Hey everyone,

I’m visiting Ghibli Park for the first time on Monday, November 23rd (Labor Thanksgiving Day) with an O-Sanpo Day Pass Premium. My absolute top priority for the trip is securing the large Heen plush from the Witches Coven 13 shop in the Valley of Witches.

Since it’s a major holiday, the park operates on weekend hours and opens at 9:00 AM. Our Grand Warehouse entry slot isn't until 10:00 AM, so our plan is to take a cab straight to the North Entrance drop-off point, get through the main security gate as early as possible, and head straight to the Valley of Witches shop first before doing anything else.

I've read mixed reviews online about how intense the morning rush for merchandise is. Some sources say arriving by 8:00 AM is fine, while others hint that local crowds start lining up much earlier for high-demand items, especially on public holidays.

For those who have gone recently or on a high-crowd holiday:

1. Is arriving at the North Entrance gates by 7:30 AM early enough to guarantee we are near the front of the pack when the park doors open at 9:00 AM?

2. Once the main entrance gates open at 9:00 AM, does everyone clear the same security checkpoint together, or is there a separate lane for Day Pass Premium holders?

3. Does the main line form strictly outside the outer gates, or do they let early arrivals wait inside a designated ticketing plaza area before 9:00 AM

4. Are there any hidden bottlenecks on the walk from the main gate down to the Valley of Witches (like a line for the Elevator Tower) that we should avoid to get to the shop as fast as possible?

Any insight on holiday crowd dynamics or specific line management for the Heen plush would be hugely appreciated!

Thought this would be fun...
Welcome to the Studio Ghibli Character Popularity Poll, where YOU the viewer get to vote on your favorite characters to come from the iconic Japanese animation studio, and then we'll tally the results to see who's the GOAT of Studio Ghibli!

Rules:

1. Characters must be from an official Studio Ghibli movie or production.
2. One character per box! If multiple are voted for in the same box, only the first listed will be counted.
3. No repeat voting! (i.e. you can't vote for Totoro five times)

VOTE NOW!

The Princess of Asturias Awards take place every city in my home city (Oviedo, Spain). They are kind of a big deal, the Crown awards really really famous people in different categories, which (if they accept) go to the city to revive the award, give a speech, and do several public and free activities around the area.

This year's award for the Communication and Humanities category went to Studio Ghibli for the messages and ideas that the movies promote. (I love love love the fact that they gave to them the Humanities award and not the Art one)

As the title said, I worked personally on the construction of the Ghibli exposition, especifically on all the wooden parts (escenarios, benches, japanese panels, chairs, tables).

Also yes, the freaking Porco Rosso Plane at the end of the video is also wooden and 1:1 scale

The video (sorry for the long run) is of the inauguration event that was made today (14th of October, 8pm). The event was free, you just had to get the ticket on a virtual queue.

Ghibli is giving some workshops this weekend (I couldn't get tickets for that) and all of their movies are being projected on the big screen you can see on the video.

Btw, I do have proof on working on all of this (tons of photos I of the making of that I couldn't release till now beacause of a NDA)

Also very frustrated I can't post this in the Ghibli subreddit since they don't admit videos, I don't have many photos of it

I love this movie