Universal Studio Japan (Winter Edition)

Hey guys! I'm back with another new post of Universal Studio Japan (MCO definitely gives me more time to blog)! USJ is definitely one of the highlights of the whole Japan trip. We were so so excited to visit this theme park. Part of the excitement is because there is a Harry Potter world in this park! (I'm a die hard HP fan).

Here goes the pictures marathon:

UNIVERSAL STUDIO JAPAN

Words can't describe my excitement when I saw the entrance. I just can't believe I am here.

You definitely wanna take a picture with the famous Universal Studio Globe!

It was quite crowded that day. But not too over

Our first stop was of course: 

THE WIZARDING WORLD OF HARRY POTTER

I can't really describe it, but this area of the park is so so so different. It's like out of the world and you are really entering the magical world of Harry Potter. 

We walked past quite a distance in the woods (I'm guessing they are recreating the ambiance of the outer school grounds of Hogwarts and Forbidden Forest? HP fans should know this haha).

And we spotted this...

My god that's the Flying Ford Anglia!!! But of course it crash-landed already as it was in the movie LOL. The car was surrounded by people taking pictures of it. Though it's crash-landed, you can still hear the honking and beeping sound from the car.

Then we continued walking for some time (it was quite a distant to walk till you reached the main entrance), and there it is, the main gate to enter the magical land.

Basically once you reached the gate, you can hear the famous Harry Potter movie BGM. My friend and I (who are both HP fanatics), almost teared up when we were there when the music started. 

After passing the gate, you can spot the Hogwarts Express on your right. The replica train was so real with the train chimney constantly puffing smoke with choo-choo sound XD. The train is for pictures only you can't ride it by the way, unlike the real Hogwarts Express in Universal Studio Orlando (my bucket-list).

The Harry Potter park in USJ is smaller than the one in US-Orlando, as USJ does not have replica of Diagon Alley. Instead, they combined few famous shops of Diagon Alley (eg: Ollivanders) with Hogsmeade. That's why the buildings were covered in snow all year long (just like Hogsmeade).

ZONKO'S JOKE SHOP

Entering Zonko's Joke Shop you can find various prank items (and food).

The infamous Bertie Botts Every-flavor beans. Beware of the snot flavor ones eww

Giant box of Chocolate frog at the showcase 

It opened and you can see the frog inside!

Okay this is the original size which you can buy. And of course, it comes with the wizard card inside just like in the movie!

Pumpkin juice! We actually bought one and it tastes like apple cinnamon drink.

Our first ride in the HP land: Flight of the Hippogriff (Buckbeak here I come!)

This ride is a mini roller coaster (which kids can enjoy too, not too thrilling) featuring riding on Hippogriff. Hence the ride setting is inspired by Hagrid's hut (when you think of Buckbeak, you think of Hagrid). 

If you did not enter this ride, you can't see the whole Hagrid's hut from the outside!

The famous Hagrid's bike, which carried the baby Harry Potter

We managed to catch magic performance at the square, just beside Flight of Hippogriff ride.

Such good weather to watch outdoor performance

After that we proceed to the Hogwarts Castle... my god... Is this even real? The magical castle of Hogwarts?! I feel excited just by typing this post...

Okay... here we go...

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LOOK AT THAT BEAUTY. Like seriously, look at it, admire it

We got ourselves cold butter beer. Picture with the castle behind! ❤❤❤

There are two attractions in the Hogwarts Castle: Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey, as well as the Castle walk.

You can see pretty much of the castle by queuing for the Forbidden Journey ride (which is a 3D indoor coaster). But for some parts of the castle where you can't see, you can go for the Castle walk, which is a leisure stroll in the Hogwarts Castle (and take as many pictures as you want). 

Fat lady: Password?

Entrance to Dumbledore's office

The Herbology Greenhouse classroom

A glimpse of the castle

Defense against the Dark Arts classroom

We came back to the Harry Potter park at night, to catch the illumination of the castle. Honestly, you just have to come to this park twice (day and night). The ambiance is totally different, but equally beautiful. 

Illumination on the castle

Less crowd and we managed to take a picture of the beautiful castle

Three Broomsticks. We did not dine here but I wish I get to in the future.

