Family travel
Ghibli Park and LEGOLAND Japan with kids: an age-by-age guide
Ghibli Park isn't a ride park. It is five walk-in film worlds spread across a big, leafy park. LEGOLAND Japan is the opposite: compact, colourful and built for 2-to-12-year-olds. Here is what each age actually enjoys at both, which tickets to buy, how to handle strollers and naps, and a plan that leaves energy for tomorrow.
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The two parks at a glance
Most families try to fit both parks into one trip. They work best on separate days: one is about walking and discovering, the other about queuing for rides. Here is how they compare for families.
| Ghibli Park | LEGOLAND Japan | |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | Five themed areas inside Expo 2005 Aichi Commemorative Park. Mostly walking, exploring and play spaces | A LEGO theme park on the Nagoya waterfront with rides, play areas and Miniland |
| Free | Ages 0–3 | Under 3 |
| Child tickets | Ages 4–12, about half the adult price | Ages 3–18; price depends on the date |
| Booking | Advance only. On sale two months ahead, on the 10th at 2 p.m. Japan time | Date-specific 1-day pass, bought online |
| Closed | Tuesdays (the next weekday if Tuesday is a holiday) | Non-operating days vary; check the calendar |
| Parking | No Ghibli Park car park; use the Expo park car parks | No park car park; use Kinjo Futo Parking nearby |
| From Hanaike | About 35 min | About 25 min |
Details as of November 2026. Both parks change events and rules, so check the official sites before you go.
Ghibli's Grand Warehouse: start here with little ones
If you only do one Ghibli area with a toddler, make it this one. The Grand Warehouse is a huge indoor space, so rain, heat and cold don't matter. It is also where the park keeps its two play areas for children.
- Cat Bus Room: a play room with a one-of-a-kind Cat Bus and a tree, rising to the ceiling, that children can step inside. Only children aged 12 and under can climb on the Cat Bus.
- Children's Town: a play area modelled on the retro streets around Studio Ghibli's home neighbourhood. For children 12 and under; parents can go in with them.
- Step into the film: 14 recreated scenes where you become part of the picture. One example is sitting next to No-Face on the sea railway from Spirited Away.
- Central Stairs: mosaic tiles with characters hidden in the pattern. It makes a good "can you find it?" game while you wait.
There is a café with sandwiches and pizza you can eat with one hand, a milk stand, and a nursing room and baby room. Entry is by time slot (from 10 a.m., or 9 a.m. on days the park opens at 9). You must enter within an hour of your slot, so book a slot that fits nap time.
- 0–3: Cat Bus Room, Children's Town
- 4–7: film scenes, stairs treasure hunt
- 8–12: everything, plus the exhibitions
Dondoko Forest: acorns, a hill and a wooden play tower
This is the My Neighbor Totoro area. At the bottom of a wooded hill stands Satsuki and Mei's House, a full Japanese-Western house you can explore room by room. Behind it, a trail marked with acorns climbs to Dondoko-do, a five-metre wooden play structure at the top. Only children aged 12 and under may go inside it, so parents wait outside and wave.
The hill is real exercise for small legs. A slope car called Dondoko-go runs between the bottom and the top, with priority for strollers and wheelchairs. The trail may close in rain. Dondoko Forest is also the furthest area from Linimo station (roughly 1 to 1.3 km), so plan it for when everyone is fresh.
Valley of Witches: the carousel and the climbing tower
A European-style village from Kiki's Delivery Service and Howl's Moving Castle. It is the area most like a traditional park, and the one where children tend to run ahead.
- Carousel: ¥500 for ages 3–12, ¥1,000 from 13. Children aged 2 and under ride free on the bench seat with an adult. Under-7s need a companion aged 16 or older.
- Flying Machine: ¥500. Riders must be at least 90 cm and 3 years old. A child may ride alone only at age 7 or older and 120 cm or taller; otherwise they ride with a ticketed companion aged 13 or older.
