Stacy: Day 4 - USJ, Take My Money!
This was Nando's happy place. Super Nintendo World inside of Universal Studios Japan was the only thing Nando requested to do on this trip.
That night, immediately after SNW, we were to head to our Kyoto hotel. I had the foresight to send our luggage ahead with the renowned Japanese Ta-Q-Bin luggage transfer service. But, we still had our backpacks and "personal items" (to use the airline term), and needed to find coin lockers.
We lucked out! There was this hotel advertising them a fair distance from the park entrance. There were plenty open, and we were able get it for free! We were ready to pay, but the guy at the counter just have Nando the coin outright. Score!
Getting the tickets (a month before our date of attendance) was a crazy experience (goat-rope), and our timed entry tickets to Harry Potter World and Super Nintendo World were nearly back-to-back.
Harry Potter World was amazing! I'm a fan, but not an uber fan. Slytherin proud, the only expensive item I could think of wanting to buy at USJ was a wand. We experienced the wand ceremony. I found one that fits me design-wise, but I'm more of a dragon girl. This one has a unicorn hair in it. 😁
But, my dudes! The Harry Potter ride, "Forbidden Journey," was absolutely amazing! Nando and I went in knowing pretty much nothing about anything in USJ (on purpose).
Forbidden Journey blew our minds, and set the bar for all other rides at this park. In hindsight, nothing was as good as this ride, and we were actually a bit disappointed at SNW. But, it was still a fantastic time!
Kristen tells us that walking into USJ HPW is the most immersive for any Universal park they have been in. We walked through "forest" for at least 5 minutes before entering Hogsmeade.
And, of course we had Butterbeer!!!
We had dinner time, so we walked to Jurassic Park. Not much here if you're not going to ride the rides (one was closed). Several restaurants, and I hear the turkey legs are gluten free, so I'll grab one later if I need to. A little disappointed in the gift shop– I didn't find anything I liked enough to buy.
Then, our time came, and it was off to Super Nintendo World! As you passed through the gates, it was quite an impressive sight to behold! Nando was on his element.
We stood in line for Koopa's Challenge, and ooooo'd and aaaaaaaw'ed at all the things in the line that we were passing quickly because we had Express Passes.
It was an interesting ride--more like a video game/Mario Cart/real life mashup. I beat Nando by one point (117 to 116), but my Yoshi Power Band wouldn't activate on the steering wheel (so there's no proof). Then on to the kiddie ride, Yoshi's Adventure. It was cute.
Kinopio's (Toadstool's) Cafe had a long, deceiving, line. And, even though I had some all my research, they changed the menu on me. I showed them the food I wanted (in Japanese, which used to be listed on the allergy menu). It was now on the regular menu, but when the cashier brought out the person who knew ingredients, and he read my card, he told me there was nothing I could eat. And, then he remembered the salad. There was also a sparkling lemonade-like drink. So. That's what I ordered. And, I immediately warned others in my Celiacs in Japan FB group.
So, back to Jurassic Park so I could have some protein. It was much smaller than those my mom and I would split at the King William Fair during Fiesta, but it was just right for me. Yum!
After a full day of fun and shopping we parted ways with Kristen and Aaron for a day. Their goal this trip to Japan is to hit the 3 main/most beautiful gardens in Japan, so they're going West tomorrow (for a day trip) as we go slightly Northeast. We would meet back up tomorrow evening, and hopefully they would make it in time for the last Shinto ceremony.
We somehow made it to Kyoto on our own. That was an adventure, for sure... Aaron has been absolutely amazing at getting us to and from destination. We are so grateful!!!
We technically needed to do laundry tonight, but I made sure we packed an extra set of clothes, so we could wait until tomorrow. We were utterly exhausted.
Above is an illegal photo of the Gion back streets. Since I hadn't added the address of the hotel to the address on my calendar, on our already exhausted feet, we ended up walking some of the back streets of Gion.
Gion is the old, wooden, area of town that you can typically glimpse geisha hurrying to their next appointments.
Why is this illegal? I had Google maps up in my phone and was NOT paying attention to my surroundings (other than traffic). Literally as I became aware that I was in that area, I was paying an alleyway, and wanted to document it.
Then, I hear a quiet, yet astounded, reprimand from Nando, "STAYYY--CCYYY!" I looked at Nando quite confused. He nodded to something to my right. It was a sign literally telling me that photography was prohibited, and you could be fined. Luckily, this was practically the only guy we saw before I figured out I needed to add the hotel name to the address.
Then, bed!!!
