**Tl;dr**
*Can I go from Kyoto to Osaka in the morning, have a day at USJ with a 10 and 14 y.o. and get back to Tokyo in the evening without loosing my mind? I don’t want a day of stress, fighting and disappointments.*
Sorry for the wall of text – just want to give context since I want to move from doable to feasible…
Going on a 9 day trip to Tokyo and Kyoto in a couple of weeks… and apparently Osaka.
I booked the Shinkansen “home trip” to Tokyo via Osaka on a whim – just to cram as much as possible into my first Japan trip I guess 🙂
I’ll travel with my two kids – 10 and 14 y.o.
Since the trip to Osaka is so short, I thought it’d be a nice day trip and maybe take a look at Osaka Castle – currently watching Shogun with the 14 y.o.
Then I found out about USJ
Now I’m starting to think that it might be possible to leave Kyoto early, have a day at USJ/SNW and get back to Tokyo in the evening.
After reading so many different takes on a day to the park being absolutely fantastic or a complete shit show I just need a sanity check if it’s feasible to pull this off – with happy kids and mental faculties intact.
So, inputs.
There are no expectations on this to happen – I’d rather skip in than have stress, fights and disappointments.
The “themes” of the theme park is not the big thing for my kids but the rides are. We decided against taking a day at Disneyland in Tokyo since they’re everywhere and we went to the small HK one three years ago – they where not that impressed, They’d rather go on “the biggest roller coaster 50 times” than do 50 different rides and meet Mickey Mouse 🙂 Also in Sweden we don’t have “theme parks” but rather “thrill ride” parks where the screaming your head off part is the main thing.
There are no express passes for this day so we need to rely on being there early and getting the timed entrance tickets in the app.
We also need to be back in Tokyo, I’d say at the latest 11 pm, preferably a little bit earlier.
I wouldn’t say money is no object – it wasn’t as expensive as I thought – but I’m 50 and way too old for this shit so, apart from express passes, is there a way to throw (some) money on the problem – not scalping or bribing – just if there are packages or anything that could help us come out of there alive.
**The things that I’m most interested in are:**
* When do we need to be in line outside USJ, i.e. when do we need to check out of the hotel in Kyoto to get this party going?
* Is it worth it time wise to get a cab from Shin-Osaka to the park?
* Is “no express passes in stock” a big red flag and could it be done in a “civilized fashion” without? Hogwarts I probably their main thing – although they’ve been to the London site. I read that it is so nice in the evening when it’s dark. Now is it “nothing special” during the day?
I’m happy with going to Osaka Castle and having lunch at a Kobe place but the kids…well it’s always the kids isn’t it? 🙂
If you read this far and couldn’t answer – thank you for your effort.
Thanks in advance
edit: wall of text and clarity
second edit:
Thank you so much for all the replies. It was very enlightening and well, better answers than I actually hoped for. I have decided against the pressed for time schedule and will have a more relaxed kick back day in Osaka.
by adore