Day 1 (Tuesday Hawaii/Wednesday Japan): On Tuesday, November 21, my family and I consisting of my two kids and parents left Honolulu and flew on Japan Airlines to Osaka, Japan. It was almost a 9 hour flight which I wasn’t quite anticipating because our trip back in June to Haneda airport took 7 hours. So it was a long flight and my body was feeling it but luckily I had an open seat next to me and my daughter got to stretch out and sleep (lucky her lol). I got to stretch my legs also so that helped plus I love flying Japan Airlines – I just feel like there is more leg room on their plane (I don’t know if that’s true) and they get boarding and take off really quick (unless it’s something weather related like what we went through back in June). We landed in Osaka, Japan at Kansai Airport almost at 4pm (on a Wednesday) – customs had NO line at all which was so nice, it was super quick! And we met my hubby who was waiting for us for about two hours and it was the cutest reunion especially with our daughter. From there we decided to take the Limo Bus which is a convenient way to travel if it stops at your hotel (you can check on their website) and since we didn’t want to lug our luggage on the train after such a long flight this was our best option. It was fairly easy to buy tickets at the machine (okay…we needed help lol) – it lets you buy tickets in pairs or 4 for a family and we didn’t understand that until the attendant helped up and just in time too because our bus was arriving in 10 minutes. The bus took us on the freeway and a few hotel stops along the way but our first impressions of Osaka (at least of the port) is that it was VERY industrial!

When we arrived at the bus stop for our hotel it was only 6pm but super dark but that didn’t matter because the music and lights from Universal Studios welcomed us in grand fashion. 😅 I forget what music was playing but they only play music scores from movies like Jurassic Park or E.T., etc…so imagine that rolling our luggage through the front of Universal Studios, weaving through a hoard of people at the theme park. It was pretty spectacular!

Check-in was easy and we made our way to our room and we were so exhausted to walk anywhere else – at least my hubby only had a 2 hour flight from Okinawa so he was the designated dinner finder. And there was a Shake Shack on the ground floor of our hotel so that was dinner! We knocked out quick and look I LOVE the firm/hard beds in Japan – my body always feels good when I’m there. My hubby loves soft beds so he didn’t quite love it but me and the kids really had no complaints. We went to bed…but jet lag had me waking up at 2am 😫.

Day 2 (Thursday): Jet lag woke me up early so I went on my phone messaging family and friends to let them know we made it safely. Today was our Universal Studios day! We got the 4 rides Express Pass on Klook only because I wanted guaranteed entry to Super Nintendo World but our entrance time was at 5:40pm. I noticed out our window on the 18th floor that people were lining up at 5am! I was like…what is going on here?!

My parents were also very much awake at 2am haha and went exploring at 5am I think. They have a 7-11 and three Lawson’s (like a 7-11) around the hotels that are open 24/7 but the hotel had a breakfast buffet also that opened at 7am (or so it says on their website) but apparently they open early if there is a line? So my parents called us down and suggested we eat at the buffet. We went down at 7am and yes there was a line but it moved fast. There was a variety of foods from breakfast to lunch items and my dad was obsessed with this soup that had tiny clams in it. And look I live in Hawaii where buffets now have inflated to the price of $70 and UP per PERSON…so with the yen being weaker than the dollar, our bill for 4 adults and 2 kids was about $95. We ate our fill because we knew we’d be walking a lot at Universal Studios. I had to buy my parents tickets since they decided they wanted to come inside with us and we got in line about 9am? It took us about 30 minutes still to get in because of the lines but once we were in we separated from our parents since they just wanted to stroll around whereas we had time to kill for our express pass rides so we wanted to try and get on some rides before then.

It was about 60 degrees so that’s cold for us Hawaii people – I tried to gauge what to wear and yes we did bring our puffy jackets and most locals seem to be dressed the same. But once the sun came out I think it got to a high of 67? I was carrying my kids jackets which was a pain lol…I had mine tied around my waist. I loved all the Christmas decor and they played Christmas songs. We walked around taking in the sights and then ended up in the Minion area and decided to join a line for a ride…the wait time was like an hour and something but I was like you know what – we have time to kill. Oh boy…a lot of the families around us, their kids was on their phones or they had brought their Nintendo Switches which was cool (I didn’t let my son bring his on the trip because he decided he was bringing his ipad!) – let’s just say it was a test of patience on my 11 year old son’s part. My 6 year daughter – it was like nothing to her. But yeah an hour wait for a 3 minutes ride…sigh…but that’s how it was everywhere we realized. Also I downloaded the USJ app beforehand and it tells you the time wait for each ride and basically all of them by then were an hour wait.

