Universal Studios Japan - All You Need to Know BEFORE You Go (2024)
Universal Studios Japan
Universal Studios Japan
4
10:00 AM - 7:00 PM
Monday
9:00 AM - 7:00 PM
Tuesday
10:00 AM - 7:00 PM
Wednesday
10:00 AM - 7:00 PM
Thursday
10:00 AM - 7:00 PM
Friday
10:00 AM - 7:00 PM
Saturday
9:00 AM - 7:00 PM
Sunday
9:00 AM - 7:00 PM
About
Universal Studios Japan offers world-class entertainment such as authentic attractions and shows, based not only on Hollywood blockbusters but also popular entertainment brands, and a variety of seasonal events entertaining its guests to the fullest. Universal Studios Japan has continued to evolve since its opening and has recently accelerated its growth with the launch of world-class entertainment experiences such as The Wizarding World of Harry Potter, The Flying Dinosaur and Minion Park and Despicable Me Minion Mayhem Ride. SUPER NINTENDO WORLD, a new area where you can enjoy entertainment based on world-renowned Nintendo characters and their worlds.
Duration: More than 3 hours
Suggest edits to improve what we show.
Improve this listing
Tours & experiences
Explore different ways to experience this place.
What is Travelers’ Choice Best of the Best?
This award is our highest recognition and is presented annually to those businesses that are the Best of the Best on Tripadvisor, those that earn excellent reviews from travelers and are ranked in the top 1% of properties worldwide.
See what travelers are saying
  • KC!
    Paranaque, Philippines204 contributions
    5.0 of 5 bubbles
    LInes Lines everywhere
    The place is REALLY REALLY big, i havent been to the ones in the United States but for the standards of theme parks i've been to (Disney HK, Disney tokyo, US Singapore), That being said? there's no physical maps to be found. Prices are.... well... Theme park price, but the lines... there's lines for everything including buying popcorn, and the lines can go for Hours just for even popcorn. so be warned
    Visited May 2023
    Written June 5, 2023
  • Mark H
    St. Albans, United Kingdom254 contributions
    4.0 of 5 bubbles
    A great day out with the kids…
    Had a great day as a family of five. My only caveat is plan & book ahead as it gets busy & can “sell out”. Also the Universal ticket booking app & process is really painful to use. I don’t understand how a communications company can be so rubbish at IT. Similar to Universal Orlando except for Nintendo World. I thought my kids had slipped something in my drink 🤪. Be prepared for long waits (40-50mins) although many queues are in air conditioned space. Overall would go again.
    Visited July 2023
    Traveled with family
    Written July 13, 2023
  • Daniela K
    Zurich, Switzerland2 contributions
    4.0 of 5 bubbles
    Honest Wizarding World review
    I'd love to exclusively review the Wizarding World in Osaka (part of Universal), so this review is for you when you plan on visiting soon. I visited the park for a day on July 22 with my husband. What I appreciated most was the continuity of the Harry Potter theme, which didn't stop even in the bathrooms (the female bathroom haunted by Moaning Myrtle etc). All the detail made for an almost endless discovery of the various books and movie aspects. What stood out for us also was the Forbidden Journey Ride, which we went on three times. And that was even though we don't understand Japanese properly, and therefore could only assume the background talking. Well done Universal, for creating this awesome ride. The shops have been another story. Although also supplied with many loving details (especially Honeydukes) we missed quite some items which are available at Universal USA and most of all we missed vegan butterbeer. What seems to be the problem in providing vegan options is incomprehensible to me. At this time in 2021 (and with ca. 80 % of Asians being lactose intolerant in the first place). Honestly, catch on HPJ. On the other hand, we enjoyed the Asian version of the Wizarding Word and its unique twist and additions (different wands and costumes of the performers, etc.) One more thought to add to this review is our experience at Ollivander which left me with very mixed feelings. My husband assumed that the "chosen one" at Ollivander would get their wand as a gift. It is nowhere indicated otherwise, but I mean, what kind of parent would turn down their 11-year-old newly "won" unique wand? Well, maybe the ones who simply can't afford it ... I heard others call this out before as a sort of brutal marketing scheme. Now I can see where they are coming from. And I would also like to note that Universal wands are made out of plastic, hard resin in fact, and not out of wood at tall (which is what they claim in the show, which of course is part of the act). The magic show is fun to watch and surely makes the day of the lucky winner but again, it is 2021, and we have a massive problem with waste, especially plastic. So why can't you make those wands out of wood? Much more sustainable, more beautiful even, may I add wood is a renewable material. Despite those instances mentioned, I had an incredible day, and let me say it in the words of the Harry Potter author: It is our choices that define who we truly are.
    Visited July 2023
    Written July 21, 2023
  • Hudsonmccraw
    Virginia Beach, Virginia2,714 contributions
    5.0 of 5 bubbles
    An experience worthwhile for some, and thrilling for others.
    It was definitely a worthwhile visit to this theme park. While time didn’t permit us to experience everything there, what we did experience was enjoyable. What was thrilling was that dark ride inside Hogwart’s Castle, Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey. We hope to come back and experience more of what the park has to offer in a future visit.
    Visited July 2023
    Traveled with friends
