Universal Studios Japan (USJ) Discussion Thread

Hey everybody!

This thread is simple! Rather than having a million little threads about everything that goes on at Universal Studios Japan, this thread is designed to consolidate it all into one user-friendly thread. Feel free to use it to post updates, trip reports, questions, comments, and of course, general discussion. For pictures and videos of the park as well as past updates, see TPR's Park Index Universal Studios Japan.

Universal Japan's Official Website

Below are some links to past updates from the park, you may be interested in. Enjoy!

--Robb

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2006

July 20th, 2006 - B&M coaster announced for Universal Japan (See Below)

November 25th, 2006 - Hollywood Dream goes vertical

November 27th, 2006 - Hollywood Dream construction update

December 6th, 2006 - Hollywood Dream mid course brakes installed

December 12th, 2006 - Hollywood Dream station under construction

December 19th, 2006 - Hollywood Dream helix complete

December 31st, 2006 - Hollywood Dream construction overview

2009

December 16th, 2009 - Space Fantasy: The Ride; Mack spinning coaster to replace ET Adventure

2010

March 15th, 2010 - Space Fantasy: The Ride officially opens, ride footage revealed!

March 18th, 2010 - More Space Fantasy: The Ride footage released!

August 3rd, 2010 - Space Fantasy: The Ride story explained

December 10th, 2010 - 10th anniversary plans announced

2012

May 9th, 2012 - The Wizarding World of Harry Potter officially announced for Universal Studios Japan

May 28th, 2012 - Universal Studios Japan to host Biohazard walk thru haunt

2013

January 20th, 2013 - Hollywood Dream to run backwards!

March 16th, 2013 - The Amazing Adventures of Spider-man - The Ride 2 announced!

2014

January 1st, 2014 - The Wizarding World of Harry Potter construction update

April 18th, 2014 - Wizarding World of Harry Potter opens July 15th, 2015

October 21st, 2014 - Neon Genesis Evangelion attraction announced for 2015

2015

June 19th, 2015 - Dinosaur themed B&M Flyer to be added in 2016

2016

November 29th, 2016 - Nintendo-themed area confirmed for the Universal Studios Japan

2018

December 8th, 2018 - SING On Tour! attraction announced!

2020

January 13th, 2020 - Super Nintendo World details released!

November 30th, 2020 - Super Nintendo World opening February 4th, 2021!

2021

March 8th, 2021 - Super Nintendo World to open on March 18th!

September 28th, 2021 - Donkey Kong expansion announced for Super Nintendo World!

2022

October 6th, 2021 - Pokemon partnership announced! Experiences to debut in 2022 & beyond!

October 15th, 2021 - No Limit! Parade announced featuring Mario, Pokémon & more

2023

December 15th, 2023 - Donkey Kong Country announced for 2024!

2025

May 16th, 2025 - Illumination's Villain-Con Minion Blast announced!

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Original Post:

http://www.screamscape.com/html/univers ... _japan.htm

Quote

2007 - Roller Coaster - (7/20/06) Universal Studios has announced that they will open a new large steel roller coaster in the spring of 2007 at a cost estimated between 5-10 billion Yen. The coaster will stretch from the entrance gate to the lagoon in the center of the park, with a track length of 3937 feet and a top height of 144 feet. The maximum drop will only be 50º and top speed will be 55 mph. Throwing a little confusion into the mix, the description says that the trains’ four cars will carry 36 passengers, but that means 9 passengers per car, which is a really odd number for a coaster. The coaster will run through many areas of the park, and not stay confined within just one themed area. At this time no name, theme or manufacturer information was given for the ride. Anyone know more?

WOW! Sounds awesome...What theme(s) could it be if it stretches all over the park? Can't wait to hear more...

Err... Robb, shouldn't this be in the Theme Parks, Roller Coasters, and Subatmoic Toasticles section?

Anyway, it seems like a pretty cool little ride. But those trains are really tiny and weird. I wonder who's making it.

EDIT: 500th Post!

Sweet! I'm looking forward to hearing more about this, such as maker, design, etc. If it looks good, I hope its on the agenda for the TPR Japan Trip. If its not, there's always expensive taxi rides.

Very cool, the numbers sound good.

I have a feeling that probably means 4 cars, each holding 36 passengers. What kind of coaster holds 9 people???

I can't wait to see more details.

