Summary
- Unlike many Universal Studios around the world, this one is actually used as a filmmaking location, and we can participate in a studio tour that is included in the theme park entrance price.
- The buildings in the park were so realistic, and many rides had cutscenes with the realistic motion of vehicles, which gives the feeling that we are actually inside a movie.
Highlights
Universal Studios Hollywood
- Hollywood rarely experiences rain and has strong sunlight, making it suitable for shooting, and today the sky was clear with no clouds.
- It looks similar to other Universal Studios, but we can see special objects sometimes.
- Usually, the items in the park are expensive, but the skeleton-shaped cup was unique, and the special mug with unlimited refills might be worth it.
- Very importantly, using a coin locker is required but can be costly. Storing a small pouch is free for a short duration, but only the one in the Harry Potter area charges $5 every 60 minutes, and this wasn’t clearly explained. However, the attraction on the lower lot offers a 90-minute free deposit.
The Wizarding World of Harry Potter
- The Harry Potter ride in Japan was so popular back then, but we could ride it with almost no waiting time here.
- The United Kingdom-style architecture was impressive, and even the interior was carefully created based on the movie. Some pictures and objects move, just as we saw in the movie.
- This ride is a coaster but feels much more like a 4D theater since the immersive experience is key to the ride. Unfortunately, this ride is a little bit scary because it features some spiders and ghosts.
Super Nintendo World
- It probably has the most eye-catching design with a vivid use of color. Due to the overly shiny sky, it seems a little dark, but the colors are much brighter.
- There are interactive activities we can participate in using a specific wristband, but this band costs as much as $47.
- The ride is very popular, but it's basically like a giant arcade game of Mario Kart without any vehicle vibrations or immersive video, so I think it’s not worth playing if the waiting time is over 30 minutes. It does have smart glasses that show different game consoles for each user, but the delay and lack of clarity make the experience somewhat disappointing. However, the decoration of the park is truly the best of all.
Other Interesting Rides
- Pretty much every ride is a 4D theater, but Revenge of the Mummy is one of the few roller coasters, and it even goes backward, making it probably the most thrilling ride of all.
- A 4D theater basically feels like a roller coaster, but if you ride a roller coaster, Nagashima Spa Land is the best park so far.
- If it is not crowded, there will be just enough time to go around all the rides in the park. However, the studio tour ends early at 4 PM and also takes 1 hour for the ride, so it's better to go there early.
- Sometimes attractions with 3D goggles are more immersive, but they are difficult to make as immersive as VR rides, which offer clear 360-degree and 3D views. I hope that this quality of experience will be available on VR platforms.
Studio Tour
- Absolutely the most valuable and exclusive experience of all. Even this ride alone is worth the entire park ticket, but make sure to move on before 4 p.m. as it closes the earliest.
- The studio is actually as large as the entire theme park, and even a 60-minute ride won’t feel too long because sometimes we can enjoy a 3D ride or a gorgeous immersive exhibition using a massive amount of water and fire, which is only available here. It’s much more surprising than it looks in pictures because the vehicle moves based on the scene, so the tour bus instantly turns into a 4D theater. The special effects are even more surprising because it first looks like a normal shooting set, but it instantly turns into something extreme as water or fire comes in. The fire was so strong that it even temporarily halted the function of the camera, and the water was also strong enough to shake the entire vehicle.
- The mock buildings we usually imagine as film shooting places look much smaller than anticipated. They’re not big enough to cover the entire view, but they somehow blend naturally with CG due to impressive editing skills. According to the guide, filming locations are shared between companies, and this filming site is large, but it accounts for just a small fraction of filming locations in Hollywood.
- Among the filming sets, the most impressive one was the plane crash site. Even though it’s artificially created, it looks very realistic, and the guide said they spent a lot of effort to create a scene that we hardly witness in real life. Their observation on how objects will wear and break is so impressive that we might even misunderstand it as simply looking dirty due to neglect, but they are all artificial wear and tear.
CityWalk
- CityWalk is a giant shopping mall mostly about character items.
- The figures of movie characters were cool.
Foods
- It's not common to see ice cream, but 7-Eleven's Slurpee is a good alternative. It's $3 for a large size, but it's much more like an XL in Japan.
- Korean food can be spicy but also addictive since we tend to encounter things that are too sweet.
Opinions
- Even though we are not moving so much, the 360° screen gives us the sensation of flying or falling, which makes the small ride feel much bigger than it is. It was surprising that we can create such an immersive experience just by using a curved screen, and the seamless transition between the screen and the movement of the viewpoint, completely synchronized with the vehicle, made us forget about the existence of the screen. Those illusions are used in many places to improve experiences with limited resources, and I want to utilize this technology to enhance user experience.
- The amount of effort that Hollywood spends to virtually create reality is mind-blowing. Japanese people are much more focused on abstraction rather than recreation. As technology progresses, the replication of natural scenes has become a little easier than before, so the relative value of Japanese artistic style might increase in the future.
- It was unbelievable that the explosion or flood scenes in movies are filmed using real fire and water. They have the power to express extremeness even unconsciously. Recently, as "deep dreams" created grassy images partially embedded with creatures' eyes, we might find out what pattern gives us that sensation.
- Hollywood movies are of such high quality, but I really don’t like the fact that violent movies and criminal scenes might promote crime in the U.S. Movies are influential, and I think they must express good ideas or actions rather than violence. I understand that extreme scenes provide more immersion and thrilling experiences, but reliance on violent scenes might negatively impact the human brain. The problem is that restricted movies are so common and easily available, even when we don’t want them. I think we have the right to filter harmful videos, and much stronger restrictions are required to ensure that movies are used for good causes.
- Theme parks are notorious for charging high prices for everything, yet it’s surprising that many people still want to visit them. They do provide an essential demand for humans for free but charge extra for everything that enhances the experience. I think this might be a good idea since we can keep prices low while charging more from wealthy individuals. More interestingly, the most eye-catching experiences are free to attract customers.
