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The original was posted on /r/japantravel by /u/KimonoCatChloe on 2024-09-25 17:04:40+00:00.
Wanted to give a trip recap with the hopes of helping someone in the future! This sub helped me and my husband a lot with trip planning so maybe something here will be of use.
To preface: I am a theme park nerd so I take my days seriously. Because of this, I booked a stay at Singulari and paid for the Express Pass 7 to try and maximize my time.
-6 AM: Woke up at this time to start getting ready. From the Singulari was a five minute walk to the gates at most. I had no idea there was a Lawson and 7/11 in their Citywalk, when I saw them I bought our snacks/coffee the night before after we checked in to save time in the morning.
-6:30 - 6:40 AM: Ready and out the hotel. We got to the front gates at about 6:40 AM and could see the bag check tables. There was about 10 groups in front of us. They had some people already lined up at the bag stations. Not sure if they were early entry/APs.
-7:40 AM: Gates opened early for the public. Originally scheduled to open at 8:30 AM. We rushed to Nintendo World like everyone else. We didn’t get in line immediately, we took some pictures and enjoyed the view. Around approximately 8 PM we got in line for Karts. Karts posted a wait time of 40 minutes, we waited about 30 minutes.
-8:30 - 9 AM: We did one of the Key Challenges and walked around the land. By 8:55 AM started heading to Kinopios, I was hoping to try and get seated first thing when it opened. At that point they were already only doing virtual reservations. At first, the earliest time slot available was 11:15 ~ 11:30 AM - which overlapped with our Express passes. I went ahead and booked just in case, checked again immediately and was able to snag one for 9:45 ~ 10 AM. (I cancelled the first one we made. Booking/cancelling was super simple and there was an English option available on the website.)
-9 - 9:45 AM: Shopped the gift shops in Nintendo Land and did another key challenge while we waited for our reservation. Made way back to Kinopios.
-9:45 AM - 10:30 AM: Getting an early time into Kinopio’s was one of the main reasons I wanted to rope drop the park and I’m SO glad I did. We have been to the Nintendo Land in CA and weren’t too impressed with the food. I always heard the JP one was incredible and it lived up the to hype. We got the carbonara, teriyaki chicken, and lemon drink. All were good but the carbonara was the standout and just incredible. The lemon drink had a great sour but refreshing flavor. The teriyaki chicken sauce was thick with just the right balance of sweet and savory. I am so glad to have had this reservation work perfectly for us.
-10:30 AM - 11:10 PM: TLDR: my husband has been having back issues which causes him bad cramping in his legs; he powered through for me for the first few hours so we could make it Nintendo Land and get a Kinopio’s meal. At this point he really wanted a wheelchair so we made our way up front to rent one. Rental was only 500¥, but chair was sooo tiny compared to American ones! Had to be at most the 19in size. We shopped at the entrance shops while up there, then walked back to Nintendo Land for our EXP7 time slot.
-11:10 AM - 12:30 PM: Did our passes for Karts and Yoshi. Since we were using a wheelchair the staff stopped us at the entrance each time and throughly explained what ride risks there were. For Karts, you don’t miss much regarding the queue. (Can’t speak for Yoshi as we never did its standby.)
-12:30 - 3 PM: This was the time we really slowed down. The sun was beating, and I was uncomfortably sweaty. Tried the Chocolate Churro and Frozen Melon Drink over by Jaws, both were pretty good. Went to one of the Pokémon meet and greets and got a pic with Pumpkaboo. Side note: I do wish they let you pick at least two if some don’t have lines. We weren’t too interested in Pikachu/Gengar and Misdreavus, Banette, and Pumpkaboo had no lines. Shopped the Halloween store for a little then watched the Pokémon stage show. Walk around to the left side after the show to see some Gengars and the cast walk by!
-3 - 4 PM: Went on the Detective Conan 4D show. Even tho I’m not super familiar with the IP, the show was still super lively and entertaining.
-4 - 5:15 PM: Walked back over to Waterworld to see the show and loved it!! Last (and only) time we went to CA the show was down so I was thrilled to have this opportunity. The stunts are fantastic I highly recommend it.
-5:15 - 7 PM: Ate at the Studio Stars restaurant that has the Pokémon food. The line for this moves slowly so be prepared to wait. We didn’t actually order until 6 PM, 45 minutes after we got in line. By the time we got our food the line was ever longer. We tried the katsu burger, pumpkaboo cake, and litwick mousse. Burger was really good and saucy, a little messy. Pumpkaboo cake was good enough, but not a strong pumpkin flavor. I would personally skip and go for one of the churros. Litwick mousse my husband enjoyed.
-7 - 8 PM: Sing Show! I really wanted to make sure we could see this show as we both really like the movie and it did not disappoint. Super cute, the Buster Moon animatronic is awesome, and I love how they interact with the crowd. This was a point I was concerned about as my husband and I are not into the “horror” of everything. We’re FL locals and, from what we know of HHN, people run at you in scare zones. That is not an issue here. So many people will crowd around scare actors for pics/vids, you don’t really see anything in passing. Even what I saw was very tame IMO. We were able to walk around all scare zones with no issue.
-8 - 8:30 PM: Jaws ride. Posted wait time of 20 min and was more like 10. I will say I was initially disappointed I couldn’t ride during the day, but the ambiance at night felt intense and even more thrilling! So happy I was able to experience this ride as both States versions were torn down.
-8:30 - 8:50 PM: Hollywood Dream. Used the EXP7 for this one. I had saved this for near the end since I was apprehensive about riding (idk why I thought there was a 360 loop lmao). The ride is very tame and I could have even gone after our breakfast or lunch. Song selection 3 was meh since most of the audio was two characters talking over music. I do wish I could have done Backdrop but could not justify a two hour wait time.
Overall I’m pretty satisfied with how our day went. A lot of backtracking and such which I could have handled better with more proper planning. As far as EXP7 we did not use the HP ones; as FL locals it just wasn’t a top priority. I chose not to do Flying Dragon since when I read other’s description it sounded too intense. I’ve been on Velocicoaster in FL, one of my favs, but it goes so fast it doesn’t feel intense IMO. Because of my husband’s pain he did not do the coasters, I probably would have done it if he was feeling better and could ride with me. Unfortunately, we completely forgot about the tax free when we left so I can’t speak to that experience.
In hindsight; I would have chose the EXP4 Thrill, EXP4 Race, or EXP4 XR. Jaws is not worth the ticket as the wait time drops dramatically at times compared to Hollywood Dream. Yoshi’s is not worth the EXP or full standby (as an adult), I’d recommend rope dropping that ride over either option. (Not saying the ride is bad, super cute! But really short track with not much else to say about it.)
Prices we paid:
Kinopio’s - 5,900¥ = -40.87 USD - one carbonara, one teriyaki, one coke large, one lemon drink
Food Stand - $7.97 - one chocolate churro, one frozen melon drink
Studio Stars Pokémon Food - 8,500¥ = $58.88 - two katsu burgers, pumpkin cake, litwick mousse, beer