Photo TR: Universal Studios Japan

[thomas2]

I just came back from another day at USJ. Yesterday was the 'official' start of the rain season in Japan but the weather today was supposed to be mainly dry so I deceided to skip today's classes and go to USJ instead.

 

You know you're at a Universal Studios park when you see the big ass revolving globe!

 

Entrance to the park. USJ opened a new coaster some 3 months ago and they're advertizing it througout the park.

 

The main street is covered by a huge structure. Quite impressive!

 

Did I mention this roof is huge?

 

One of the hills of Hollywood Dream: The Ride curves nicely with the roof. Doesn't add anything to the ride itself but it's nice to see from the ground.

 

More advertising for Space Fantasy. I deceided to head to the Hollywood section of the park first though.

 

Beautiful theming AND a B&M coaster, what more does one need in life?!?

 

Wait time was only 10 min. but for the single riders line it was a walk on. They did a good job with the single riders line and were very effective. Typically Japanese.

 

The only minor annoyance was that the single riders line goes all the way around the regular line and so it's quite long. They also forced you to exit the ride and queu again from the start after the ride, which kinda sucked since the single riders line passes right in front of the exit. Alot of unnecessairy walking!

 

View of the lift hill from the queue area

 

They were running 3 trains. Can anyone tell me what the purpose of these dual loading stations is? I believe Tatsu has one too. Are they just for faster boarding? Today they only used the left platform.

 

The first drop is nice but it doesn't even come close to the ground. Feels like a missed chance but hey, it's a B&M, their drops are always nice!

 

The hill after the first drop didn't produce as much airtime as I hoped though.

 

After that hill you fly through an awesome high speed S-curve which really throws you from one side of the train to the other before entering this turn.

 

The part after the turnaround is filled with headchoppers and sends you flying over 3 airtime hills with good floater airtime. Especially great in the back!

 

One thing I really didn't like was the missed potential of this ride. The track is stacked up atop eachother so you nowhere come close to the ground, exept in the end.

 

After the MCBR, which is cleverly hidden behind some billboards you enter the final part of the ride.

 

This drop into the helix was very fun in the back!

 

And the helix itself was waaay more intense than I though it would be!

 

Tight helix with the song 'Get Back' from the Beatles blasting in your ears. Pure bliss.

 

Notice the lights on the train that sparkle, even during the day. Too bad the park closes before it gets dark here so I couldn't see the effect at night. Anyone knows how they power these lights or music?

 

The final part takes you through this building. Inside are flickering lights but I wasn't impressed at all by this. Maybe because then the ride is almost?

 

After that I rode it a couple more times because it's such a fun ride. Not scary at all, just a solid good ride, as you would expect from a B&M.

 

After riding Hollywood Dream: The Ride some 10 times I made my way to the back of the park. It was quite busy for a monday, but luckily alot of the rides at USJ are capacity monsters!

 

The theming of the New York are must have been my favourite. So much attention has been giving to these buildings, and there's something to see behind every window. Very very nice.

 

Oh look they even have the Guggenheim museum!

 

But upon a closer look it's just a flat board. I actually walked right up to this board to check it was really flat, that's how good the illusion was they created.

 

Another attraction that caught me by surprise was The Amazing Adventures of Spiderman. I went in thinking it was a boring 3D cinema thing but I had a smile on my face the whole time during the ride. I totally loved it!

 

Lot's and lot's of good theming.

 

No matter where you go, there's always something new to find behind every corner.

 

This was a rather interesting random thingy they had at the park. There was a camera stand and a board painted with a New York landscape. You put your camera on the stand and take a picture, so it looks like it becomes one, but I guess my camera was too small cause it didn't align properly.

 

Believe it or not but I miss this kind of archtecture. Living in Japan isn't the be all and end all ;]

 

 

 

Next up was the new coaster, Space Fantasy!

 

This coaster is located in the former ET Adventure building.

 

Entrance of the queue.

 

But it was broken down!!!

It was closed for over an hour but reopened afterwards. It was funny to see everyone run over there to get in line once it reopened. This coaster is a big hit with the younger crowd and at a certain point it had an hour wait time. Thank god for the single rider line!

 

The first part of the queue is a long and boring switchback section. Funny thing is that you have to pass1 of 3 'pods' where there's a photographer to take your picture with your group. Afterwards you get a card and you can get the picture after the ride is over. The second part of the queue is divided in different chambers where you're allowed in with a small number of people at one time. The first one has this awesome robot that talks and does silly moves. I quite like it!

 

Second chamber is where the story unfolds and where you're asked to collect stardust and all that crap. I don't have a picture of the third room because we passed through quickly, but it has screens with these little creatures dancing and moving. If you hit those creatures they'll dissapear but more will come, so when you enter this room everyone starts to bang these screens as hard as they can. It was so silly it made me laugh!

 

After the third room you must pass through some hallways before going to the station. The screens on the side instruct you how to board the train and give you information. The Japanese are so sufficient!

 

This was all nicely themed.

 

This is the station. I only have this picture because as you approach the boarding point they will not tolerate you standing still and holding everyone up. Trains are made of 2 vehicles and as you can see the station is just an endless stream of trains being back to back. The trains never stop at the station so you board with the help of a conveyer belt. All this makes this rollercoaster have a big capacity which is excellent seeing as how popular it is. Also notice the custom trains. The round lights on the side change colour and there are speakers in front of each seat that blast music and the dialogues of the story. It was all very cool but one minor complaint was that the back of each seat was rather uncomfortable. How is this on other spinning coasters of Mack? I don't remember having a specific problem with the ones on Euromir....

