Step into the Wizarding World that Muggles Dream Of – The Incredibly Enchanting Harry Potter Area at Universal Studios Osaka

Photos & Text /By Buji

The “Wizarding World of Harry Potter” is a must-visit area when you go to Universal Studios Japan, and most visitors come here specifically for this imaginative magical zone.As Muggles, after watching the movies or reading the books, just imagining being able to stroll around this magical world ourselves is super exciting. Now,join Buji as we step into the world of Harry Potter and explore the real-life Hogwarts and Hogsmeade Village.(Detailed instructions on how to get into the park are at the end of the article.)

The entrance to the Harry Potter area is quite mysterious – it’s a seemingly barren little clearing filled with giant rocks, but once you walk in, you’ll discover an amazing hidden world. Walk through the stone circle and follow the path, and you’ll pass through a lush forested area.

Along the way, you’ll also see the “Flying Car” that Ron drove in the movies – pretty exciting, right?

As you continue, you’ll reach an arched gateway, and the door to the magical world lies right before you.

Once you pass through the gate, you officially enter the wizarding realm, and right by your right hand side, you’ll seethe magical school train, which is just as big as a real train, with Platform 9¾ naturally being its station.

Right next to it is Hogsmeade Village, covered in snow all year round.It’s super dreamy, almost like stepping into a fairytale from the medieval era. But the crowds are pretty intense – even at around five in the afternoon when it’s almost dark, you’ll still see a sea of people.

Hogsmeade Village is filled with all kinds of magical shops and restaurants, each with its own unique interior design that looks just like the movie sets. However, due to time-limited access to the Harry Potter rides, you’ll have to skip Hogsmeade for now and head straight for the Hogwarts Castle ride.

Walk to the end of Hogsmeade’s streets, and Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry will be right in front of you. It feels so unreal when you see it – you’ll quickly burn through a lot of your camera memory here. Japanese visitors nearby, upon seeing Hogwarts, could only exclaim “Sugoi ne!” (“So amazing!”), and Buji couldn’t help but nod along too.

There are two rides in the Harry Potter area – one is “Flight of the Hippogriff,” located right next to Hogwarts, and the other is the highly recommended “Forbidden Journey,” which takes place inside the Hogwarts castle building.

Buji went on“Flight of the Hippogriff” (see the next two images) first – it’s kind of like a short roller coaster. Saying it’s short is actually being generous XD, because the whole ride from start to finish is only about one minute.At first, I thought maybe the ride would do something more after it stopped, but then the staff just asked us to get off – kinda silly.

Although it’s somewhat thrilling, it ends too abruptly, which feels a bit random. But during the brief ride,you can actually get a bird’s-eye view of the entire Harry Potter area,which is a small but nice perk of this attraction.

After the somewhat underwhelming “Flight of the Hippogriff,” it’s time to truly step into Hogwarts.The “Forbidden Journey”is located right inside this magical castle.

Photography isn’t allowed inside the building, so here’s a quick summary of the experience in just four words: “Absolutely amazing” XD. This ride, like “Spider-Man,” uses3D 4K technology, so the visual effects are incredibly lifelike. The Golden Snitch and many characters in the scenes appear right in front of you, and there are plenty of exciting segments.Additionally, the ride duration is very satisfying – it lasts about five minutes. Although you might still want more when it ends, it’s already a huge improvement over “Flight of the Hippogriff.”

Before the game, the staff led everyone through the Hogwarts dormitories from the movie, where the stairwell walls were covered in portraits, many of which actually moved and spoke.Although they had Western faces, they spoke Japanese, which left an impression on Bujī.

After exiting Hogwarts, Bujī spotted asmall cart with red wine barrels,which his friend quickly recognized as the legendary“Butterbeer Cart.”。

The staff selling butterbeer were super friendly and happily let Bujī take photos.

Actually, thisbutterbeer is enjoyed by both adults and kids, as it’s a non-alcoholic beverage.When purchasing, you can choose a regular cup (600 yen) or a special edition commemorative mug (1,100 yen). The commemorative mug (pictured below) can be taken home as a souvenir after drinking.

I thought it would taste amazing, but honestly it was just okay. Especially that thick, overly sweet layer of foam on top. The “drink” at the bottom—ants would probably love it, because it’s also super sweet. I can’t think of any other way to describe it except sweet, super sweet, insanely sweet. The main point is, I wanted the mug.

After buying the butterbeer, I noticed a“Frog Choir”performing in the nearby plaza. It’s one of the shows in the park, where four performers represent students from the four Hogwarts houses. While they sang,two giant frogs joined in for the chorus—pretty fun to watch.