We took some pics but even the stores were packed. The games (like carnival games) all had lines. There were lines EVERYWHERE. Even for churros which I didn’t get because the kids didn’t want to stand and wait. So we walked through the park got to the Jurassic area where they had a dinosaur show. We still had time to kill before our express pass ride for Harry Potter which my hubby and son was going to ride and my daughter and I would sit out. We went to find something to snack on since we didn’t bring anything – I believe you are allowed snacks and one water bottle into the park? Anyway the smell of popcorn was calling to us plus my kids were getting popcorn bag envy with all the kids carrying their Mario Star or Mario Kart, I saw Snoopy bags, etc…so I remembered a popcorn that was kind of hidden in near the entrance of the park and sure enough the line was “shorter” there…still it was like a 30 minute wait but there were places to sit, to the happiness of my son.

The popcorn was delicious and I got to sit and people watch a bit. I LOVED the fashions and wish my feet could wear the cute chunky boots some of these women were wearing. I love all the character headbands. My hubby wore a huge Mario hat. Some people came in cosplay like as Pokemon trainers, we saw a Sailor Moon, like I love the commitment because it was so much fun to see and you know everyone was enjoying themselves! Anyway after popcorn we made our way to Harry Potter and wow…if I thought the park was packed….NOPE, Harry Potter World or whatever it’s called was even MORE packed – could barely get into the stores to walk around. ☹️ This was my hubby’s area of interest. Anyway we found some ground to sit on since the benches were all taken and he and my son went to go ride the Forbidden Journey and yay for the fast past because I think the wait time was 100 minutes long. Yikes. So they got in within 5-10 minutes. My daughter and I got to rest our feet. After that my hubby HAD to buy wands so that took some time. And we went into the store and then left him in the store because so many people! But he got the wands for him and the kids. I didn’t even get to try Butter Beer!

Now we had about 4 hours to kill before getting to Super Nintendo World and we needed food. We walked a few places but there were lines, or the foods weren’t something the kids wanted. The restaurants either had wait times or you needed a reservation. We finally found a hot dog stand (which made my son happy) and the line was short – a miracle!! And then we found a place to eat in the garden area (there’s a fountain and benches) we sat by the fountain, ate and then when a bench freed up, planted ourselves there for another 2 hours. But it allowed my son and his dad to talk and chit chat and catch up. My daughter knocked out in my arms and took a 30 minute nap, lucky girl! When she woke up she and I braved going to Wonderland which had the Sesame Street, Hello Kitty and Snoopy character rides and stores…the ride lines were still awful but we found a play area which she loved!

She had some time to play in here and I was glad because the costs of our tickets and Express passes were so expensive…I wanted her to at least get some fun time in here. She had fun then we went back to the bench where my hubby and son were waiting and finally it was time to go to Super Nintendo World. There was still a line of people trying to get in at 5:40PM…that’s crazy….only timed entry people were allowed to go in though so a few people were turned away. It is bonkers! Anyway we had a pass to ride Mario Kart so once we got in wow…another packed area like Harry Potter.

So many people trying to take pictures that yes I have families in my photos and I don’t know who the heck they are 😂. I couldn’t even fit my own family in to take photos. Like my kids I know were in awe and LOVED it but we didn’t have enough time and room to move in there and explore which was sad. Also my son’s feet was really hurting (he has flat feet issues and yes has arch support in his shoes but it doesn’t matter – after 1 hour he is complaining so after 8 hours he was really done). We got to ride Mario Kart which is a ride with VR (at my age VR rides…or rides in general just make me dizzy 😆). It was fun to hear the music and see the power blocks – we didn’t get a power band because honestly we just wanted to take our pics, buy our merch, ride Mario Kart and get out of Universal Studios and the crowds. I kind of wish Nintendo had their own Nintendo theme park! Can you imagine? Like they could have Mario, Splatoon, Zelda, Metroid, Pikmin, Animal Crossing sections! Tell me that wouldn’t be a successful theme park?! Make it happen Nintendo!! They are building a Donkey Kong area but it won’t be ready until 2024 plus a Nintendo Museum in Kyoto so I guess we’ll have to come back again. 🥰 My hubby said maybe in 2-3 years because this trip broke him lol.

After Nintendo World, my daughter turned on her Mario Star light popcorn bag and lit our way all the way back to the hotel! 😍 She was kind of bummed she only rode 2 rides but I think we were just frustrated by the lines and waiting but you know we made the most of it and we got so much fun merch! Our feet was killing us by the time we got to our hotel (thank goodness our hotel was just right outside of the park!) and once more my hubby was designated to get dinner.

The next morning we found out my parents actually stayed in Universal Studios for about 3 hours which was cool! My dad wanted a churro but he too didn’t want to stand in line so NONE of us got churros. Boo! Next time hopefully!

Day 3 (Friday): Today we decided to go to Kaiyukan Aquarium which is actually just across the water.

So where the ferris wheel is in the photo is where Kaiyukan Aquarium and Tempozan Marketplace is. I know there is a ferry to take us to this area and thought it would be a fun experience for the kids. My dad was a fisherman in his younger years (when I was a kid) and we had a boat so he was excited to get on a ferry. It was a small ferry and the day was SUPER windy so it was colder, but the ferry ride only takes 10 minutes – my daughter claims it’s more like 5 minutes haha. And while we went to the aquarium, my parents hung out at the marketplace which was perfect because all they like to do in Japan is shop for snacks, teas, food, etc…

I actually kind of wish we took a ride on this Santa Maria ship from the museum next to the aquarium. It does a short little ride on the water (our ferry was behind it) but it looked so cool! Maybe next time?

