On arrival in Osaka any Japanese person will ask you Have you Been to USJ? Seems to be the most recommended place in town.
USJ was opened in 2001and is in the citys west waterfront district. Prices Adult 5500yen, child 3700yen, senior (over 65) 4800yen. Opening hours vary depending on the season., so check with the park (or tourist information) before you go, but they are pretty standard theme park hours.
A great (and tame) ride is the ET ride, amazingly put together, you walk through ETs forest before getting on a bike and "flying". THey ask for your name when you enter, dont be upset if they get it wrong, my brother David went through as Deborah and my friend Tracey went as Tara! I wont tell you why they ask for your name (it spoils it!) but keep an ear out at the end of the ride!
The Jurassic Park ride is great, also amazingly put togehter with great props - look out for the big drop at the end (eeeeek) as they take your photo - you can check out the weird look on your face as you exit the ride. (into the Jurassic Park store of course)
Jaws has good props but is a bit of a boring ride, and Backdraft is a little boring as well. When I was there last they were building a spiderman ride, there are also short movies which can be interesting and a few other rides. The closing show is standard, but fun with fireworks, same as Disneyland and all other theme parks.
For the kiddies (and the big kiddies) there is Snoopy Town (again with its own store) and if its a hot day check out the water ride.
The whole park is well designed and has great props everywhere. Every ride has its own store, and if you cant get enough there are even more stores.
Food is of course expensive, but that is standard in a theme park. The restaurants are themed, such as a 50's diner. The food i ate each time was fine, nothing to rave about, but equally nothing to complain about.
it has its own train station on the JR line and trains run pretty regularly. Before you go in there are some stores (non USJ related) and restaurants (like Hard Rock Cafe) as the whole area was redeveloped.
All in all its a fun day, what you would expect from a theme park, but its fun to go and see if you can figure out whats being said in Japanese, just because you know the story.
Address is: 2-1-33 Sakurajima,Konohana-Ku,OsakaCity Phone: 06-4790-7000
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