Hi everybody! I'm active on the Imagineering board but otherwise don't post much on other ones. I was in Japan a few months ago, so I thought I would post my trip report here. I have included a few pictures on my blog if you would rather look at it there.
Report of Japan’s Theme Parks
I have dreamed about going to Japan (and Tokyo Disneyland in particular) ever since I first started seeing the details for Tokyo DisneySea (which opened September 4, 2001). Would the arguably best theme park live up to the hype? That is what I was planning to figure out in spring 2020–that is, until Covid-19 shutdown the world. The trip was on hold indefinitely. I ended up switching travel buddies to Fr. Joe as my original tripmate was unable to go in 2024 (sorry, Ryan!).
I heard that May (after Golden Week) was a good time to travel to Japan and enjoy the theme parks. Going mid-week, too, would keep the lines down somewhat. My buddy and I settled on our travel dates rather quickly. The main discussion point was whether to do Tokyo Disneyland the first week (and Universal Studios Japan the second week) or vice versa. Based on their locations, we decided to do Disney 1st and Universal 2nd. Unfortunately, the downside of this is that The Flying Dinosaur went down for a rehab in week 2, so we missed that ride. Other major closures included Pooh’s Hunny Hunt, Big Thunder Mountain, Voyages of Sindbad, and Jurassic Park River Adventure (which felt odd that an entire land was shut-down).
On each day, there was a setback of sorts right as we entered the park (but more on that below). I will not go into every detail (there are other sites that do that), but this will encapsulate the more important elements of each park.
Tokyo Disneyland (Wednesday, May 8)
First, a word about the location and layout of the Tokyo Disneyland Resort. The most similar resort is the Disneyland Resort in Anaheim. Both resorts have two parks with a smattering of official hotels within a square/rectangular area of a high density city (but not downtown). Ikispari Shopping (next to Maihama Station) is like an upscale mall with several floors of shops and restaurants. The Disneyland Resort Line is the resorts’ own rectangular-shaped monorail line (open to the public) that has 4 stations: Maihama Station (with transfer to a JR subway line and buses), Disneyland Park, Bayside, and Tokyo DisneySea Park.
My buddy and I went to Tokyo Disneyland on our first full day in Japan as we figured to save the “best for last” (in this case, Tokyo DisneySea). After having a simple breakfast (including a cup of coffee from a vending machine) at Henn Na Maihama Hotel (best known for its check-in served by Audio Animatronic velociraptors), we took the first shuttle (8 a.m., which turned out to be full both days, although nobody was denied boarding) to the train station (note: the night before, we had walked the approximately 1-mile walk to our hotel with our bags; in the midst of all the traveling that day, we had forgotten that we could have made it on a shuttle). We made our way upstairs from the shuttle stop and walked the relatively short distance to Disneyland Park plaza with hundreds of other people wanting to be there for rope drop. We found a line that looked about the shortest. We had about 40 minutes to wait. The park’s official hours were 9 a.m. to 9 p.m., although it opened at about 8:45 a.m. for guests staying at official resorts.
The original game plan was to grab a Priority Pass for Monster’s Inc. and get in-line for Beauty and the Beast. And that is what we did…sort of. The night before I was suggesting to my buddy that we should get his ticket on the TDL app. Well, that didn’t happen. It would not have been a problem if it had not been for the fact that due to the crowds that the cell phone network was log-jammed and we could not get on the WiFi. I was hopeful that after we got into the park that we would be able to get my buddy’s cell phone on WiFi; however, I don’t even think we tried. We did stop by Monsters Inc. to talk with a cast member to explain the situation, but she was directing us to Guest Services in International Bazaar. We decided to press on to Beauty and the Beast, which was already at about an hour wait. We were scrambling to figure out how to get a scan of the QR code for the app. What we ended up doing was that my buddy took a picture of the QR code in my email and then I scanned it into the app. We were able to get a Priority Pass for around 11 a.m. and for the rest of the day, we were fine with the app.
The queue for Beauty and the Beast works well. When there are long lines (which would be almost all of the time), you start on the far side of the bridge to the castle. In the distance, the mountain facade gives you the impression that the land continues on indefinitely (although the real bird at the top of the wall looked a bit out of proportion). You pass over the bridge, although you can’t savor it for long as the Cast Members are trying to cut down on people taking pictures. Inside the Castle are various rooms, including several that have Audio Animatronics. The scenes on the ride live up to their hype. Okay with breaking the “magic effect,” I looked backwards at the kitchen table during the “Be Our Guest” song to see the table being re-set for the finale. The changing of the Beast into the prince is a very nice effect.
