Is mid-2019 a little late to be getting into the Insta-room game? It sure is. But will we make an exception for Hello Kitty? Mostly.
The supercute Sanrio mascot is celebrating her 45th anniversary with what’s being billed as an “immersive, multisensory, walkthrough experience.” Translation: A pop-up of Instagrammable Hello Kitty-themed rooms. You’ll navigate through five different spaces on this tour around the world: Hello Kitty’s house in London, a Parisian bakery serving cookues from the Hello Kitty Cafe, New York, Honolulu and Tokyo, all with an assortment of Sanrio characters and photo ops sprinkled throughout. And, of course, the trip wraps up at “baggage claim”—a souvenir shop that includes collaborations with Girl Skateboards, Herschel Supply Co. and Levi’s.
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So is it worth a visit? We’d say that mostly depends on how big of a Hello Kitty fan you are. The murals are super cute and the nail art stations are neat, plus there’s plenty of merch available. But the offerings feel a little thin for the price, with limited interactive elements—depending on how crowded it is inside, we can’t imagine spending any more than a half hour there. You’ll find light snacks like popcorn and cotton candy for sale in the cafe, but only some free cookies inside the installations. We’d say this one is more for the Hello Kitty diehards (which, hey, is a lot of us).
You’ll find the pop-up at the new LA Plaza Village (555 N Spring St) development on the edge of Chinatown. The price for timed tickets varies depending on the day of the week and time. Spots for Monday through Wednesday cost $27, while Thursday through Sunday is $30. If you want the after-hours treatment, there’s a $50 ticket for access at 9pm from Thursday to Saturday that includes an unspecified gift.