I am going to mess the timelines again, and revisit some of the drafts from 2 years ago *cue evil maniacal laugh*

Ok, so I have no idea what or why I suddenly stopped writing and posting last 2023 that I am suddenly left with a lot of drafts waiting to be finished 🤷 Anyhoo, let's just get on with it.

It was the Trinidads' first time in Kyoto, so of course going to Fushimi Inari is a must. Unlike Ken and I's first time in Kyoto, Fushimi Inari had less people - which is understandable since it was days before the world will be shut down due to COVID-19. Another difference is the temperature, because oh boy it was sweltering! At that time, I was only craving for one thing - AIRCONDITIONER! 

Love Always,

Nicole

There's absolutely no exaggeration here, Japan is hell during summer! It's sweltering and humid, and worst is there are A LOT of people visiting the park, both locals and foreigners. Since it's summer vacation for kids, you can expect a lot of families visiting the park, and that equates to loooooooooong queues 🥹

Going back to the suggestion to go early, another tip/learning is:

4. If you didn't buy those additional passes, you can still get a pass to go to Super Nintendo World.

✨Here's the thing, we were able to enter the park at around 9 a.m. already, and the first thing we did is to look for the place that gives out Area Timed Entry Ticket to Super Nintendo World. We did experience some hiccups in finding the spot since as per an article we also read it just said go to the Central Park, but what the writer didn't say is to go to the Central Park and look for this trashcan-looking machines:

Hahahaha hi Jay 😂

Usually there are park staff in that area to assist you in getting passes, but make sure you have your ticket or QR code ready for this. As you can see in the photo above the schedule we got is at 7 p.m. already and the park closes at 10 p.m. LOL 🥹✨ but hey at least we get to have a chance to check it out!

From what I know there's also a chance for you to apply for the lottery, but at that time I didn't have the energy to ask the park staff how it works because we wanted to hop on a ride already!

5.  If you have the money, buy express passes.
✨Now this is something that I am considering now for my next visit to Universal Studios! I feel like 35-40% of our time in the park was spent waiting in lines, and while waiting in line is a common thing in amusement parks, waiting in line under the scorching father sun is not fun.

Already hungry at this point

I kinda underestimated the amount of queueing we will be doing given that I assumed it will be the same as the time we went there 3 years ago, literally days before the world shut down due to Covid-19. At that time, there were still some long queues but not to the point we had to wait an hour for a ride, and waiting an hour for a ride has been a norm during this recent visit. Imagine how much time we could have saved and be able to try out more rides if we had express pass 🤔🤔🤔

Mukhang batang yagit hahahaha 😂🤣

6. Keep yourself hydrated!

✨ I remember while we were in line for the Harry Potter ride a Japanese woman fainted because of the heat! It's important to keep yourself hydrated by bringing along a tumbler with you- yes they do allow bringing empty,  EMPTY tumblers in the park as long as it's standard size only (Those massive 1 gallon Hydroflasks are not allowed). You can fill your tumbler with water in water fountains which are scattered across the park, or buy bottled water from Vending machines-but remember the mark-up on food inside the park is sooo high 🥹🥹🥹

7. If you intend to buy lots of merch, best to go and cover all rides first then go back and buy it. Aside from preventing buyer's remorse by having some time to think before buying a product, it's also less hassle for you to not bring a lot of stuff everywhere. Not all rides have lockers in them, so just imagine bringing lots of shopping bags with you on a ride 😑 But if you are absolutely sure you wanna buy the merch already but worry that you'll be bringing so much stuff, there is an option to rent out a locker near the entrance of the park, however you can only open it once otherwise you'll be paying an additional ¥500.

8. Respect park rules, if the staff told you that recording and taking photos are not allowed put your phone back in your bag or pocket. There are some rides that won't allow you to take photos or videos like the one in the Jaws ride.

9. Food and drinks are expensive inside the park, but if you'll be spending the whole day here you really have to splurge. Skipping on meals while on a busy day at the park is a daft thing to do, so better allot a budget for meals, snacks, and drinks. Luckily, the Trinidads treated us to lunch with these Jaws pizza and drinks ✨ Hihi thank you, Jay and Gene 💗

11. Wear sunscreen!!!!! You see, Universal Studios Japan is predominantly an outdoor park hence even when queueing for a ride you are exposed to the sun-yes in broad daylight at 12 noon. Make sure you have sunscreen with you so you can re-apply every hour! Oh and if you can, bring a small umbrella with you! We didn't bring one and after that day I was 2 shades darker hahahaha!

