Universal Studios Japan 2024

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 planned visit, I was constantly checking the park's social media pages for any news on the opening, but alas, I was too early for it. As of writing this post, the area's opening has been delayed to the 2nd half of 2024.

Aside from Super Nintendo World, I was also in time for the seasonal event Universal Cool Japan 2024, which saw the addition of 4 anime-themed shows and attractions, of which 3 did not require additional charges - Detective Conan 4D Live Show: Jewel Under the Starry Sky, My Hero Academia: The Real 4D and Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba XR Ride. The attractions that required additional fees were the Monster Hunter XR Walk and escape room Detective Conan: The Escape, along with several themed restaurant experiences.

Having ridden the Final Fantasy XR Ride back in May 2018, I knew the XR overlay to the Space Fantasy ride was not going to disappoint. I also decided to start watching the Demon Slayer anime series as it was available on Netflix and quickly became a fan. As I began monitoring the daily wait times, I noticed that Demon Slayer always attracted insane queues of over 200 minutes on some days. 

When planning my visit, I was quite bummed to find out that both Hollywood Dream and Backdrop were closed for maintenance across the duration of my trip, so there was no way to plan around that. The Studio Pass was going at ¥8,600, as compared to ¥7,600 pre-pandemic. While I thought this was fairly reasonable, it was a different story with the Express Passes. Despite many of them being listed as "¥7,800 and up" on the website, the actual retail prices of the various Express Passes were mostly going at nearly double that. However, given I did not wish to deal with 2-hour waits for any rides, and the opening hours on my date of visit were slightly shorter (9am to 7pm), I decided to get the Express Pass 4 Variety Ride, which set me back ¥15,800. The pass included the following rides:

1. Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba XR Ride
2. Mario Kart: Koopa's Challenge
3. Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey
4. The Flying Dinosaur OR Jaws OR Hollywood Dream

I had originally planned to get to the park by 7.30am, but got confused and boarded the wrong train at Osaka station. It had the USJ livery but turned out to be travelling in the opposite direction of the Osaka Loop Line. Eventually I made it to the park gates 15 minutes later than planned. As I had expected, they opened the park gates at 8am, a full hour ahead of schedule. However, with the long lines at the entrance and the slow security clearance, I only got in at about 8:25am. An interesting note is that Tokyo Disney Resort has security clearance done separately, making the entry process a lot smoother and faster.

Nevertheless, despite a slightly longer than expected wait to enter the park, I was still able to clear several rides quickly. Here's a rundown of all the rides, shows, food and merch that I got to that day, in order of experiencing them.

1. Jaws - 0 mins | 7/10
   
   Obviously I wanted to save my Express Pass for The Flying Dinosaur so I went straight to Jaws and got on with zero wait. A fun start to the day, although I felt that my skipper wasn't as dramatic or animated with their commentary as compared to my previous visit.
   
   
2. Despicable Me: Minion Mayhem - 15 mins | 6/10
   
   It was still before 9am when I entered the line, and I eventually only waited a short while to ride this. I wanted to clear this soon as I didn't feel this ride was worth waiting any longer for, especially since it's also opening soon in Singapore.
   
   
3. The Flying Dinosaur - 15 mins (Express) / 30 mins (Single Rider) | 10/10
   
   I was mildly anxious while waiting to enter the park, as many rides had already started operating before 9am but Flying Dinosaur was still listed as "Out of Service". Given Hollywood Dream's closure it would have been an absolute disappointment if this ride wasn't available for the day. Thank goodness it opened at ~9am.
   
   For my first ride, I decided to join the Single Rider line and waited approximately 30 mins. As with past visits, the Single Rider line here moves exceptionally and excruciatingly slowly, but still saves you a bit of time in general. Of note, they have a new locker zone prior to boarding, though I can't really comment on how effective it is in speeding up operations. Previously you could bring your bags to the platform and then place them on the storage racks right as you board. I was lucky enough to get a back row ride, and it was amazing!
   