When it was time to use our first set of Priority Passes, I placed my phone under the reader and scanned both passes on the app. We walked right into the Monsters Inc. lobby and to the desk found in the movies. It was pretty quick walk-on since we had the Priority Passes (although that is not always the case); it depends a lot on where the Priority Pass guests enter the regular queue.
The ride itself is pretty neat–about what I was expecting. Guests travel through a bunch of scenes in Monstropolis. As they flash their lights on the various monsters, they come to life. There is no score attached to how you do, but you can sense a bit of a competition with your party.
I will say a quick word about Splash Mountain. We asked a Cast Member about Single Rider, but they just said “No” (not sure if that meant there was no Single Rider or that we were in the wrong place). So we go in-line. The man behind us named Dean saw that I was praying the rosary, so he asked me if I was a Christian. We got to talking quite a bit for the rest of the 45-minute wait, so he is a person who will stay with me following the trip. One main difference of the ride is that the drop takes guests under the brer patch. I was curious to see the set-up of Grandma Sara’s Kitchen as I heard that it has views of the ride. The views were on a secluded outdoor part (which is still neat but something I have experienced at Paul Bunyan’s Log Flume at the Mall of America since I was a kid).
Our dining in the park was highlighted by a curry lunch in Frontierland. It was not a spicy curry (more like a barbecue) but still very good (presentation-wise, the highlight was the half egg with a Mickey-shaped yolk). Fr. Joe sampled some of the Milk Tea popcorn. We decided to leave the park before close and ate at a food court at Ipisiari, which was fine.
Tokyo DisneySea (Thursday, May 9)
Getting to Tokyo DisneySea the next day was relatively the same. Rather than a dedicated elevated walkway, guests take to the streets. There was the same cell phone issue in the entrance plaza, although we were much better prepared for this day.
We followed the crowds to the right side around the harbor on the way to Mysterious Island. I secured free Priority Passes for what I thought was the most pressing ride–Finding Nemo’s SeaRider (although that may not have been the best choice had we had all of the information). When we got to Journey to the Center of the Earth, we found out that the ride had not yet opened. So we went down the ramp into the 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea ride–with basically no wait. My buddy and I rode on the right side of the sub. The effects of bubbles, altometer, oxygen levels, and floodlights were all good in my opinion. This was a ride that we made it a point to ride again later in the day.
Unfortunately, by the time we returned to Journey to the Center of the Earth, the wait time was already about an hour. The first part of the queue is rather uninteresting; it’s just a series of switchbacks (using metal chains) under the volcano. Then you get to a large room (which is hard to grasp the magnitude of the room or where people leave the room) where there is some of the research from the characters in the story. After riding in an elevator, guests get to the final part of the queue.
The ride starts out at a relatively slow pace as guests are able to explore the environments hidden under the surface of the earth. Eventually things get darker and the surprise of the giant lava monster sends the vehicles into Test Track-speed (after all, the ride uses the same ride system as Test Track). We had time before dinner to ride it again (that time the wait was 45 minutes). It was my favorite ride that we experienced at the park.
We got in line for Tower of Terror after lunch. The approach is similar to the other Tower of Terrors that have been in existence (I have ridden Orlando’s and Paris’), although it does not relate to The Twilight Zone. The queue starts outside the historical “Hightower Hotel,” where guests begin to see Henry Hightower’s odd assortment of art from around the world. In the hotel lobby, there are big murals showing the great extent that Hightower went to to steal the artifacts. In a foreshadowing of what is to come in the pre-show and ride, there is indication of the final idol that Hightower acquired. The pre-show gives more of the legend of Hightower’s disappearance as being manipulated by the idol. The final queue before joining the ride shows many more artifacts being stored.
Fr. Joe and I sat in the back of the car. Similar to the Twilight Zone versions, there is some build-up to the big drops and rises. It is always a good thrill and this version was overall likable.
We also rode the Indiana Jones rides–the roller coaster in the morning and the jeep adventure in the evening (both with Priority Passes as the Cast Members at the later one didn’t want to confirm if there would be a Single Rider line once the ride reopened). The coaster is simple, whereas the jeep adventure is great. I had ridden both at other parks, although these were the first times for Fr. Joe. Indiana Jones Adventure was his favorite ride in the park.
