Last year, I went to Ghibli Park for the first time. I bought the premium Sanpo-pass, so I was able to visit all of the outdoor areas as well as enter the Ghibli Warehouse. The Ghibli Warehouse is very similar to the Ghibli Museum in Mitaka, but it is much larger and has more areas to explore. You can also take photos throughout the building. :)
This year, I went back to Ghibli Park twice in September and October. In September, Zach, Dirk, and I had tickets for a Gyoza festival happening in the same park. This was also the hottest day I had ever experienced in Japan. My dash read 43 or 45 degrees. We walked around to a few areas of Ghibli Park, but didn't have tickets. The second time was in October with Jason, and I had purchased the Mononoke/Witches pass.
In the time since writing my article last year, purchasing tickets for Ghibli park have become much more convoluted. At the time of purchasing my October tickets, there were 7 or 8 different tiers of tickets. Each of the outside areas was split into their own ticket and each had an up-sell of entering the Ghibli Warehouse. Even though it was weeks after they were available, I could get a ticket that gave entry for the Mononoke Village, Valley of the Witches, and Ghibli Warehouse.
Update Dec 2025: Tickets for Ghibli Park have changed again to become simple like they were before. Now there are only two tiers of tickets available. One ticket that offers entry to all areas of the park. And a second ticket identical to the one I bought for October. It seems like the only way you can enter Hill of Youth and Dondoko Hill is by buying the 7500円 ticket.
Even though, we only had tickets for entry in the Valley of the Witches, standby tickets were still available to entry buildings. The premium tickets guarantee entry to these buildings. In the Valley of the Witches, there are 3 buildings: Howl's Moving Castle, the Okino Residence, and The House of the Witches. Howl's Castle sold quickly, but we could visit the two other homes. :) (No photos, though.)
Our Entry for the Ghibli Warehouse was at 3pm, so after visiting our outside areas, we went inside, watched our movie, and walked around. Our film this time was Koro's Big Day Out. At this point, I think I've seen half of the exclusive Museum/Warehouse films.
I wasn't planning on taking photos, but (1) there was a new area opened in the Warehouse compared to last time, (2) at the end of the day, big lines for photo opportunities were really short, and (3) also it was generally not so crowded allowing for more photos elsewhere. So, below, you can take a look of the photos, and compare them with my Warehouse photos from last year.
