After spending a few days in Tokyo we planned to take the bullet train to Osaka. We had a relaxed morning, and then made our way to Tokyo Station to catch the train. We had some time before the train departed so we had some lunch and did some shopping.
Shortly after lunch we took the bullet train to Osaka. The train was really nice. There was plenty of leg room, power next to the seats, tray tables, and seats the reclined a decent amount. It was a very comfortable way to travel.
When we arrived in Osaka we headed straight to the hotel. The plan was to drop off our luggage and go explore. We were both a bit tired, so we rested for a while at the hotel before heading to Dotombori.
There is a 400 year old canal and lots of illuminated billboards. There’s also streets filled with shops and restaurants.
While we were there we tried some tako-yaki (octopus dumplings) from a street vendor.
We then explored the streets in the area and checked out a few of the shops. Along the way, we found a restaurant to have dinner. It was a small space, with only a few tables setup. It didn’t look like much, but the food was amazing. We found the food everywhere to be amazing – from nice restaurants to hole in the wall spots…
We didn’t stay out too late as we were heading to Universal Studios the next day!
As you can probably tell, we like our theme parks!
When we arrived at Universal Studios the entry lines were pretty long. On the screens above the ticket booths were information about park tickets and the fast pass lines. As we were waiting to buy tickets the availability for the fast passes was reducing. We were a bit worried that the park would be busy and we would be spending the whole day in line, so we decided to spend the extra money and buy fast passes. I’m sooooo glad that we did, because we got to go on every ride we wanted and hardly waited in line! It all worked out great and was worth the extra money. When you purchase fast passes they assign you an entry time for some of the rides included in the fast pass. Some rides you have to select between two rides, but didn’t have a specific entry time. On the rides where you have to pick between two options, we watched the wait time and were able to pick rides that didn’t have long wait times, and then use the fast pass for the longer lines. It worked out and we got to go on every ride we wanted to visit. There are multiple fast pass options available with different ride options so you can pick which one is best for you.
I always loved the rides at Universal Studios in Florida, however a lot of the old-school rides (Jaws, Earthquake, Twister, Terminator, etc.) are no longer there. I was so excited to see that Universal Studios in Japan had a lot of these rides still available. Now I knew they wouldn’t be quite the same, since they would be presented in Japanese, but I was hopefully that it would be a similar experience and not be too much of an issue since I am already familiar with the rides and the back story.
Backdraft reminded me of Twister with the movie making background and the experiences of the set catching fire. The entire intro was in Japanese but it was funny hearing a Japanese dubbed Ron Howard and Kurt Russell! The fire experience was really impressive through. They also had Jaws, which is exactly as I remembered, as was Terminator. It may not have been the same experience for those that aren’t familiar with the rides and don’t understand Japanese. These types of attractions are very heavy with the backstory so I can only imagine that it would be more enjoyable if you know what is going on.
We enjoyed a couple performances in the Harry Potter area. They were well done and mixed English and Japanese so we were able to follow along and enjoy the performances.
While we were there they had a snow themed light show on the Hogwarts castle. It was pretty and we were able to enjoy the show after having a very nice Sunday roast at the Three Broomsticks tavern.
Make sure you stay until the end to watch the parade. I have to say this is the best parade I have ever seen! The floats were impressive, very impressive and some of them had performances along with the floats.
It started with Harry Potter – they had a huge float for the Hogwarts Express, people pushing luggage trolleys, and wizards (the same actors we saw performing in the Harry Potter area earlier in the day) performing magic.
There were also floats with massive Transformers, Minions, and (possibly my favorite) Jurassic Park. They had dinosaurs running down a ramp and causing chaos. It was quite fun! And a great way to finish a day at the park.
