Just a few more months to go until Ghibli Park opens on November 1. The world’s first theme park dedicated to recreating the iconic worlds of Studio Ghibli anime is currently being built inside the Expo 2005 Aichi Commemorative Park near Nagoya.
For this first phase opening, Ghibli Park will unveil three of its five areas. November tickets for these three areas are scheduled to go on sale August 10. We hate to break this to you, but it will be difficult to get into the highly anticipated park.
Firstly, tickets are sold via a lottery-based booking system. You have to choose a specific date and time as well as your preferred area, and it’s not guaranteed that you’ll be able to visit all three areas on the same day.
Online applications for the tickets are available between August 10 and 22. Winners will be notified on September 2 around 3pm. After which, tickets that are unclaimed by September 9 will go on sale on a first-come, first-served basis on September 10 at 2pm. Ticket prices vary by area, see here for more information.
Secondly, and this is the kicker: along with staggered entry times to each area, tickets per day will be extremely limited. The daily entry cap to Ghibli’s Large Warehouse is 3,500 visitors on weekdays and 4,000 on holidays and weekends.
Hill of Youth and Dondoko Forest, on the other hand, allow only a few hundred visitors per day. While Hill of Youth is open to 780 people per weekday and 900 people per day on holidays and weekends, Dondoko Forest only accepts 650 Ghibli fans a day on weekdays and 750 on weekends.
We hope this means Ghibli Park will be less crowded than some of Japan’s major theme parks and henceforth is more enjoyable. Those lucky enough to snatch one of the coveted tickets will then be able to fully immerse themselves in Studio Ghibli’s world without wasting time in long queues.
Good news for residents in Aichi prefecture, home to the Ghibli Park. You can start applying for tickets for three special days in November – November 7, 17 and 27 – between July 25 and 29. Winners will be announced on August 5 at 3pm. Make sure to bring your ID on the day of your visit to prove that you’re an Aichi resident.
For more information, see Ghibli Park’s website.
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