I’m a big fan of Harry Potter. I can still clearly remember how excited I am everytime there’s a new book or movie coming up. I cried hard, both when Dumbledore died, and when I finished reading the 7th book- knowing that I won’t be looking forward to the next one… forever. Harry Potter made my highschool days as magical as it can ever be.

So, when I found out that there’s a Harry Potter theme park within Asia, I told to myself that I need to experience it A-S-A-P. Fast forward to November 2014, it all became a reality. My dream of becoming a witch “partly” came true.

I intentionally planned our visit to fall on a weekday- to avoid the crowd. Honestly, there are more Japanese tourists than foreigners because even the locals can’t visit USJ easily ( it’s in Osaka which is around 4 hr by bullet train from Tokyo). Based from the forum discussions, if the park has a lot of visitors, then USJ will setup a timed entry ticket which will indicate  the time that you’re allowed to enter the Wizarding World of Harry Potter area. This is my expectation upon entry in the park- and as funny as it may sound, me and my sister plus most of the park guests (~90%)  ran for our lives after entering USJ, and we all raced towards the Harry Potter area. Too bad I wasn’t able to take a photo, but I guess the hype during that time ( ~5 months after opening of HP area) is still there. In the end, we discovered that there are not much people (for them) during that day so timed entry tickets are not needed.

Just a quick background, The Wizarding World of Harry Potter is just an attraction inside The Universal Studios Japan theme park. Thus, you only need to pay for the 1-day Studio Pass of USJ of ~6,850 yen. Upon entry, just walk to your right and eventually, you will see the Harry Potter area.  Better to visit this firsthand in the morning upon entry, Continue Reading