Universal Studios Osaka: Harry Potter Opening

I was really looking forward to Universal Osaka, more than Disneyland in fact. Why? Well for starters....

THEY HAVE HARRY POTTER LAND!

I was there when this new area was just opened, and to no surprise, the crowd was CRAZY. How crazy? Let's just say we went into the park at 10am, but the Harry Potter section was so crowded that they had to restrict access into the section by allocating time coupons from a machine. And we got.... the 6pm coupon. So we now had 8 hours to spare.

Fill up your time with all that mandatory selfies. I've been to Universal Singapore before this, and I find that Osaka tops it a lot more. Firstly, its the space. Universal Osaka is really well spread out, but of course, it's because they have the land. Second of all, the rides! If you're not a fan of roller coasters, try the Spider man one, because it's probably the entry-level roller coaster experience. 

About food, expect to pay theme park prices. But hey, you're already there. So why not splurge and indulge in their many flavoured pop corn, cony dogs and churros YUM. You can also bring your own food, just store them in the lockers provided so you don't have to lug them around the park. 

Okay now back to HARRY POTTER!

Super crowded Harry Potter Land

Line to HoneyDukes

As you can see, the park was still crowded even after 6pm. I waited about 40 minutes just to get into HoneyDukes, but sadly the popular items like Bertie Botts every flavoured beans and chocolate frogs were sold out. Boohoo. Butterbeer however, is awesome! It kinda taste like Root Beer with melted vanilla ice cream.

For rides, the Hogwarts Forbidden journey is the best ride in the whole of Universal Osaka, for me. It's not really a roller coaster, but your upper body is clipped on and your legs are suspended. It was the most exciting and exhilarating ride throughout the whole of Universal Osaka. 

How to get to Universal Osaka?

Universal Osaka is a 5 minute walk from Universal City station on the JR Yumesaki Line. 

Opening Hours?

Low season  : 10:00 to 18:00

High season : 09:00 to 21:00

Admission?

6,980 yen (12-64 years old) 

4,880 yen (4-11 years old) 

6,270 yen (65 years or older) 

Getting around Osaka

What's the difference between Osaka and Japan?

Plenty of things! But the greatest of all is their no fuss, super practical subway!

Every where I go, I like to look for tourist passes that are value for money. In Osaka, they call it the Enjoy Eco card that looks like this: 

This card can be used on all of Osaka's Municipal Subway, new tram and buses. There are also discounts available at certain sight seeing locations when you flash this card. 

Price: 800 yen adult (600 yen for weekends and public holidays), 300 yen for children

You can buy these Tourist passes at any subway station, I bought mine at Shin-Osaka station which was my stop off the Shinkansen train. You can even buy them days in advance, just let them know the date you're going to use it on.

There are a lot of other passes out here. You can find more about it here. But for me, I went for the cheapest option having only spent 3 days in Osaka. 

You can get more info on Osaka's Public transport passes here.

How to get from Tokyo to Osaka: Shinkansen Experience

For those of you thinking of the most efficient way to get to Osaka, you've come to the right place! Why waste 1 hour of waiting time at the airport when you can just take a train to Osaka hassle free. But its not just any train you're taking, its the Shinkansen. 

What is the Shinkansen?

The Shinkansen is a high speed railway line that is operated by four Japan Railway group companies. Their high speed/bullet trains can reach a maximum speed of 240 - 320 km/h! Shinkansen literally means new trunk line. Lines between Tokyo and Osaka are actually very very popular, so much so that they have up to 13 trains per hour running to and fro! 

Sleek and sexy Shinkansen

How to check train times and fares?

Train times and fares can be checked on Hyperdia.com. The Shinkansen in Tokyo leaves from Tokyo Station, and arrives at Shin-Osaka station (for Osaka). The average price of these one way tickets are 8000 to 9000 yen (yes it's not cheap). There are also different types of seats on the Shinkansens, Green seats (10,480 yen), Reversed seats (8750yen or 5500 yen during low seasons), and unreserved seats (4870 yen). A way to differentiate these seats is easy: 

green seats = first class

reserved seats = allocated numbered seats

unreserved seats = first come first serve seats

You will also realize that there are two different types of Shinkansens listed on Hyperdia, Shinkansen Nozomi and Hikari. Well you can see that the Hikari has a longer travel time by about 30 minutes, but the Hikari has 2 times more unreserved seats than the Nozomi. So if you're stretching your buck going for the unreserved seats, maybe you would opt for the Hikari trains. 

Where can I buy Shinkansen tickets?

