Osaka and Back Again! Part 2: "Did a Zombie just spit on me?"

Becky Cresswell
Oct 31, 2016
4 min read

So after a day of sightseeing, eating and drinking you'd think our next day in Osaka would be something relaxing right? Nope, IT WAS TIME TO HIT USJ! Universal Studio's Japan (or USJ) is Japan's very own version of the movie and character themed park popular around the world, with a mix of classic Universal Studio attractions and some er, lets say different ones... Like Zombies. LOTS OF ZOMBIES.

Every night running up to Halloween the theme park transforms into a horror show as zombies of all shapes, sizes and er... 'preferred weapons' are set loose to scare the guests and terrorise the streets. Highlights included abandoned cars scattered around the park where groups of hungry zombies drag in an unwitting victim and stage ripping them to pieces (or nibbling on a couple limbs). It all sounds horrific as I'm writing this down but it was such an amazing experience and so well done you really do feel like a zombie apocalypse was happening. Oh, and for those of you who are squeamish or worried about getting manhandled by the undead don't worry, they won't touch you or bother you more then making you jump. Anyone they do grab is a trained member of staff (or a fellow zombie) and just another part of the show! You may however get a bit a bit wet if you're as unlucky as me! A couple HUGE Zombie monsters also roam the park and waddle after guests, what I didn't know was they can spit water and gunk at you if you get too close! So there's me trying to get a selfie and next thing I know I've been spat on by a 7ft Chuckie look-alike. Grim.

But I still had a blast!

It's not just the streets of USJ that go bump in the night either, new special horror attractions open after 6pm like haunted houses, horror shows and more. These do cost extra which is a bit disappointing considering that USJ tickets aren't cheap to start with! But if some haunted Halloween horror is your cup of tea it's worth it! I, on the other hand, don't enjoy getting the pants scared off me so I stuck to disappointing zombies by not jumping when they went for me, and only taking their photo instead! Which was immensely satisfying (especially when my fiance jumps easily and would use me as a shield haha!) But it's not just the staff that put effort into their costumes, loads of park-goers had also got into the Halloween spirit and I saw everything from superheroes to human popcorn machines around the park!

The final Halloween treat up Universal's sleeve is in the insanely popular Harry Potter world where at the stroke of 6 o'clock death eaters appear in Hogsmeade and cause havoc, finishing with a magic battle between a bunch of good witches and wizards and the dark lord's servants. If your not into Harry Potter that probably sounded like a load of random words put together but even for a non-fan it's pretty cool trust me! Unfortunately it's also ridiculously crowded in Harry Potter world at the best of times so this event was waaay too crowded! People started waiting about an hour before and finding a good viewpoint so if you turn up a bit later good luck seeing anything! I ended up in a massive crowd of people near the stage (where they would battle) so I had a pretty good view of that! But to see any of the death eaters appearing further down the street I had to hold my camera above my head and try and see them on the screen! Not ideal. But even so, it really did have a 'magical' atmosphere (excuse the pun).

So that was the gist of my twilight USJ experience full of monsters and magic, but of course during the day is when I had all the usual theme park fun! With the big Hollywood dream and Backdrop roller coaster and the new pterodactyl themed coaster 'The flying Dinosaur' USJ has all your big ride needs covered. I didn't get to try the new dinosaur ride unfortunately because the line for it was 2 HOURS LONG at it's shortest, but it looked amazing! There's also a ton of other film themed attractions so check out their website if you want more info! (Maybe I'll do a full blog post on the park one day but check the bottom of this post for the web link in the meantime). If your after some space themed fun Space Fantasy is a great little spinning roller coaster ride that isn't going to make you scream your lungs out, and we only went on it because it had a short waiting time so that was lucky! Want something in the water? Go shark hunting in 'Jaws' or on my personal favourite, 'Jurassic Park' which takes you through a section of dinosaur filled enclosures only to drop your boat down a big ramp at the end and get you soaked! (Oh and there's a big scary surprise which you'll have to discover yourself! ) I've been on the same Jurassic Park ride in both Florida and Osaka and I think the USJ version is much more fun even though it's basically the same! Don't ask me how, it just has that certain 'je ne sais quoi' so try it for yourself :)

The big difference between the Universal Studios in America and Japan is sadly the size, they just don't have the room for all the stuff they cram into the American park which is a shame. But it really is a great day out and it still has something for everyone. Especially if you happen to love Hello Kitty, Snoopy or one of the other characters because there is sooo much themed stuff! 2016 is also their 15th anniversary year so there was a special parade through the main streets with big floats, popular characters, music, dancing and, my personal favourite, a FOAM CANNON! HELL YEAH. So if your thinking of going get there quick! The Halloween frenzy might be over but you're still in time to enjoy the 2016 celebrations! As for me and my worn out fiance it was time for bed, we still had one more day of Osaka antics to enjoy, so stay tuned for Part 3 with more sightseeing, drinking and this time; added deer!

USJ Website: https://www.usj.co.jp/ (This post isn't sponsored by the way! I just really like theme parks)