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Universal Studios Japan in November 2018 2018/7/16 08:52
Hello everyone,
I will be in Osaka from 20th November 2018. I have been looking at buying USJ 1 day ticket and Express Pass on the Voyagin website. But it says that none of the Express Pass options are available for my dates. I know they sell out quickly but would they already be sold out for November?!
Any tips on what to do about this is very welcome!

Thanks!
by Jabrielle  

Re: Universal Studios Japan in November 2018 2018/7/16 13:45
It is unlikely that express passes would be sold out in November. I forget when you can start ordering them. Possibly just a month or two in advance.

However, you can check for yourself, if you can figure out how to buy tickets online, which is available in Japanese only. Don't worry, as there are web sites that walk you through the process, and you can use Google Translate for all but one page. Just do a Google search on how to buy the USJ tickets and passes online. It is really not that difficult, you can save some money doing it this way, and you can make all the choices yourself. The travel agents will give you what is easiest for them, and not what is best for you.

I've been to USJ three times, and will never go back. Once is enough, and it can be boring after that -- it's not even close to being as much fun as Tokyo Disney.

When buying express passes, you are given several options. You would probably be interested in either Minions or Flying Dinosaur as a choice (lets call this A), and both types include Harry Potter (we will call this B). The other express pass options are really just for the Japanese.

Express passes are available as A first, then B, or B first, then A. The times between the two can be several hours. Most authorized sellers will not let you choose which time you want, or whether you want A or B first. They will lie to you about why this is "impossible," even though it isn't. They just don't want to bother, and you are stuck with their choices.

The Minions ride is a virtual roller coaster, and can be as terrifying as a real one. The thing really violently jerks you around a lot. The Flying Dinosaur is a ride I would not go on for a million dollars. It was scary just watching videos and seeing it from the ground.

Harry Potter is another virtual roller coaster. I rode the original one, and once was enough. It has since been "improved" and I was told that it is not as scary as it was before (previously with several sudden steep dives that make you think you are going to smash into the ground -- which is pretty much what the Minions ride is like, ha ha).

Jurassic park is a good ride, though you will get wet, while Jaws is close to being silly. My favorite attraction is Backdraft, so naturally it was closed for a tune-up the last time I was there.

Even though I have used the Japanese site to order tickets and express passes in the past, it didn't work this last time, using my USA credit cards, due to "verified by visa" and USJs super-strict verification process (essentially they don't trust foreigners, even though you are buying tickets months in advance). You likely have no choice but to go with a travel agent. If you are in Japan, you can buy and pay for the tickets at 7-11, but you only have 24 hours after making the reservations to do so. Not useful at all if you aren't in Japan already.

The agent I went with, JTB, sent our tickets quickly enough, but the express passes took several days more. The tickets turned out to be undated, meaning they were good for any one day, most of the year. The potential problem with an undated ticket is if the park is crowded, and they aren't letting more people in. That also means if you can't get in on that particular day, then your express passes are worthless. My recommendation is to not go on a weekend. The good news is that JTB accepted my requests for express pass rides & times, and I gave them three choices. I got that detailed information from the Japanese site. The other travel agents lied and said what JTB did was "impossible."

Print out the tickets and express passes. Save them as a JPG and PDF. They say to use A4 paper, but that is nonsense. 8 1/2 x 11 is fine. It is the QR code that is important, and you can even have it on your phone or tablet, and it will work just as well. The scanner just focuses until it can read the code, and doesn't care if the code is on paper or a screen. I print out two sets of everything, plus have copies on two phones, and my tablet, just in case one gets lost or damaged. This is the belt and suspenders method of doing things.

I am really not trying to talk you out of going to USJ. But it can be a lot of hassle, expensive (especially for what you get), and you will probably waste hours walking around waiting for your A or B time slots. OTOH, if you visit Osaka a lot, the USJ annual pass is not that expensive. The park has height minimums for children for the A & B rides (and jaws, but not Jurassic Park, I think). The children's section of the park has a lot of rides that kids enjoy.

Another kick in the pants was that we waited for our timed entry into the World of Harry Potter, only to find that there was nobody checking express passes anyhow, and anybody could just walk in at any time.

If you do go, express passes are almost mandatory, and it is swell fun bypassing all those other people waiting in some really long lines. If you go as a group, and if some people don't want to go on certain rides, others can go twice, using the unused express pass. There are no names associated with the express passes.




by john711 (guest) rate this post as useful

Re: Universal Studios Japan in November 2018 2018/7/16 21:02
Hi!

I've been to USJ 2x now and enjoyed both visits a lot. I particularly love USJ when there are buckets of rain because you don't need an express pass. We were there on June 20th, and went on Forbidden Journey 5x, 4x on Flight of the Hippogriff, 2x on Final Fantasy, 1x Spiderman and 1x the Sailor Moon Show. We could have done Minions but my daughter hates those characters with an undying passion. It was too wet for Jurassic Park and my daughter doesn't make the height line for the Flying Dinosaur ride. Unlike previous poster, I don't particularly like TDR (talk about crazy line time! We went there on June 30th and nothing but 1 hour long lines!) and I don't find rides at either USJ or TDR frightening, I'm a Cedar Point fan myself.

Anyway, I went to look at the USJ website in Japanese and I didn't see any express passes for sale post October 15 or 16th, so I suspect express pass tickets for November 20 have not yet been released.

If you have the option, you should see if you can buy tickets/express passes through JTB because JTB currently also sells a 30 minute exclusive early admission ticket which is pretty amazing. We didn't need it, but I can see it being a plus.

My first trip, we did have a 4 pack express pass. We didn't have an issue with timed tickets for the Wizarding World because the park was super quiet. After about 11 or 11:30 am lines did pick up so it was helpful to have those passes. We did a lot of kiddie rides though because my daughter was 5 at the time.

Good luck and hope this helps!

by rkold rate this post as useful

Re: Universal Studios Japan in November 2018 2018/7/18 20:41
Jabrielle?
by john711 (guest) rate this post as useful

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