Spencer Lloyd 
One of the fun things about visiting Japanese theme parks is the things they do very differently compared to western parks. And in general, nowhere is that more apparent than in entertainment. Case in point: Universal Studios Japan just debuted a new mini-stage show on June 8th called Sesame Street Afrobeat, featuring Elmo, Bert, and … Read more
Who’s ready for Super Nintendo World at Universal Studios Japan? We sure are! But it seems Universal Studios Japan isn’t. In an announcement this evening, the highly-anticipated land was delayed “until further notice” due to the ongoing effects of COVID-19. Super Nintendo World was scheduled to open sometime this month, ahead of the now-delayed Tokyo … Read more
Universal Studios Japan is the most-visited park in the Universal family, yet it seems like a lot of folks don’t know much about it! So we figured on our latest trip to Osaka, we’d give you the full grand-circle tour, complete with the current social distancing practices seen outside of attractions. From current hits like … Read more
After a few setbacks due to the soon-to-conclude extended COVID-19 closure, the first member of Tokyo Disney Resort’s new monorail fleet will enter service on July 3rd! In a video released on the official Tokyo Disney Resort YouTube channel, the new monorails undergoing construction and delivery to the resort were shown off. We’ve seen off-and-on … Read more
Tokyo Disneyland and DisneySea are reopening on July 1st, but it seems some parts of the resort are returning to business sooner. Starting tomorrow, June 25th, Bon Voyage, the park goods store outside of Tokyo Disneyland, will reopen to Guests! Bon Voyage will be open from 11am to 5pm through June 30th, except on June … Read more
Although the Tokyo Disney Resort is finally returning to business on July 1st, there’s a few caveats. Namely, some offerings will remain closed at the parks until further notice. Let’s take a look at the list released today by the Oriental Land Company. Some of our favorites, tragically, seem to be remaining closed. Please note … Read more
At last, the 3rd park to reopen, after Shanghai, Hong Kong, the Tokyo Disney Resort has finally announced that they will return to operations on July 1st, 2020! Closed since February 29th, the two parks will reopen to Guests under severely limited capacity, with the following restrictions in place: Masks must be worn at all … Read more
Universal Studios Japan became the first theme park to reopen in Japan back on June 8th. Now that its soft opening period has come to a close, the park has revealed that proceeds from certain meals sold during the soft opening will go to Osaka Prefecture’s COVID-19 Helping Fund, in support of the medical workers … Read more
Universal Studios Japan has exited its soft-open phase, and the governor of Osaka Prefecture visited to mark the occasion! Governor Hirofumi Yoshimura visited Universal Studios Japan on its last day of soft opening, June 18th, to talk about the safety measures in place and to commend the park for a successful and safe soft open. … Read more
As the notoriously hot and humid Japanese summer approaches, Universal Studios Japan is taking steps to ensure Guests can have a relatively comfortable visit to the park. As part of this, the park has implemented a mask-free zone, similar to the U-Rest area at Universal Studios Orlando. At the area along the park’s central lagoon, … Read more
You’d think that we fans would’ve scraped the backstage portions of Disney+’s acclaimed documentary series clean for any possible hints, but it seems one slipped past most of us! A model of the upcoming Fantasy Springs expansion at Tokyo DisneySea, scheduled to open in 2023! In a slow panning shot of a generic model towards … Read more
After nearly two weeks of a soft-open period open to residents of Osaka Prefecture with annual passes, Universal Studios Japan has finally exited its soft opening period, and has returned to general business. Day Guests and Annual Passholders alike are welcome to visit without reservations, provided they live in the six prefectures of the Kansai … Read more
These days, it’s pretty rare to see a soundtrack CD come out of the Disney parks unless it comes from Tokyo. It seems another victim of this exclusivity is the score to the acclaimed Disney+ series The Imagineering Story, released digitally in Japan today. The score, composed by frequent Michael Giacchino collaborator Jeff Kryka, contains … Read more
As Japan moves to encourage more eco-friendly behaviors, the national government passed a law last year which instated a plastic bag tax effective July 1st. As such, Universal Studios Japan has announced that it will be discouraging plastic bag usage across the park from this date, and will encourage Guests to buy stylish “My Bag” … Read more
The Arendelle expansion at Hong Kong Disneyland seems to have continued during the temporary closure, and we’re getting closer and closer to its 2021 opening date! And thanks to Twitter user HKDL of Fantasy, we caught a glimpse of the upcoming boats for Hong Kong’s clone of the popular Frozen Ever After attraction from EPCOT. … Read more
The Universal Beijing Resort is still scheduled to open sometime in 2021 despite COVID-19 setbacks earlier this year. And just recently, the resort revealed a whole slew of details and concept art for this resort’s version of CityWalk! Every Universal resort worldwide (except Singapore) features a CityWalk shopping and entertainment district, and it looks like … Read more