After the choir performance, I snapped a few more photos of Hogwarts and Hogsmeade as they were about to be swallowed by night. The scenery here never gets old—it’s great during the day, at dusk, and at night, with different beauties from every angle.

With a big cup of butterbeer in my bladder, nature inevitably called. Speaking of bathrooms,the restrooms in the Harry Potter area are quite unique—they’re the ones haunted by Moaning Myrtle.

Of course, you also shouldn’t miss the many shops and restaurants in Hogsmeade. But since it was already past seven, “The Three Broomsticks Restaurant” was closed ORZ, so I could only browse the shops.

There’s a shop specializing in wizard attire, and the wizard robes there are super cool. Many people in the park walk around wearing them, looking really majestic. But they’re not cheap.

The “Ollivanders Wand Shop” has several walls full of wands to choose from, each with different materials, lengths, shapes, thicknesses, and colors. When looking at the wands, you just want to pick one up and shout “Expelliarmus!”

Andthe “Owl Post and Owlery”sells stationery, postcards, and stamps.You can write a letter here, affix a stamp, and drop it in the mailbox at the Owl Post—the letter will be stamped with the Hogsmeade postmark.Friends who enjoy collecting postmarks and stamps shouldn’t miss this place.

▲ Owl Post and Owlery (Photo / Universal Studios Japan official site)

Additionally, shops like “Honeydukes Sweetshop” and “Zonko’s Joke Shop” sell magical candies and treats loved by the students in the books and movies (like Chocolate Frogs), magic props, and common prank items. They’re perfect for bringing back to Taiwan as gifts or for pranking your friends.

Time flies in the wizarding world — from entering the park at five to staying until after seven, I accidentally spent over two hours there. I really didn’t want to leave, unless it was to experience the zombie parade on Halloween night.

I had no choice but to capture a few more shots of Hogsmeade at night before leaving.Though both day and night are breathtaking, Wulv simply loves the nighttime vibe of the park the most.Against the darkness, everything here feels even more like a scene straight out of the movies — incredibly magical, making it hard to tear yourself away.

※※Harry Potter Park Entry Guidelines (Must-read for those planning to go!)
Having a Universal Studios ticket only grants you access to the park and any area except the “Harry Potter area.” To enter the “Wizarding World of Harry Potter,” you need an additional ticket.You can either pay to get this entry ticket or try to obtain it for free — the difficulty level varies, of course, and paying always makes things easier.

Whichever type of Harry Potter entry ticket you get, it will have a designated entry time to limit the number of visitors inside the park. You can only enter at that specific time, but there’s no time limit on how long you can stay. Once you exit the area, though, you can’t get back in.

There are four ways to enter the Harry Potter area:

1. Purchase an “Express Pass 5 or 7.”
The Express Pass 5 or 7 includes access to rides within the Harry Potter area, so you can also use these passes to enter. Daily Express Passes are limited, so it’s best to buy them online as early as possible. There are also a limited number available for purchase at the park entrance, but you’ll need to queue up super early — and there’s no guarantee you’ll get one.

▲ Prices for the three types of Express Passes and the rides they apply to (Image / Compiled by Wulv).

2. Purchase a packaged product sold by travel agencies → Click here for details.http://www.usj.co.jp/tw/enjoy/。

3. Upon entering the park, go to Zone 65 (marked by the red star in the image below) to draw a free but limited “Entry Queue Ticket.”
One person can draw multiple tickets on behalf of others, but you must show your Universal Studios ticket. One Universal ticket allows you to draw one Entry Queue Ticket. If you don’t want to spend money, this is an option, but the risk is that you’ll arrive later and the tickets might be all gone (especially on holidays when crowds are huge — this is more likely to happen).......

If all the Entry Queue Tickets are indeed gone, you can join the standby line... If someone who got a ticket cancels and doesn’t show up, “Entry Lottery Tickets” may be drawn on-site, but there’s no guarantee you’ll get one, and they’re handed out irregularly — it’s basically your last resort if nothing else works.

▲ Simplified map of park zones (Image / Universal Studios official website, with boxes and text added by Wulv).

4. Arrive at the park entrance earlier than the official opening time and queue up there.
This method is the perfect example of “the early bird catches the worm”!Usually, the park opens earlier than the officially scheduled time.(How much earlier depends on the park’s mood, Up. Wulv arrived around 8:40 a.m. and the park was already open), and I’ve heard of it opening as early as one hour or 40 minutes ahead of schedule.Visitors who enter during this early period can head straight into the Harry Potter area without needing an Entry Queue Ticket.The park does not enforce any restrictions during the early opening period until the official opening time.

More“on Wulv’s Osaka Universal Studios trip”can be found here.

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