We did explore the rest of the park traveling by the Steamliner (very good, but it’s still confusing to me how to make a complete circuit) and the Elevated Railway. Aquatopia was a fun middle-of-the-afternoon ride to get on. We also rode The Flying Fish Coaster and went on the carousel (bottom floor) and Magic Lamp Theater. The theming inside Mermaid Lagoon was especially neat to take in.
As for dining…wow! I had heard someone recommend the Vulcania Chinese quick service restaurant in Mysterious Island. My friend and I went with the special set meal of the day–a pork belly ramen with a rice cake and shrimp cocktail (okay) and a purple gelatin dessert. That was really good ramen even just ignoring where we were.
As for dinner, I am not usually one for eating at a sit-down restaurant in a theme park as I think the rides should be given priority. This is especially the case when there was really no research done as to what foods are offered at the various restaurants. There was one opening for a meal reservation at the USS Columbia dining room, so we decided to snatch it. After our re-ride of Journey to the Center of the Earth, we made it just in-time to the ship’s dining room for our reservation time. We sat down and decided which of the set meals to get. Many of the portions were small but of high quality. We did get big portions of a seashell (with cheese) and beef. We ended up leaving the park after dinner (while the nighttime show was going on) and caught a monorail so that we could get a shuttle back to our hotel.
After experiencing the park, I (agreeing with many others) think that Tokyo DisneySea is the best theme park in the world. The great theme parks can give you the allusion that you are entering a different world when you enter a land. At DisneySea, though, it seems like all of the diverse lands belong together. Each land (and even subland) is rather diverse (in theming, attraction lineup, intended audience, etc.), but it has its part to play in the whole.
Universal Studios Japan (Wednesday, May 15)
The park’s hours are officially listed as 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. but it actually opens an hour earlier (8 a.m.). While Fr. Joe waited in line, I searched for the cafe that had chocolate croissants and coffee; I brought them back to the line.
Prior to entering the park, the USJ app said that there were no reservations available for Super Mario Land. We had hoped that that would change after having our tickets scanned; however, it remained unchanged. So we went to Central Park (I only had a vague notion of where that was) to try and obtain paper reservations. A Cast Member directed us to keep walking and then there would be a queue for the tickets. Other Cast Members held us for a bit. Meanwhile, the app asked to track my location, which then allowed us to get reservations on the app for 9 to 10 a.m., which allowed us to exit the queue. We headed to Demon Slayer XR (the overlay for Fantasy Flight).
One of the unique things about being at USJ in May is that it was in the midst of Cool Japan. Some Japanese IPs (none of which I have personally seen) get overlays at several of the attractions. The Demon Slayer XR uses augmented reality glasses that portray a story that follows the shape of the roller coaster track. I would have personally liked to have done the ride in the normal format. This ride has the highest wait time during Cool Japan due to the fact that it loses half of its capacity–the XR goggles only work on the forward facing seats. My Hero Academia involved a “final show” (computer animated) of a character with special powers who goes off the deep end. Detective Conan was a mix of live-action and animation of some sort of kid detective trying to keep a jewel out of the wrong hands.
Our second ride of the day was Mario Kart. We hopped in the Single Rider line, which was listed at 45 minutes (compared with 60 minutes in the regular line). The queue is themed to Bowser Castle. There is a room with instructional screens in the queue that we became familiar with when the ride broke down for a while. When we started moving again, we began to make our way down some stairs, ultimately arriving at the loading stations. Although Fr. Joe and I ended up on different ride vehicles, we were in the same grouping for scoring. Apparently the most important thing to do on the ride is to aim your visor properly; the driving and launching shells only helps so much. It was difficult to maneuver at first, but I did get more of the hang by about the halfway point. Fr. Joe ended up having the high score in the group of 8 (about 133 points), although I felt pretty good with 125 (good for 3rd).
We next got in line for Yoshi. Part of the queue went outside backstage, which sort of broke the illusion of the land. When we came back inside, we once again faced a breakdown. The ride itself is cute–lots of moving characters. There is simple interactivity–hit the red egg when you see the red egg, etc. Following that ride, we decided to leave the land as we were not going to get the interactive wristbands or go shopping.
I experienced Forbidden Journey for the first time (I had not ridden it in Hollywood). With the Single Rider line, we basically walked right on the ride. I was impressed with the KUKA robotic arm system–providing a bit of thrill. We ended up riding it a second time later in the day.
