Are you a Potterhead? You’re gonna love this place. Even if you’re not a Potterhead, you’re still gonna love this place.

Open in July 2014, The Wizarding World of Harry Potter has become the most attractive area in Universal Studios Japan (USJ). Very attractive, that the visitors even need a reservation ticket to enter this area. Don’t worry, there is no extra money needed. Just scan your USJ ticket in the special machine, choose the time, and your Timed Entry Ticket will be printed out. Do not waste your time by standing in the line if you don’t have this ticket with you, they won’t let you in.

Once you pass the ticket checking, your tension will definitely goes up because it really feels like you are in a different world. You will be welcomed by this blue car, the one that flew Harry and Ron to Hogwarts in Harry Potter and The Chamber of Secrets.

Well, you can’t ride on this train. But they have a studio that was set up as a carriage and enables the visitors to make commemorative photo. You need to pay for it, of course.

The rest of the area is a replica of Hogsmeade Village. Those buildings are basically souvenir shops and restaurant. They sell almost all items that look exactly the same as the ones seen in the movie. From wands to cloaks, sweets to beer, you can even buy them all! But let us warn you, those souvenirs are quite expensive. Control yourself. They are likely not useful in your daily life, unless you are a cosplayer, or a wizard.

The most popular shop is, without a doubt, Ollivanders. This shop is very small yet full of boxes of wands. They are replicas of most of the characters’ wands. As everyone is free to try them, there are too many people taking their time inside this shop, you can barely move.

There is also Zonko’s Joke Shop, owned by Weasley Twins: Fred and George. Though the things it is selling are not as fun as the ones we found in the book or movie, they are still unique and highly recommended for those who like to prank their friends.  We didn’t buy anything there, though. Instead, we went to Honeydukes to get Every Flavour Beans for ¥1800 (and thank God I haven’t taste anything suspicious out of it). This shop sells all sweets that tempting you.

There is only one restaurant, The Three Broomsticks, which is obviously full during lunch time. There are also snack and ice cream booths, but we bet you will prefer buying this one:

We ordered the frozen one because the weather was so hot back then (we went on June). But once we took a sip of it, we knew that we made the wrong decision. Gosh, it was like condense milk juice! Too sweet to be gulped. We hoped the ice could lessen the sweetness, but it didn’t seem so. Despite its name, Butterbeer is definitely not made of butter and beer. Anyway, it is non-alcoholic and also save for children (please make sure not to drink it too much).

Let’s forget about that cup of sugar and head on to the main point: Harry Potter and The Forbidden Journey. This is a 4K3D (kindly google what it means :p) attraction where you just sit down in a cart, that acts as Nimbus 2000, and be mesmerized by the effects while you’re chasing the Snitch or being chased by Voldemort. Located inside Hogwarts and being the most popular attraction in USJ, it requires your patience as you need to take a looooooooonggggg queue before entering the building. Since we didn’t buy fast-track ticket, the line took us about one hour and half. We had way enough time to finish our onigiris for lunch.

Another attraction is called Flight of Hippogriff. Compared to the first one, it is definitely not in the same league. This is just a one-minute rollercoaster for kids. But since you’re already in the area, why don’t you try it? Also, you can see Hagrid’s house while you’re queuing. For those who wear hijab, the crew will provide you with two clips to be attached to your hijab and cloth, for safety reason.

If the time is right, you can also watch two shows performed at Hogsmeade. It’s like a musical theater where they sing and dance. The talents are all foreigners, considering their looks, but the shows are presented in Japanese and English. After the shows end, you can take picture with them.

In total, we spent almost four hours inside The Wizarding World of Harry Potter. We went in the morning when there were less people. Expect more of them, especially families with children, when you come after 12:00 PM. We suggest you to either enter this area first when you arrive in USJ (like what we did), or let it be the last one before you left USJ. Your Timed Entry Ticket can only be used once, but when you’re already inside the area, you can stay as long as you want.

We’re gonna have more about USJ in another post. Stay tuned!

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Apakah kalian fans Harry Potter? Kalian bakal suka sama tempat ini. Bahkan kalau pun kalian bukan fansnya, kalian akan tetep suka. Selamat datang di Universal Studio Japan: The Wizarding World of Harry Potter!

Dibuka sejak July 2014, area ini adalah yang paling menarik di USJ. Sangat menarik sampai pengunjungnya harus pakai tiket reservasi untuk bisa masuk. Tenang, ga perlu bayar lagi. Cukup scan tiket USJ pada mesin khusus, pilih jam berkunjung, dan Timed Entry Tiket pun akan keluar. Jangan buang-buang waktu dengan ngantri di pintu masuk area ini kalau belum punya tiket tersebut  karena ga akan dikasih masuk! Mesin untuk menukar tiket tersedia di Central Park, di dalam area USJ, tapi di luar area Harry Potter. Ikuti saja petunjuk yang ada.

Pastikan kalian masuk area sesuai dengan waktu yang tertera di tiket. Sistem ini sengaja diuat untuk membatasi jumlah pengunjung di dalam area Harry Potter, biar ga padat merayap macam sarden. Setelah melewati pos pengecekan tiket, kalian akan langsung berada di suasana yang berbeda. Jalan terus sampai gerbang maka sampailah di Hogsmeade.

