Universal Studios Japan Visit in February. Please help

[greenkai3000]

So this will be my very visit to Osaka and USJ. I unfortunately had to make reservations in Osaka for Saturday and Sunday, in the middle of February. I'm pretty sure this means big time crowds at the park.

Is there a realistic plan of attack for us to enjoy USJ as much as possible, crowds and all? We have been to both Universal Orlando , and Universal Studios Hollywood. We likely won't be spending extra on Express Passes. So, What day is better to visit, Saturday or Sunday? Are there any rides we shouldn't miss? Treats or food we should definitely try? Anything unique to USJ worth standing in line for? How early should we get to the gets if we are staying on property?

Thanks in advance.

 

[Agent 86]

I'd have to recommend the Express Passes. I most recently went on a weekday and it was extremely busy. On a weekend, without the Express Passes, I think you'll be waiting in lines for a long time.

You can get "reserved entry" to the Harry Potter area when it's busy. But, that doesn't mean that you won't have to wait an hour or more to ride the main attraction within that area of the park.

I think tdrexplorer.com has some guides on Universal Studios which you should read.

Otherwise, my main guide would be: arrive early. Oddly the park gates sometimes open up to an hour earlier than the scheduled opening time. Head straight for the Flying Dinosaur. It's quite a distance from the entrance, but walk as quickly as possible. Ride it twice in a row if the line isn't too long by the time you get off. Then grab a "timed entry" for the Harry Potter area.

After that, check wait times for the Hollywood coaster, Spider-Man, new Minions ride, etc. Get in the line for the shortest wait times.

I like eating in the Harry Potter area for the theming, but I wasn't overly impressed with our meals. They were expensive, plain and small. I much prefer the meals in the US Harry Potter parks which is very surprising as Tokyo Disney has great food.

Good luck!

 

[greenkai3000]

I'd have to recommend the Express Passes. I most recently went on a weekday and it was extremely busy. On a weekend, without the Express Passes, I think you'll be waiting in lines for a long time.

You can get "reserved entry" to the Harry Potter area when it's busy. But, that doesn't mean that you won't have to wait an hour or more to ride the main attraction within that area of the park.

I think tdrexplorer.com has some guides on Universal Studios which you should read.

Otherwise, my main guide would be: arrive early. Oddly the park gates sometimes open up to an hour earlier than the scheduled opening time. Head straight for the Flying Dinosaur. It's quite a distance from the entrance, but walk as quickly as possible. Ride it twice in a row if the line isn't too long by the time you get off. Then grab a "timed entry" for the Harry Potter area.

After that, check wait times for the Hollywood coaster, Spider-Man, new Minions ride, etc. Get in the line for the shortest wait times.

I like eating in the Harry Potter area for the theming, but I wasn't overly impressed with our meals. They were expensive, plain and small. I much prefer the meals in the US Harry Potter parks which is very surprising as Tokyo Disney has great food.

Good luck!

Thanks for the advise. The longest I've ever waited in line was to ride Forbidden Journey in Florida (a 90 min wait), and I've eating at the Leaky Cauldron at Universal Orlando and the food is incredible. I think I'll skip eating there at USJ , but will still try to ride FJ there though.

Is Jaws worth a long wait? I never got to experience it in FL

 

[Agent 86]

Is Jaws worth a long wait? I never got to experience it in FL

It's ... fun in an old fashioned kind of way. The practical effects (water, fire, etc) are pretty decent.

I'd be happy to wait ... 15 to 20 minutes to ride it. I'm not sure I would wait any longer unless I was really bored and had ridden most other rides in the park.

But, I think everyone values rides and their personal maximum wait times for those rides differently.

 

[Nomarian]

Our family visited last year, but we did it over the weekday instead of the weekend. We purchased the Express Pass for one of the two days we were there and glad we did. If you have done Harry Potter in the US, then you are not missing much in USJ. We have done both parks in the US and while we did not make HP a priority in USJ, we did ride on it when the wait times were low which tended to be close to closing. I can tell you that for a weekday, we thought the parks were very busy and most rides were at least 90-120 minutes because the park is smaller and there are a lot of people. We stayed at the Park Hotel which is right outside the gates, so we were there first thing in the morning. We were able to hit a big ride early and then wait in line for another and the crowds were manageable. Once lunchtime hit, the ride times really climbed.

That being said, there are a lot of unique rides here that are not anywhere else. There is the Flying Dinosaur which is a very good roller coaster along with Hollywood Dream. We were lucky enough to be there during their Real Japan period and we did simulation rides for shows like Godzilla and Attack on Titan. They even had a very good VR roller coaster ride called Evangelion which my kids thought was really cool.