We next got in the Single Rider line for Hollywood Dream, which was listed at about 55 minutes (compared with 70 for the main line). I should mention that we later were going to ride Backdrop, but a Cast Member had Fr. Joe try the restraint system only to find out he was too big (he is 6’1 with rather long legs and some girth). It was one of the most complicated pre-ride procedure that I had ever seen–we were given placards that described nothing could be in our pockets, then a Cast Member had us empty everything in our pockets, and then we got wanded when it was time to ride (besides taking a while to let the people getting off the ride get their stuff and for the new riders to put their stuff in the bins). I did not recognize any of the songs on the list. It was a pretty good steel coaster, although at a maximum height of 144 feet and a maximum speed of 56 mph, it will not make it into my list of top coasters.
The Jaws ride at USJ is the last remaining Jaws attraction in the world. Located in the middle of the park, other lands (Harry Potter and Super Mario Land) have been built up within the horizon of the ride. It is a slight issue. This ride has a Single Rider line, so it is easy to get on even if Water World has just gotten out (as was the case for us).
One quick word about Despicable Me Minions Mayhem ride–it actually uses the same ride system as The Simpsons (or the previous Back to the Future), so it is a higher quality than the ones at Hollywood and Orlando.
The food at USJ was more expensive than the Disney parks and not exceptional. We ate lunch at the Three Broomsticks restaurant, where I had chicken, Shepherd’s Pie, and corn. My buddy had ButterBeer as part of his meal, but I’m not a Harry Potter fan. For dinner, we were trying to get some steamed buns at a quick service place at Wonderland (the children’s area), but they had an Easter menu there. Instead we got some (half-size) burritos and pop from a food truck. To get some more calories, we bought some ice cream from Shake Shack at the CityWalk.
Conclusion
Japan has three premier theme parks--each one offering a different type of experience. Universal Studios Japan is the most difficult to evaluate as we were doing some Cool Japan attractions while Jurassic Park was down for rehabs. I will remember it for my first experience of Super Nintendo Land. Tokyo Disneyland's unique rides met expectations, and it was fun to ride Splash Mountain again. But Tokyo DisneySea takes the cake with a great slate of rides, many of which are unique to the park. If you have not yet been to Japan yourself, hopefully you will have the opportunity to experience them for yourself.
Report of Japan’s Theme Parks
I have dreamed about going to Japan (and Tokyo Disneyland in particular) ever since I first started seeing the details for Tokyo DisneySea (which opened September 4, 2001). Would the arguably best theme park live up to the hype? That is what I was planning to figure out in spring 2020–that is, until Covid-19 shutdown the world. The trip was on hold indefinitely. I ended up switching travel buddies to Fr. Joe as my original tripmate was unable to go in 2024 (sorry, Ryan!).
I heard that May (after Golden Week) was a good time to travel to Japan and enjoy the theme parks. Going mid-week, too, would keep the lines down somewhat. My buddy and I settled on our travel dates rather quickly. The main discussion point was whether to do Tokyo Disneyland the first week (and Universal Studios Japan the second week) or vice versa. Based on their locations, we decided to do Disney 1st and Universal 2nd. Unfortunately, the downside of this is that The Flying Dinosaur went down for a rehab in week 2, so we missed that ride. Other major closures included Pooh’s Hunny Hunt, Big Thunder Mountain, Voyages of Sindbad, and Jurassic Park River Adventure (which felt odd that an entire land was shut-down).
On each day, there was a setback of sorts right as we entered the park (but more on that below). I will not go into every detail (there are other sites that do that), but this will encapsulate the more important elements of each park.
Tokyo Disneyland (Wednesday, May 8)
First, a word about the location and layout of the Tokyo Disneyland Resort. The most similar resort is the Disneyland Resort in Anaheim. Both resorts have two parks with a smattering of official hotels within a square/rectangular area of a high density city (but not downtown). Ikispari Shopping (next to Maihama Station) is like an upscale mall with several floors of shops and restaurants. The Disneyland Resort Line is the resorts’ own rectangular-shaped monorail line (open to the public) that has 4 stations: Maihama Station (with transfer to a JR subway line and buses), Disneyland Park, Bayside, and Tokyo DisneySea Park.
