Harry Potter Theme Park is the second park in the world, after Florida, built based on the series of the same name by female author JK Rowling. Located in the Universal Studios Osaka complex, it only takes you 20 minutes to travel from Osaka Station. Some trains here are also decorated with posters of the boy wizard, or other themes of Universal Studios.
When you arrive at Universal City Station, just follow the signs for about 5 minutes to the studio entrance, where there is a ticket counter. Tickets are sold here for the entire Universal Studios, not just for the Harry Potter park. A 1-Day Pass for adults is 7,600 Yen including tax, and a 2-day pass is 12,800 Yen. Around the studio, there are a number of hotels for guests who want to line up early in the morning to avoid long waiting times.
Universal Studios also sells Express Passes, which allow guests to shorten wait times on certain rides, or schedule rides to avoid long lines. Note that these are sold separately and are not a substitute for an admission ticket. Some people balk at the extra cost of an Express Pass, but I think it’s well worth the money, especially if you’re only planning on visiting Universal Studios Osaka once. Without this “wait-free pass,” queue times for popular rides like Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey can be up to 90 minutes!
Unlike other miniatures in Universal Studios, the Harry Potter park is located in an isolated area, with the entrance being a pine forest with the background music creating a gloomy, mysterious feeling like the Forbidden Forest surrounding Hogwarts castle in the movie. On the way, you can see Ron's Flying Car stuck in a bush by the roadside, sometimes flashing its lights and revving its engine as if looking for its old owner.
Walk along the forest for about 2 minutes, you will reach the gate of Hogsmeade village, and behind this solid stone gate is the Hogwarts Express train with the conductor in a very British uniform. You can line up to take a picture with the conductor, or choose to participate in another “cool” activity: show off your magic!
Here’s what you need to know: There are two types of wands sold at Universal Studios stores, including the Harry Potter theme park: the Original Wand and the Magical Wand, which is the “real” wand. The Magical wand is a little more expensive, but it has a special sensor attached so that when you visit certain locations in the Harry Potter theme park and wave your wand in a certain way, magic happens!
Back on the Hogwarts Express, there are a few trunks next to the train where you can practice your first spell with a special wand. The wizard will show you how to wave your wand to activate the sensor on the trunk. It takes about 2 or 3 tries, but once you get it right, the trunk will magically open. There are other places scattered throughout Harry Potter Park to show off your wand skills, but make sure you buy the right special Magical Wand!
After visiting the Hogwarts Express, the next destination is the butterbeer stall. There are about 2 or 3 food stalls in the park where you can enjoy the favorite drink of young wizards. Butterbeer, or Butterbeer, is amber in color, topped with a thick layer of creamy foam, sweet, aromatic and non-alcoholic. You can buy a cup with the word Butterbeer printed on it as a souvenir. Besides butterbeer, the shops here sell foods that every true Harry Potter fan knows such as imitation chocolates, candies of all flavors...
The shops in Hogsmeade village can keep you fascinated all day, such as Honeydukes bakery, Wizarding and Wicked joke shop, and the most interesting is Olivander wand shop. The wands are designed very elaborately, according to the personality of each character such as Harry, Ron, Hermione, Dumbledore and even Voldermort. Here you can also take a short tour, explore Mr. Olivander's office behind a secret door. One lucky customer will be chosen to try the wand, just like the boy Harry Potter in the first book. Charmed objects such as Marauder's map, monster encyclopedia, flying brooms... are displayed scattered in the shops. Remember not to miss any shop.
The final destination in the Harry Potter park is none other than Hogwarts Castle. Located at the highest point of the park, the ancient castle reflects on a dark lake surrounding it. To participate in the game “Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey” with 4D effects, you have to wait in line for about 1-2 hours, unless you buy an additional Express Pass at the entrance. However, you can choose to go on Castle Walk, explore the interior of the castle yourself, which is also very interesting and often allows you to enter immediately without waiting.
The inside of the castle is quite gloomy, but once your eyes get used to the darkness, you will discover many interesting details. You will visit Dumbledore's office, the Gryffindor common room, the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom, meet familiar characters like the Fat Lady, talking portraits, and of course Harry, Ron and Hermione.
At the end of your Harry Potter Park exploration, if you have time left, you can join other games in Universal Studios, or visit the Takoyaki Museum nearby, which gathers the 5 most famous takoyaki in Osaka. Osaka is also known as the culinary paradise in Japan, with many irresistible dishes such as okonomiyaki pancakes, takoyaki octopus cakes, omurice egg rolls... So you can combine visiting the mysterious wizarding world with culinary tourism at the same time.
More information:
+ Time:The best time to visit Universal Studios is in the spring, around late March, April or autumn, around November. Then you can combine cherry blossom or red leaf viewing. Note that these two times are also extremely crowded in Osaka.
+ Note:You should not go to Harry Potter park on the weekend, because all the shops and games will be packed with people and the wait will be many times longer than usual.
+ Other activities:It only takes about 40 minutes by train from Osaka to the ancient capital of Kyoto, so if you want to visit other famous places such as the Arashiyama bamboo forest, Fushimi Inari shrine with 5,000 torii gates... you can go and return in a day.
+ Travel:Buy a JR Pass before arriving in Japan for cheaper travel. Use Google Maps to find out which station to go to, as Osaka has many train lines operated by different companies such as JR, Hankyu, Hanshin… which can be confusing. Allow yourself plenty of time to find your way around Osaka!
+ Contact:If you travel with a small group, you can choose to buy a 3G SIM card from Docomo company to access the internet using your phone, which is much cheaper than renting a mobile WiFi device.
Article and photos: Le Trinh
