Yep, I must cross this on my bucket list, another childhood dream came true: I finally went to Hogwarts at Universal Studios Osaka! As a die-hard fan of Harry Potter, writing this post still makes my heart squeals. It's actually the whole reason I went to Osaka, so be prepared because I guess this post will be quite long ;)
First, a trick for you if you want to go to the Universal Studios, I think you better buy the USJ + Shinkansen + Hotel package from a tour and travel company. Because, the fastest way to go from Tokyo to Osaka is by Shinkansen. I think the price is around ￥14,500, and it will only get you from Tokyo Station to Shin-Osaka in 2hours30minutes. If you buy the travel package, you will get a cheaper and more reasonable price.
So my cousins and I woke up around 5am, took showers and headed straight to Tokyo Station to get into the earliest Shinkansen to Osaka. This is because we also want to get in to the Universal Studios as early as possible. I remember we were so happy on the train, because we got to see snow when we passed Kyoto! It was the first time I saw snow in front of my eyes. All of the houses' roofs were covered with those white and fluffy snow. It was really beautiful.
As we arrived in Shin-Osaka station, we had to change train to get to USJ. And yes, it's the Harry Potter themed train. This train will bring you to USJ. Once you arrived at USJ, you'll need to exchange your receipt into the real USJ tickets.
I could not believe that USJ is actually really, really crowded regardless if it is peak or off-peak season. It took 1.5 to 2 hours to queue for each ride, so you might want to buy the Express Pass if you want to try all of the attractions. I then went straight to the WWoHP ticketing booth to get a timed-entry access. We picked the time to enter the magical world right after lunch. So even though I went there just to see The Wizarding World of Harry Potter, I got to ride some other attractions too.
It's finally time to enter WWoHP. After we got in, we waited at the Stone Circle (goosebumps #1), and then the anticipation only builds from there. We had to take a long path through the Forbidden Forest while listening to the soundtrack from hidden speakers (goosebumps #2 + crying a little). After walking for a while, we found the Flying Ford Anglia. This was the second time I saw the car, because I once saw it in HP Exhibition in Singapore, but this was another whole new level. The Anglia was wrecked into a tree, just like in the movie!
Then, we eventually reached the impressive Hogsmeade entrance gate (goosebumps #3 + crying a little more). Another theme music began to start and I felt my heart fell to the ground, in a good way. Upon entering the park, we were welcomed by a life-sized replica of the Hogwarts Express, of course, goosebumps #4. The second you walked through Hogsmeade, entering Ollivander's, Honeydukes, Zonkos, you are no longer in USJ. It's like, a whole new world. A whole new universe, and it felt like I was home.
There is an attraction inside Ollivander's. You will be taken into a scene where Harry bought his wand for the very first time (goosebumps #5). I was hoping I could be chosen as Harry to recreate the scene and choose the wand, but a girl beside me was the chosen one. Still, a very amazing experience. There is also a real wand shop inside Ollivander's. You can buy any kind of wands and cloaks you want. I bought Bellatrix Lestrange's wand. Oh, and you can also get inside Zonkos and buy all the uniquely weird things Fred and George made. Fantastic!!
(you can see that my hands trembled while taking this photo)
There are actually two big rides in WWoHP, The Forbidden Journey and the Flight of The Hippogriff. However Hippogriff is more for kids, so we went straight to The Forbidden Journey. The queue was super long already. The temperature also got colder. We checked our phone to found out that it was 4 degree Celcius with -1 degree wind! We queued for 3.5 hours outside the castle. We were freezing, our ears hurt so bad, but so happy that we get to experience such an amazing adventure.
Seeing Hogwarts Castle up close, surrounded by tree-trimmed lake that is so huge, and deep, and dark, was a fabulous experience. As a Potterhead, it really felt like I am a first year student, just like Harry, who is about to see the famous Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. 3.5 hours felt like nothing when we reached the gates of Hogwarts Castle. Here I was literally crying of excitement.
It's everything a Harry Potter fan wants it to be. I still got chills thinking about it. After you reached the gate, you must put all your stuff into a locker and begin to queue again, but right now it is inside the Hogwarts Castle. You will get the chance to tour Hogwarts, watch to the almost-looking-like-real-life holograms of Dumbledore, Harry, Hermione, Ron walking around and talking in Dumbledore's Office, Gryffindor Common Room (literally dont know how many times I cried already) and inside the Defense Against The Dark Arts classroom. Not to mention the moving portraits who bicker with each other. They are all so impressive.
For the ride. Damn, I can not even begin to tell you how wondrous the experience is. We got into this room with floating candle above us and we were then strapped into the flying benches that acts as your broomstick. This is a 4K3D cinematic ride -- so can you imagine how fucking cool is it? The story is that we have to soar across the sky above Hogwarts on our broomstick (at high speed, like really fast) and we gotta catch the Golden Snitch! You would also feel the scary vibe once your broomstick enter the dark room and you will come face to face with Dementors. It's a magical journey, full of thrills, very awe-inspiring. In short, it was the best attraction I have ever ridden in my life. It was mind blowing.
Because we spent almost 4 hours queueing and riding the attraction, once we finished the ride it was already dark outside. The park closed at 6pm, so we ran and felt so glad that I still got the chance to grab a hot Butterbeer for ￥1,300 at Hog's Head.
I love the Wizarding World of Harry Potter. They have a meticulous attention to detail -- the shops, the songs, and even if you go to the lavatories, you can hear Moaning Myrtle inside!! If you are a Potterhead, you de-fi-ni-te-ly must go here. My next list will be in Orlando, because I still need to see Diagon Alley and Gringotts!