My buddy and I went to Tokyo Disneyland on our first full day in Japan as we figured to save the “best for last” (in this case, Tokyo DisneySea). After having a simple breakfast (including a cup of coffee from a vending machine) at Henn Na Maihama Hotel (best known for its check-in served by Audio Animatronic velociraptors), we took the first shuttle (8 a.m., which turned out to be full both days, although nobody was denied boarding) to the train station (note: the night before, we had walked the approximately 1-mile walk to our hotel with our bags; in the midst of all the traveling that day, we had forgotten that we could have made it on a shuttle). We made our way upstairs from the shuttle stop and walked the relatively short distance to Disneyland Park plaza with hundreds of other people wanting to be there for rope drop. We found a line that looked about the shortest. We had about 40 minutes to wait. The park’s official hours were 9 a.m. to 9 p.m., although it opened at about 8:45 a.m. for guests staying at official resorts.
The original game plan was to grab a Priority Pass for Monster’s Inc. and get in-line for Beauty and the Beast. And that is what we did…sort of. The night before I was suggesting to my buddy that we should get his ticket on the TDL app. Well, that didn’t happen. It would not have been a problem if it had not been for the fact that due to the crowds that the cell phone network was log-jammed and we could not get on the WiFi. I was hopeful that after we got into the park that we would be able to get my buddy’s cell phone on WiFi; however, I don’t even think we tried. We did stop by Monsters Inc. to talk with a cast member to explain the situation, but she was directing us to Guest Services in International Bazaar. We decided to press on to Beauty and the Beast, which was already at about an hour wait. We were scrambling to figure out how to get a scan of the QR code for the app. What we ended up doing was that my buddy took a picture of the QR code in my email and then I scanned it into the app. We were able to get a Priority Pass for around 11 a.m. and for the rest of the day, we were fine with the app.
The queue for Beauty and the Beast works well. When there are long lines (which would be almost all of the time), you start on the far side of the bridge to the castle. In the distance, the mountain facade gives you the impression that the land continues on indefinitely (although the real bird at the top of the wall looked a bit out of proportion). You pass over the bridge, although you can’t savor it for long as the Cast Members are trying to cut down on people taking pictures. Inside the Castle are various rooms, including several that have Audio Animatronics. The scenes on the ride live up to their hype. Okay with breaking the “magic effect,” I looked backwards at the kitchen table during the “Be Our Guest” song to see the table being re-set for the finale. The changing of the Beast into the prince is a very nice effect.
When it was time to use our first set of Priority Passes, I placed my phone under the reader and scanned both passes on the app. We walked right into the Monsters Inc. lobby and to the desk found in the movies. It was pretty quick walk-on since we had the Priority Passes (although that is not always the case); it depends a lot on where the Priority Pass guests enter the regular queue.
The ride itself is pretty neat–about what I was expecting. Guests travel through a bunch of scenes in Monstropolis. As they flash their lights on the various monsters, they come to life. There is no score attached to how you do, but you can sense a bit of a competition with your party.
I will say a quick word about Splash Mountain. We asked a Cast Member about Single Rider, but they just said “No” (not sure if that meant there was no Single Rider or that we were in the wrong place). So we go in-line. The man behind us named Dean saw that I was praying the rosary, so he asked me if I was a Christian. We got to talking quite a bit for the rest of the 45-minute wait, so he is a person who will stay with me following the trip. One main difference of the ride is that the drop takes guests under the brer patch. I was curious to see the set-up of Grandma Sara’s Kitchen as I heard that it has views of the ride. The views were on a secluded outdoor part (which is still neat but something I have experienced at Paul Bunyan’s Log Flume at the Mall of America since I was a kid).
Our dining in the park was highlighted by a curry lunch in Frontierland. It was not a spicy curry (more like a barbecue) but still very good (presentation-wise, the highlight was the half egg with a Mickey-shaped yolk). Fr. Joe sampled some of the Milk Tea popcorn. We decided to leave the park before close and ate at a food court at Ipisiari, which was fine.
Tokyo DisneySea (Thursday, May 9)
Getting to Tokyo DisneySea the next day was relatively the same. Rather than a dedicated elevated walkway, guests take to the streets. There was the same cell phone issue in the entrance plaza, although we were much better prepared for this day.
We followed the crowds to the right side around the harbor on the way to Mysterious Island. I secured free Priority Passes for what I thought was the most pressing ride–Finding Nemo’s SeaRider (although that may not have been the best choice had we had all of the information). When we got to Journey to the Center of the Earth, we found out that the ride had not yet opened. So we went down the ramp into the 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea ride–with basically no wait. My buddy and I rode on the right side of the sub. The effects of bubbles, altometer, oxygen levels, and floodlights were all good in my opinion. This was a ride that we made it a point to ride again later in the day.
