Universal Studios Japan - Harry Potter times?

In late June I'm going on my first trip to Japan with friends, and we'll be spending a day in Universal Studios Japan so I have a few questions about the Wizarding World portion of the park! I've researched how you usually need a timed entry ticket (sort of like a Disney fastpass) that tells you when you can enter the Wizarding World because it is so popular, but is there a set amount of time you can stay? Does the ticket say you have between two times to enter, or once you enter can you stay as long as you like once you're inside Hogsmeade?

Also, I've heard from others that the Wizarding World is also great at night and you should try come back then, but you can't get a second timed entry ticket on the same day. As we'll be going on a weekday, around what time will the park be calm enough we won't require a timed entry ticket to enter the Wizarding World again? Lastly, is there any particular weekday that would be less busy or would any day other than the weekend be about the same? Thanks for any help or tips!

I'd like to know the answer to some of those questions, too. I do know that once you are in Harry Potter, you can stay the rest of the day. But I'm also confused about "coming back for nighttime" since the site says once you leave you can't come back. You can't re-enter the main park, too.

My Google search got answers from January, but nothing more recent. I plan on going mid-week in mid-April. It's disappointing that USJ doesn't sell tickets online like Tokyo Disney (and is more expensive than Tokyo Disney, too).

Even taking the earliest Shinkansen from Tokyo, I'll arrive in Osaka about 9:30, on a Wednesday, so figure an hour to drop bags at the hotel (along the way), and get to the park. I have no idea if this is too late to get a timed ticket (probably) or not. I plan on going the next day for sure (Thursday), but, have heard rumors that timed tickets can be sold out months in advance (though how this is I don't know). So even getting to the park early is no guarantee. Plus there's no way I can run for the timed ticket machine.

I'll be in Osaka between cherry blossom time and Golden week. I have no idea how crowded the park will be (Tokyo Disney gives you historical data on which you can plan your trip).

I will buy their front of the line pass, which includes a timed ticket, but I hear they sell out, too.

There are so many unanswered questions, and the USJ web site is pretty crappy about giving any useful advice (including which attractions will be closed, which Tokyo Disney tells you right up front).

I have recently went to USJ back in Nov 2014 going to Harry Potter. The timed tickets are near the entrance of Harry Potter. We got to USJ just before 10am opening. Got the Harry Potter tickets around 1015am and our time was 1215pm-115pm. So basically you have 1 hour to go into Harry Potter entrance. Once inside Harry Potter you should stay until your finished cause you wont be able to enter again after you leave that area. You might want two days if you want to look at the rest of USJ rides.
Here was our schedule:

1300 Enter Harry Potter
1300-1330 OMG photos time!
1330-1400 Line up for Three Broomstick for lunch
1400-1430 lunch
1430-1500 walking throughout the plaza. (The wand shop was so long! 120mins or longer wait...and this was just merchandise!)
Finally got to Hogwarts Castle too see the roller coaster ride was 240mins long.....so we did the walkthrough the Castle instead. The line was about 30mins till you get inside and then it takes about 1hour to go through the whole walk. Very cool!
About 5pm now grab some butterbeer, went to the regular merchandise shop for about 40mins.

Time to say goodbye to Hogwarts and left around 6pm.

Then the only other areas we had time to go was Jurassic Park, Hello Kitty and downtown USJ.

Left the park around 10pm

Wish we had more time thought next time!

Hope this helps!!

Have fun!!!

Thank you Koohii2wii for all the information!

Susan, good luck with your own trip! Be sure to report back with how it goes.

I went there with my daughter on Dec 30th (school holiday time), and we got to the park at about 8:30am.
It took an hour to get in through the front gate. We didn't know you had to get a ticket to Harry Potter World until we got there, so we waited on line for the ticket from 10am until 10:30am, and our entry time for Harry Potter World was 7:40pm.

So be aware about the delay if you are going there during any type of holiday/weekend/school holiday.

Thanks to everyone for the great information and kind words.

When we plan to visit on a couple of weekdays in mid-April, the park will only be open from 9:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. Many people, and even the USJ web site, report that the park often opens earlier, so we will take that into account.

I was there many years ago, and really liked Backdraft and Back to the Future.

To Alex - You can stay as long as you're inside. I'm pretty sure when you exit you can still enter, but you probably would need to requeue. At least thats what I was told by the staff at the tourist counter where I'm from when I enquired.

To Susan - you actually can purchase Universal STudios Pass online, even the Express Pass if you wish. But the only issue is you can only apply for them on the Japanese universal studios website (not the english one). So some trial and error is needed. Do PM me if you need help booking - I just bought mine a month ago for my April trip :)

Also, i forgot to mention - universal studios japan does also specify which rides are close at certain dates - http://www.usj.co.jp/parkguide/schedule/201504.html

In the period of April - it seems only "Shrek 4-D Adventure ™" is going to be scheduled for maintenance. Hope this helps!

BloodPrincess, interesting that you can buy the express pass online beforehand! Considering they sell out in the park almost instantly that makes me think about getting one... the express pass works as a timed ticket for the Wizarding World too, correct? How would buying it online affect what time of day you'd have entry to the Wizarding World then?

My family and I went there one fine November morning - queued up for timed entry tickets, etc. just as described above. We then left the HP attractions to enjoy the rest of the park.

In the evening, after the nightly music-and-light extravaganza near the Christmas tree, we went back to HP for a second round. No timed entry tickets needed at that point; we just marched straight through.