   Immediately after my first ride, I saw that the standby wait had already gone up to 95 minutes, so I decided to clock in my 2nd ride using my Express Pass. This time boarding was a breeze, and I was in and out in just over 15 minutes.
   
   
4. Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey - 10 mins (Express) | 8/10
   
   Yet another small cause for concern was the unexpected closure of this ride for 4 consecutive days prior to my visit. Thankfully they fixed whatever issues there were, if not I wonder if there would have been any compensation or alternative pass provided given that my Express Pass had included this ride.
   
   Possibly partly due to the unscheduled closure on the preceding days, the ride had high wait times throughout most of the day. The standby wait time was at 100 mins, while my Express pass cut that down to 10 minutes.
   
   The locker area was a mad squeeze though, as those entering and exiting the ride are all packed in the small, narrow confined space trying to either deposit or retrieve their belongings at the same time. Perhaps the park could find better ways to control the crowds here. Otherwise, it was another fun ride that doesn't get boring to me despite having done it multiple times on previous visits.
   
   On a side note, the guy seated next to me was probably some hardcore fan as he was waving and cheering frantically at various ride scenes, but I shall not judge. Also, the ride stopped right around the giant spider part as we were tilted slightly upwards. The ride resumed shortly after, so I suspect there wasn't actually any malfunction but they had to pause the ride to board a PWD who had entered the ride around the same time as me. The same thing happened to me on Haunted Mansion at Disneyland last year.
   
   
5. My Hero Academia: The Real 4D - 20 mins | 7/10
   
   Without having any context about the attraction, or the My Hero Academia franchise, I still found this show fairly entertaining, with a nice rock soundtrack and decent 4D effects. Given this is a ~20 min show with high capacity, the wait time was as low as it gets. I might well consider starting on this anime in the near future.
   
   
6. Studio Stars Restaurant (Demon Slayer) - 0 mins | 8/10
   
   Earlier at around 11.30am, while still in the Wizarding World of Harry Potter, I considered having lunch at the Three Broomsticks, as I did in 2019, but there was already a long line at the restaurant. So, I decided to try a different (and limited edition) meal this time. The Studio Stars Restaurant was serving Rengoku's dishes, and there was no wait at all!
   
   I got the Beef Sukiyaki and Baked Curry meal for ¥2,400. Honestly, I thought it was a great meal for theme park standards.
   
   
   
   
7. Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba XR Ride - 20 mins (Express) | 9/10
   
   This is actually the 2nd time the Demon Slayer ride was brought to USJ. The first time was around 2021-2022 before Japan reopened to international visitors. Given the immense popularity of the franchise, the peak waiting times for this ride were constantly between 180-200 minutes since it opened on Feb 1 2024, only dropping slightly after the spring break season. Having jumped on board the hype (Mugen) train for this series as well not too long ago, I was quite excited for this ride.
   
   I was wondering how they would scan my Express Pass on my phone given that we had to store our bags in the free lockers, but it turns out that you can still keep small items in your pockets for this ride. With the Express Pass you jump straight to the photobooth area, where your souvenir photo is taken. After which, you merge with the regular line to get ready for boarding, which still takes about 15 minutes. 
   
   The ride itself was really enjoyable, as the VR goggles really immerse you in the Demon Slayer universe. It also makes the ride feel a bit faster and more intense than regular Space Fantasy ride, albeit without any spinning.
   
   
   
   
   
8. Super Nintendo World / Mario Kart: Koopa's Challenge - 10 mins (Express) | 8/10
   
   My timed entry for Super Nintendo World was at 1.30pm, and so was my Express Pass time slot for Mario Kart. To be honest, I momentarily forgot about this until it was almost time to get in. It was also at this moment that I realised I didn't know where exactly the Super Nintendo World entrance walkway was. At the same time, huge throngs of people were walking in the opposite direction, which I assume was because one of the Waterworld shows had just ended. After slightly stressing for a short minute, I was in line to enter Super Nintendo World.
   
