25 years ago, Sanrio tried to duplicate Disney's magic by building Sanrio Puroland. It is a little world of its own inside a humongous building. I heard about it when I lived here 16 years ago, but was not going to travel from Osaka to Tokyo just to go. It's existence has been in the back of my mind since moving here, but it never moved up the priority list until I saw discount tickets for sale.
From the moment we arrived at Keio-tama-center Station, we saw Hello Kitty everywhere. She and her friends were all over the station and the streets going to toward Sanrio Puroland.
Walking up to the building, I felt some excitement brewing. When I was a kid, there was a Sanrio store near my dad and stepmother's house that I would visit regularly. I didn't typically buy Hello Kitty things, but I did enjoy her green frog friend Keroppi and some of the other characters. What was in store for me behind those doors? I really wasn't sure!
As soon as I entered, I was greeted by a grand staircase, escalators going down, and pink everywhere. I could immediately tell I wasn't in Tokyo anymore. I was now in Puroland.
There is scenery everywhere. They really have created a little world of cuteness.
We went down the escalator to the first floor, the main area of Puro Village. There is a huge tree in the middle of the floor that is the center of everything. This is where the parades are held and there is a stage attached to the back of the tree for additional performances.
We saw on the agenda that the first show would be starting in a few minutes. We found a place on the floor to sit down. Soon the room got dark-ish and the room lit up with Christmas lights. A hole appeared in the ceiling and My Melody (one of Hello Kitty's friends) floated down on a platform singing a song. She sang several more with a laser light show boing projected onto the ceiling. Eventually she reached the floor, which was the end of her show. Applause erupted and I realized maybe I wasn't quite excited enough for this experience.
We then went on one of the only 2 rides. Mymeroad Drive is a ride through Sanrio Town. There are lots of characters to see. The little pink My Melody car goes slowly through, so you have plenty to time to take everything in. It also stops 6 times to take your photo. I'm not kidding. 6 times. At the end of the ride there is a photo print center with various computer screens where you can digitally decorate your photos before printing them (at a cost of ¥1,600 per photo or $14.50).
Up next was the stage show "Kawaii Kabuki", a pretty good Hello Kitty version of traditional Kabuki theater. In my opinion, it was a great introduction for kids to a traditional performance art. The story was very timely, as it featured a story about Setsubun. The costumes were very interesting. I was sad that there was no photography allowed in the theater because I liked the costumes so much. I guess I could have bought the DVD of the performance that they offered at the end of the show, but I wasn't going to pay ¥2,500 ($23) for it because I would never watch it.
By this time, we were getting pretty hungry. We enjoyed a quick lunch at the Character Food Court (which I will share in the next post).
It was now time for the main parade. We found seats a few rows back under an overhang. The second floor is open in the center so they can look down onto the first floor around the Wisdom Tree. We didn't realize that sitting just a few rows back made it so you couldn't see a big part of the show. As we sat there, advertisements were running continuously for their Miracle Light sticks. For only ¥1,500 ($14) attendees can "participate" in the show. This means their heart shaped light on a stick will change colors in time with the show. While I enjoy a light stick as much as the next person, I didn't need to be hounded to buy one. I was really not feeling in the spirit because I felt like the pressure to spend, spend, spend was so blatant.
The parade finally started with a whole lot of fanfare. But since we were seated under the eve, we could not see the aerial act or lights going on above. The characters were fun to see as they went around the tree and danced about. There was a storyline to the parade, but I really could not follow it. So, I just enjoyed what I could. The music is pretty catchy, in that teen pop kind of way.
My son was enjoying his day in cute-ville. As he exclaimed over this character and that statue, I noticed that 90% of the people there did not have children with them. It was mostly 20 somethings that were overjoyed to meet the characters. I even saw one woman start crying as she hugged a character. It took me aback, as I really wasn't expecting to see that.
When we went to see Hello Kitty's grandmother, Lady Kitty, I decided that Sanrio Puroland was all about photo opportunities and spending money. We were shuttled from room to room to see elaborate displays in order to take a photo with Lady Kitty.
The last thing that was on the agenda was going on their main ride, the Sanrio Character Boat Ride. We waited in line for about 20 minutes. Since there is so much to look at, it didn't seem very long at all. We got into the boat and headed down river. After seeing the first display, our boat went onto a ramp that took us up. All three of us got excited. This was actually a ride! Wahoo! When we reached the top, our son held onto the bar on the side of the boat. The boat tipped downward and went down the ramp at the same speed as we went up. We all groaned in disappointment. Our hopes were so high for just a moment, but we were just left hanging. It felt like so much of our day - lots of build up without the fruition.
When we left I felt like I had checked something off my list, but I don't feel like I experienced what I thought I would. I'm amazed that Sanrio Puroland has been open for 25 years. But I guess I'm not the target audience. The crying woman is.
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