Kaiyukan is one of Japan’s most spectacular aquariums, world-renowned for its innovative presentation of aquatic animals in large tanks recreated natural environment, such as:
Japan Forest
Aleutian Island
Monterey Bay
Gulf of Panama
Ecuador Rain Forest
Antartica
Tasman Sea
Great barrier reef
Pacific Ocean
Seto Inland Sea
Coast of Chile
Cook Straight
Icy, snow-clad Antarctica.
Easiest way from USJ going to Kaiyukan is via the shuttle ferry Captain Line. The Captain Line dock at the Universal City Port is about 5 minutes walk from USJ. Travel time from the Universal City Port to Kaiyukan would take another 10 minutes.
Mandatory pictorial with Kaiyukan's Giant Ferris Wheel
The long line of tourists queuing for Kaiyukan Entrance Tickets... so glad we bought ours at Captain Line boarding gates.
My youngest went wild talking photos and videos of the aquatic animals inside the park. He was amazed to see different extrinsic animals. This place is on top of my family's list in Osaka.
Here are some of the videos we took at Kaiyukan:
TIP: If you are coming from USJ, get the "Kaiyukan and Captain Line Economical Package" and save about Y300 on ticket prices. Also the ticket lines at the Kaiyukan gets pretty long and you would be happy to skip the ticket box queue.
For more information about Kaiyukan Osaka Aquarium please visit their website at
The moment I have
confirmed our flight to Osaka ~
I have allotted a day for Universal Studio Japan (USJ). Me and hubby were so excited to see Wizarding World of Harry Potter (WWHOP), but alas our 2004
and 2008 born children cannot seem to understand our enthusiasm and fascination
of the WWOHP.
So, we got busy and
introduced to our kids ~ Harry Potter the child who lived. We bought the
complete DVD and book collection of the well loved wizard boy. Our mission was a success as
we've managed to convert our tweeners into HP fans in no time.
Universal Studio is just 25 minutes away by train from the AirBnb Naniwa-ku condominium we were
staying at. We thought travel would
be easy ~ thinking we finally got the hang of Osaka's intricate subway and train system.
Oh yeah, real easy until we've realized we boarded the wrong platform and
were heading the opposite direction (haha, it added about 30 minutes
to our travel time).
We were so thankful, there was this sweet father and
daughter locals heading to USJ who helped us finally get to our
destination.
We alighted at the Universal
City Station at about 830am and dashed to Hotel Keihan
Universal City
(which is our accommodation in USJ, will write about our Hotel Keihan
stay in a separate blog) to deposit our luggage.
Hotel Keihan ~ finally!
Hotel Keihan is just outside USJ. Location is perfect after a day of gallivanting inside the park.
Welcome to USJ!
USJ TRAVEL TIPS:
1. By all means necessary avoid coming on a Japanese holiday. We got lucky (nah!) as our USJ trip coincided with a Japanese holiday (lol, someone forgot to do a research before completing her booking).
Bloggers who have written about USJ's long queues were not joking. Lines were really long (about 40-60+ minutes waiting time and longer for major attractions).
2. Come prepared.
>>We pre-bought our USJ tickets online via Klook >>> click here to check for USJ tickets.
>>We also got Express Pass to ensure we get to enter WWOHP. We also got this via Klook. I was really happy I found this site, since it is English. The USJ site on Express Pass was in Japanese. Klook made buying Express Passes easy. If you are visiting on a peak day, get an Express Pass (PLEASE) ~ don't waste time waiting in line. Paying extra was all worth it.
3. Come in early ~ we arrived about 30 minutes before USJ gates opened. We had enough time to rush to get afternoon timed entry tickets to the WWOHP. We already have entry tickets included in our express pass, but a re-entry after dusk is much welcomed: to buy souvenirs, take more photos and drown one's self in butterbeer.
My eldest bought a butterbeer with a souvenir mug. He took it home and told me its the best mug ever :P
I have read many bloggers dislike the taste, but my boys seem to like it very much and bought additional rounds each after their first butterbeer.
4. Have your photo taken by the Hogwarts Express. The Station Engineer is a wonderful man ~ very accommodating.
And the Weasley's Flying Ford Anglia
5. The best place to take a picture of the Hogwarts Castle is by the queing stand beside Ollivander's.
6. Upon entering the WWOHP, we went to Ollivander first to watch the Wand Show and buy a Magic Wand for my youngest who was itching to do some magic. After which we rushed our way to the Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey for our 10am scheduled ride. We were thankful we have express tickets, waiting time at 10am was already 60 minutes when we reached the Forbidden Journey gates. From there we went straight to Three Broomsticks for lunch. 7. Take note that there is Castle Tour queue, right next to the Forbidden Journey ride. The Castle Tour is mostly for express pass users who skipped the line and didn't get a full view of Hogwarts Castle.