Whoa, sounds like something I would expect from a Bench: The Ride thread.

With those stats I hope that this is gonna be an awesome ride! Universal's coaster record is pretty good, so I'm looking foward to this a lot.

sounds like a hyper/speed coaster to me...

Did USJ really announce this, or is it just something Screamscape came up with? It sounds kinda weird and somewhat reckless in regards to theming... thank god they aren't shoving this thing into USF.

3 rows of 3 people per car maybe? Hmm...anyway, with a 50 degree first drop, I really hope this doesn't turn out to be like one of those "Jet Coasters" (see Chris Belson's video).

Cool, and I thought they were getting rid of USJ

Cool, and I thought they were getting rid of USJ

When in the hell did you hear that USJ is being removed???

I find that strange

A couple of sources now say it may become a B&M jr. hypercoaster.

here is one of the sources:

2007 - Roller Coaster - (7/21/06) Screamscape sources tell us that the park’s new coaster is expected to be a junior sized B&M hypercoaster style design. It seems that the train details may have been “lost in translation” and should have described a typical B&M hyper train which features 9 rows with 4 seats across.

Another forum site also say the same.

Yeah the 9 cars makes a lot more sense than 9 riders. I hope this is a stop on the TPR Japan trip, then again I hope I can even make the thing.

I still haven't been on the two US jr. beemers that opened this year.

Whatever it turns out to be I doubt we'll be dissapointed.

Also, I know this is a little OT... but doesn't USJ have a Spidey ride like IOA? If so, is it the same?

With the stupid announcement, I have added Universal to our itinerary!

And yes, they have a Spiderman clone.

If it is a Jr Hyper from B&M, I sure hope they don't use the French Canadian Goliath stats, but more like Southern Belle Goliath would be nice. The coolest part no matter what is that I'll get to ride it next year!

We can always hope it will be a Dutch Goliath design though, with the same manufacturer! Intamin hypers can have 9 cars holding 4 people per car. Though with Universal's relationship with B&M, they'll probably go that way! Damn B&M and their good customer service and reliability!

It would be cool if the ride track changed color scheme as it goes into each section of the park as the rumor states it will...

Yeah, I'm surprised as well that few parks seem to change their color schemes on the same ride as it goes along. Stealth at Thorpe Park does this. Of course, they probably would not want a rainbow happy ride.

Interesting to see that NBC/Universal is doing this...I thought they wanted to dump the theme park division?

Anyway, I still can't relate coasters and any of the Universal parks...My mind can't comprehend it.

Yeah, I'm surprised as well that few parks seem to change their color schemes on the same ride as it goes along. Stealth at Thorpe Park does this. Of course, they probably would not want a rainbow happy ride.

Stealth does this because the white track blends in with the sky better. This way the ride is less visible from residential areas near to Thorpe Park.

Yeah the 9 cars makes a lot more sense than 9 riders. I hope this is a stop on the TPR Japan trip, then again I hope I can even make the thing.

 

I still haven't been on the two US jr. beemers that opened this year.

 

Whatever it turns out to be I doubt we'll be dissapointed.

 

Also, I know this is a little OT... but doesn't USJ have a Spidey ride like IOA? If so, is it the same?

Goliath at SFoG is a full size hypercoaster. It's just over 200 feet tall. The only B&M speed coasters that can be considered junior hypers are Goliath at La Ronde (174 feet tall) and Apollo's Chariot at BGE (170 feet tall). However, if your like me and think that a full-size hyper is a full-circuit coaster with a lift hill between 200 and 299 feet tall or with a drop of 200 to 299 feet, Apollo's Chariot is a full size hypercoaster.

Anyway, I still can't relate coasters and any of the Universal parks...My mind can't comprehend it.

Err, why's that? IOA has had coasters since it opened... seven years ago.

I'm not surprised they're getting a major coaster, less than a year ago I was thinking how awesome it would be if they got a coaster similar to Hulk themed to my favorite comic book character of all time. (You know...)

Then today, I'm doing my Screamscape browse for little tidbits and there was a rumor claiming the ride MAY be themed to Spiderman. I find it hard to believe seeing that they already have a Spiderman clone, but if it does carry this theme, that would be awesome.

Yeah, I read that it could be a Spidey coaster too...I think that would be awesome, but don't they already have a spiderman ride? so, they would have 2 rides themed around spiderman..I highly doubt that.