 

The ride itself is superbly themed. You're in a space setting and there's literally little lights everywhere around you. I don't know if they achieved this by lights hanging from the ceiling on a string or some sort of visual effect, but it feels like you're right in the middle of these lights flying through them, which greatly improves the 'I'm in space' feeling. The ride itself is fun but because of the big amount of trains you get ALOT of block brakes so it's always just a short section of track where you actually gain speed and such before being slowed down again. There's also 3 lift hills which was a nice surprise. Along the track there are several extra theming to unfold the story like energy crystals, planets and such, but I thought a bit more would have been welcome. After the third lift hill the story takes a darker turn and the finale is a ride through the center of the sun, which was VERY impressive. You travel through a round chamber where the walls are composed of octagonal (I think) mirrors with a light behind them, and as you speed by all these lights are turned on to create a dazzling effect. It's something you have to see in real life because words can't really explain it. After that the ride is sadly over. I'm very glad USJ made a ride like this because everyone can enjoy it (I've seen little children and grandpa's) AND it has a very good capacity.

 

In the center of the park is a huge water pool where they do stunt shows (I'm guessing cause I didn't see much action on the water).

I have no idea what those are.

It took me some time to figure out this is NOT Chinese.

Next up was Amity, home of the Jaws ride.

Unfortunately the ride was closed for5 days!!

Theming

The mighty gates of Jurassic Park welcoming visitors...

In case you're wondering what the hell that huge gate is!

Why hasn't this been destroyed by a dinosaur yet?!?

Very nice theming in the Jurassic area. I was thrilled because Jurassic Park holds a place in my heart <3

I was expecting to see a dinosaur pop up out of the bushes any moment.

It did NOT happen.

I had high expectations of this ride but came of not knowing what to think. It's a fun ride but I expected more. They could have done more.

All is peacefull.

WEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

WEEEEEEeeeeeeeee

Oh SHIT!

SKLOOSH

Hahahaha

Hahahahahahaha

Boat full of happy riders!

I LOVED this sign!

From across the pond.

Every corner of this park is themed, it's amazing.

Here you can see how close the park is next to the highway. Also notice the ferris wheel in the distance. It's not from USJ!

HD:TR from across the water.

There's a third credit in the park but I didn't feel like waiting 30 min. for a kiddie coaster, and I'm not a credit whore =P

Ugh damn traffic lights always being on red!

Such a lovely ride...

Stacked track ='[

Poor Mr. Lantern doesn't get much attention in life...

Goodbye USJ, see you next week!

[Brandy524]

Universal's theming really is awesome! Looks like a fun park!

[Groteslurf]

Great TR and pictures.

 

Can't wait to visit Universal Japan next year.

[rosscoe]

Great report, the new coaster sounds like fun.

[thomas2]

Awesome trip report! I think this is one of the best looks at the park I have ever seen...and it looks really awesome! I am just wondering though, is that Spiderman the same as Island of Adventures? I didn't think there was another one but obviously I could be wrong.

 

Thanks for sharing!

 

I think it's the same attraction, but I haven't been there so I can't say for 100%

 

Thanks everyone!

[STR8FXXXINEDGE]

This was a rather interesting random thingy they had at the park. There was a camera stand and a board painted with a New York landscape. You put your camera on the stand and take a picture, so it looks like it becomes one, but I guess my camera was too small cause it didn't align properly.

 

There should have been a little crank to adjust the height and angle of the camera. I don't think the photo you took looks bad though.

 

P.S. Nice TR! I would love to get here someday. Thanks for sharing your trip.

[OldJJman]

I am just wondering though, is that Spiderman the same as Island of Adventures?

 

Yes, except it is in Japanese.

[Jew]

...Plus, like most everything else in Japan...it's more efficient: it also has dual loading stations and an on-ride photo.

[Gav]

I LOVED this sign!

One thing I still don't understand about Japanese parks is why so many of the signs (How many locals are going to understand the pun in the name of that food outlet?) and ride names are in English, yet the ride soundtracks are in Japanese...One or the other surely?

Fair enough, English signs in the NY/Hollywood areas makes sense because it relates to the atmosphere of the area (In the same way that asian themed areas of theme parks often have banners etc with Asian script)

But why would they call their latest coaster Space Fantasy instead of " スペースファンタジー " for instance? Surely it makes more sense to cater to the majority of locals (and children especially who might not be able to read romajii yet).

[cfc]

Universal Japan is great--the best of the two stateside Studios parks and IOA in one place. Too bad about Jaws being closed, as it's particularly cool in Japanese. Thanks for the look at the new ride.

[thomas2]

I LOVED this sign!

One thing I still don't understand about Japanese parks is why so many of the signs (How many locals are going to understand the pun in the name of that food outlet?) and ride names are in English, yet the ride soundtracks are in Japanese...One or the other surely?

Fair enough, English signs in the NY/Hollywood areas makes sense because it relates to the atmosphere of the area (In the same way that asian themed areas of theme parks often have banners etc with Asian script)

But why would they call their latest coaster Space Fantasy instead of " スペースファンタジー " for instance? Surely it makes more sense to cater to the majority of locals (and children especially who might not be able to read romajii yet).

 

All the attractions have their katakana-nized form on the park map and leaflets and such, but in the park itself as you said they have all ride names in western alphabet. I don't think this is much of a problem but I do however find a problem with all the puns that get lost. For example queing for Spiderman you at a certain point come past this cabinet with 'diplomas' that make no sense but that are hilarious (can't think of what they said at the moment). However they're all written in English so all of that just goes lost for the big majority of Japanese people. Not to mention all the newspaper articles in the Spiderman queu that are all in English. The ride itself and the pre-ride video that is shown in the queue area are in Japanese though. It doesn't make much sense. Maybe translating all the written stuff was too expensive or costed to much money?