    Written July 24, 2023
  • bernadette316
    Southend-on-Sea, United Kingdom127 contributions
    3.0 of 5 bubbles
    Tickets not too expensive but no access to Nintendo and Harry Potter areas of the park unless you’ve pre booked slots
    A couple of good rollercoasters (in the Jurassic park and hol wood areas) but no access to the Nintendo or Harry Potter areas unless you’ve pre booked a slot or happen to get lucky with a standby ticket on the day. Very disappointing to be excluded from these major areas. That said, the minions mayhem and Spider-Man virtual rides are very good and we also enjoyed the Jurassic park and Jaws boat rides. We ate lunch at the Finegans bar and grill which I thought was reasonably priced given we were in a theme park. Long queues everywhere but that’s to be expected in a theme park. Easy to get to on public transport/trains from Osaka. We bought our tickets there because for some reason the app kept going wrong when we tried to purchase tickets through it. You can spend a full day here.
    Visited August 2023
    Traveled with family
    Written August 30, 2023
  • CanuckJames
    Nishinomiya, Japan1,535 contributions
    5.0 of 5 bubbles
    Ya gotta go at least once
    Yes, the crowds are huge. Lineups are long. Yes, everything from the tickets, fast pass, food, and parking is expensive. But it is still worth going at least once. We were very surprised at how well-designed crowd control was. The estimated wait times are all overstated. When it said 60 minutes wait, we waited 40 minutes, when the wait time said 15 minutes, there was no wait. Everyone is happy when wait times are faster than expected. We didn't like the food. We went to Aminity restaurant at the JAWS exhibit, it was greasy and expensive but we didn't go in expecting anything outstanding. Lots of vending machines throughout the park, and comparatively, prices are double the convenience store prices outside the park. .... but the shows are worth it!!!! Spiderman, Minions, Jurassic, Mario, Snoopy, and the list goes on. Detach yourself from reality and just have a good time. Don't think about how much money this is costing you or you will be miserable.
    Visited August 2023
    Traveled as a couple
    Written September 7, 2023
  • Courts
    Christchurch, New Zealand3 contributions
    3.0 of 5 bubbles
    If you're not a Harry Potter lover, I wouldn't bother!
    I am an epic Harry Potter fan so I absolutely LOVED the Harry Potter world. We didn't bother with the rides as the lines were ridiculous, but I thoroughly enjoyed visiting the shops, Hogwarts Express, castle and having butter beer. The rest of the park was honestly completely underwhelming. We walked around everywhere for the sake of completeness but the only thing we were interested in was closed for a media event. The newest part of the park required an extra ticket which cost $100 each. Maybe that is where all of the good stuff is? We weren't willing to pay to find out!
    Visited September 2023
    Traveled as a couple
    Written September 13, 2023
  • Leanne Culina-Penza
    Sydney, Australia824 contributions
    4.0 of 5 bubbles
    Such fun!
    We were very impressed with this Universal Studios. We have been to nearly all the Universal parks and this one is certainly up there. The theming throughout the park is very much on point, especially Nintendo World. The sizing of the park is also fantastic - much bigger than it looks. The rides were a great balance with a fantastic rollercoaster in the Flying Dinosaur (now one of my favs). There were a few rides closed ready for a revamp or replacement, but certainly not enough for you to feel like you were missing out. Food and beverages are a tad expensive within the park, but that is generally expected and something to be aware of. Great day out for all ages!
    Visited August 2023
    Traveled with family
    Written September 21, 2023
  • Lornaman
    Atherington, United Kingdom4 contributions
    5.0 of 5 bubbles
    Breezed through the crowds as a single rider
    Loved it! We went on a Saturday and did not find the crowds too bad. Lots of people around but that's to be expected and no worse than other theme parks. We got standard tickets in advance and turned up as it was opening and there was very little queue to get in. Got our timed entry for nintendo world as soon as we got in then planned the rest of the day. Strongly advise you go for single rider queues - often we sat together anyway and some queues ended up being far shorter than advertised. Ended up doing all the major rides no problem and had time to wander round and enjoy the park. There are water fountains near some of the toilets which saved money on drinks, but I didn't find the prices any more of a rip off than theme parks usually are. If you can do single riders, and can get there when it opens, then don't worry about the crowds and just go!
    Visited October 2023
    Traveled as a couple
    Written October 14, 2023
  • Briton H
    Phuket Town, Thailand12 contributions
    5.0 of 5 bubbles
    Family fun
    We were visiting our Japanese family from America. We had a group of 15 and had a blast. The kids absolutely love the trip and all the activity is the adults I think loved as much or more than the kids we’d highly recommending anyone to go only thing is you need to book tickets in advance or go to a 7-Eleven in Japan and buy the tickets before you arrive at the park? That’s the easiest way and if anyone is elderly or Handicapped traveling with you, they offer wheelchairs in electric scooters just inside the gates
    Visited November 2022
    Traveled with family
    Written October 15, 2023
These reviews are the subjective opinion of Tripadvisor members and not of TripAdvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews.

