Osaka, Japan 2014: Universal Studios Japan (Pt 1)

Back when I was in high school and college, I used to be quite the fanatic when it comes to movies. My cinema-going record never went below “twice-a-month”. There were even times when I do cinema-hopping, which is basically moving to another cinema to catch a movie, right after I finished one. Also, just this Christmas break, I had to regretfully part with two huuuuuuge boxes of movie magazines, dating all the way back from 1998 until around 2008. I don’t know when it somehow toned itself down.

So you could just imagine how much of a treat it was for me when I went to Universal Studios Singapore a couple of years ago, and to Universal Studios Japan in Osaka just over month ago. IT. WAS. AN. ABSOLUTE. BLAST.

At 10am, I arrived at the Guesthouse where we’ll be staying in what I fondly refer to as the “Osaka leg of my Japan tour” (naks!) There, my travel buddy for the rest of the tour, Peach, met up with me. And we proceeded to Universal Studios Japan.

It was already several minutes 1pm when we arrived at the Universal City Station. I was pretty much getting psyched as I saw posters of The Wizarding World of Harry Potter all over the station.

From the station, it’s a bit of a walk through the Universal City Walk. It’s basically a boardwalk of sorts, with shops and dining areas all around. You get that “movie set” feel as you stroll along.

And then you arrive at the outer gate. You so won’t miss it.

Of course, a visit to ANY Universal Studios theme park would not be complete without taking a photo of the rotating globe. (And yes, this was a Friday. But I still wonder at the large number of kids wearing school uniforms swarming all over the place!)

Then it was time to buy our tickets, or Passes. Too bad, the Attractions Express Pass (where you won’t have to join the “lesser mortals” in long queues) was already sold out. If you’re early (which we were not, unfortunately) you can get it, on top of the Studio Pass.

In case you’re curious, here are the ticket prices.

And what did I tell you about students filling up the place? They were everywhere, wearing their seifuku, and most of them were also holding souvenir bags from the Wizarding World!

(By the way, I will be devoting another post for the Wizarding World, because it deserves its own post, yes it does.)

As usual, there are the stores, food places, and kiosks – pretty much staples in every theme park, I suppose. And there were also characters doing meet-and-greets. Like, Hello Kitty, for instance.

The first area you’d get to when you arrive is Hollywood. The main attractions here include “Hollywood Dream – The Ride – Backdrop”, which is basically a backwards roller coaster that navigates over the roof of the whole Hollywood area. So, yes, as you are walking around, you’d hear constant screams; just look up, and there’s The Ride. It has actually become part of the landscape, I suppose.

The crowd gathered are here for the daytime parade, which is called “Dreams of Fantasy Parade”, which features characters from Sesame Street… and other characters that I am openly and unabashedly admitting to not knowing because I had a very sad, sad childhood.

I’m kidding. I was a kid with different interests, is all. And I grew older not really giving all that much of care for them. Haha!

Here are some images from the parade.

After the parade, we decided to go around, since our scheduled entry to the Wizarding World isn’t for a while yet.

The Universal Wonderland area is, decidedly, for the younger demographic. See, it’s got all sorts of stuff devoted to Snoopy, Hello Kitty, and Sesame Street.

I admit that Peach and I got lost in Universal Wonderland. Haha! It is my theory that all that kiddy-land cutesy stuff just went right over our heads, and stayed there, clouding our common sense. At one point, we were like, “HOW DO WE GET OUT OF HERE.” So we asked a staff manning one of the attractions where the exit is, and she pointed… to where we just came from.

Yes. I suppose the “child” in me isn’t the same as the “child” in others. *self-deprecating smile*

(To be continued in another post…)