- The Tower of Aviators: a climbing play tower for children 15 and under. There is also a tile slide in the entrance structure.
- Food: a bakery, a restaurant with pies and quiches, and a hot-dog stand whose buns are shaped like a cat.
The houses here (Kiki's home, Howl's Castle, the House of Witches) are included in the Premium pass. Otherwise you buy same-day tickets on site. The rides can stop in bad weather. There is a lift with priority for strollers, plus a nursing room.
Mononoke Village and Hill of Youth: for slightly older kids
Mononoke Village has a big mosaic slide shaped like the boar god Lord Okkoto, which closes in rain. Children aged 10 and over can grill their own gohei-mochi (a rice snack with sauce) over charcoal. It costs ¥1,500 and takes about 20 minutes; under-13s need an adult with them.
Hill of Youth is small and quiet: an antique shop full of cuckoo clocks and wooden horses, and a cat-sized house. School-age fans of Whisper of the Heart enjoy it. Toddlers may find it less exciting, so it is an easy one to skip.
Which Ghibli Park ticket for a family?
There are two main day passes (prices as of November 2026, weekday / weekend):
- O-Sanpo Day Pass Premium: all five areas, including every building. Adults ¥7,300 / ¥7,800; ages 4–12 ¥3,650 / ¥3,900.
- O-Sanpo Day Pass Standard: Grand Warehouse, Mononoke Village and Valley of Witches. Adults ¥3,300 / ¥3,800; ages 4–12 ¥1,650 / ¥1,900.
Our rule of thumb: with children under 6, Standard covers the best play spaces (Cat Bus Room, Children's Town, the carousel). With film-loving 7-to-12-year-olds who will walk all day, go Premium for Dondoko Forest and the houses.
Tickets go on sale two months ahead, on the 10th at 2 p.m. Japan time (January 2027 dates open on 10 November 2026). Overseas visitors buy through LAWSON TICKET or Klook, linked from the official site. There are no sales at the park. The person named on the tickets must be there with ID, so bring a passport, and the whole party enters together. Under-4s are free and don't count as party members.
Strollers, nappies and lunch: Expo park practicalities
The five areas are spread around a large park. From the Grand Warehouse it is about 400 m to the Valley of Witches, 600 m to Mononoke Village and 550–850 m to Dondoko Forest's two entrances. Strollers are fine on the paths, but they are generally not allowed inside the buildings. You leave them in stroller parking, so a baby carrier saves a lot of folding.
- The Expo park lends strollers at the North Gate and West Gate information centres.
- Every area has nappy-changing facilities. Nursing rooms are in the Grand Warehouse and the Valley of Witches.
- Inside Ghibli Park you can only eat food bought there. Your own snacks and lunch are fine on the lawns and benches elsewhere in the Expo park, which also has a water-play area. Take your rubbish home.
- There is no luggage storage inside Ghibli Park and big bags aren't allowed. Leave the suitcase in the car or at the house.
Parking: Ghibli Park has no car park of its own. The Expo park has about 2,400 spaces at ¥500 a day (¥1,000 on weekends and holidays), and the first 90 minutes are free.
LEGOLAND Japan: toddlers vs. bigger kids
LEGOLAND is built for ages 2 to 12. That shows in the rides: many have a "with an adult" height band rather than a hard minimum, so small children can ride more than you might think. Know your child's height in centimetres before you go.
- Under 100 cm: DUPLO Express and the 60 m Observation Tower, both with an adult. Merlin's Flying Machines and Dragon's Apprentice accept children from 90 cm with an adult.
- Ages 3–5: Jr. Driving School. They drive a little electric car alone round a track and get their own driving licence at the end. Bring the camera.
- Ages 6–13: the full Driving School, on a road-style circuit with roundabouts and traffic lights (licence included), and bigger rides such as The Dragon coaster.
- Baby care: DUPLO Baby Care in LEGO City (next to Brick House Burger) has free nursing and nappy-changing rooms. Strollers can be rented for ¥1,000 (from 1 month to 4 years, up to 18 kg). Wagon-style strollers are not allowed.
