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Universal Studios Japan: General Discussion

Donkey Kong delayed, beyond devastated.




From: https://twitter.com/USJ_Official/status/1781185963555000783

Edit: Trying to console myself with the fact they're building it in Florida too so there's still the potential for me to visit there in the future. Might have to tag on Disney Sea for consolation now.

Second Edit: My Japanese friend said Google Translate is incorrect, it says "second half of 2024".

Ill Be Back Jim Carrey GIF
 
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DeepL translates the post slightly differently, though I don't know Japanese so I can't say if this is more or less accurate:

Notice​
The opening date of Donkey Kong Country, which was previously announced as "Spring 2024", has been changed to "Late 2024".​
We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause to those who have been waiting for the opening.​
We will inform you of the opening date and other details as soon as they are finalized.​
​
Very curious what the reason is, given the previous post in this thread shows the coaster seemingly fully operational. I suppose any new style of ride like this will have some technical hiccups though.
 
Llama said:
DeepL translates the post slightly differently, though I don't know Japanese so I can't say if this is more or less accurate:

Notice​
The opening date of Donkey Kong Country, which was previously announced as "Spring 2024", has been changed to "Late 2024".​
We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause to those who have been waiting for the opening.​
We will inform you of the opening date and other details as soon as they are finalized.​
​
Very curious what the reason is, given the previous post in this thread shows the coaster seemingly fully operational. I suppose any new style of ride like this will have some technical hiccups though.
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Maybe they just need a bit more time to fine-tune everything, given it's a prototype.
 
Skyscraper said:
Maybe they just need a bit more time to fine-tune everything, given it's a prototype.
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And as my friend pointed out, second half of 2024 technically means from July onwards so there's hope. You'd think they'd like it open for summer holidays if possible though of course Universal Osaka doesn't seem like a park struggling with attendance at any time of the year.
 
Does anyone know what's going on with this park?

Currently Shrek 4D, Sesame Street 4D, Jurassic Park and Space Fantasy are all listed as closed indefinitely, Spiderman recently closed and Donkey Kong is seemingly delayed indefinitely too.

Just worried i've picked a terrible time to visit. All i'll basically be going on is Jurassic Flyer, Mario Kart, Harry Potter and Hollywood Dream, with likely multi-hour queues for each (at least i'll have time to get on them all lol).

Just wondering if i would be better changing plans and going to DisneySea instead? Seems crazy to have so many major attractions closed simultaneously in summer.
 
It's no Donkey Kong but this is due to open the week i'm going so somewhat of a consolation. I've never been to a horror maze thing but i imagine Japan will do it with less restrictions than anything in the UK!

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Bowser said:
Does anyone know what's going on with this park?

Currently Shrek 4D, Sesame Street 4D, Jurassic Park and Space Fantasy are all listed as closed indefinitely, Spiderman recently closed and Donkey Kong is seemingly delayed indefinitely too.

Just worried i've picked a terrible time to visit. All i'll basically be going on is Jurassic Flyer, Mario Kart, Harry Potter and Hollywood Dream, with likely multi-hour queues for each (at least i'll have time to get on them all lol).

Just wondering if i would be better changing plans and going to DisneySea instead? Seems crazy to have so many major attractions closed simultaneously in summer.
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Universal Japan hold an extremely popular event every year call “universal Cool Japan” with various temp attractions themed to Japanese anime series. They also take over a couple of existing attractions - the 4d theatre, which explains why shrek and Sesame Street 4d are closed. They also change space fantasy into a themed experience for the event as well, again explain why that’s closed. I think it spends more time as a non space fantasy themed attraction than it does.

Spiderman Has closed permanently to be turned into a new ride (heavily rumoured to be Pokémon)

They announced a while ago Jurassic park river adventure would be closing for an extended major refurb- over a year in length I believe. Timing not great with Spiderman closing to be turned into a new ride but they had expected Donkey Kong to have opened by now.
 
Maelstrom said:
Universal Japan hold an extremely popular event every year call “universal Cool Japan” with various temp attractions themed to Japanese anime series. They also take over a couple of existing attractions - the 4d theatre, which explains why shrek and Sesame Street 4d are closed. They also change space fantasy into a themed experience for the event as well, again explain why that’s closed. I think it spends more time as a non space fantasy themed attraction than it does.

Spiderman Has closed permanently to be turned into a new ride (heavily rumoured to be Pokémon)

They announced a while ago Jurassic park river adventure would be closing for an extended major refurb- over a year in length I believe. Timing not great with Spiderman closing to be turned into a new ride but they had expected Donkey Kong to have opened by now.
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Thanks, yeah did subsequently see Space Fantasy re-opens in a couple of weeks with a new anime theme so with that and the Resident Evil thing i think i'll stick with it.

There's also something weird going on with the ticket site where Express Passes are unavailable that i'm tentatively hoping is related to Donkey Kong. Such a difficult park to get any information on and that's with Japanese friends helping!
 
Have done a bit of detective work with my friend in Japan and we've noticed that nowhere is selling any type of Express Pass from August 20th onwards. So i'm getting pretty optimistic....
 
Universal Tickets and Express Passes are now on sale through till October 5th. No sign of Donkey Kong so i think that dream is over unless they suddenly open it with no Express option. Can only imagine the horror of the queues.

So i've asked my friend to buy us the 7 ride Express pass. It's hideously expensive and supposedly a quiet week but as it's the only time i'll ever go i'd rather know i'll get on the rides and reride them than it be busy and not get on things/queue in 34 degree humidity. Plus don't need to stress about running round, can chill and take it all in.

Tbh i'm more excited about Flying Dinosaur now anyway after seeing some reports and in that i'll still be going on a unique ride (more so than Donkey Kong technically as there will be 2 of them).
 
Little bit more footage of the ride at 14:00 here someone posted on CoasterForce, should link at the right spot.

I don't know if it's the camera he is using but the theming looks out of this world!! With this and the new rides at Disney Sea they're operating on another level in Japan.


From: https://youtu.be/o7kKAfJzg5U?t=854
 
The fake track effect looks really good, both on ride and off. Will be years before I'll get to ride this one but it looks really incredible!
 
Llama said:
The fake track effect looks really good, both on ride and off. Will be years before I'll get to ride this one but it looks really incredible!
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I've tentatively got work again there next year. I'd only have the day i'm due to fly home so would have to try and get a late flight then go in the morning and FastTrack it, will be one very expensive ride.... but if i get to go on Flying Dinosaur again too probably worth it!
 
Looking forward to riding it at epic universe next August if I can, will be prioritising the monsters, Harry Potter dark rides and star fall racers first. Hopefully it rides ok as it’s one of those rides that could turn out to be a better spectacle/off ride than actually being a good coaster.
 
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