the buzz of Universal Studios is about, and USJ did not disappoint! 

As a fan of theme parks, I, myself, enjoyed Universal Studios Japan, too! Sesame Street characters, the minions, the Peanuts gang, and the Hippogriff from Harry Potter are just some of the must-see attractions that you will spot around the park! 

We spent the whole day at Universal Studios Japan, and this is how our day went.

Morning to Midday: Wonderland

We arrived at Universal Studios Japan at around 9:30 am. There is a long walk from the Universal Studios train station all the way to the entrance of the theme park. On the way, you will pass by Universal Studios City Walk, where you will see many shops and restaurants that you can go to before or after enjoying the theme park. 

We went straight away to the Wonderland area, where most of the rides for kids are. You will find the following rides here: Flying Snoopy, Moppy’s Balloon, Hello Kitty’s Cupcake Dream, Big Bird’s Top Circus, Elmo’s Little Drive, Elmo’s Skate Kart, and Elmo’s Imagination Playland, where Tala and Emman enjoyed a ride on Elmo’s Bubble Bubble water train ride. 

There are also a couple of food shops to explore around the area. For lunch, we went to Snoopy’s Backlot Cafe and ordered their kiddie meals, with chicken nuggets, mini burgers, fries, and pancakes as options. 

Afternoon: The Wizarding World of Harry Potter + Arcade Games + Souvenir Shops

The Wizarding World of Harry Potter

Next, we went to The Wizarding World of Harry Potter, where we stepped into the magical world of Hogwarts. There are thrilling roller coaster rides disguised as rides on the back of Buckbeak the hippogriff! Of course, we did not try it as Tala is too young and short for the ride. 

The Hogsmeade area is spectacular, as well! Snow-covered roofs, smoke-emitting Hogwarts express and a real-life train captain, interactive shops, a Quidditch pitch, and a Butterbeer stall are just some of the fascinating attractions within the area! 

And of course, standing high and proud is the Hogwarts castle, complete with a moat around it to protect against intruders. 

As a Harry Potter fan, I can say that this is my favorite area in Universal Studios Japan! 

Watch: Team Tala Travels to Harry Potter Studio in London

Pro-tip:

On-the-go food items at USJ are expensive! If you are traveling with a child who is constantly hungry and asking for snacks, opt to bring a few packs of crackers with you. Look for benches around the park and sit for a bit while your kid munches on snacks. Bring a refillable water bottle, too. There are refilling stations around the park if you run out of drinking water. 

Arcade Games

There are arcade-style games that are scattered around Universal Studios. They are entertaining to watch, and we did watch for several minutes. We also contemplated if we will play at least one game, but after a lot of observing, we realized the games are too hard (or nearly impossible!) to win! We actually did not witness any player win in any of the arcade games! Nah, let’s just use our 1500 yen for something else! 

Souvenir Shops

There are also many souvenir shops strategically placed all over the park. Usually, there is a souvenir shop outside a USJ attraction. There is a Minions shop inside the Minion Park, a SanRio store near the Hello Kitty Cupcake Dream ride, and a Sesame Street shop in the Wonderland area. There is also a big souvenir shop near the theme park’s exit where you can see all merchandise of USJ characters, including Super Mario items, Snoopy, Harry Potter, and everything else! 

Typical of Tala, she just looked around almost all the souvenir shops, tinkered with almost all items, but decided not to buy anything. “I don’t need any of these.” Good training, Nanay and Tatay! Haha

Pro-tip:

Do not buy souvenir items right away unless you found one that you are really looking for. Wait until you get to the big souvenir shop near the exit for more options to choose from. The smaller shops outside each attraction have limited merchandise only.

Evening: Minion Park + Churros 

We did not intentionally go to Minion Park in the evening, but because it was so far away from Wonderland and the rest of the park attractions, we went there last. But, if you have a choice, I am imagining this place to be a lot better to go to during the day. Why? Because you will see the minions displays more, and oh my, they are the cutest!!! 

There are a number of things to see inside the park, but the one that caught our attention was the Freeze Ray Sliders ride. You will be riding on rotating cars that do sudden turns and stops, while there is fog and water sprayed by the freeze ray above the rides. 

There is a warning that riders might get wet, but you will barely get wet. 

The warning should be “You might get dizzy!” because the sudden turns and rotations are dizzying! But it sure is fun! 

Churros

Churros are one of the most famous on-the-go food items at USJ. There are many churros stores scattered around the park, and there is always a long queue of customers! We wanted to try what the buzz is, so before leaving, we decided to line up in one of the stalls and bought ourselves a matcha green tea churros and one chocolate churros. It’s good! Each churro is priced at 650 yen or $4.3. It is pricey, but it is worth trying. 

Other Attractions

There are definitely other attractions at Universal Studios Japan, including Super Nintendo World, Jurassic Park, and the Water World. But we decided not to go to these areas so we could focus on child-friendly rides and on attractions that are familiar to Tala. We did not go to these areas, but we had so much fun nonetheless! 

This marks the end of our first day in Osaka! To more fun-filled days ahead! 

Watch our Universal Studios travel vlog here!

Thank you for reading this far! Don’t forget to subscribe to our newsletter for Days 2 and 3 of our 3-day Osaka itinerary! Remember, this is Team Tala Travels!