Universal Studios Osaka November 2023 experience and what I wish I knew

I read so much info about this park on Reddit so I’m adding my experience. Here is a bunch of stuff I wish I had known beforehand:

I went on a Tuesday in early November 2023. We did not get express passes as they were sold out and honestly… we did not need them.
We arrived at 7:20 am (the park was scheduled to open for 9 am) and they started letting people in just after 8am. We slowly got in and made our way to Super Nintendo World. People were running and it was frantic but we kept our normal pace. I had all my friends’ entrance ticket screenshots on my phone and I was able to upload their tickets into the USJ app. Once uploaded, I was able to get Timed Entry Etickets for Super Nintendo World while walking there but it was not necessary as we walked straight in. (So if you’re with a group, whoever has the best data should have everyone’s screenshots ready in case getting Timed Entry Etickets is necessary, as you’re able to get the same timeslot for your group with ease) (also… DO NOT go there without a phone with reliable data. The USJ app was amazing and watching the wait times throughout the day was vital for planning)

We IMMEDIATELY went to the Mario Kart ride. I CANNOT recommend this enough as we only waited 20-30 minutes, and the ride remained over 120 minutes wait the rest of the day. The ride was incredible – I could write an entire post on it… childhood dreams come true.

Anyway, after getting out of Mario Kart the SNW was absolutely bonkers. I wanted to do the wristband activity thing but it was just too busy. Yoshi ride was too busy and I’ve read it’s meh and very kiddy. We left the SNW and managed to ride every single thrill ride throughout the afternoon so we’re happy we left.

Tip: we did Sadako’s curse (epic and unique ride btw) around 12:30 which, upon exiting, perfectly timed up with the parade. It was cheesy and kiddy but honestly so high energy and fun. After the parade, we walked right over the the Spiderman ride. Everything worked out perfectly.

Wait times: Every single wait for a ride went WAY faster than the posted wait time. Almost every wait was half what was posted. Also, most rides have fun and interactive stuff on the walls which makes waiting fun. We waited 20 minutes on average every time. The exception? Backdrop. DO NOT RIDE THE BACKDROP, in my opinion. The wait time was accurate (90 painful minutes) and it moved very slowly and at many points we just stopped. Our group’s energy was depleted because of that wait. and it wasn’t worth it – spend time elsewhere.

Fav ride: THE FLYING DINOSAUR. The wait always went SUPER quick (rode it three times .. take advantage of the single rider lane btw). Skip backdrop/Hollywood dream and do this.

FOOD TIP: Every single food stall had enormous lines. Every single sit-down restaurant has small lines and the food was extremely quick. Search out the sit-down restaurants and you never have to wait.

FINAL TIP: GO TO HARRY POTTER AREA AT SUNDOWN! Entering the Harry Potter area as the sun was setting was truly magical. I’m getting goodbumps thinking about it. Hogwarts Castle lights up and reflects over the water and there’s just something special about it at nighttime. Save it for the end of the day 100000% (if you can… we never needed time entry tickets for that area as it never filled). SNW looked packed the entire day, go there first and if you can’t, prioritize getting entry tickets thru the app like I mentioned.

I was nervous that the wait times would sorta ruin the day for us but honestly, it didn’t. This park is absolutely magical and 10000% worth it. HAVE FUN 🙂