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Park News - (8/23/09) According to a reader who just visited the park not long ago, the park’s nighttime schedule lists the Magic Starlight Parade as performing through to at least March 2010, however Peter Pan’s Neverland show was only scheduled to perform though September 30th, 2009.

2010 - Space Fantasy The Ride - Confirmed - (12/23/09) A reader was kind enough to translate a bit of the Japanese press release for Space Fantasy for us, providing us with a few new facts. The space themed coaster will place riders inside “Solar Shuttles”. From the sound of thing, each car will hold only two riders, and the trains sound like they will be four cars long, which seems to indicate that this may not be a standard Mack spinning coaster car. The overall length of the coaster is 585 meters and it will have a height of 19 meters. However it does seems to indicate that the ride will have an audio system as well as be able to spin through the statement, “the number of spin and speed changes every time.”
    A few characters mentioned are “G-Bot”, a talking communications satellite as well as the Solar Princess and something called Kosumia. “Kosumia is to know that the sun is losing energy, was holding a crisis. To save the sun, realize that he needed human energy we have, that puts toward the sun appeal to guests.” Ummm…okay, if you say so. And who is the Kosumia? “Kosumia ... a beautiful young woman born in a supernova.”
    Confused yet? Okay, here is a bit more of the story. “Guests who leave the earth, the Earth and the beauty of the first. Away from Earth, the nebula extends into space, the stars like a waterfall flowing and Sutaforu called and we rushed through during the next encounter, Saturn's huge. Go around and round along the ring around Saturn. In addition, through a number of asteroids between the comet and flowing like a shower to reach Mercury. And yes, and will close on the other side of the planet to the sun ...”  I’m not sure if that is any clearer or not… I’m still a bit thrown off by the fact that the sun seems to need “human energy” to survive… because it sounds like guests are being loaded into these Solar Shuttles on a one way trip to feed the sun or something.  Somebody hit the E-Stop… we need to get off this crazy thing!
    (12/22/09) We’ve got a name for the new sci-fi themed dark coaster at Universal Japan. According to the corporate website for the park the ride is called Space Fantasy The Ride, and you can see a couple of new pieces of artwork for it here. (Anyone know enough Japanese to send in a translation?) Apparently it will be ready to open by March 21st, 2010.
    (12/17/09) The latest buzz over the new sci-fi themed dark coaster at Universal Studios Japan is that the ride hardware may actually be a themed Mack Spinning Coaster, like the very intense Sierra Sidewinder at Knott’s Berry Farm.  Now I’m very interesting is hearing more.
    (11/11/09) The latest rumors about the new indoor dark coaster claim that it will be based on an original story involving something to do with space travel it seems. Official concept artwork can be seen here, but it doesn’t give much to go on. This ride is aimed at family guests, and is expected to feature good number of visual special effects.
    (10/16/09) I’m not sure if this is related or not, but I’ve heard the name “Project Peachy” thrown around in reference to something at Universal Studios Japan. I’m thinking that this might be a reference to the new attraction going into the old E.T. building, but I’m not sure. It was rumored the ride’s theme was based on a Japanese Anime show, but I’m a bit out of touch on what’s hip in Anime these days, so does “Peachy” seem like a reference to anything in particular? (Other than Mario Brothers…)
    I’ve also heard that at one point the Japanese were possibly looking into getting their own version of Revenge of the Mummy. I’m not sure if this is an evolution of that line of thought, or if the Mummy still intends to set foot in Japan someday. Certainly Mummy has become a staple attraction in the Universal playbook, with new versions confirmed for both Universal Studios Singapore and Dubailand.
    (9/16/09) Universal Studios Osaka has confirmed plans to add a new attraction in 2010 that will simulate a trip into outer space for guests at a cost of about $55 million. Unfortunately the early reports don’t get any more detailed than that. Anyone know more?
    (8/23/09) A couple of weird rumors have come in regarding the mystery new ride replacing E.T. in Japan. I’m hoping this is wrong, but I got one reader who suggested that the anime character could be Sailor Moon… shudder… god no… I hope not.  And then we’ve also been sent a rumor that the indoor coaster hardware may use the Maurer-Sohne Spinning Coaster system, much like Disney did in Paris for Crush’s Coaster.
    (8/21/09) Screamscape sources tell us that the attraction in development that will replace E.T. in Japan is said to be based on some popular teenage female Japanese Anime character. Of course they had no idea who the character is, so it’s hard to even make a guess as to what this could be about. All I’ve heard so far is that the ride system may be some kind of indoor coaster experience with lots of visual effects, including one that is supposed to simulate going through the middle of a sun. Sound like a known JapAnime storyline to anyone?
    (4/14/09) It’s been confirmed that Universal Studios Japan is closing down their E.T Adventure ride on May 10th, though as I understand it, it wont be replaced with a new Revenge of the Mummy dark ride/coaster either.  You can find a picture of the sign announcing it inside of this excellent photo update posted to CoasterFriends.de.
    So I guess the question is now, just what ride will they replace it with?  Could it be replaced with one of the popular rides from another park, take on a new design from the Singapore or Dubai parks or could they be asking for something unique? Time will tell...
    (4/13/09) A Screamscape reader tells us that their friend just came back from a trip to Universal Studios Japan where they reportedly encountered a ton of signs stating “E.T. Adventure Finale! 5/10/09”. Can anyone else confirm this or know more about what is planned for the building? The last time a Universal park closed an E.T. ride was in Hollywood, where the building was recycled to become a Revenge of the Mummy Coaster attraction. Perhaps this is going to be the case again in Japan, where that park has yet to get a Mummy coaster. Anyone know more?

2011/2012 - Back To The Future Replacement - Rumor - (8/23/09) This rumor may be a bit ahead of it’s time, but one source suggests that Universal Japan is ready to retire their version of Back To The Future as well by 2011/2012.  As The Simpon’s are not really hugely well known characters in Japan as they are in America, porting in a clone of the same Simpsons ride is not an option.  However the rumor we’ve heard is a bit of a stunner, as our source claims that they may be looking an at option to license Batman from WB to create new simulator ride themed to The Dark Knight. DeLorean… meet The Tumbler.  Now of course the really odd question is... can Spiderman and Batman co-exist in the same park, being from two different comic book companies? Maybe not in the USA, but I do think it would work in Japan where they are both viewed as just American Superhero comics. Plus we know that at one point in time Universal was attempting to build a Batman themed attraction for Islands of Adventure when the park was first just a concept.