8. Souvenirs are quite expensive inside USJ, more so inside WWOHP, but if you do decide to get one, I would recommend a Gryffindor sweater. My eldest got one and uses it in school.
My youngest, however, got himself a magic wand. It does actual magic in USJ but was useless when we got home. It is now sleeping inside his drawer...
My son's turn doing some magical spells.
We kind of skipped the other attractions, except for the ones included in our Express Pass. We have been to Universal Studio Singapore and some of the rides were fairly similar to USJ's. We would rather spend our time inside the WWOHP.
We left HP at about 2 pm, but returned after for the Light Show.
While waiting for the Light Show we used our Express Passes at:
The Amazing Adventure of Spider Man Ride 4K-3D
And Terminator 2-3D
Our 4th ride is the Flying Dinosaur, but after seeing what it does... I begged out - for fear of our dear life (lol!)
We visited the Minion Park, which recently openned ~ and saw swarms of Japanese going crazy over everything Minions.
Minion Park is rocking cool!
Everyone is present :P
And the longest I have waited inside USJ was for the love of my son...
Yes a Popcorn Stand - but not just any popcorn stand. It is a Minion Popcorn Stand :P
Finally the finish line - Oh and I consider myself lucky as this Popcorn Minion Tumbler ran out a few minutes after I was served!
I got to frame this buddy :P
My feet aches - I am glad our hotel is right outside the park.
Please follow the link below for more travel tips on Osaka Japan.
My family loves Japan. We had so much fun touring Tokyo that right after our plane touched Manila soil from our Tokyo trip in April 2016, we knew we would be back soon. I found myself planning another Japan itinerary and this time our destination is OSAKA, in search of the ultimate Takoyaki (lol)!
Osaka is Japan's Ultimate Foodie Destination ~ so this got us really excited ~! We bought our plane tickets from PAL in one of the travel expos at a discounted price. Travel expos rock, we really get to stretch our hard earned Pesos getting good travel deals. This time we saved about 30% on airfare on "forward seats", luggage allowance and hot meals.
We arrived in Osaka via Kansai (KIX) Airport at 7:10 in the evening. It was bit frightening coming in so late (and I do not recommend you do it, if you are a first timer in Japan with kids - I suggest opting for a noon time ETA) and with limited transfer options to our Airbnb accommodations which was about an hour away from the airport. We took our host's advise and took an airport limousine bus going to the Osaka City Air Terminal (OCAT), which is about a 4 minutes walk to our rented apartment.
Onboard the airport limousine bus from KIX to OCAT. Convenient means of transfer to Osaki-Shi. I was so thankful, we did not get lost.
We first tried Airbnb booking in our Tokyo stay and decided doing another Airbnb in Osaka. Airbnb is a very good alternative to a hotel, especially if you need a bigger walking space... We also liked the idea of own private place ~ way bigger than a regular hotel rooms at less cost. Airbnb is a definite "YES" in our books!
Today is a special day. It is my son's 12th birthday and one of the reasons why we pushed for a Tokyo Japan vacation.
Our itinerary for today is Tokyo Disney Sea (TDS),
From Tokyo Disney Land Hotel, where we are staying we took a short train ride via the Tokyo Disneyland Station (We finally got to use our complimentary 3 days train pass, issued to TDL hotel guests) to TDS.
The train station is right in front of our hotel.
TDS is the second door of Tokyo Disney Resort (TDR). It was said, it was the costliest theme park ever built at $4B (about P188B).
It is huge and grand and huge (oh I already said that) ~ it is magnificently built, no wonder it cost so much.
It has 7 uniquely themed areas called "ports of call":
Mediterranean Harbor
American Waterfront
Lost River Delta
Port Discovery
Mermaid Lagoon
Arabian Coast and
Mysterious Island.
TIP: If you are planning a visit, pre-download a map and plan an itinerary TOKYO DISNEY SEA MAP.
TIP: Wear really-really comfortable shoes (I cannot stress that enough).
TIP: The Fast Pass System also works here at TDS. So keep that in mind in your planning.
Here we are at TDS, the costliest theme park on earth (lol!)
The Disney Aqua Sphere behind us is one of TDS' famous iconic structures.
The park's entrance is the Mediterranean Harbor.
Mt. Prometheus is TDS' icon. similar to Cinderella's Castle as TDLs.
Our first stop is the Mysterious Island.
Journey to the Center of the Earth by boarding a subterranean vehicle. This is a thrill ride by the way, so be careful of unexpected sudden drop deep into the dark caverns.
