April 14, 2025: On our last full day in Osaka, my group split up. Two went to Kyoto to see various shrines and Buddhist temples if I remember correctly. More Japan Rail Pass bargain for those guys, although Kyoto is not far from Osaka. The remaining three of us (myself included!) opted for Universal Studios instead which is right in Osaka. Whatever floats your boat, amiright?? The shrines and temples would have been real nice to see, but some of us had our heads set on Universal Studios well before we arrived in Japan!
We took an Uber from our Airbnb to Universal, it was about a 25 minute drive and cost ¥5,200 or about $46 CAD. Split three ways I’m not terribly upset about the cost!
Saw the usual sights outside the grounds, or the part you can wander for free I guess. Not to brag or anything, but I say usual sights because I have been to Universal Studios in both Florida and California and really this was more of the same to me! 😛 Citywalk was there, Universal’s answer to Downtown Disney in my opinion. Hard Rock Cafe, other shopping and food courts, restaurants and bars, and all the advertising for Super Nintendo World, the big deal at Universal Studios this time around!
A one day pass to get in was ¥9,900, around 88 bucks CAD. Doesn’t seem too bad to me if I were to compare. Not that I remember what Florida or California cost, but surely it was around the $100.00 vicinity.
While Super Nintendo World was the main reason we went, one sight we were also there to see was closed! JAWS! Aaaah well. Another time, and another location probably!
After entering, Mel’s Drive-In was one of the first places we walked past, so had to get some pics of the cars:
And I’m sneaking Jurassic Park into this post, since it was really the only area in the park we made a point of visiting aside from Super Nintendo World and The Wizarding World of Harry Potter. Those get their own posts!
Gyrosphere photo ops, right here!
Got some merch while I was there of course! A Butterbeer silky button-up shirt, Hard Rock Cafe shiny (Oooooh, Shinies!) girlee tee, and a Bowser tee. Fun times!
A map of where Universal Studios is in Japan (see below), although it is in Osaka! We attempted to take an Uber back to our Airbnb when we were done, but had a bit of a mishap occur. There was an area outside the grounds that was a designated pickup/drop off for Uber, taxis, and busses, and I do not recall getting dropped off at this spot! But we went there as per Uber instructions and waited. There were soooooo many busses and taxis around. I think our driver had a difficult time finding us, or the correct fare at least because at one point, my Uber app started the trip, as if the driver had picked us up but they hadn’t! I promptly canceled the trip in the app and never did get billed thankfully.
Rather than attempt to get another Uber, we noticed there were a TON of taxis lined up, waiting for fares. So we got into one! The driver spoke absolutely zero English BUT, I showed him our Airbnb address from my phone and he knew exactly where to go. Since our Airbnb was difficult to just stop in front off due to it being on a main drag, we got him to drop us off at the nearby 7-Eleven (by saying 7-Eleven and pointing when we were close!) We would have walked there anyway to stock up before settling in for the night! It worked out perfectly, woooo! My credit card statement displayed a charge of $49.57 CAD for the fare, which is not much more than what the Uber cost! Again, split three ways, so MEH! 😛 😛
