We survived USJ without buying an express pass

When planning for my November trip to Japan, I saw countless posts on lemon8/tiktok recommending express pass if your budget allows.

I would say I could buy the express 4/7 passes if I wanted to but the price just didn’t see justifiable to me… the passes alone were easily double the original USJ ticket price for my date! Being a cheapo, I decided against buying them 😂

We took the following rides:

1. Harry potter and the forbidden journey

2. Flight of the hippogriff

3. Flying dinosaur

4. Mario kart: koopa’s challenge

5. Waterworld

6. Jaws

7. Sadako’s curse: dark horror ride

8. Hollywood dream - the ride

We could easily take another 2-3 more rides if we wanted in between Jaws and Sadako (we took a 2.5hr break to chill) and after Hollywood Dream as we finished the ride at about 6.15pm and left the park at 6.30pm.

How we did it:

1. We went about 1 hour (6.50am) before the gates open (tip: they open the parks at least an hour earlier than the published times!) for us, they opened the gates at about 7.45am and let those with early entry in at 7.30am!) we queued on the right side of the gates because that’s slightlyyyyyy nearer to our first location. If you bought the 15 min early entry, please queue on the left side! The staff only open the gates on the left side to let people with the early entry in.

2. We went straight for the wizarding world of Harry Potter. Many suggested going for Super Nintendo World, but if you’re early, i.e. ENTER before the park official opening hours. I think it’s safe to say that you would be able to secure a time entry ticket for Super Nintendo World via the app so, go for Harry Potter first!!

3. Spam refresh the timed entry tickets on the app the moment you entered the park (meaning, your ticket have been scanned at the gates) and book a slot for Nintendo world! Tip: you can add in your tickets into the app before that, while queuing to enter, so that you can just refresh the app later! We booked a slot for 9.10am.

4. It was so empty at Harry Potter, because everyone was at Nintendo haha. We took both rides with practically no queue at all! If short on time, would recommend forbidden journey instead, as the coaster is rather short/quite kids friendly IMO for a coaster.

5. Thereafter, we went to the flying dinosaur which had a 20 min queue. Flying dinosaur is a MUST for all coaster lovers. The best coaster I have taken in my life cause it’s not your typical one!!

6. It was about 9.10 already so we headed to Nintendo world using our timed entry tickets! Nintendo was already crowded so that’s where the queuing began for us - queued around 80 mins iirc for Mario Kart: Koopa’s Challenge (was fun!). Thereafter, we grabbed snacks from Yoshi’s stand and took photos around Nintendo world and slowly headed out to grab more…snacks HAHA

We didn’t go for yoshi’s adventure as we saw that it was just a ride around Nintendo world so more of a kids ride and not worth the long queue!

7. As we headed out, we realised Waterworld was starting so we went for it! Do note the front seats (blue chairs) are the splash zone! Show was easy to follow even though it’s in Japanese!

8. We went for Jaws since the queue was also supposed to be relatively short, but halfway through the queue there was a glitch so the queue became v long hahaha and that drained our adrenaline, the ride was ok - nothing fantastic haha but good ride to bring kids on!

9. We just chilled our way through USJ since we clocked our (i.e. my) must-haves already! Went on Sadako in the late afternoon cause the queue was pretty short then (I think around 20 mins) the ride itself was ok - it was dark! So a little bit underwhelming cause the pre-ride made it felt like it was gonna be horror-filled 😅

10. We then spent about 90 mins to queue for our last ride - Hollywood dream! We didn’t go on the backdrop cause my hubs said actually when it’s backwards you don’t feel the thrill as much cause you’re being pulled along or sth like that (idk 😂)

11. Left the park early cause we are old souls, and also because we were leaving for Tokyo the next day

TL;DR go early and head to Harry Potter first!!

P.s. note that Nintendo world is expanding (donkey kong!) next year

#MyLemon8Diary #USJ #osakajapan #osakaguide #traveltips #travelhacks