You can buy Shinkansen tickets from any of the major Japan Intercity stations, so if you're leaving from Tokyo, that'd be Tokyo station. It's very difficult to purchase the tickets online unless you can read Japanese, but purchasing it over the counter is just as efficient. If you're worried that the tickets may be sold out, it doesn't hurt to go a few days earlier to pick up your tickets over the counter or from the vending machines. Remember, they have a high frequency of trains in an hour!

Nice comfy reserved seats

Hope this post helps you maneuver your way around Japan, because I'm pretty sure it would be the same getting to other cities in Japan as well. Good Luck! 

Tokyo DisneySea Experience

Tokyo DisneySea is one of its kind in the world. Of course there is Disneyland, but Disneyland you can find in many locations across the world (and you wouldn't want to come to Japan for it, trust me). It's because of the crowds. We made a bad mistake coming when schools in Japan were having their holidays. The place was swamped! But this was, the only DisneySea in the world. 

We arrived at 10 am and only left at about 9 pm. Some rides had 3 hour long waiting times. In one day, we managed to conquer 5 rides: Tower of Terror, Storm Rider, Temple of the Crystal Skull, Journey to the center of the earth and 20,000 Leagues under the Sea. All the 5 rides I went for was worth the wait. The area encompassing DisneySea is huge! Requiring 5 to 10 minutes of walk time in between parks, though there is a view to enjoy.

Fancy a gondola ride?

What I found funny about DisneySea is its fastpass system. A visitor doesn't have to pay extra to obtain it, they just have to run to these fastpass stands outside the attraction and scan their tickets in order to receive an allocated time to enter. There is a limited number of tickets given out at a certain time. For me, being a newbie in theme park strategies, I didn't manage to get any fastpasses, so I queued up along with the crowd. It ticked me off because more priority was given to these fastpass holders, when I paid the same amount as them to enter the park. Normally, they would give a ratio of 2:2 to fastpass and no fastpass holders to enter at one time, but DisneySea did a very bad job at this.

DisneySea Fastpass. Source: tdrexplorer.com

Fastpass Kiosks. Source: towersecrets.com

DisneySea is an experience, and if you're planning on going to other themeparks, this one well prepares you for it. 

Ps. Food in DisneySea is expensive. You can bring your own food in the park as long as you eat it in designated areas. There are lockers outside you can rent to store your belongings. 

Tokyo DisneySea

1-13 Maihama, Urayasu, Chiba Prefecture 279-0031, Japan

Hours: 10 am to 10 pm

JR Station: Maihama Station 

Getting Around Japan via Metro

Tokyo, possibly one of the most fascinating and bizarre cities in the world! It is also the largest metropolitan area in the world where space is limited, thus you can expect to be literally rubbing shoulders with many, many people here. When I first starting planning my trip in Tokyo and Osaka I knew that is was going to be a challenge. Mainly because the subway map looked like this:

But don't worry, I'm here to help you figure it out. The first thing you must know is that Tokyo trains are made up of many operators. Example, JR Line, Private Railways, Metro (coloured) lines, and Toei (coloured) lines. 

Unless you're planning on travelling to the outskirts of the city, you can totally ignore JR and Private Railway lines, because not only are those more expensive, I was told that they were more frequently used by the locals somehow, thus where heavy crowds will be especially during peak hours. With that said, you have just crossed out the thick and thin black lines of the map! That leaves you with this:

The Tokyo Metro and Toei lines are operated by the government, and although they do not have as many stations as the Private and JR lines, they will still be able to get you around Tokyo with extreme efficiency. So here's the smartest thing to do, get a tourist Tokyo Subway Ticket that looks like this: 

You can only get it Tokyo Airports, and is only sold to tourists on presentation of their passports. Some travel agencies and Bic Camera outlets provide them as well. The price of these tickets are:

Tokyo Subway 1-Day Ticket – Adult: 800 yen, Child: 400 yen

Tokyo Subway 2-Day Ticket – Adult: 1,200 yen, Child: 600 yen

Tokyo Subway 3-Day Ticket – Adult: 1,500 yen, Child: 750 yen

Talk about a steal! The average price of a single ticket going just one station away is 170 yen, so you can do the math. You can plan and calculate the costs of your journeys here. Every station has a unique Line symbol (alphabet) and station number. For example, G16, G17, G18. It's circled with a colour that represents the subway line, making it easy to find your station. You can read this for a clearer picture. To top it off, all of Tokyo's metro stations have free WiFi, so in case you get lost, just hop off at any station and google it!