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Top photo: A recreation of Satsuki and Mei’s house from “My Neighbor Totoro.” ⓒ Studio Ghibli

By CNN Newsource

Published February 9, 2022 6:28 PM

By David G. Allan, CNN

Fans of “My Neighbor Totoro,” “Kiki’s Delivery Service,” and other films from the legendary Studio Ghibli, will have a new destination to add to their travel bucket list later this year.

Ghibli Park, opening November 1 in Japan, will be a fever dream of a theme park for anyone who has ever watched the studio’s beautiful and often surreal animated films and wanted to step into the worlds they build.

The Ghibli canon is heavy on themes of nature, friendship, strong female characters, flying machines, destiny and bravery. Their aesthetic is naturalism meets steampunk, sprinkled with its own proprietary formula of magical realism.

Until recently, news of the mythical Ghibli Park trickled instead of flowed, teased out in small, speculative doses in Japanese publications. It was unclear what impact the pandemic was having on the start date and what visitors would find when it opens.

Here’s what we know

Ghibli Park is located in Aichi Earth Expo Memorial Park, less than two hours from Kyoto by train. The theme park will be about 17.5 acres when completed. (One acre is roughly the size of a football field.)

When it opens in November, three of the five planned areas will be ready. The main one is Ghibli’s Grand Warehouse, an indoor facility that will house artifacts and exhibits from films including the Robot Soldier from “Castle in the Sky,” the Catbus from “Totoro,” and another recreation out of the “The Secret World of Arrietty.”

A second area, “Hill of Youth,” features the antique shop from “Whisper of the Heart” and another recreation from “The Cat Returns.” And the third is Dondoko Forest with a full recreation of Satsuki and Mei’s house from “My Neighbor Totoro” and a Totoro-themed playground.

One of the two areas that will open later (“after 2023,” the park’s press office said) is Mononoke Village, referencing “Princess Mononoke” and her adventure among large forest animal gods. An artist rendering shows kids playing on the Demon God.

The other is the Valley of Witches, which will include some parts from the trippy “Howl’s Moving Castle,” and the more sweet “Kiki’s Delivery Service,” about an earnest and hardworking young witch. The artist drawing shows a teacup ride decorated with Kiki’s cat Jiji.

If you go to Ghibli Park, don’t expect a Catbus roller coaster, Kiki’s broomstick “Avatar”-style adventure or a Ponyo Under the Sea ride. “Take a stroll, feel the wind, and discover the wonders,” the park’s site offers as an alternative.

Think immersion and prompts for imagination rather than pyrotechnics and stomach-turning thrills.

How to visit

Tickets are available online as of August 10 for dates beginning November 1. Reservations are required, as there will not be day-of tickets sold.

You must buy separate tickets for each attraction you want to visit.

The most expensive of the three is Ghibli’s Large Warehouse. Tickets cost ¥2,000 ($15) for adults and ¥1,000 ($7.50) for children on weekdays. On weekends and holidays, that price is ¥2,500 ($19) for adults and ¥1,250 ($9) for kids.

The park will be open from 10 am – 5 pm on weekdays (except for major school holidays) and from 9 am to 5 pm on public holidays and weekends. It is closed on Tuesdays unless Tuesday is a holiday.

Currently, the Ghibli Park website and ticketing page are only in Japanese.

While you wait

Most of the Studio Ghibli films referenced here are available to watch on the Disney+ streaming service. And you can follow that Ghibli Twitter feed for more teases to come, made all the more mysterious by the Japanese captions.

This article has been updated.

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