DKC2025

I am writing under the effects of a type of exhaustion that follows only superlative days.

When I began to plan this trip in my Wanderlog app back in February, I titled the itinerary “DKC 2025″—for Donkey Kong Country—because I anticipated that this day would be a keynote experience even amongst the many incredible things we’ve done and still will do in Japan.

For the uninitiated, Paresh and I have been friends for 32 years, and one of the earliest memories I share with him involves playing Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy Kong’s Quest in our basements together. Paresh actually introduced me to the game; I remember being astounded at how he had memorized the locations of the game’s secrets and could acquire the collectibles with little challenge or fanfare. His control of the animal companions—among them, Engarde the Swordfish and Squawks the Parrot—was a sight to behold. He inspired me to beg my parents to buy me a copy so I could chase the 100% completion dream on my own (which I eventually did).

When we chose Japan as the site of our first trip as a duo since eighth grade in 2000 (when we visited Washington, D.C. together with our school—oh, the things I could write about those days…), we were utterly unaware of the existence of Donkey Kong Country World, which had opened as part of Super Nintendo World at Universal Studios Japan in December of 2024. Stumbling upon the coincidence that we’d positioned ourselves to experience this full circle moment in our friendship was too powerful to ignore. The decision made itself: we needed to come to Osaka and visit USJ.

Such is the magnetic draw of Universal Studios Japan that it enjoys its own stop along the subway line. Rounding the corner to the entrance to the park is a jolt to the system from a cacophony of stimuli. Themes from the epic score of Jurassic Park soar overhead as multilingual greetings chime at new entrants. Flashing marquees beckon to visitors to embrace commercialism early and often—a reminder of the park’s origins in case the American flags flown throughout weren’t enough of a tell.

If you haven’t been to a theme park in a while, you may be unaware that, these days, a ticket to enter the park earns you the enviable right to buy more tickets to actually let you enjoy the park without spending the majority of your time waiting (in Osaka, read: sunburning) in lines. Lucky, lucky us! We had purchased these Express Pass tickets for several rides and areas of the park, including the Wizarding World of Harry Potter and Super Nintendo World, but our entrance times to those places would fall later in the afternoon. So our day began over in the Jurassic Park area, where we would commit our first blunder of the day by not realizing that our Express Pass included the first ride we would attempt, The Flying Dinosaur, thereby standing in line for around 45 minutes longer than we should have. Alas, you live and learn.

After a pause for some grub (featuring a continuation of my love affair with Calpis), the time had arrived for our entry to the Harry Potter section. Now, this is, for obvious reasons, a controversial subject for me. On the one hand, I loathe J.K. Rowling and have gone to significant lengths over the last many years to avoid participating in any activity that lines her pockets. On the other hand, I also recognize the profound impact her stories—the ones that center on good triumphing over evil, bullies getting their comeuppance, and how small acts of kindness can ripple into lasting change—have had on generations of kids at the margins who found strength and solidarity in her characters. Rowling doesn’t get to claim ownership of those impacts and she doesn’t get to take them away. They are ours—and mine—to keep, and so a part of young Steffen got to romp today. We visited Ollivander’s to witness a wand selection. I drank Butterbeer. We traversed the hallways and ghostways of Hogwarts in The Forbidden Journey ride. It’s a hard thing for me these days, the whole Harry Potter fiasco. Those books gave me a sense of joy that few things matched way back in the day. But I also recognize the serious damage the author has done in recent times, and I also know with the gift of hindsight that the books were not necessarily as transformative for kids who didn’t look and sound like me. I just try to keep my observations grounded in my own experiences and my own interpretations and try to avoid generalizations or assumptions that aren’t mine to make.

With the temperature topping out at 97° today—very near the hottest we’ve experienced so far—it was important to manage our activities carefully. So with an hour to go before our slotted time at Super Nintendo World (and Donkey Kong Country World), we found time to hydrate, shop around a little, and reapply the sun protection that had long since evaporated off my skin.