Arrest warrant for Sirius Black, just outside of Three Broomsticks

Quidditch, anyone?

Hogwarts Express at night

We visited Ollivanders too, but we didn't buy any wand (a little bit pricey, but I suggest you can get your favourite one for collection purpose).

They have wands by different characters in the movie, as well as interactive wands which you can use it to perform "magic" in the specific interactive spots inside Wizarding World of Harry Potter. 

You can find any wands here. But here goes the saying: the wand chooses the wizard

Wands everywhere

Okay let's leave Harry Potter park and proceed with the rest. I think I can spend my whole day talking about HP park, so let's leave it for now.

Our second stop:

THE JURASSIC PARK

BGM starts...

Familiar?

Yes dinosaurs do appear here. Sadly we did not see it during our visit though.

There are two rides in The Jurassic Park area as well: The Flying Dinosaur and Jurassic Park-The Ride.

Jurassic Park-The Ride is where you sit in a canoe (yes the ride is on water so you can expect to get wet) visiting the Jurassic Park. The ride was quite relaxing until there are carnivores dinosaurs escaped from containment....

Okay no more spoilers, but I did have a heart attack at the end of Jurassic Park-The Ride.

But I had continuous heart attack (plus a lot of screaming) for The Flying Dinosaur

Even the entrance is intimidating enough...

The Flying Dinosaur recreates the feeling where you were caught on your back by a Pteranodon and it flies you up and down and in any motion you can think of.

Not sure if you can see the ride clearly. Let's refer to the next picture

OH MY GOD it's so scary!

Picture from USJ official website

Yes you are not siting on a roller coaster now. Basically you are flying. I still can't believe I went on this ride. That must be the bravest decision I have ever made in my life (as of now). And I think I might have gone mad that time.

Another of my favourite ride in USJ is 

THE AMAZING ADVENTURE OF SPIDERMAN

It's a 4D ride, not too scary but the visual effects give you the excitement and fun. Besides, you are actually queuing inside Daily Bugle to enter the ride!

Replica of desk in Daily Bugle

No offense

Another ride that we went on is 

JAWS

Summary of the ride: you sit on a boat and got attack by sharks.. Oops..And be prepared to get wet.

People are queuing to take picture with the shark. We decided to skip it LOL

Let's move on to some cuteness from

THE MINION PARK

Look at all the colors!

We bought a minion cookie with ice cream in between. I forgot about the flavor but it's just so cute

Friend got a minion popcorn bucket

with banana flavored popcorn inside

We did not manage to try the Despicable Me: Minion Mayhem ride in the Minion's Park because the queue was so crazy (2hr queue). 

Last ride of the day:

FINAL FANTASY XR RIDE

This is a seasonal ride collaborated with docomo. It's a VR indoor roller coaster (woohoo my first VR coaster experience!).

The ride was super thrilling but sadly there's a VR glitch near the end of the ride. Without the glitch the ride would have been perfect.

My sis wanted this chocobo popcorn bucket but it was sold out. 残念

Another event to remember during our queue for this Final Fantasy ride. It was freezing winter and the queue is outdoor (but sheltered). So we were all freezing and hoping to get into the ride as soon as possible (the queue was so long I think we queued for 1.5hr? or 2hrs). Suddenly it was snowing heavily with strong wind which made the cold even worse. And we were covered in snow before getting into the ride LOL.

We had so much fun in USJ till 7pm (the park closed earlier during winter). And we went to the Universal City Walk for dinner.

We wanted to take a stroll in Universal City Walk, but eventually gave up as we all were too exhausted.

Universal City Walk is so pretty with all the neon lights on

Mushroom rice with... I forgot what was the main dish..oops

Bye USJ! Thanks for having us! PS: that's not me in the picture

That's all for USJ blog! God knows how much I miss USJ. And I wanted to visit with my sister so badly. Unfortunately my dear sis has her own plan and apparently travel is not her priority. Hope we can visit soon after the pandemic is over. Pray hard covid-19 can be over very soon! Please!

That's all for now. （*＾-＾*）ノ~~ﾏﾀﾈｰ

𝓨𝓸𝓾𝓻𝓼 𝓽𝓻𝓾𝓵𝔂,

𝓐𝓲𝓴𝓸