Universal Studios Japan (USJ) Discussion Thread

Hollywood Dream was great both forward and backward, although I preferred forward. Backdrop has a CRAZY wait time, I noticed it was 400 minutes (like 7 hours) when I went. Luckily the single rider Backdrop line helped out a lot. Great ride.

7 hours????

Hollywood Dream was great both forward and backward, although I preferred forward. Backdrop has a CRAZY wait time, I noticed it was 400 minutes (like 7 hours) when I went. Luckily the single rider Backdrop line helped out a lot. Great ride.

 

7 hours????

That honestly doesn't surprise me for new asian rides, I saw 3 and a half hour lines at disneysea in a cold february for rides that have been around a few years, so that long doesn't surprise me for a new ride, I saw almost 5 hour lines here in Korea for Everland's safari ride in the first month, and have heard of up to 340 minute waits from friends who recently went to disneysea and tried midway mania.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xgy19cYqPho

This new video shows the construction progress on Universal Studios Japan's Wizarding World of Harry Potter as of just over a month ago!

Ball's in your court Hollywood!

I didn't want to make a new thread just for this so Ill just leave it here.

 

Screamscape just put up a very interesting and funny story about Back to the Future and how the ride's story may cause its removal in a few years.

 

It has been several years since we’ve heard any kind of peep from Universal Studios Japan regarding a possible replacement for the last remaining Back To The Future ride. Previous rumor suggested that they were looking to shut it down by 2012, but so far this has not happened and isn’t even an active rumor as of late.

 

That said, I was watching some old videos of the BTTF ride from back in the day, and recalled a unique feature of the time machine cars used in the ride. As fans of the film series know, a primary feature of the dashboard was the three-color coded Time Circuits display, showing off your “Destination Time”, “Present Time” and “Last Time Departed”.

 

So when the ride starts and you jump ahead to the futuristic Hill Valley of 2015, you see that date displayed on the Time Circuits during the actual ride experience. However, a neat feature designed to make the ride seem more immersive when it first opened in 1992 is going to cause some problems in the near future for the remaining ride. As you board the ride car, riders are quick to notice that the “Present Time” listed on the Time Circuits is indeed the actual real world time in which they are in. While this was fine in the 1990s and early 2000’s... I’ve got to think that the guests in Japan are already getting a good laugh when they initial time jump is only a jump from 2012 (soon 2013) to 2015 to see “The Future!” Once 2015 comes around for real... the time traveling storyline isn’t going to make any sense at all. 2016 anyone? 2017? While Doc will say he is taking you on a trip to the future, guests will be transported back in time to 2015 instead of forward.

 

So in short... I think the clock is ticking away very quickly for our friends in Japan, as the caretakers of the last Back To The Future: The Ride attraction in the world. By the time 2015 comes around, it would only make sense to close the ride once and for all to create a new attraction, rather than risk a Time Paradox. And as Doc. Brown would be quick to point out, "The results of which could cause a chain reaction that would unravel the very fabric of the space-time continuum and destroy the entire universe!... Granted, that's the worst-case scenario. The destruction however might be limited merely to our own galaxy."

 

www.screamscape.com/html/universal_studios_japan.htm

Time paradoxes aside, they should remove the ride because it's just plain bad.

Of the Harry P. add-on, I think I am more excited about the new little coaster,

rather than The New omg Attraction that's coming soon.

It will be interesting to compare the parks. I expect the Japanese will do it better!

http://www.usj.co.jp/e/attraction/att_detail/the-wizarding-world-of-harry-potter.html

A stylized map of the expansion... It should be noted that there is no revealed path to get from Hogsmeade or Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey to the announced Flight of the Hipogriff coaster, so there might be more details still to be announced.

This Hogsmeade will echo what the one found in Florida used to look like with both Zonkos and Honeydukes. Zonkos has since closed to make way for an expansion of Honeydukes in Florida.

The Hogsmeade plaza looks mostly the same, including the entrance arch to Dragon Challenge, just with a currently closed gate.

Another store will take the place Ollivander's on the right side of Hogsmeade.

Notable differences in Hogsmeade at Universal Studios Japan include the swapping of Ollivader's to the other side of the street.

The Frog Choir/Tri-Wizard Champions show stage appears to be a carbon copy of the original stage built in Florida's Wizarding World, which was later replaced with an elevated stage.

In Florida this back corner includes a snow man and a butter beer cart, along with an entrance/exit leading to Jurassic Park. Here, the space currently appears to be open.

It all looks and reads awesome!

That last open space may get more added to it, in the way of stalls and such,

but it may also be wide open, for handling the size of Japan locals crowds that go

through these franchise parks, like Universal and Disney. Some times a lot of

space is needed. I am also wondering how these shops and eating places will be

built, to handle such larger ongoing crowds, as well as the rides? Larger than

what's in Orlando? Or going to be in Hollywood?

Sounds like a duplicate of what is at IOA. Not something that I would have to see the next time I'm in Japan.

^ Sure, Bob......

(NOTE: Everything is Awesome in JAPAN!)

Hi guys!

Long time lurker, first time poster.

Can someone tell me which rides have Single Rider lines? I can't seem to find any definitive list anywhere else. Thanks in advance!

Yuki

The new World of Potter just opened.

And it's got a LAKE too!

Black Lake, to be precise. It all looks gorgeous!

^Gotta say. That looks spectacular!

Wow that is one great pic! Love the use of the lake in particular.

Here's another view.....

I really wish Universal would finish out all these giant show buildings or hide them better....

^

Wow! That is bad! I really thought Universal would fix the flaws of the Orlando Hogwarts Castle, the biggest one being able to see a giant show building while inside the land. Guess not.

Really disappointing to see Universal only go 95% on Hogwarts.

I'm also surprised that Warner Brothers and JK allow this to be acceptable.

Any word yet on if this version of Forbidden Journey is any different? I'm 99.9% sure it's an identical copy, but since it's Japan and they've had a few years to tweak the system I'm curious if they went the extra mile. When I rode Orlando's a bunch in 2012 I noticed projection errors (chunks of the domes were missing images), screwy synching, and some animatronic issues. Granted, all of these issues happen and can never be completely fixed, it just seemed to have more hiccups than usual for Universal.

Now if only they had the forethought to actually give the ride a story this time...

^I read somewhere that is the exact same attraction but with 4K screens and 3D effects.

^ 4K would definitely help the video. It was very poor resolution and out of focus last I rode. When you say 3D effects do you mean the sets like Orlando or did they make the video 3D, as well? That was a huge issue I had with the ride as it completely took you out of the action jumping from 3D to 2D, Well, that and the all-too-obvious zipper-effect changes between set and screen.

^Video is 3D now.

^ Awesome.

Yeah, I agree with some others here that the show-building looks dreadful! It makes the castle look really small.

^I agree as well! However, I feel that once the trees grow in, you won't see the show building from that angle...only Hogwarts itself.

Well i give universal props for the lake but that show building is awful! On paper it may sound like it wouldn't stick out but it is very prevalent. They really should put some rock work on it and some giant trees in front to hide it. Im sure that the rest is great because of universals great work on the one in florida (which also has a prevalent show building), but they need to work on hiding the ugly parts. It ruins the magic

Considering that view is almost entirely from the other side of the lake it doesn't bother me much, just like seeing the show building from Jurassic Park in Islands of Adventure doesn't bother me. When you're standing at the entrance of Hogwarts Castle or walking along Hogsmeade you don't see the show building. To me that's the most important part of the experience is that when you're in the middle of it there is nothing to indicate that it is just a facade. If I'm not standing in the land at the time, seeing the show building doesn't really make a difference for my experience at that moment.