The aquarium is like a huge tank so you start from all the way at the top and make your way down. Our favorites were the penguins and there was a brown penguin which my son absolutely loved so you can guess what we got at the gift shop! Penguin plushies. After the aquarium were tried to go to the Legoland Discovery Center in the marketplace but apparently we needed advance tickets so we decided to skip it – maybe next time.

There were so many food places in the marketplace and places to shop but I didn’t get to really explore. Kids were hungry so we got lunch, grabbed desserts (YUM – that Cremia ice cream is so good!), and then made our way back to the ferry port and back to our hotel.

Day 4 (Saturday): Today we decided to go to Kyoto which is about a little more than an hour away from Osaka by train but my dad wanted to go by bus because he likes to see the sights! So I booked a bus ride and the pick up was at the hotel next door which was super easy and convenient. I actually loved our hotel spot because it has a train station, ferry, and buses! All so very convenient. The bus took us to some stops in downtown Osaka and then we got on the freeway and made our way north. We did stop bus stops in Kyoto and even got a sighting of Nintendo headquarters – my kids were geeking out! It was exciting to see!

We got to our bus stop which was right across Kyoto Station and it was raining! We needed to figure out how to get to the one temple we decided on visiting which is Kiyomizu-dera. There are so many shrines and temples in Kyoto and honestly I wish we stayed one or two nights in Kyoto but I didn’t think we needed to. Also I didn’t want to push my mom to hard since she does have cancer and just healed from a procedure – I didn’t want to force everyone to do a whole day event visiting temples. Plus my kids only wanted to go to the Nintendo store. 😅 Anyway, we decided to take cabs but because of their cabs fit only 4 people, we decided to split up – the guys went in one and the ladies went in another. Our cab driver took us almost to the top of the street where all cabs do the drop off but my hubby kept calling me asking me where they needed to be dropped off. So their cab driver dropped them off at the bottom of the hill at another shrine – so they actually had to hike it up! And yes it is a hike uphill.

My sister who went here in October during Fall Break said it was PACKED with people to the point it wasn’t very enjoyable. I was happy that even though we went on a Saturday and the narrow street going up was packed, once we got to the temple area I felt like there was space to move. And we got to enjoy the autumn foliage which was spectacular for us, since we don’t have this in Hawaii and we missed it last year on the US East Coast. Inside the area you have to buy tickets for – it is really filled with people but once you get through that area and started walking the road path, it’s a nice walk and just absolutely gorgeous. I loved it so much! My daughter took one leaf and she held onto it from the time we left the temple until we got to the hotel! She loved the leaves so much.

My parents had decided to check out the shops and find food – my dad is always looking for food. So they didn’t do the walk through with us. We found them easily enough and sure enough they had done some shopping. After discussing, we decided we were going to walk to the Nintendo store which according to Google Maps was only 25 minutes away and mostly flat. WELL…that was all great but I didn’t hit the “start” button and was following dots on my app but apparently I was going the WRONG way. Oh boy…so with my phone dying, my hubby put the location in his Google map app instead and realized we went left instead of going down and right. My poor son and his feet. I think all our legs and feet were hurting except my daughter, she was holding her autumn maple leaf and never complained about getting lost or anything. And we didn’t even have lunch! Well we took Google’s shortcut and went through some back streets (which is always fun haha) and found Kyoto’s major shopping district it seems. It was so crowded, we were so tired but determined to find this store. We went into this shopping center that was like a department store like Macy’s and a worker told us go to the 7th floor and we did but maybe because we were SO tired we didn’t look to see that there was a connecting hallway to the department store next door which had the Nintendo store?

So we went back down and out and went next door only to go up and read a sign saying it was on the 7th floor but we had to take the elevator to the 6th floor and escalator to the 7th. We weren’t the only ones lost – EVERYONE seemed to be looking for this store and once we got there I was so relieved. The Nintendo store worker stopped us and then said okay we could come in – I didn’t realize the store gets so packed that sometimes you need a timed-entry ticket to get it! I would have cried I think if we couldn’t get in after walking for how many minutes to find this store. 😭 My parents found seats to wait for us and we went and got the Pikmin merch the kids wanted, got in line, paid and left!

Now we had to finally take the trains in Japan! So with Google maps help we found the train station next door (we thought it was across and was wrong lol) – it was across the other way. We got to the train station and my hubby went straight to the information desk which was a big help. We bought tickets to the station we had to transfer at and finally my son got to sit and rest his feet. Once again at the next station we had to figure out our next stop and asked information…and did I say I loved our hotel because it’s connected to a train station? We made it back after 17,000 steps! And it was still only 4pm? So my parents wanted to treat us to a buffet dinner and we were all ready for that! After that dinner we all were ready to knock out and rest.

>>>Go here for Part 2<<<