Howdy all! Well today I’m going to write about the discerning person’s alternative to Tokyo Disneyland. Okay, perhaps not so ‘discerning’ – because it’s Sanrio Puroland, also known as ‘Hello Kitty World’ that I am referring to. I’ve shared some photos and today let’s talk about the experience of Sanrio Puroland. Is it worthwhile? Or just a waste of time?

Sanrio Puroland is a theme park in Tokyo – a little tricky to get to but there are metro stations within 5-7 minutes walk from its startlingly garish entrance. The entrance fee for an adult is a little over $22USD so straight away you are not paying as much (although at 7900Yen I found Tokyo Disneyland an absolute bargain). Sanrio is the studio that makes and owns Hello Kitty amongst a plethora of less well known (outside Japan) characters and stories. Almost all are super-duper cute. The theme park is entirely inside, so if you are looking for a place to beat the Tokyo Summer, well Sanri Puroland scores a tick in that box.

As I approached I was startled by just how pink and garish the exterior was. At the gate there was no queue, but there were ultra-chirpy greeters there smiling (under masks, but I know they were lol) and waving furiously at those entering. It was not a weekend and I guess they get a lot busier, although through the day there were plenty of people in the theme park.

So is the park JUST for children? Ummm… you would think so by the offerings, but not by the patrons who were all ages but I would say the biggest demographic was 18 – 30 year olds. Certainly you should not come to Sanrio Puroland if what you are looking for are thrill rides/coasters. There are none. But there are a few rides you can take that you might find enjoyable in a relaxing way.

Perhaps the best is the boat ride – the Sanrio Character Boat ride. You float along a raised canal on a boat (strangely enough lol) and pass scenes and characters who talk and occasionally sing in Japanese. Obviously if you are a Sanrio enthusiast you will probably know most of them.

The other ride I tried was the MyMelody & Kuromi Drive/Mymeroad Drive. This one is actually similar but with more music and in a little car. Here they take a few photos of you on the ride and afterwards, for a fee, you can decorate and print out your photos.

And then there is the park to explore. See these interesting scenes they have set up such as the Candy Making Factory or the Ice Cream making factory. Both are colourful and a little like (I imagine) you’re on some sort of a trip.

There are plenty of games to play too – mostly the dreaded skill tester where you operate a claw that grabs the prize, lifts it up and moves it, and just when you think you’ve got it it lets go and it falls back with the others! There is even a sort of ‘English Club’ where they are teaching the kids English which I thought was an odd thing to put there.

There are shows all about, depending on the day there may be more or less, and group activities for the kids which I didn’t obviously do or see. The show that I did see was very ‘genki’ (Japanese word that is overused to describe something/someone as very energetic and bubbly, which in Japan is a desirable attribute) with singing, dancing, huge arm gestures and characters as well in big suits (well, actors/dancers in big character suits) including Hello Kitty. Question – is Hello Kitty a cat with the first name ‘Hello’ and the surname ‘Kitty’??? Asking for a friend.

Hello Kitty does do (at extra charge) photos on a different floor. Presumably a different actor in a different (but the same) suit as the dancing Hello Kitty. There was a line for that that seemed pretty long so I decided against it.

But there are the character meet and greets which are basically photo opportunities for the OTHER Sanrio characters that are not Hello Kitty. And I thought it would be fun to give that a go and randomly picked ‘Puchacco’ which was a dog not that different to Snoopy. You have to buy the ticket a little in advance, so I bought it about an hour or maybe two before I left, and met this canine character just before I left. He didn’t talk that I remember. But it made for fun content I guess!

All in all, Sanrio Puroland was… well looking back and recalling the day it doesn’t feel worthwhile, especially as I don’t know much about the Sanrio Universe, I’m not a kid and I don’t speak Japanese. But I also know that I kinda had a fun 3-4 hours there. And it’s not expensive, and it’s like Disney but also different. Regardless, theme parks are built for one reason and that’s to make money and I presume that it does that because people in Japan really do love their theme parks. So I won’t say whether you should or shouldn’t go, I will leave you to digest the information I’ve given you and make your informed choice that way!

Thanks for popping by today! Take care wherever you are in the world – May the Journey Never End!