12. If you want to ride the Jurassic Park ride (not the Flying Dinosaur one, ok?) and you have no plans of getting wet I suggest you buy a rain poncho or raincoat from Daiso prior to your trip and bring it with you to the park. You see, the Daiso raincoat is sold at ¥100 but in the park they sell plastic rain ponchos for ¥400! But because of the heat that day, we decided to succumb to the huge possibility of getting wet, and after the ride we were soaked 🌊

My second cup. My blood sugar was abnormal that day 🥴

13. Skip the Minions ride, it's not worth the long queue.

Ken told me to smile, I am just being obedient here.

saya yarn?

14. If you are reading this in October 2023 and you're about to go to Universal Studios Japan within 3 months I urge you to ride this attraction because by 2024 they will be permanently shutting down this ride. Aside from you'll never get to ride this again, the ride itself has got to be one of the best ones in Universal Studios Japan! I have ridden this twice and both times I thoroughly enjoyed it! I mean we even bought our photo there hahahaha!

15. Universal Studios Japan does seasonal themed rides, during our visit there was a Jujustu Kaizen  and Doraemon ride and they sell exclusive merch of the anime. Unfortunately, I am not a fan of these animes and sadly I missed out on 2 animes I love that they featured before, namely Spy x Family and Sailor moon 🥹

16. The Wizarding World of Harry Potter at night is magical ✨ Oh and those butter beers are very sweet hahaha! Also, I would definitely suggest getting the option with free reusable mug because they make good souvenirs too! I didn't buy two mugs since I already have one at home so I opted to save a couple of yens by getting the plain disposable one. Also, they do accept card payment for the butter beers, so no need to worry if you don't have anymore yens with you.

17. The power bands are quite expensive to be honest. At first I wasn't really eager to buy one since I'm not sure when are we going to visit the park and use this again-definitely not any time soon, hence my apprehension to purchase a snappy childish wrist band. Ken, on the other hand, is adamant on buying it and defending how much we will be missing out on rides if we didn't buy it... surprise! We didn't really missed out on anything hahaha! You can "enjoy" the park without a power band 🤷🏻‍♀️ I guess the other use I have for this is with my Nintendo Switch 🥴

18. You'll "enjoy" Super Nintendo World. This one is very subjective per every person who visited considering various factors. In my case, I didn't really enjoy this part of the park because of multiple reasons below:

A. We got into the Super Nintendo World at 7 p.m. as dictated in our pass, and because of how deliriously long the queues are in everything (food included), we weren't able to grab a snack before going there. Having dinner at the restaurant inside the Super Nintendo World is also impossible given how many people have probably queued to get a table.

B. There were a lot of people to the point that you can't really do a lot of those mini interactions with your power bands on items scattered around the park. If you see a yellow question block, chances are there's a long queues before you can punch it and get some points.

C. The Bowser ride's queue is soooooon long that it took us an hour and a half before we get into the 5-6 minute ride! At the time we were in the line I was already feeling the sunk cost fallacy where even though I already want to sit in a bench and call it a night I still pushed my wits end thinking we have already spent 30 minutes queueing! But the biggest question here is, is the Bowser ride worth it? No. I had so much problems with it, one would be the head gear is too heavy and the detachable glasses for the 3D effect isn't working well with my glasses 🥹🥺 I guess if you go here wear contact lenses instead 🤷🏻‍♀️.

But overall it was a neat looking part of the park 👌 If you are a massive Super Mario fan you'll love it! They also sell good merch 🫰

19. Unlike Disneyland, Universal Studios Japan does not have a nightly parade before the whole park closes down. Apparently, I checked in the official website and they haven't had their parade since Feb. 2020!!! It's sad because their parade was quite fun, especially seeing the dinosaurs and fake Chris Pratt run around scaring kids hahaha!

20. Considering that the park doesn't really have a parade to cap off the night, I suggest to leave the park earlier than the closing time just in case you'd like to eat at one of the restaurants or even grabbing a snack from the nearest conbini. The restaurants outside the park close earlier than the closing time of the park, while the conbini outside was soooo packed that we didn't even dare try to go inside it. 

Also, take in consideration the amount of people who'll be taking the train to go back home or to go back to their respective hotels! Unlike in other countries like in USA where most people have their own cars, in Japan most rely on public transportation so you can just imagine how packed the trains were leaving the USJ station!

Aaaaand that's it! I may have sounded a bit negative on this blog post and may have discourage anyone reading this from going to Universal Studios Japan, however that is not my aim, I promise! In fact, I really think Universal Studios Japan should be a staple in everyone's itinerary when going to Osaka- Just make sure not to go during the summer season 😆