The sweetest thing about this (no pun intended) is that I got to try two different versions of their Butterbeer - the cold carbonated kind in the morning, and a delicious warmed version at night. Really heats one up from the inside out. :)

Cheers.

Also, I should probably add that Hogsmeade takes on a quite different character after dark. It's one thing to see it during the day; entirely another to walk through the village with all the windows lit and the cobblestones tinted gold by the glow of streetlamps. And the way they lit up the castle at night was quite cool.

Try to see it on both occasions if you can ... well worth the wait, in my view. Pop in early, pop out to enjoy the rest of Universal Studios Japan, then finish off the day with another round in HP (and perhaps a foaming cup of hot Butterbeer).

Cheers.

Thanks for the info Diego, that sounds exactly like the sort of day I want at Universal!

Hi Alex,

Buying it online gives you a QR code that you can use. It saves you the hassle of worrying and buying it there.

Timings wise, you are given the option to choose what date you are visiting USJ and what time you wish to enter Harry Potter area, as well as what time you would like to take the Journey ride. As long as you reach the area during that time you'd be fine!

I went to USJ twice when I was in Japan late last year - once by myself, second time with a friend, both on weekdays outside of school holidays. The first day, I was really worried about crowds and ticket times so I bought my entry ticket at Kansai Airport the day before, and lined up to buy an Express Pass at the gate at around 8.30 am. Bought the Express Pass with no trouble, and then joined the line - the park was scheduled to open at 10 but they opened half an hour earlier due to crowds (this is quite common). My entry time for HP on the Express Pass was 11.30 am (the whole ticket is in Japanese, but the HP entry time is the only time written there). I got to HP world ten minutes early and they let me in anyway - don't be afraid to ask if you're a little bit early too!
The second time I went with my friend who joined me for the latter half of my trip, and we went again on a weekday but this time after 3 for the cheaper entry ticket. We went straight to the HP ticketing area and got a ticket for 5.30 pm. You might be lucky like us, or not - June is summer so some people might think it too hot for theme parks, but it is also school holidays for people in a lot of other countries that may choose to visit Japan then.
I think your best plan of action will simply be to get to USJ well before opening time and lining up to buy your ticket and an Express Pass before opening (be aware: they will not ask what time you want to enter HP world, but just give you the next available time). Don't bother with the online system if you can't read Japanese - just too stressful! Make sure you buy an Express Pass 5 or 7 as the 3 does not include HP world entry. 5 and 7 will both get you express entry into the main HP ride, The Forbidden Journey (best ride in the park, it was fantastic!), but only 7 will get you on the Flight of the Hippogriff (a small rollercoaster, probably skippable). You cannot get re-entry to HP world with the Express Pass, but you could probably get a timed ticket using your entry pass as they are not connected - get this before you enter HP world to go back at night, because it is good!
Timed tickets will only not be needed when people stop being excited about HP world, which could take a couple of years! And timed tickets cannot possibly sell out before the park opens as they are only issued on the day, or to Express Pass online sales (not enough to matter, as I said I got a timed ticket for 5.30 pm after entering the park at 3).
Enjoy!!

Thanks sq, even more helpful info!

I'll talk to my friends and see what they think, I'm getting interested in an Express Pass 5 or 7 but at the same time I could use that money towards a Ravenclaw cloak... I never bought one while I had an annual pass to Orlando's version, I think it's time I give in. ;)

Just to give you an idea of what to expect when the gates fly open:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d8VmvtVaoNo

I shot this video as I was making my way through the park towards the HP attraction. We'd purchased our tickets in advance at our hotel the day before (or was it 2 days before?) - we were staying at the Hotel Granvia Ōsaka which was a USJ partner hotel. Saved us from having to queue for tickets, but we still had to line up for entry like everyone else, which we did long before opening time.

One other thing to note (this was true at the time of our visit but not sure if it's still the case now): if you're one of the very first to make it to the entrance of HP, they'll let you in without a timed entry ticket. Once their initial opening quota is filled, the barrier is closed off and you'll need to head over to the timed entry ticket machines to secure a slot, as described in previous comments. Part of our group made it through (ran madly like heck) and the rest had to get timed entry stubs, meeting up in HP later.

Cheers and best of luck.

Thanks to BloodPrincess and everyone else for the excellent up-to-date information.

I feel stupid not having checked the Japanese site, knowing that there is always more information for Tokyo Disney there than on the English pages, so the same is true for USJ.

The best news is that I found my mid-April mid-week visit will be during the second least crowded time of the year.

@Susan, haha really? I'll be heading there on the 7th of april, didn't want to take the chance! since everything else is pretty much booked solid thanks to the sakura season, I actually expected USJ to be crowded too!

The Express Pass is most useful for skipping the bulk of the line to the Forbidden Journey ride - lines can average nearly 2 hours without the Pass! If you're happy to wait don't bother buying it.
Also, be aware that the cloaks are expensive...I also wanted a Ravenclaw one but they are around $130AUD! I just bought an iron-on Ravenclaw patch (about $12AUD that I'll attach to a simple, cheap black cloak back here at home. :) Some souvenirs were okay in price, and others were ridiculous!

Haha yep, they're a tad expensive. That's why I never bought one in the States... I was on Disney cast member wages, somehow that $8 an hour wasn't quite enough to cover all the Harry Potter merch...