Unfortunately, by the time we returned to Journey to the Center of the Earth, the wait time was already about an hour. The first part of the queue is rather uninteresting; it’s just a series of switchbacks (using metal chains) under the volcano. Then you get to a large room (which is hard to grasp the magnitude of the room or where people leave the room) where there is some of the research from the characters in the story. After riding in an elevator, guests get to the final part of the queue.
The ride starts out at a relatively slow pace as guests are able to explore the environments hidden under the surface of the earth. Eventually things get darker and the surprise of the giant lava monster sends the vehicles into Test Track-speed (after all, the ride uses the same ride system as Test Track). We had time before dinner to ride it again (that time the wait was 45 minutes). It was my favorite ride that we experienced at the park.
We got in line for Tower of Terror after lunch. The approach is similar to the other Tower of Terrors that have been in existence (I have ridden Orlando’s and Paris’), although it does not relate to The Twilight Zone. The queue starts outside the historical “Hightower Hotel,” where guests begin to see Henry Hightower’s odd assortment of art from around the world. In the hotel lobby, there are big murals showing the great extent that Hightower went to to steal the artifacts. In a foreshadowing of what is to come in the pre-show and ride, there is indication of the final idol that Hightower acquired. The pre-show gives more of the legend of Hightower’s disappearance as being manipulated by the idol. The final queue before joining the ride shows many more artifacts being stored.
Fr. Joe and I sat in the back of the car. Similar to the Twilight Zone versions, there is some build-up to the big drops and rises. It is always a good thrill and this version was overall likable.
We also rode the Indiana Jones rides–the roller coaster in the morning and the jeep adventure in the evening (both with Priority Passes as the Cast Members at the later one didn’t want to confirm if there would be a Single Rider line once the ride reopened). The coaster is simple, whereas the jeep adventure is great. I had ridden both at other parks, although these were the first times for Fr. Joe. Indiana Jones Adventure was his favorite ride in the park.
We did explore the rest of the park traveling by the Steamliner (very good, but it’s still confusing to me how to make a complete circuit) and the Elevated Railway. Aquatopia was a fun middle-of-the-afternoon ride to get on. We also rode The Flying Fish Coaster and went on the carousel (bottom floor) and Magic Lamp Theater. The theming inside Mermaid Lagoon was especially neat to take in.
As for dining…wow! I had heard someone recommend the Vulcania Chinese quick service restaurant in Mysterious Island. My friend and I went with the special set meal of the day–a pork belly ramen with a rice cake and shrimp cocktail (okay) and a purple gelatin dessert. That was really good ramen even just ignoring where we were.
As for dinner, I am not usually one for eating at a sit-down restaurant in a theme park as I think the rides should be given priority. This is especially the case when there was really no research done as to what foods are offered at the various restaurants. There was one opening for a meal reservation at the USS Columbia dining room, so we decided to snatch it. After our re-ride of Journey to the Center of the Earth, we made it just in-time to the ship’s dining room for our reservation time. We sat down and decided which of the set meals to get. Many of the portions were small but of high quality. We did get big portions of a seashell (with cheese) and beef. We ended up leaving the park after dinner (while the nighttime show was going on) and caught a monorail so that we could get a shuttle back to our hotel.
After experiencing the park, I (agreeing with many others) think that Tokyo DisneySea is the best theme park in the world. The great theme parks can give you the allusion that you are entering a different world when you enter a land. At DisneySea, though, it seems like all of the diverse lands belong together. Each land (and even subland) is rather diverse (in theming, attraction lineup, intended audience, etc.), but it has its part to play in the whole.
Universal Studios Japan (Wednesday, May 15)
The park’s hours are officially listed as 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. but it actually opens an hour earlier (8 a.m.). While Fr. Joe waited in line, I searched for the cafe that had chocolate croissants and coffee; I brought them back to the line.
Prior to entering the park, the USJ app said that there were no reservations available for Super Mario Land. We had hoped that that would change after having our tickets scanned; however, it remained unchanged. So we went to Central Park (I only had a vague notion of where that was) to try and obtain paper reservations. A Cast Member directed us to keep walking and then there would be a queue for the tickets. Other Cast Members held us for a bit. Meanwhile, the app asked to track my location, which then allowed us to get reservations on the app for 9 to 10 a.m., which allowed us to exit the queue. We headed to Demon Slayer XR (the overlay for Fantasy Flight).
