Universal Studios Japan: Is the Express Pass Worth It?
For London’s birthday present this year, we offered her a trip to Universal Studios Japan. Due to other travels, school holidays in this part of the world and the fact that summertime over here is hot AF, we put it off until Labor Day weekend and were able to spend 5 days traveling Osaka and Kyoto this month.
TICKETS
In late July, I went to purchase our Universal Studios tickets. I had priced them out before and they were just about $200 for all 4 of us. This is comparable to what Tokyo Disney is so I didn’t think anything of it…… until I discovered that to enter The Wizarding World of Harry Potter and Super Nintendo World you also need to purchase Express Pass tickets ON TOP of your park ticket.
I found the two graphics above from KKDAY and Klook when researching Express Pass options. These tickets are anywhere from $80-132 ON TOP of your $50 ticket. We opted for the Universal Express Pass 7. I ended up purchasing our tickets on Klook and I tried to purchase different Express Pass options but the system works against you. I could never get a 4 pass to line up time wise with a 7 pass and the whole point of going as a family was to enjoy it as a family. I found the Klook site to be more user friendly than the KKDay website. That being said, there isn’t a single pass that Millie would 100% benefit from. The Fun and Fun-Choice still left her not being able to enjoy 1 ride from each pass, but again, I couldn’t line up the time slots with the Express Pass 7.
Ticket prices and operating hours on Sunday, September 1st, 2024.
For comparison, we paid more for these tickets than the 1-day 4 Park Hopper tickets to Disneyworld for 4 people.
In my opinion, it is not an $800 experience (for 1-day pass) and it’s certainly not a $1,000 experience.
That being said, did my kids have fun? Yes, absolutely.
Would I go again? Nope.
AROUND THE PARK
When I booked our park tickets, there were none left for the Sunday we arrived or Monday, so we were booked for Wednesday. Sunday evening, after we’d checked into the hotel, walked around City Walk, and ate a late lunch, Brandon decided he wanted to buy evening passes for Universal and check it out that night. We couldn’t find these prices online but a Twilight Pass (available after 15:00) costs 6,600 yen for adults and 4,100 yen for children. (Normal one day passes are 9,400 and 5,800.) On Sunday the park was open until 9:30pm and even though it rained on us, we were able to ride a few rides and we stayed until 9:00. We were able to get a feel for the park so we’d know where to start on our day.
Super Nintendo World
The park opened at 9:00am on our day and we had a 10am time slot for Super Nintendo World. We beelined for The Flying Dinosaur rollercoaster to see if London was tall enough. Her and Brandon were able to ride it quickly, we then child swapped so I could ride it, confused the heck out of all of the employees with the child swap option and it took me 40 minutes to go through the line. We made it to Super Nintendo World just within our time slot. On the walkway into Super Nintendo World are several employees scanning your tickets to make sure you have a pass and it’s valid for the current time.
As a child of the 90’s I grew up with Super Mario brothers, so even though I was annoyed I had to pay so much to be able to visit this part of the park, I was actually looking forward to it. This area of the park is incredibly small and they cram as many people into it as possible. It was hectic. It was overcrowded. They told us to park our stroller before the entrance even though there were several stroller parking areas inside. HOWEVER there was no room to navigate a stroller anyway. There are 2 rides inside Super Nintendo World (Koopa’s Challenge and Yoshi’s adventure), meet and greets, a souvenir shop, and a restaurant. That’s it.
If you want to do the Key Challenge activity at the Piranha Plant and Koopa Troop locations, you have to purchase Power Up Band wristbands and they cost 4,900 yen (~$35). Yoshi’s Adventure is great for smaller children but it’s very slow and in the direct sunlight. Koopa’s Challenge was a virtual Mario Kart race on classic courses but I wouldn’t wait 110 minutes in line for it.
Once we * very quickly * finished in Super Nintendo World, we headed into the main park to find food and visit Universal Wonderland before heading to The Wizarding World of Harry Potter later in the afternoon.
On Sunday we managed to do a lot of the rides in Universal Wonderland which is geared towards younger kids. The lines were very short and Millie was able to get her fill of rides here. One ride that was a family favorite was Elmo’s Go-Go-Skateboard. The giant skateboard goes back and forth and then spins around several times each way. It was fun, it was enjoyable and it was just thrilling enough to give little kids a taste of a rollercoaster without any scare factor. We rode it several times on Sunday and on Wednesday. Doesn’t matter your age - don’t miss out on this ride!
The butter beers were delicious!
We walked up to The Wizarding World Of Harry Potter right at our allotted time - to find out that no one was scanning tickets for your timed entry into this area of the park. Brandon was a little annoyed to find out that we could’ve visited it on Sunday but I guess that’s also on us for not taking the time to check it that night also. It is definitely frustrating that the internet, USJ website, and ticket sales websites lead you to believe that you can only enter this area with a timed entry pass, and therefore with an express pass.
