Studio Ghibli

Hi All

My friends and I were hoping to go to Ghibli in November this year. Sadly JTB email me yesterday that my request was out of luck no more tickets available for November. They gave me two options
$130 tour JTB offers
or
Try Lawsons online on Sept 10th for November tickets

Has anyone ever tried either option? Is there a tour for less the $130 USD?

Has the museum become more visited or popular? (its always been popular I know) I went back in 2015 and requested tickets on July 5th from JTB and there were still days left (not a lot but some). Is November more popular than October?

Thank you for your help and understanding. I know some of the questions are just out of curiosity. If anyone has tried the tour or online (outside of Japan) Lawsons and has any tips or insight I would greatly appreciate it.
Thank you

Hi!

In my opinion, yes, the museum has become a lot more popular. Like you, we weren't able to get tickets for July when we applied in April 2018. (the JTB site was down on 7/1 and I didn't know this when I sent in my request and by the time I figured it out the tickets were gone.) In general, July is not considered a popular time to visit Japan because it's so incredibly hot and humid. We did end up going, we asked our hotel concierge (The Tokyo Station Hotel) if they could get tickets for us via the regular Lawson's method since I didn't want to have to worry about time zones. Our hotel got the two tickets we wanted at the time and day we requested. In our case, the tickets were considerably cheaper via Lawsons vs. JTB as JTB charges a 900% mark-up on tickets for children ages 12-7.

The museum was unpleasantly packed. We had to wait for the 3rd bus from Mitaka to the museum because so many other people were already. We then waited a good 15 minutes to enter the museum. My daughter and I did not enjoy Boro the caterpillar because neither of us is into scatological humor (though I will say the merchandise is cute.) We didn't even attempt to try to eat in the cafe because the line was hours long, even the line for the quick service cafe was a good 15-20 minutes. I'm glad we went because now I won't have to take my daughter back for many years. I want to say now, my daughter loves Miyazaki films. She went as Jiji to the WDW Halloween Party and when we went trick or treating locally as well as wore her costume for a local Halloween themed 5k. I honestly don't know how many times she's watched her favorites: Sen to Chihiro, Laputa, Totoro, and Kiki. She didn't really enjoy the museum either and could have easily skipped it.

I personally wouldn't pay $130 per person to do the tour. You're paying a lot for transport and to eat the buffet lunch at the Gajoen Hotel. I mean if you want to see that hotel and eat there, then I would, but you're pretty much on your own at the museum and it is likely to be packed. You won't arrive until 2ish so your chances of even getting into the cafe for dessert would be pretty low. If you still really want to go, I would contact your hotel and see if their concierge can help you get tickets, if they can't, then I guess I would try Lawson's if you still want to go.

You can buy your ticket normally through the internet, you enter the Lawson link at 10 o'clock in the morning, Japanese time !!!! and buy the tickets, it is very easy, the important thing is to enter the site on the 10th at 10 o'clock in the morning ....
I went last month to Japan and my children wanted to go to the Gibli, I happened to miss the schedule, I went in at 10 am on June 10, Germany time, in Japan it was 17 o'clock and for the day we would be in Tokyo no. there was more ticket.
I advise you to go to Lawson's website and train the purchase so there will be no problems on October 10, which is the day that opens for November tickets.

http://www.lawson.co.jp/ghibli_museum/

We tried several times to get tickets via Lawson, and in the end did the JTB thing before it was quite so expensive as it is now. It was still too expensive.

The bus trip across Tokyo (from Shinjuku) was fine, though we would also have been happy to take the public transport.

The museum was packed, we waited ages for dull and overpriced food at the restaurant, and overall it made for a disappointing day out. Which was a shame as my husband is a huge fan and we were both looking forward to it.

We took a walk back through the park, and had a wander around the local area, which was really nice.

If you can get tickets via Lawson, or through the concierge at your hotel, try that, otherwise spend your money on one of JTB's other (excellent) products. We've used them before and found them very good, but this was a real disappointment.

I purchased tickets online on 5/10 (actually on 5/9 at 6pm in California which was 5/10 at 10am Tokyo time) for a June visit. I practiced with website on 4/10 so I was a bit familiar with website and had written out multiple dates to chose from. I did not get the date I really wanted and had to settle for 4 pm but I paid less than $25 usd for 3 people (1 senior,1 teen and 1 adult) and we had a great visit. Took subway to Kichigoji station and walked thru park to the museum. Had dessert in expensive but nice cafe across the street from museum as we were early.. They let us in about 3:45pm and we had plenty of time to wander around. Afterwards had a good dinner in Kichigoji before heading back to our hotel in Asakusa.