One of the unique things about being at USJ in May is that it was in the midst of Cool Japan. Some Japanese IPs (none of which I have personally seen) get overlays at several of the attractions. The Demon Slayer XR uses augmented reality glasses that portray a story that follows the shape of the roller coaster track. I would have personally liked to have done the ride in the normal format. This ride has the highest wait time during Cool Japan due to the fact that it loses half of its capacity–the XR goggles only work on the forward facing seats. My Hero Academia involved a “final show” (computer animated) of a character with special powers who goes off the deep end. Detective Conan was a mix of live-action and animation of some sort of kid detective trying to keep a jewel out of the wrong hands.
Our second ride of the day was Mario Kart. We hopped in the Single Rider line, which was listed at 45 minutes (compared with 60 minutes in the regular line). The queue is themed to Bowser Castle. There is a room with instructional screens in the queue that we became familiar with when the ride broke down for a while. When we started moving again, we began to make our way down some stairs, ultimately arriving at the loading stations. Although Fr. Joe and I ended up on different ride vehicles, we were in the same grouping for scoring. Apparently the most important thing to do on the ride is to aim your visor properly; the driving and launching shells only helps so much. It was difficult to maneuver at first, but I did get more of the hang by about the halfway point. Fr. Joe ended up having the high score in the group of 8 (about 133 points), although I felt pretty good with 125 (good for 3rd).
We next got in line for Yoshi. Part of the queue went outside backstage, which sort of broke the illusion of the land. When we came back inside, we once again faced a breakdown. The ride itself is cute–lots of moving characters. There is simple interactivity–hit the red egg when you see the red egg, etc. Following that ride, we decided to leave the land as we were not going to get the interactive wristbands or go shopping.
I experienced Forbidden Journey for the first time (I had not ridden it in Hollywood). With the Single Rider line, we basically walked right on the ride. I was impressed with the KUKA robotic arm system–providing a bit of thrill. We ended up riding it a second time later in the day.
We next got in the Single Rider line for Hollywood Dream, which was listed at about 55 minutes (compared with 70 for the main line). I should mention that we later were going to ride Backdrop, but a Cast Member had Fr. Joe try the restraint system only to find out he was too big (he is 6’1 with rather long legs and some girth). It was one of the most complicated pre-ride procedure that I had ever seen–we were given placards that described nothing could be in our pockets, then a Cast Member had us empty everything in our pockets, and then we got wanded when it was time to ride (besides taking a while to let the people getting off the ride get their stuff and for the new riders to put their stuff in the bins). I did not recognize any of the songs on the list. It was a pretty good steel coaster, although at a maximum height of 144 feet and a maximum speed of 56 mph, it will not make it into my list of top coasters.
The Jaws ride at USJ is the last remaining Jaws attraction in the world. Located in the middle of the park, other lands (Harry Potter and Super Mario Land) have been built up within the horizon of the ride. It is a slight issue. This ride has a Single Rider line, so it is easy to get on even if Water World has just gotten out (as was the case for us).
One quick word about Despicable Me Minions Mayhem ride–it actually uses the same ride system as The Simpsons (or the previous Back to the Future), so it is a higher quality than the ones at Hollywood and Orlando.
The food at USJ was more expensive than the Disney parks and not exceptional. We ate lunch at the Three Broomsticks restaurant, where I had chicken, Shepherd’s Pie, and corn. My buddy had ButterBeer as part of his meal, but I’m not a Harry Potter fan. For dinner, we were trying to get some steamed buns at a quick service place at Wonderland (the children’s area), but they had an Easter menu there. Instead we got some (half-size) burritos and pop from a food truck. To get some more calories, we bought some ice cream from Shake Shack at the CityWalk.
Conclusion
Japan has three premier theme parks--each one offering a different type of experience. Universal Studios Japan is the most difficult to evaluate as we were doing some Cool Japan attractions while Jurassic Park was down for rehabs. I will remember it for my first experience of Super Nintendo Land. Tokyo Disneyland's unique rides met expectations, and it was fun to ride Splash Mountain again. But Tokyo DisneySea takes the cake with a great slate of rides, many of which are unique to the park. If you have not yet been to Japan yourself, hopefully you will have the opportunity to experience them for yourself.