Osaka trip - Day 2

Ya'll, I knew that the Japanese love to stand in line, but camping out in front of the gates to be the first ones through from 5:30 in the morning is insane. The gates officially open at 9am. What was I doing out at 5:30am? To take pics, of course, of what I could without any people getting in the way. I ran into a lady out taking pics before she left for home and she told me about how people were camping out super early with folding chairs and leisure sheets, waiting for the gates to open to get through security.

Breakfast came to be a challenge since everywhere was charging $25 for a breakfast buffet. McDs was the only place to get cheap breakfast, unless you grabbed a couple of rolls from the convenience store. Breakfast coupons in the app were disabled for that shop, even. It's been a minute since I had a sausage mcmuffin.

After 3 failed attempts, I finally managed to visit Universal Studios Japan. We headed to the entrance after breakfast, but we didn't realize it was still so early, 7am. There were already a good number of people in line, so we decided to stay since we figured the line would get longer if we came back later. The line probably snaked way back to the park exit. Although the official opening time is 9am, the security gates will open earlier to process the parkgoers before the entry gates open at 9am. We could hear the park staff telling people not to run as they get processed through security. LOL

We finally made it in the park when it opened. Many parkgoers rushed to the popular rides while we meandered to the theater set area where we found a wall with cute Snoopy and Charlie Brown graffiti. That route took us to the Minion Park where Minions were scattered around the area. We played a shooting game where I somehow ended up in third place. It was fun. We browsed around the souvenir shop and I picked up a cute Minions towel for a friend's birthday.

Our next stop was Jurassic Park. The Flying Dinosaur ride was closed for maintenance. My buddy discouraged me from riding the Jurassic Park Ride, since it ended splashing into the pond and riders get soaked. When I actually saw how drenched the riders got, I wasn't keen on riding the ride, even if the temps were in the 80s and clothes will dry pretty quickly. We stuck around for the dinosaur show. The show started with a life-sized Stegosaurus meandering down the lane. Then, 4 Raptors "escaped" and were running around the plaza. The staff were "frantically" telling visitors to stay calm and still. I was wondering how the controls were set up inside the dinosaur costume and how heavy it was. Yeah, not really playing into the fantasy. I did take a bunch of pics, tho.

We decided to have lunch at Hogsmeade, Harry Potter World. While restaurants in USJ are all overpriced, at least the portions are generous. The food wasn't bad, either. My buddy recommended that I order butter beer. He reassured me that it wasn't beer. I ordered the regular one and he got the frozen one. Butter beer was actually butterscotch soda with butterscotch cream on top. It was yummy. The whole corn on the cob was quite filling. The food was better than I thought it would be. My buddy brought his wand, but it appears that the sensor is broken so we couldn't cast spells. Bummer. Unknowing that the ride was notorious for motion sickness, I rode the Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey ride. When the staff saw me with my walking stick, they gave me a voucher to get me through the express line and use the elevator instead of navigating the stairs to the ride. Going upstairs might be OK, but going downstairs wreaks havoc on the knees. We did luck out there. The dome projection screen portion made me extremely woozy. I was OK during the Whomping Willow, a Hungarian Horntail dragon, a swarm of Dementors, and spiders in the Forbidden Forest parts. The steam from the dragon hit me in the face and I got peed on by the spiders. My buddy was cracking up next to me. I'll never ride that ride again.

It was a relief getting back outside. We planned to watch the show at WaterWorld so we headed over there. We were waiting for the show to start, but we heard and announcement that the show was canceled due to technical issues and we'd get a free express voucher. It was a bummer that the show got canceled, but at least we can use the express line for one ride. Since we could make it, we went back to Jurassic Park to see the baby dinos. They were cute.

We used the express ticket for the Hollywood Dream roller coaster ride. It's been a while since I've ridden a roller coaster. I had a blast! I'm usually OK with roller coasters unless they spin certain ways. The view was great and I even saw the part of the park that's closed right now for renovations. Too bad I didn't have my camera.

There were a few character meet and greets I came across--Woody and Winny Woodpecker, Hello Kitty and Dear Daniel, Felix the Cat, Lucy, Charlie Brown, and last, but not least, Snoopy!! Squeeee!!! These characters will ham it up for the camera and will high five you after you're done taking pics. I told Snoopy how one of my friends is a huge fan and her house is filled with Snoopy goods so I asked him to pose for a few shots I can send her. He kindly obliged. I got a high-five from Snoopy after I was done taking pics.

While we didn't ride that many rides, there was a lot more to see and do at UFJ. There was also a lot of character meet and greets.

We were too tired to have a full meal, so we shared a plate of fajitas at Hard Rock Cafe. We wanted to pick up some ice cream at the convenience store, but the lines were insane. Every parkgoer seem to have decided to stop by the convenience stores before they hop on the train to go home. Discouraged, we went back to our room. I decided to have a nice soak in a hot bubble bath.

I finally got to go to USJ, met Snoopy, and ended the day with a bubble bath. It was a good day.

 June 6