Most Recent: Reviews ordered by most recent publish date in descending order.

Detailed Reviews: Reviews ordered by recency and descriptiveness of user-identified themes such as wait time, length of visit, general tips, and location information.

Popular mentions

4.0
4.0 of 5 bubbles11,004 reviews
Excellent
5,097
Very good
3,785
Average
1,313
Poor
392
Terrible
418

Dds
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia147 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Jan 2020 • Family
After in depth research/reviews, we bought tickets on a Monday for 1.5 days. Voila! we managed to cover everything even though it was absolutely crowded.
And Fyi, 95% of the language either spoken by the staff or ride/show related were all in Japanese. Bits of Harry Potter were in English and oh thank God...”Sing” was in English and it was so much fun. Some staff do understand and speak basic English though I must say all of them were really very polite and looked very happy doing their job so that was very welcoming.
But I must warn you guys about the intro to the Terminator attraction. The lady in red took too long, tried to get the crowd in the mood but it was 100% in Japanese so for us it came across as boring and never ending.
The rest of the attractions were just like any other Universal Studios...amazing. Butter beer was a nice surprise. Toilets were pleasantly clean all day. There were different sized/priced storage lockers upfront which were convenient.
If you’re planning to watch the final show, staff will go all out to keep the walkway/seating in check. You’d have to sit within the road/garden site so head there earlier if you want a good spot. Only the Express pass will get you a seat on the platform.
The final Parade took quite some time to finish but worth the time, it was magical. I found the merchandise quite pricy then again everything in Japan is quite pricy.
Written February 16, 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Katrinus
Dubai, United Arab Emirates118 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Feb 2020 • Family
We got the day and a half pass and only just got to see all we wanted during this crowd free virus affected period. I can’t ride because of injuries and can be pretty grumpy but the cheerfulness here is catching! I was waving to everyone before I even knew what I was doing and chatted to lots of lovely people in the well behaved queues. My family had an amazing time at this spotlessly clean, crazy organised fun park! Harry Potter fans will especially love the Wizarding World, the night illuminations this month were breathtaking. So glad I included this to balance out all the temple time I put my family through 😉
Written February 28, 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