Akan ada replika Hogwarts Express di sisi kanan lengkap dengan petugas berseragamnya. Sayang, kereta ini ga bisa jalan, jadi cuma bisa difoto-foto aja. Ada studio yang dibuat mirip dengan gerbongnya seperti di film Harry Potter. Foto di dalam situ tentunya bayar, kalau mau yang gratis ya selfie aja di depan si kereta 😀

Hogsmeade Village dipenuhi oleh bangunan-bangunan “bersalju” yang merupakan toko sovenir dan restoran. Yang paling populer adalah Ollivanders. Tokonya kecil dan dipenuhi oleh ribuan kotak berisi tongkat sihir. Selain bisa dibeli, tongkat-tongkat tersebut bebas dicoba oleh para pengunjung, alhasil toko ini ramenya ampun-ampunan.

Selain Ollivander, ada juga Zonko’s Joke Shop. Itu loh punya si kembar Weasley yang iseng banget. Meski barang yang dijual ga sama persis dengan yang digambarkan pada buku dan filmnya, mainannya tetep unik. Buat yang doyan ngisengin temen-temen, wajiblah nambah koleksi perlengkapan di sini.

Satu-satunya sovenir yang kami beli adalah Permen Segala Rasa, Bertie Bott’s Every Flavours Beans (¥1800). Permen ini dijual di Honeydukes, toko yang dipenuhi jajanan manis. Ada Chocolate Frog juga nih di sini.  Oh iya, petugasnya baik banget karena setiap pengunjung dapat ekstra kantong eksklusif untuk barang yang dibeli, dan warnanya cakep. Senang!!

Banyak barang yang menggoda minta dibeli, tapi harganya itu loh, mahal cuy! Mana ga bisa dipakai sehari-hari pun. Ya kali ke mall atau naik angkot pake jubah dan topi Hogwarts. Jadi, lebih baik tahan diri demi kemaslahatan isi dompet.

Selain toko, ada juga restoran, bar, serta gerobak-gerobak penjual cemilan dan es krim. Tapi kalian pasti penasaran sama yang satu ini:

Yup, inilah minuman yang terkenal di serial Harry Potter. Ada dua macam Butterbeer yang bisa kalian coba, original dan frozen. Tempatnya bisa pilih pakai gelas plastik biasa, atau gelas plastik bir (sebagai sovenir) yang bisa dipakai berulang-ulang nantinya. Kami pesan Frozen Butterbeer yang tanpa sovenir. Mau tau rasanya? Mirip susu kental manis dijus! Gila, manis parah.. Mungkin isinya gula semua. Jelaslah ini bukan terbuat dari butter (mentega) dan beer (bir). Minuman ini diklaim tanpa akohol dan aman untuk anak-anak kok.

Mari lupakan segelas gula itu dan beralih ke atraksi utama: Harry Potter and The Forbidden Journey. Atraksi ini terletak di ujung Hogsmeade, di dalam bangunan replika Hogwarts. Kalau ga pake fast-track, antriannya luar bisa mengular. Kami menghabiskan sekitar satu setengah jam di dalam, cukup buat melahap 2 onigiri yang jadi bekal makan siang. Tapi terbayar lah, atraksinya keren dan seru banget. Sebetulnya kita cuma duduk  terus nonton sambil diputer-puter , ceritanya naik Nimbus 2000 ngejar-ngejar Snitch dan dikejar-kejar Voldemort.

Selain itu ada atraksi yang bisa dimainkan di area ini, yaitu Flight of Hippogriff. Beda level sih emang, soalnya ini macam rollercoaster buat bocah. Tapi ga ada salahnya dicoba. Pas antri, kalian bahkan bisa liat replika rumah dan motor Hagrid. Oh iya, buat yang pakai jilbab, mereka akan sediakan klip yang harus dikaitkan ke baju dan jilbab kita biar ga terbang.

Kalau waktunya tepat, kalian juga akan disuguhkan oleh penampilan musikal bertema Triwizard Tournament seperti yang di buku keempat Harry Potter. Mereka akan nyanyi dan nari untuk menghibur para pengujung, setelahnya kalian bisa foto-foto bareng. Ada juga choir dari murid-murid Hogwarts dan para kodok. Pertunjukan ini disajikan dalam bahasa Jepang dan Inggris.

Kami menghabiskan hampir 4 jam berada di dalam area The Wizarding World of Harry Potter. Ini baru satu dari seluruh area yang ada di USJ loh, masih banyak area lain yang harus dikunjungi. Makanya, kami sarankan kalian ke area ini di pagi hari ketika pengunjung belum terlalu ramai, karena diatas jam 12 siang area ini akan dipenuhi oleh keluarga dan anak-anak. Opsi lainnya, kalian bisa juga ke sini sebagai penutup setelah main-main di area lain. Timed Entry Ticket cuma untuk sekali pakai, tapi begitu kalian sudah masuk, tidak ada batasan berapa lama kalian boleh berada di dalam area. Nah, kalau ke sininya sore bisa puas-puasin deh sampai USJ tutup.

Kami bakal bahas area lain di USJ. Tunggu postigan berikutnya ya!