Kansai Spring Festival First Stop - Osaka

We arrived in Osaka by plane at around 9 pm, and it was almost 11 pm by the time we got to the hotel. This time in Osaka, we stayed at Citadines Shinmachi Hotel. For our family of two adults and two children, two beds plus a sofa bed was quite spacious by Japanese standards (not comparing with private lodgings). The location was decent, in Namba, a bit of a walk from Namba Station, about 10 minutes, but the closest subway is Nippombashi Station, just a 5-minute walk away, and there's a direct subway to Nara from there. We washed up early, planning to go feed the deer the next day~ 🏨 Hotel environment: Namba Citadines Shinmachi Hotel Two 1.25-meter beds that can be pushed together. There's also a sofa bed, which requires an additional fee if you want to set it up. The hotel is over 1 kilometer from Shinsaibashi, in a good location, and you can walk to the anime street. There are many anime cities, game arcades, and we played in several doll-catching shops 👍 Highly recommended: Universal Studios Japan in Osaka Our group of four didn't buy express passes. To get the Mario entry tickets, we arrived at Universal at 8:30 am, and although it was scheduled to open at 9 am, they opened early when people started lining up at 8:30. So friends, if you want to draw entry tickets, be sure to arrive early. Arriving early means a high chance of getting them, and we got the 9:45 am entry slot. If you're in a group, link all your tickets to one account, so when you draw, you enter together. This gave us time to enjoy other attractions without queues. If you're a Mario fan, you must queue for photos. There are several good photo spots; we took three sets of photos: one at the entrance, one with the Mario brothers, and one with Princess Peach I personally think the Mario area is mainly for taking photos and completing missions. There aren't many rides, and they are more suited for young children. I think there are differences between Universal Studios in Osaka and Beijing: 1. Visual effects - I think Beijing's visual effects are better. Osaka's were built earlier, so naturally, they can't compare to Beijing's. Attractions like Minions and Harry Potter have better visual effects in Beijing. 2. Thrill factor - I think Osaka's rides are more thrilling. For example, in the Harry Potter area, the Forbidden Journey ride in Osaka is faster and more exciting. The same thing is that no matter when you go, it's always crowded 👍 Highly recommended: Nara Nara is really suitable for spending a whole day, compared to constantly running around in Universal Studios. We went during the winter break, and it wasn't very crowded. Our hotel was close to Nippombashi Station, about a 5-minute walk, and there's direct rail transport to Nara, about a 45-minute journey, very convenient! The deer in Nara are too clever. After we got off the train and walked a bit, we saw some experienced deer waiting by the roadside. So friends, don't feed all your deer crackers at once; there are many more inside the park. We ended up buying about 10 packs in total. In winter, the path up the hill is closed, so we couldn't go up to the middle of the hill to take a trendy photo with the deer. Instead, we could only feed the deer at the bottom. Fortunately, it wasn't peak season, and there weren't many people. 👎 Least recommended: Ichiran Ramen I've been here in 2018-2019, and the Ichiran Ramen now is not as delicious as it was back then. The soup is oily and very salty, not highly recommended. But still, many people queue up. During the days we spent in Osaka, it was continuously rainy, so we couldn't go shopping as planned. Moreover, my sister got a fever and had to stay in the hotel for two days We had to take care of our health first, as we still had many places to visit.