QueenWanklin
Calgary, Canada165 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Jan 2020
We regret not spending more than a day in USJ, as there were a lot to discover here that we were not able to. Highly recommended to go for 2 days the least, or buy an express pass so that you do not have to line up and spend a minimum of 1.5 hours in line with the best rides that they have here (Harry Potter, Minions, etc). Prices are just like the western universal studios, but hey, they will milk you out as much as possible, as expected. Money grabbing dudes as they even ask for more money to have the best seat in the parade, which actually you can avoid paying by just being there earlier. We enjoyed wasting our money here, so money well spent. ;-) Kids were ecstatic!
Written January 26, 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

MTAA
10 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Oct 2022
My partner and I went to USJ japan for 1 day at it was the highlight of our stay in Osaka by far.
We bought a 1 day pass with a a 4EXP express pass to have priority access to Harry Potter's forbiden journey and Flight of the hippogriff as well as Hollywood The ride and Spiderman 4D. The express pass is definitely a game changer to enjoy the experience. Right from the opening of the gates wait times in the popular rides reached 60-120 mintues. If it is within your budget, I would strongly recommend getting it for the rides that interest you the most. A 1-day pass was enough for us with this setup.
The highlights of the parc for us were The Wizarding world of Harry Potter (huge fans) and SuperMario world. We did not purchase an express pass for access to supermario world and were able to get a timed entry ticket the day of our stay. We ended up waiting around 90 min for the koppa's challenge ride once we were there but the wait itself wasn't so bad as the queue si lined with many sources of entertainment for adults and children alike. Worth the wait. We didn't purchase any of the supermario arm bands that were for sale.
The rides themselves are also very well done and there is something for ride enthusiasts and those who aren't as into near-death experiences.
Food options are varied and affordable inside the parc. We spent our whole day there and had dinner at the three broomsticks in HP world. The meal itself was pretty good.
The USJ app is helpful to get around the parc and check wait times. Text is entirely in Japanese and we couldn't find a way to translate it to English however.
Written October 26, 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Nutharin
Bangkok, Thailand291 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Jan 2020 • Family
We five intended to visit Univeral studio Japan on January 2nd. We knew that there would be very crowded so we would like to make sure that we could enjoy our rides without waiting very long.

We bought 5 Royal Studio Pass via Govoyagin website. Firstly we couldn’t book. So we sent an e-mail directly to them. They got back to us and asked for our airplane tickets and hotel confirmation. After that they sent us an e-mail with a link to book the pass. It was pre-paid. And when we checked in at our hotel, our 5 Royal Studio Pass wrist bands were there. Very professional.

These wrist bands gave us the most convenient way to enjoy USJ. We didn’t have to wait at all. There would be some rides that we had to go during the period of time and only one time for fast track such as Harry Potter,Minion etc. The rest we could go as many times as we wanted like a fast track eg. Jaws, Spider man etc.

Turkey legs were delicious here. We had a fun time.
Written February 15, 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

jbm4075
Las Vegas, NV226 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Nov 2022
USJ is awesome if you are young, mobile, and are prepared to spend US$200+ per person. If you are unprepared and have no Express Pass, then you're going to hate the crazy crowds because you're probably going to be in hour long line ups, and I'd suggest just forget about going.

Plan ahead. Get a japanese friend to book to you the 'Express Pass 13' which is available ONLY on the USJ Japanese website. Might as well get them to buy you the general admission ticket too. You need both. Plan months ahead, they sell out early. There's a bit of weather luck involved because the dates can't be changed.

The rides are excellent. The Express Pass 13 will give you timings for all the rides. They're not so strict on you being at the rides at the exact timings, but they were strict about not letting us into Super Mario World until the time stated on the Express Pass.

Restaurants: Avoid the lines! Go to the NY/Hollywood areas for the restaurants to eat, unless you really want to eat at a themed restaurant like in Harry Potter World. We lined up for an hour to get into the restaurant at Harry Potter World and hated it, though it was nice to be able to drink Butterbeer (the line ups for the Butterbeer carts outside the restaurant are just as crazy).

No need to worry about 'rope drop' or getting there early if you have Express Pass 13. If you do get there around opening time though, tip is to look for a line that starts after one of the pillars at the entrance (the lines are always shorter when they end at pillars).