And, at last… it was time. USJ’s staff ushering excited guests into the SNW subsection of the park gave spirited renditions of Mario’s famous “heeeeeere we gooooo!” every time they scanned a ticket. This invites a worthwhile sidenote. Without question, one of the defining aspects of this experience came from the employees. So many people, from ride staff to grounds crews to cashiers to food vendors, stopped us to wave, smile, compliment my Luigi hat, or just generally interact with us in a way that augmented our enjoyment and took the experience to a different level. You would NEVER find something like this in the United States, ever. Certainly not at an amusement park and definitely not this consistently across an entire force of workers.

The entrance to SNW is otherworldly—probably as close to an Alice in Wonderland moment as I’ve ever experienced. You reach the other side of one of Super Mario‘s iconic green pipes and you’ve been transported into a 2D-yet-3D rendering of so many of the franchise’s classic heroes, villains, and everything in between. Toad is strolling down the boulevard next to you. The famous chime of an acquired coin rings out in the distance. Paresh remarked correctly that the rest of the park was great, but this felt like a different level of attention to detail.

We made it to both of the rides this area had to offer. Paresh took first place in our quad on Mario Kart: Koopa’s Challenge (he can have this one; I’ve beaten him in the real Mario Kart enough) and Yoshi’s Adventure gave us a cute way to get a glimpse of the entire area at once while conjuring vintage Yoshi’s Story vibes (where are my N64 gamers?).

And so we arrive at the climax. Donkey Kong Country awaits. All did not begin smoothly. From our vantage point on Yoshi’s Adventure, we had spotted a sign declaring DKC’s signature ride, Minecart Madness, out of order. But the universe must have sensed that I had not flown all the way to Osaka, Japan for the trademark experience to be unavailable to us. With 1 minute to spare before the slotted time on our express passes, the ride reopened.

DKCW, like SNW, was clearly designed by a group of people who knew their subject matter. We enjoyed locating the (not-so-well) hidden letters spelling out K-O-N-G throughout the area, checking out the wares at Funky’s, and getting shot out of barrels at high speeds. The only complaint? Hear me out, design team. JUSTICE FOR ENGARDE. Having Rambi merchandise but nothing for Engarde or Rattly is a crime. You’ll thank me later.

I know that I have at least some folks tuned into this blog who are considering a visit to USJ. So, to that end, here are some of my observations.

• First and foremost, I was actually quite shocked that we seemed to be part of only a small percentage of guests who had express passes for rides. If you are not a ride person or you only have one or two that catch your interest, then by all means, show up with just general admission. But if you are a ride-motivated person, you are truly hamstringing yourself if you don’t get an express pass. They are expensive and not a trivial investment, but even if you only plan on 5-6 rides, you will save yourself hours and hours and hours of time. We saw lines with estimated wait times of 3 hours, while our express passes got us boarded in 5 minutes. They are worth the extra dough if you can spare it (and if you’ve gone as far as to fly to Japan to be there, you can).
• There are actually fewer vending machines at USJ by surface area compared to normal Japan, so make sure you have water at all times, especially if you’re insane like us and showing up when it’s literal Hades outside.
• There are lockers outside the entrance to the park and they are the first ones you will see. But there are also lockers inside the park, which is not clear before you’ve actually entered. Do not make the mistake I made and leave your belongings, including your sunscreen, outside the park and therefore inaccessible to you. The rides that require you to ditch your backpack and other belongings also have lockers at the rides themselves, so do not feel like you can’t carry a backpack around. You absolutely can.
• GO TO SUPER NINTENDO WORLD.

Tomorrow, we’re off to explore Kyoto and likely have a chiller (though not temperature-wise) day away from crowds. But today was truly one of the most memorable experiences of my life. I am so unendingly grateful that I get to be here and that I’m on this adventure with my best friend. These are memories we will share for a lifetime and I can’t wait to keep making them. Until tomorrow.