I visited USJ for the first time recently. I went on a Saturday (crazy I know!), but it was the only time that worked with my schedule.
I purchased the Express Pass 7 Variety for 19,800 Yen or about $126 USD. This was in addition to the 8,800 Yen or about $56 USD just to get into the park. Expensive, but absolutely worth it. I’m actually amazed at how much I was able to get in throughout the day, which wouldn’t have been remotely possible without it. I also hate waiting in lines and am fairly impatient when it comes to them. If it’s an option for you, definitely splurge. If not, definitely do not go on a weekend (I’ve heard Tuesday and Wednesday are best) and try to take advantage of single rider queues.
Below is the timeline of my day with some lessons learned, tips, ratings, commentary, etc. Hopefully somebody finds it helpful/interesting!
6:50 am – Arrived at park entrance for an “8:30 opening”. The line was to the kiosks at this point.
7:00 am – They started letting in people with early entry
7:30 am – They started letting everybody else into the park (1 hour before the posted opening, which is typical). I made it through the bag check and into the park in about 10 minutes.
7:40 am – I headed for the Demon Slayer ride since this wasn’t included in my express pass. I tried to get timed entry to Super Nintendo World while walking, but they weren’t available yet. I got to the lockers for Demon Slayer and found out you needed a 100 yen coin. I had read this, but totally forgot and of course didn’t have one! I went to the Demon Slayer merchandise store and they were able to give me change, but this delayed me by ~ 5 minutes.
7:55 am – Demon Slayer (Single Rider). 8.5/10. I thought I had read they didn’t have single rider for Demon Slayer so this was a nice surprise. The sign had a 70 minute single rider wait time posted, but I was through the queue and finished with the ride in 50 minutes. I have never seen Demon Slayer (my nephew loves it and I so wish he had been with me!), but it was really neat and well done. I did feel a little sick after due the VR nature, but I am really sensitive with motion sickness.
8:45 am – Grabbed my stuff from the lockers and tried again for a SNW timed entry (I had left my phone in the locker since I didn’t have pockets). By this time the earliest entry available was 1pm. Since I already had entry with my express pass at 12:40 pm, I passed. Ideally I was hoping for a 9:30 am or so entry so I could experience it with less crowds, but oh well!
9:00 am – Walked over to Jaws, but the single rider queue was closed so I decided to use my express pass for Hollywood Dream instead. On the way to Hollywood Dream I walked past the Mario Cafe and decided to stop for one of the pancake sandwiches first. I waited about 5-10 minutes in line and ordered the Luigi No Bake Cheescake sandwich. It was SO cute and honestly really delicious. This was 900 Yen or about $6 USD.
9:30 am – Hollywood Dream (Express Pass). 9/10. I got right through and waited no more than 5 minutes. Really fun roller coaster and definitely had my adrenaline going after this!
9:45 am – Wandered past Jaws again, but still no single rider queue so I decided to walk through NYC and SF and then into the Minion area.
10:15 am – Minion Crazy Ride (Express pass). 8/10. This one was probably about a 10 minute wait. Cute and fun ride, but definitely had some motion sickness again. I’ve also never seen Minions, but they are adorable! Kinda want to watch it now Lol
10:35 am – Checked the app for a SNW time entry again and was able to secure one for 8pm just in case I didn’t get to everything during my express pass timed entry and wanted to go back at the end of the night.
10:45 am – Flying Dinosaur (Express Pass). 10/10. Essentially walked on other than the ticket checks throughout the line, lockers, and metal detectors. Amazing roller coaster, but for me, honestly REALLY scary and out of my comfort zone (especially the part going backwards and underground). But I like getting out of my comfort zone and so worth it for the adrenaline 🙂
11:10 am – Jaws Ride (Single Rider). 7/10. Decided to head to The Wizarding World of Harry Potter for lunch, but I checked Jaws on my way and the single rider queue was finally open! I think it had just opened because I was the first in line and literally walked on the first boat, zero wait!
11:35 am – Lunch at Three Broomsticks. I waited in line for probably about 15 minutes. Really cool theming in this restaurant! I ordered the Vegetable Irish Stew, a coffee, and of course a Butter Beer! This came out to around $20 USD. The food was fairly average, but not bad by any means and I was grateful for a plant based option. Loved the Butter Beer and the coffee was much needed pick me up!
12:30 pm – Arrived at Super Nintendo World for my 12:40 timed entry with my express pass. I got in 10 minutes early without a problem and went straight to Kinopio’s Cafe to get a timed entry slot. There is a QR code you scan and then make the reservation using Email or Line. However, it requires use of your location and for some reason it was not working on my phone! I tried for probably 5 minutes before asking a staff member. They tried to change a setting on my phone, but it still didn’t work. Fortunately, they were able to make the reservation for me on their IPad. I just had to give them my email and name. I got timed entry for 3:30 pm (!) so nearly 3 hours later. This was fine for me as I planned to spending significant time in Super Nintendo World and had already eaten, but something to be aware of!