Yoshi's Adventure ride was super boring. You'll see what I mean.
Written December 10, 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Oliver Curtis
Bobbio, Italy4 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Apr 2019 • Family
The rides where great and the Spiderman ride is definitely good for anyone (adult or child ) great area for your kids and the Harry potter ride is a must do though make sure to pay extra for fast tracks on the jaws , Harry potter rides , Spiderman and jurrasic park because the queen's can get very long . The food is amazing serving western and Japanese food and definitely try the matcha ice cream but the best part is the parade but if you want to get to the subway station quicker and go to the gift shop miss out the last bit of the parade as it can get quite claustrophobic in the shop or subway.

This is the best theme park ever and a must do for Osaka
Written March 17, 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Hawks2theSuperBowl
Seattle, WA228 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
May 2019 • Couples
We’re frequent visitors to the Hollywood and Orlando Universal Studios locations, and I would rank Osaka below Orlando and well above Hollywood.

As is the case with everywhere in Japan, the Osaka universal studios is extremely clean. The rides are solid to great, with the highlights being Flying Dinosaur and the Hollywood Dream ride. As a huge theme park fan, I can say unequivocally that the Flying Dinosaur is one of my favorite rides of all time. The Hollywood Dream ride isn’t a majorly thrilling rollercoaster, though it’s definitely fun and a really smooth ride.

Keep in mind, the lines for most rides are absolutely freaking ridiculous. There was a temporary VR Neon Genesis ride while we were there (it was mediocre, though I guess if you’re a fan of the cartoon then it would be cool), and the wait was almost four hours long.

As such, I HIGHLY suggest getting an Express pass. Be aware that it’s different than the pass at Universal Studios Hollywood, as you’re only able to choose between several bundles of rides whose lines you can cut. That said, it’s absolutely worth it and pretty much required if you want to ride more than a few rides.
(10/2018)
Written April 9, 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

paulwoodh
London, UK498 contributions
1.0 of 5 bubbles
Aug 2022 • Family
Sadly this was an absolute waste of money for what we wanted. My children were excited to visit Mario World on hearing of it opening and this was a big deal with the first trip to Japan in 3 years (my wife is Japanese). Despite booking through Mario World front page, it wasn't clear an extra ticket was needed. It took a little while to get round as I was recovering an injury and infection. When we got there, still early in the day, 4:30 pm was the earliest slot available, the same time we needed to head back to Matsuyama. Customer service had no interest despite spending several hundred pounds for something we couldn't even get in to. Worse still there was no easy place to sit down inside (this was August, restaurants were ticketed with 1 hour plus waits or some sold out). We gave up in the end. Appreciate some people will have different reasons for visiting. But this was a horrible experience, by far the worst in 20+ visits to Japan.
Written October 24, 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Ana
Brisbane, Australia7 contributions
3.0 of 5 bubbles
Jan 2020 • Family
At $800 (Australian) I expected more rides. We paid for the express pass 4 and in total used 11 rides / shows over 8 hours. A lot of the shows like Jaws and Backdraft were in Japanese so pretty much a waste of time. This was all the rides possible (other than very young kiddie rides) and included the Flying Dinosaur twice. We have kids aged 10 and 12. They loved it but we felt ripped off. The food was outrageously priced - we spent $55 (!) on popcorn which included a plastic minion holder ($45 with popcorn plus one refill an extra $10) one ice cream sundae ($12) looked big enough for two to share but was a small cup inside a large bucket to trick you into thinking it had more in it. All in all left starving and feeling ripped off.
Written January 16, 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Showing results 1-10 of 4,800
Is this your Tripadvisor listing?
Own or manage this property? Claim your listing for free to respond to reviews, update your profile and much more.
Claim your listing

Universal Studios Japan - All You Need to Know BEFORE You Go (2024)

Frequently Asked Questions about Universal Studios Japan

According to Tripadvisor travelers, these are the best ways to experience Universal Studios Japan:


Restaurants near Universal Studios Japan: View all restaurants near Universal Studios Japan on Tripadvisor


All Osaka HotelsOsaka Hotel DealsLast Minute Hotels in Osaka
All things to do in OsakaAmusement Parks in Osaka
RestaurantsFlightsVacation RentalsTravel StoriesCruisesRental Cars
© 2024 Tripadvisor LLC All rights reserved.

This is the version of our website addressed to speakers of English in the United States. If you are a resident of another country or region, please select the appropriate version of Tripadvisor for your country or region in the drop-down menu.