Ivy's Life: Ivy's Travel: The Wizarding World Of Harry Potter

Let's start our Summer in Japan travel diary with one of the highlight from the trip. I have been a fan of Harry Potter, probably not a super avid one, but I read and watched all the series. Yes, I am a book nerd and a movie slut. In that context, I was beyond excited to finally witness Hogwarts off screen.

1 Day Studio Pass (Adult): 7400 Yen/ pax (IDR 947.200,-)

I've been to Universal Studios Japan before, but at that time, The Wizarding World of Harry Potter hasn't been included in the theme park. I was on and off about whether we should include USJ on our Osaka trip since we only have 4 days and 3 nights in the city, and a trip to USJ will take almost a day. My hesitation was because I've heard that it is not easy to enter Harry Potter. Due to the crowds, specifically for Harry Potter, there will be limitation on maximum visitors, and I was thinking that if we can't get inside Harry Potter, then our USJ trip will not be that worth it since the other attractions are the same as from my previous visit. Luckily, Hubs said to just go in, if we don't get in to Harry Potter and don't care to stay for other rides, then just leave.

Fortunately according to them, it was not a peak time so there were no restrictions on entering Harry Potter. If you follow me on snapchat, I took video on how crowded the queue was, imagine what the crowds be like on peak days.

The queue for "Harry Potter and The Forbidden Journey" 4D ride took about 1.15 minutes. Right after we enter the Hogwarts, we will be lead to a locker where we need to keep our valuables (bags, camera, etc) inside, as the 4D rides are quite bumpy and sort of like roller coaster ride, so taking your camera with you is not a good idea. That also explain how I don't have any pictures of what the Hogwarts looks like inside. But, it was pretty similar like what we saw on the movie (I snapchat it, the only thing I took along with me is my iphone since I can slip it inside my pocket).

As I mentioned, the 4D ride was quite bumpy and similar with roller coaster ride, so if you're not a fan of those kind of rides, you might want to rethink on going for this one. I am a chicken shit that hates roller coaster ride, I had absolutely no idea that the Harry Potter 4D ride was going to be like that. Though I closed my eyes almost the entire ride, it was still an amazing experience, but if you ask me if I want to take them again, uuhh no thanks. I'm good with no having any kind of adrenaline rush.

THE WIZARDING WORLD OF HARRY POTTER

BUTTERBEER 1100 YEN (IDR 140.800,-)

Don't be fooled by the name. It's non alcoholic and tasted like rootbeer, so it's safe for children.

THE PRICE LIST

If you choose the cheapest one, the drink comes inside a plastic cup.

HAVE YOU?

Too bad the one in Japan doesn't have the famous Platform 9 3/4

THE SHOPS

Remember this? The attic leads to Potter's room

SORTING HAT... AM I GOING TO GRYFFINDOR?

The magic wands are pretty expensive. Around 5000 Yen. There was this teenager girl next to me who comes with her dad, and she was saying to her dad "but it was so pricey", and her dad was so sweet, he was like "it's okay honey, if you like it, just buy it". And to me, that was so sweet, because the way he talked to her was not like he's spoiling her, it was like "I might not understand why these ridiculous wands cost 5000 Yen, but my daughter likes them, so okay".

THE CANDY STORE

My tips for a visit to Universal Studios Japan:

Go there early. I would strongly suggest you to go there an hour before opening time since the queuing is crazy. The theme park has different opening hour daily, before you go, make sure to check the schedule on their website.
Buy ticket in advance is recommended. You can purchase the ticket via website or at any Loppi ticket selling machine in Lawson convenience store. If you have had your ticket, then you don't need to queue to purchase the tickets on site, all you need to do is queue to enter the park. We didn't purchase our tickets in advance, so we queued to buy on site, then took another queue to enter the park. Wasting time.
If your main purpose is The Wizarding of Harry Potter, as soon as the gate opens, RUN. Run to the Harry Potter area soon. The park limits the number of visitors entering Harry Potter during peak times. Once the visitors maxed the limit, they will close the gate and you'll have to go to the ticketing site to get your timed entry tickets. Your ticket will be stamped with the timing of when you can enter Harry Potter. Read more here.
Make sure you eat first before entering the park. Most of the attractions will come with queue, you don't want to be starving while queuing. I didn't had breakfast and once the gate opened, we ran and queued for Harry Potter for 1.15 mins, plus the 4D ride around 15 mins. Not to mention, all the diners at USJ comes with massive crowds and queue. I think we had our meals at around 1.30 something. Hubs had his breakfast before entering the park, but I didn't. With the insane 34 degrees heat, the queue and the empty stomach, thankfully I didn't faint, but lesson learned. Don't go to USJ with empty stomach.
Wear comfortable outfit and shoes or slippers. If your visit is during summer like us, do wear as thin as possible coz the heat will kill you. Girls, if you come on summer, don't bother to blow your hair and put on make up, it won't last under the crazy heat. And women, leave the heels at home.

And who can forget this scene?