- Food: outside food and drink are not allowed, but baby food and a small water bottle are fine. Restaurants lend scissors for cutting food.
Children under 13 must be with someone aged 16 or older. The park has no car park of its own; drive to Kinjo Futo Parking nearby, which fills on busy days. As of November 2026, the Christmas event runs from 20 November to 25 December 2026.
Two aquariums for a gentler day
SEA LIFE Nagoya sits right in front of LEGOLAND: about 150 species in 11 themed zones, small enough for a toddler's attention span. LEGOLAND sells combined day passes. The bigger Port of Nagoya Aquarium, about 30 minutes from Hanaike, has an orca, dolphins, belugas and emperor penguins, and dolphin performances in a large stadium pool. It is closed on Mondays (next day if a holiday; open daily in Golden Week, July–September and school holidays).
If it rains
Several outdoor parts of Ghibli Park pause in the rain: the Okkoto slide, the Dondoko trail, the carousel and the Flying Machine. Good indoor swaps:
- Ghibli's Grand Warehouse (indoors), then the Aichi Children's Center in the same Expo park. Its whole four-storey building is a play space with a climbing tower and a toddler corner. It is free for children of junior-high age and under, and closed on Tuesdays.
- SEA LIFE Nagoya or the Port of Nagoya Aquarium.
- SCMaglev and Railway Park on the same waterfront as LEGOLAND, for train-mad kids. It is closed on Tuesdays.
Sample plans by age
Baby or toddler (0–3)
- Day 1: Arrive from 3 p.m. Let the little one crawl around the tatami room while you unpack.
- Day 2: LEGOLAND from opening. Do DUPLO Express and the Observation Tower, then head home for the nap and an easy dinner in the kitchen.
- Day 3: Ghibli Park with a Standard pass and a morning Grand Warehouse slot. Picnic on the Expo park lawns.
Preschoolers (4–6)
- Day 2: LEGOLAND all day, with Jr. Driving School first before the queue grows.
- Day 3: Ghibli Park: Grand Warehouse, then the Valley of Witches carousel. Port of Nagoya Aquarium on another day.
School-age (7–12)
- Day 2: Ghibli Park Premium: Dondoko Forest early, the Grand Warehouse at your slot, the Valley of Witches in the afternoon.
- Day 3: LEGOLAND with the bigger rides, plus SEA LIFE or SCMaglev and Railway Park.
Why a whole house makes park days easier
- Room to spread out: a whole house for up to 5 guests. Three futons on tatami downstairs (no beds to roll off) and two semi-double beds upstairs.
- For little ones: a baby chair with straps and tray, table corner guards, and picture books and toys for different ages. Under-3s stay free.
- Free washer-dryer: wash today's muddy clothes and pack less.
- Kitchen with microwave, rice cooker and IH stove, and a supermarket about 5 minutes away for milk and snacks.
- Free parking for 2 cars on the grounds (enter via the parking-side gate): no hotel lobby or lift to get through with a sleeping child.
- Blackout curtains for naps, and a quiet residential area among rice fields.
What to pack
- Passport for the ticket holder
- Baby carrier or sling
- Child seat (reserve with your rental car)
- Spare clothes and a towel
- Rain cover and ponchos
- Small day bag (no big bags in Ghibli Park)
- Your child's height in cm
Japanese law requires a child seat for children under 6. Rental car companies rent them, so add one when you book.
Quick answers
- Is Ghibli Park worth it with a 2-year-old?
- Yes, if you keep it short. The Grand Warehouse play rooms and the Valley of Witches carousel are enough for a happy half day, and under-4s enter free.
- Can we do Ghibli Park and LEGOLAND on the same day?
- We don't recommend it with young children. Each easily fills a day, and they are in different parts of the Nagoya area. From Hanaike, one is 25 minutes away and the other 35, so a park a day is easy.
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