   The crowds were pretty crazy, and it was the same case inside the area - all the interactive activities and games had substantial lines. Luckily I managed to navigate to the Mario Kart ride easily thereafter. With no chance of getting on the Donkey Kong ride this trip, I was pleasantly surprised by my experience on the Mario Kart ride. I generally don't fancy interactive rides like this, and would rather just enjoy a ride as it is without having to do anything. That being said, I did ultimately also enjoy Tokyo Disneyland's Monsters Inc. ride which had a shooting element during my 2023 visit there.
   
   The addition of the AR visors does make for quite an immersive ride experience, and it doesn't take too long to get the hang of how the controls work. I was also glad I did enough to get the 2nd highest score among the 4 people in my kart.
   
   
9. Yoshi's Snack Island - 5 mins | 5/10
   
   After I was done with Mario Kart, I headed down to Yoshi's Adventure but with a 65 min posted wait, I didn't feel like waiting that long for a slow ride. The restaurant Kinopio's Cafe also had a crazy line to enter (looked like at least 30 mins). Instead, although I wasn't particularly hungry, I decided to try out a snack at Yoshi's Snack Island after seeing it on YouTube. I got the ¥800 green calzone with a yakisoba and cheese filling. I didn't really fancy it, finding it to be rather jelak.
   
   
10. Elmo's Go-Go Skateboard - 10 mins (Yoyakunori) | 5/10
    
    I decided to check out Universal Wonderland, essentially USJ's kiddie area, for the first time after finding out about the Yoyakunori system, which is a free reserve and ride system that is available for this and several other rides in the Wonderland area. The standby wait time was around 35 minutes during my reservation slot. Ultimately the ride itself wasn't particularly exciting but at least I got to check off a new ride experience for the trip.
    
    
11. Detective Conan 4D Live Show - 40 mins | 6/10
    
    This brand-new show opened in March 2024, replacing Terminator 2: 3D. The posted wait times pretty much stayed constant at 40 mins throughout the day, though it didn't feel particularly long. This show has an even higher capacity than My Hero Academia, so they are able to pack hundreds of guests in the theatre at one go.
    
    I personally thought the show was just okay, though the live element did enhance the overall experience slightly, as compared to My Hero Academia. However, I did feel that the plot was less exciting than its predecessor Terminator. Given it occupied the same show building and thus the same show technology, I should have seen one of the big surprises coming, but it still came as a slight surprise.
    
    
12. (More) The Flying Dinosaur - 40-60 mins (Single Rider) / 35 mins (Standby, end-of-day) | 10/10
    + Demon Slayer Ride Photo / Merchandise
    
    After clearing most of the other rides, I came back at around 4pm for several more rides on The Flying Dinosaur, and the Single Rider wait time went up to 40 and 60 minutes respectively on 2 consecutive rides. By the time I was done, it was already about 6pm.
    
    I decided to head back to Demon Slayer before the park closed. On one hand, I wanted to check out my photo as there was a long line after my ride. Even though my photo looked pretty average, I decided to just get it anyway, at a rather steep price tag of ¥2,000. On the other hand, I was also planning to get some souvenirs, and decided on a tin of Demon Slayer cookies as it was good for sharing.
    
    I managed to get the merch I wanted fairly quickly, and realised that I might actually have time for one last ride. A quick check on the USJ app showed that the Flying Dinosaur wait had dropped to about 45 minutes for Standby, so I sprinted back before they closed the line off for the day. In the end, I only had to wait about 35 minutes for my last ride. As always, I had a lot of fun on this ride, regardless of which row I was assigned to, though the front or back rows are even better.
    
    Another random note was that I spotted a cracked Apple Watch on the ground near the end of the ride during my later rides. That's really too bad, as whoever it was probably didn't secure their watch strap properly. Interestingly on Thunder Dolphin at Tokyo Dome City they actually require that you remove your watches on the ride, but not here.

All in all, it was a great day out at USJ. The weather turned out to be nice and sunny despite a gloomy forecast. I was also happy to have experienced a decent number of new/seasonal rides and shows this time. It was the most I'd spent at USJ across all my visits, mainly due to the exorbitantly priced Express Pass, but the significant time savings of 4x 80-100 minutes definitely still made it worthwhile.