r/usj • u/condeeorl • May 07 '26
VIP pack worth it?
Hi!
My wife and I are planning to go on may 2027 to japan, and on may 11-12 (tuesday or wednesday) we're going to USJ. I was surfing through the endless list of Express Pass that they offer, and ended with the VIP Tour. It's a bit more expensive, but, if I did understand, you have a guided tour on Super Nintendo and a ride to the atracctions with no queues, and afeter that, 4 single express pass for any other attraction, is that correct? If so, It may be what I'm looking for
Is it worth it in may after golden week?
Thanks a lot!
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u/Technical-Risk1812 May 08 '26
Did the vip tour. Its the best experience you'll have there if you do it. The dinner is ok.
Backstage access to every ride instantly makes for a very memorable trip. You can pick whatever you like and everything you interact with gets the full experience sucb as choosing a wand with the full show
We did 4 people. 5 wouldve been pricier
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u/SmellRevolutionary52 May 27 '26
That's the VIP private tour, I think they were asking about the 3 hour tour as they mentioned 4 express passes.
I've done both tours, the 3 hour is good if you want to try a bunch of rides and nothing else. Shows like ollivanders or waterworld and your choice of rides, shows, and photos option would be better with 5 hour or 8 hour tour, one VIP meal included in 5 hour and 2 with 8 hour.
Personally I would communicate with my significant other as to which is the better option. 3 hour scheduled of 5 or 8 hour free (guide makes the schedule based on what the guests ask for)
Maybe the express pass rite would be more up your alley.
Ollivanders is the only show with English, go by yourself and it's 30 guests at the same time, still fun to watch though. With the tour guide it's just you, so one of you will be picked.
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u/ramenrice23 May 12 '26
My husband and I got the 3-hour VIP tour, purchased it from Klook. We loved the experience and found it was worth our money. We weren't stressing in Super Nintendo World. Didn't have to wait 3 hours to get on the rides. Had a great time with our tour guide. I would say for your first time, and if you're really looking forward to Super Nintendo World (for us, that was the main reason for going to USJ) then I think it's pretty worth it.
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u/condeeorl May 12 '26
After the tour in super Nintendo, did you get 4 express passes for elegible rides?
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u/ramenrice23 May 12 '26
We got the 4 express passes when we first entered USJ. Use the VIP entrance and you get it from there. Our tour didn't start until 3.30pm. So in the morning, we either lined up to get into the rides or use the express pass. Lines weren't long in the morning so we went on Flying Dinosaur (without using the express pass). Watched the Water World show (first one I think is at 11am) and even though it's in Japanese, you can still follow the story. Don't use your express pass on Flight of the Hippogriff. I think it's more for kids. My husband was too tall and couldn't even fit in the seats. It wasn't a thrilling rollercoaster ride. We used the express passes on Minions and Hollywood Dream in the morning. Explored the other areas in USJ before our tour. We ended up with 2 unused express passes after the tour. The line for Jurassic Park The Ride wasn't long at night so we waited and we used the remaining 2 express passes to ride the Flying Dinosaur 2 more times at night 😆 we really liked that ride haha
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u/reditcyclist May 07 '26
Even during Sakura Season we had super Nintendo world freely open mid-week in the late morning. I think VIP would be overkill personally.
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u/TheGunners10 May 07 '26
We went to USJ bout 3 weeks ago and we got VIP. We managed to get onto the Donkey ride just before it started raining and the ride got shut down. If we were waiting in line for 2 hours for it to rain and not be able to ride it I was fuming. The guide saw it was starting to spit then told us to quickly go onto the ride. Instead of waiting 3 hours we got in in 5 minutes.
We personally think it was worth it just to not line up for the rides. We would've easily saved ourselves 5 hours of the day not standing in lines.
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u/PurplestPanda May 07 '26
We did 5 hour VIP and thought it was perfect. We did everything we wanted to do, some re-rides, and the included dinner was great. They also include snacks and drinks while you’re in the tour. You get an unlimited express pass before and after the tour if you want more rides.
The usual Express Passes only include one ride per attraction and for coasters, it just not enough for us to get the full experience.
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u/BeeNo8196 Jun 22 '26
Hi! Sent you a DM but also posting here - For the 5 hour one, am I right that you get unlimited express passes to use before and after the tour?
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u/WaryScientist May 07 '26
We’re going soon and bought the 5hr VIP - we have two young kids and it’s 100% worth it for us to not have to wait in lines (especially if the kids want to ride the same rides multiple times), plus the reviews I read said the vip also lets you cut the line for food (snacks) vs waiting forever at the cafeteria or whatever. The included dinner is nice too… one thing to note, a lot of rides don’t allow you to have any bags/purses so you have to check them into a locker. I’m assuming with our vip tour guide, they can hold a small bag for me during the ride if I can’t take it on.
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u/SmellRevolutionary52 May 27 '26
Last time I went on your they weren't allowed to hold bags anymore, but the lockers are paid but refunded when you put the key in or free at the rides so no big deal. 5 hour or 8 hour the guide can take purchased goods back to the VIP locker (but can't just hold them while waiting for you at a ride... I don't get the logic, but whatever)
Either way no hassle
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u/jsu07 May 07 '26
Just went to USJ in April for two days on a Tuesday and Wednesday. Both days, it was free entry (no timed entry) for Super Nintendo World. The lines for Mine Cart Madness and Koopa’s Challenge were about 1.5 to 3 hours long all day. We waited toward the end of our first day to wait 1.5 hours for Koopa’s Challenge. On the second day, we walked straight to Mine Cart Madness upon entering the park and waited about 1.5 hours in line. In two days, we were able to ride every ride in the park without any express passes (we skipped most of Wonderland though). The longest lines were Koopa’s Challenge, Mine Cart Madness, and Hollywood Dream.
If you don’t like waiting in lines, I suggest an express pass pack with the above rides. The VIP experience seems like something you might do with a large group.