USJ Osaka – November 2023 Experience

Before I begin I want to say this [post](https://www.reddit.com/r/JapanTravel/comments/17u9dtj/universal_studios_osaka_november_2023_experience/) was a literally a lifesaver. Massive, massive thank you and shoutout to u/drewjohns2. I was tempted to skip USJ because of the stories and experiences I’ve read from the spring, I read that post the night before we went and impulsively booked passes on Klook.

Honestly, it was a super, super fun experience and 100% worth it. The express pass absolutely is NOT a requirement, we had normal passes, showed up at 7:40 AM on the 16th (Thursday) and everything was unbelievably smooth. I could hardly believe we managed to do every major ride and attraction and still had time leftover. Skip to the bottom for tips and TLDR 🙂

Experience:

\- We showed up at 7:40, I thought we were late after seeing the crowd but it worked out well. We went straight to Super Nintendo World. You don’t even need to check the map or signs, everyone will be going straight there. We were in before they started up the timed / area entry stuff. We went straight to the Mario Kart ride, it’s absolutely unbelievable. Waiting was only 20 minutes when we reached and it went much faster than that.

\- The Flying Dino (in Jurassic Park) is the craziest ride in the park by far, highly recommended.

\- There was such a fun parade around 12:30 – 1 PM, they had mascots from all the major areas of the park dancing to this song. It’s such a happy parade and song. Also meeting the mascots and grabbing pictures is a ton of fun. Lovely memories to look back on.

\- Minion Land was a little kiddish in my opinion, the main ride had a pretty long waiting and was nowhere as enjoyable as Sadako’s / Spiderman / Jurassic Park (all of which are absolutely brilliant). The area is worth checking out, I’d leave the ride for if you have time later.

\- Hollywood: Highly recommend doing the forward facing roller coaster. Just a good, classic rollercoaster with music and a ton of fun. We didn’t bother with Backdrop, didn’t seem as enjoyable to do that in reverse, especially with the line to get in, but I could be entirely wrong.

\- Harry Potter: We got to this at around 3:30 PM. It was like a dream come true, the recreation of Hogwarts and Diagon Alley is literally out of this world. The ride inside the castle is a MUST. After the ride, we went to The Three Broomsticks. I can’t recommend this enough. They have butter beer and you don’t need to wait in a ridiculous line to get it. It costs the same, and you also get the bonus of sitting outside, seeing the sunset over Hogwarts and the reflection in the lake – all while sipping on butterbeer. Probably something I’ll never forget. Also roaming around this area after sunset is surreal.

Tips:

\- Single rider entry for everything is 1000% the way. We saved an unbelievable amount of time, the number of lines we skipped because of single rider still blows my mind. Even when the waiting said 60 minutes for single rider, we were in and out within 15-20 minutes tops. At every entry, ask specifically for the line for single entry, they’ll warn you that you may not be together and then let you in.

\- Show up early and go straight to Super Nintendo World, specifically the Mario Kart ride. It was at over two hours waiting for the rest of the day, we caught it at 20 minutes waiting. Also it gets rid of the hassle of booking area entry tickets.

\- Dine-in instead of food stalls.

\- Use toilets in less popular areas if you see lines in more popular ones.

\- Butterbeer at The Three Broomsticks at sunset (and don’t bother with the stall). Best experience ever.

\- The parade between 12:30 and 1 is worth it, also pictures with the mascots is really fun.

TLDR: Show up early, use the single rider lines, skip food stalls.

Overall I highly recommend the park, it was a super impulsive choice but we had an extra day in Osaka and honestly I couldn’t be more glad that we went. Absolutely magical experience. 10/10.