The nameless passerby

Having visited Universal Studios Japan in April this year, I was not really in a big rush to return so soon, or so I thought. There was still no word on Donkey Kong Country's opening (due by 2024), and that was one of the draws for me when planning my April visit, as it was originally announced for a Spring 2024 opening.  However, after looking up the seasonal event lineup, I quite spontaneously decided to make another trip in October. I am not a horror fan, so Halloween Horror Nights was not high up on my list of things to do - I have never attended HHN in Universal Studios Singapore either. That being said, the Halloween event at USJ seemed to be fairly tame in comparison to the Singapore event in terms of scare level, with only 1 haunted house this year - Chucky's Carnival of Chaos, along with other shows and character greetings featuring Hami-Kuma and Pokémon.  Meanwhile, the Demon Slayer XR Ride also made its return after the successful Mugen Train overlay earlier in the y

The time had finally come for me to revisit Universal Studios Japan again in April 2024. Since my last visit before the COVID-19 pandemic, the park had seen major changes, with multiple high-profile ride closures, including Backdraft, Terminator 2: 3D and Spider-Man, all of which I had experienced in 2019. Jurassic Park: The Ride is also undergoing a major renovation until 2025 (probably Jurassic World re-theme). Meanwhile, the park also saw its most anticipated expansion of all-time, with the opening of Super Nintendo World in 2021. While I was never a fan of Super Mario, the park announced in Dec 2023 that the new Donkey Kong area was slated to open in Spring 2024. That got me extremely excited as the new Mine Cart Madness roller coaster had a very interesting and groundbreaking ride technology - giving riders the sensation of jumping over gaps in the track with the actual track hidden from view. It was an experience that I was eagerly anticipating. As the days drew closer to my pla

Known for its record-breaking roller coasters, Fuji-Q Highland is a theme park located near Kawaguchiko, with great views of Mount Fuji. As a big fan of roller coasters, this theme park has always been on my bucket list of attractions in Japan, and I finally got to visit it for the first time in December 2022. Due to a variety of reasons, I ended up going back to the park just 3 days after my first visit that month, and again during a separate trip to Tokyo in May 2023. Getting There and Admission Getting to Fuji-Q is a fairly straightforward process. The two most viable options are to take the Fuji Excursion Limited Express train from Shinjuku, or take the Expressway Bus from Tokyo Station. Both options take approximately 2 hours. While the bus is the cheaper option at about c2000 for a one-way trip, the Fuji Excursion is worthwhile for holders of the Tokyo Wide Pass. The park is technically free to enter for those not intending to take any of the rides (or prefer to pay per ride), wh

Having visited Tokyo Disneysea twice in the past, I decided on my most recent trip in May 2023 to check out the more classic of the two parks at the Tokyo Disney Resort. Even on a Wednesday, the park was quite crowded, though considerably more manageable than my prior experiences at Disneysea when I visited in December 2016 and December 2022.  I arrived just after 8am when the park was due to open at 9am, and the lines at the park gates were already massive. Thankfully they opened the gates at 8.30am and I cleared the line to enter within 10 minutes. My Top 5 Rides Splash Mountain Since I was planning to get Premier Access for the Beauty and the Beast ride, I headed straight for Splash Mountain as it was the second-most popular ride in the park. I entered the queue at about 8.45am but the ride only started operating at 9am sharp, as with most attractions here and at Disneysea. Interestingly enough, it seems that some attractions do start early - I spotted riders (possibly Disney Hotel

A pretty spontaneous decision to travel to the Kansai area of Japan obviously meant another visit to Universal Studios. As with my last visit, I visited around the middle of the week (Thursday this time), to avoid the crowds. Admission fees were slightly higher than before due to the recent tax increase, but still manageable given it wasn't the scheduled "peak" period. I paid ¥7,600 for the basic studio pass. The express passes were much more expensive than my last visit - I forked out ¥6,300 for the 3-ride express pass, which included Space Fantasy, The Flying Dinosaur and one of either Jaws, Backdraft or Jurassic Park. (In comparison, I paid ¥6,800 for the 4-ride express pass in May 2018). I got to the park a bit earlier than last year, and it did seem to make a bit of a difference because I only waited about 15 minutes for my first ride versus almost 30 minutes last year. For the rest of the day, I managed to complete a good number of rides and even shows that I s