1:00 pm – Mario Kart: Koopa’s Challenge (Express Pass). 9/10. This one was the longest wait of the day using the express pass. At the point when you get the Mario cap you join the regular queue. It was probably about a 20 minute wait from that point. Walking through Bowser’s castle was incredibly cool. The theming and attention to detail is literally amazing!! In hindsight I wish I would have let the people behind me pass and walked slower through the castle. The ride was also a ton of fun and really well done! Childhood dreams come true (I’m a huge Mario fan)!
1:30 pm – Decided to buy the power up band before riding Yoshi’s Adventure. I should have done this before riding Mario Kart, but I didn’t want to miss my timed entry (I doubt they are that strict, but in the moment I didn’t want to take the chance). I got Kinopio/Toad 🙂 The band was 4900 Yen or about $32 USD. This is well circulated knowledge, but don’t buy the band from the first couple of stands. You can buy them once you get further inside with short to no queues.
1:40 pm – Yoshi’s Adventure (Express Pass). 7/10. I think I waited about 10 minutes for this. I know this ride gets a lot of flack, but for what it is, I really enjoyed it. I loved just sitting back and taking all that is SNW in. I had a smile on my face the whole time. However, I probably wouldn’t wait for it if I didn’t have an Express Pass.
2:00 pm – Mario Kart: Koopa’s Challenge again (Single Rider). The wait time was only 30 minutes. This time, with a bit of experience, I ended up winning! Woot, woot 🙂 Just as fun the 2nd time around and if I had more time I would have went again. Something to note, with the single rider queue you miss almost the entirety of Bowser’s Castle before the ride.
2:40 pm – Wandered around the land a bit collecting coins, taking it all in, and played the Thwomp Panel Panic (10 minute wait) and Koopa Troopa POWer Punch (20 minute wait) mini games.
3:30 pm – Finally time for my timed entry at Kinopio’s Cafe. Even with the timed entry I still had to wait in line for 20+ minutes to order and be seated. I ordered the “? Block Tiramisu” and a coffee which came out to around $9 USD I think. The tiramisu was absolutely adorable, but was pretty average taste wise. The cafe itself is also super cute and the staff were incredibly friendly. The waitress insisted on taking my picture and was such a joy. This was a much needed rest for my feet!
4:30 pm – Piranha Plant Nap Mishap (10 minute wait) and Goomba Crazy Prank (30 minute wait) mini games.
5:15 pm – Now with my keys in hand, I head over to the Bowser Jr. Shadow Showdown to get back Peach’s rightful Golden Mushroom (< 5 minute wait). This was so fun!! I already think the power up band was worth it, but this sealed the deal on that question.
5:30 pm – Slot Machine Game (10 minute wait). I was always really good at this one on the video games so I loved getting the chance to try in real life and I nailed it! 4x Mushrooms, woot woot! What fun!
6:00 pm – Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey (Express Pass). 9.5/10. Wait time was 10-15 minutes, but the theming before the ride here was incredible, on par with Mario Kart and (surprise!) I’ve never seen Harry Potter either Lol Although, subtle brag, I have met Dan Radcliffe and have his autograph.. nicest human ever 🙂 If you are a Harry Potter fan, I’m sure you would lose your mind with this pre-show and ride. The ride itself was mind blowing, my favorite VR ride of the day, although once again this one made me a bit sick.
6:30 pm – Fight of the Hippogriff (Express Pass). 3/10. ~10 minute wait. At this point in the day I was exhausted, and to be honest, I could have skipped this ride. I had read it was underwhelming, but I just couldn’t convince myself to skip it because I “paid” for the Express Pass. I studied Economics, I should be the last person to fall for the sunk cost fallacy 😉 I got to sit in the first row so that was cool, but yeah, it’s quite short and very mild. The views of Hogwarts (?) was cool though!
6:50 pm – Back to Three Broomsticks for a sunset Butter Beer over the lake (and a cheeky Kind Bar I snuck in.. shhh). 800 yen or about $5 USD. Beautiful 🙂
7:20 pm – Flying Dinosaur again (Single Rider). Wait was ~30 minutes. Mustered up the courage to go on this one again and end my day with a BANG! Just as fun.. and just as scary the second time Haha
8:00 pm – Decision time… back to SNW or no? I was knackered and had already defeated Bowser Jr. so I decide to call it a day and go get some food outside the park. Made may way through the park to the exit, ejoying the night time vibes and reminiscing on what a crazy awesome day I just had!
In the end, I was able to ride 11 rides and complete all of the mini games in Super Nintendo World. It was a long, exhausting 13+ hour day, but so, so worth it!
I spent about $255 USD total which included Park Entrance, the 7 ride Express Pass, Food/Drink, and the Power Up Band. Worth every penny in my opinion.
Side note: something else that makes USJ really special is the attitude of all the Japanese staff. They were so friendly and happy and the vibes were just amazing. In SNW especially, they really bought into the theme (Here we go!). I’ve never been to Hollywood or Orlando so I don’t know if it’s the same there, but they were wonderful. Shout out to you all for making my day even better 🙂
If anybody has questions, please let me know and I will try to help as best as I can!
Lastly, some additional information on SNW that might help others: if you don’t have the express pass, you need to get to the park early (like I did). When you get into the park go straight to SNW and you will likely be able to walk in. If you can’t walk in, get on the app and get a timed entry. The timed entry tickets become available as soon as it’s full from walk-ins.
by amberale7