Did I mention, my boys hate thrill rides... well I did not know this was one of them and sent my youngest to a verge of almost crying.
Below is a before riding photo, you would not want to see an after....
After my youngest has rested and calmed down (I was really sorry), we headed to 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea. We get to tour the underwater world on board a submarine. Fortunately they liked this ride.
PORT DISCOVERY While my youngest was resting, I went to the Port Delta to get an FP at StormRider. Riders here are enlisted to help destroy a deadly and powerful storm ~ so cool!.
(I was unable to get good photos, so I got these from the TDL website)
Aquatopia is one of my youngest son's favorite rides. It made me dizzy though.
From here, we boarded the Disney Sea Electric Railway (an elevated electric trolley) to American Waterfront. I have pre-booked our lunch using Priority Pass (see tip below) at the Sailing Day Buffet.
TIP: Getting into one of TDR full service restaurants is quite difficult, especially during lunch and dinner time. Reservations is highly recommended. If you are booked in one TDR hotels, make use of the Priority Pass privileges via the Travel Case system.
AMERICAN WATERFRONT
We had lunch at Sailing Say Buffet. I forgot the cost per person, but we paid Y10,100 for the 4 of us. Spread was not extra-ordinary but good. It includes desserts, unlimited drinks, coffee and ice cream (the ice cream was one of the creamiest I have tasted, but not too sweet).
After a heavy lunch we toured the American Waterfront a bit. We rode the Big City Vehicle and gave Turtle Talk a try.
The Big City Vehicle was fine, but the Turtle Talk ~a chat with Crush, the turtle from Finding Nemo was purely Japanese (unless you understand Japanese, you can give this attraction a miss).
One of the Big City Vehicles, waiting for passengers.
At the back is S.S. Columbia a cruise themed fine dining restaurant.
From American Waterfront, we went back to Port Discovery via the Disney Electric Railway. The boys wanted to go back to the StormRider, but the queue was a bit long so we used the FP system. Return time was in 3 hours, so we decided to explore the other ports.
LOST DELTA RIVER This port features rides and attractions from the remote Central American jungle and ancient civilization. We saw Indiana Jones Adventure: Temple of the Crystal Skull and the Raging Spirit, both high speed thrill rides - hence, these were obvious pass.
MERMAID LAGOON A.k.a. the World of Ariel and her aquatic friends. This port has an indoor theme rides which caters to mostly younger visitors.
My 7 year old totally enjoyed the Mermaid Lagoon he rode ~ Flounder's Flying Fish Coaster, Jumpin' Jelly Fish Blowfish Balloon Race and the Whirlpool. He would have stayed there forever if he can :P
While there, we got a chance to watch King Triton's Under the Sea musical show at the Mermaid Lagoon's Theatre.
(I got these pictures from the TDR website, for your reference since cameras are not allowed inside the theater)
The port next to the Mermaid Lagoon is the Arabian Coast.
ARABIAN COAST The Arabian Coast features rides from the Arabian Nights and Aladdin.
As we were already running a bit late for our FP at the StormRider, we were only able to squeeze in a few rides and attractions from the Arabian Coast.
The Magic Lamp Theater, a magic show with Genie and my son's all time favorite ride Caravan Carousel.
We walked back to Port Discovery and chanced upon Mr. and Mrs. Incredible (Nice pair these two).
We did the StormRider and the Aquatopia one more time and then headed back to American Waterfront to try our luck at the Big Band Beat ~ TRL fans rave much of BBB (however the boys were not keen on falling in line and waiting for the show)
See those people to the right camping? They are actually in line for the next show.
(If I have taken heed from online reviews ~ re: long line and waiting time, I would taken my chances in the Big Band Beat lottery held earlier in the morning).
I so wanted to ride the Tower of Terror, but my boys had other plans. For now I had to content myself to a photo in front of the Tower of Terror Hotel :P
My youngest took this photo (and instructed me to look scared) after taking my photo, he exclaimed "Ma, you can never be an actress, you don't look scared at all!"
My boys did not mind waiting in line for Toy Story Mania, though. This is the longest we've waited in line at 80 minutes for a 5 minute attraction ~ I really felt I should have just insisted on Big Band Beat.
Some sweets while we wait... to keep our energy up.
Toy Soldiers making our waiting bearable :P
Finally... inside
The highlight of our Tokyo Disney Sea is the Fantasmic parade on the waters of the Mediterranean Harbor. However, I don't have a photo as I was concentrating on taking a video.
(I will also link the YouTube post here once uploaded.)
Overall, I could say Tokyo Disney Sea (TDS) is one of best theme parks I have been to. I personally think it is more grand than Tokyo Disney Land (TDL), however, compared to it's sister TDL, TDS caters to a more adult clientele.