Similar to Super Nintendo World, there are only 2 rides here, Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey and The Flight of the Hippogriff. To do the magic spells around this area of the park you need an “interactive wand.” In my opinion, the wand is more of a keepsake than the wristband for the bogus Power Up thing that happens in Super Nintendo World, so spending 5,500 yen for something that you’ll get use of outside of the park is worth it. You also have the option of purchasing an “original wand'“ aka not interactive, which will run you 4,600 yen. The Wizarding World of Harry Potter is significantly less crowded and less hectic than Super Nintendo World.
Millie wasn’t able to ride the Forbidden Journey so we took turns using our Express Pass with London for that one. Then we all used our express pass for the Flight of the Hippogriff and I swear that ride felt like it was a total of 5 seconds long. It honestly felt like we ended mid-ride. It blows my mind that it constantly had a 110 minute wait!
Outside the Jaws ride aka Millie's favorite ride at USJ
On Sunday night we stood in line for JAWS for less than 20 minutes and even though, it scared her, it ended up being one of Millie’s favorite rides. She asked to ride it over and over and so we did, 3x before closing on Wednesday. One thing I noticed was that as it got later in the afternoon, the line for JAWS significantly went down, so if you’re wanting to ride it without a long wait or without using your Express Pass, wait until later in the day.
After looking at the map more carefully, it turns out that there are only 20 actual rides in Universal Studios Japan and 8 of those are in the Universal Wonderland area geared to children under 10 years old. Not open when we were there: Jurassic Park: The Ride and Space Fantasy: The Ride are both closed indefinitely.
One thing that’s different from any theme park I’ve been to (recently) is this locker situation. You enter the line, you get halfway through the line - employees are waiting, assessing how much baggage you’re carrying with you, give you a container with a QR code for a locker size and you’re told to stow all your belongings before you finish lining up for the line again. This was a madhouse in every ride that I had to use it.
WHERE WE STAYED / GETTING THERE
We flew into KIX airport and took the bus to Universal. It was just over an hour bus ride and it made just a few stops beforehand. You can buy tickets beforehand or when you arrive. The tickets are not time stamped, so get in line, because if the bus gets full, you have to wait for the next one. Seamless process, easy to find, and a lot of bus times leaving the airport.
After a ton of research and knowing we’d want to be at the park as early as possible, we decided to stay at The Park Front Hotel at Universal Studios. For 4 nights, in a room for 4 people, was $973 through the American Express Platinum travel website. In fact, the AmEx rate was a few bucks cheaper than booking directly through the website. Booking hotels in Asia is actually one of the most tedious jobs - most rooms only hold 3 people so we had to have one of the larger rooms. We had a city view but I would recommend a park view if it’s available and in your budget. That definitely would’ve been an awesome view!
Location wise, you actually literally can not beat this hotel. It is the closest hotel to the park without being inside the park. In the City Walk area are too many restaurants to count, cafes, a few Universal souvenir shops, three Lawson’s, an arcade and the Universal City train station. Enough to keep you busy for a day, food options for locals, foreigners and kids. Beyond that, it’s not enough stuff to keep you entertained for the weekend.
Heading back to the airport, there are fewer bus times and not one could get us to the airport early enough for a 12:30 flight. We took the train back to the airport and only had to change trains once. Also a very easy process but it can take up to 1.5 hours so I recommend mapping it and giving yourself enough time to make it back. (Ubers/cabs were upwards of 30K yen.)
Universal Studios or Tokyo Disney?
If you’re debating between Tokyo Disney and Universal Osaka, Tokyo Disney has far more to entertain the entire family and for less than a third of the price. Brandon is a huge theme park fan and I could care less, but this was something that we actually agreed on. Everything about Disney is more affordable and you get a better value for your money. You can read my post about Tokyo Disney here!
Is it beneficial to have an express pass to bypass lines on specific rides? Sure.
Was Super Mario Brother’s World worth the Express Pass price? Nope.
Was The Wizarding World of Harry Potter worth the Express Pass price? Since no one was scanning your pass for your timed entry into The Wizarding World of Harry Potter and anyone could just walk in - no, it wasn't worth it.
Also, not open when we were there: Jurassic Park: The Ride and Space Fantasy: The Ride are both closed indefinitely. With only 10 rides left operating outside of Universal Wonderland, it’s no wonder ride wait times reach up to 2 hours. There’s nothing to do here besides eat and shop.
Overall what should’ve been benefits to the Express Pass really didn’t feel that way. I felt like we paid more money just to ride the only rides available anyway. While The Wizarding World was significantly less crowded and therefore more enjoyable than Super Nintendo World, both worlds felt like a money grab and not worth the extra cost of the Express Pass tickets.
I know there will be plenty of people that will argue with me that time is money and yes, I agree, I usually do pay more for convenience, but overall I didn’t feel like I got my money’s worth from these ticket prices.
USJ after closing
If you’ve been to Universal Studios Japan, I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments!
