PLEASE NOTE THAT THE SANRIO (HELLO KITTY CHARACTERS) SECTION IS NO MORE. IT CLOSED DOWN IN 2020.
Last Saturday (Nov 2018) I took the kids on a road trip to Seibuen Amusement Park outside of Tokyo.
It took us about 1.5 hours ( in the car) each way. ( It does take only 1 hour on the train from the centre of Tokyo but there are a few changes so use Jorudan (I also often find google maps to be equally as helpful) to plan your journey – closes station is Seibuen Yuenchi Station.
We were so lucky because the weather was gorgeous and the leaves in this area, Tokorozawa, are already orange, red and yellow.
This place is RETRO. If you are expecting sparkly, shiny and new like Disneyland… you’ll be quite disappointed. It is old school but I kind of like that. And my kids could not care less, of course, if Hello Kitty only has one eye on some of the rides …haha.
To give you some idea, if you like my recommendations like Grinpa Amusement Park or Hanayashiki Amusement Park, you’ll like this place too.
Something amazing was the lack of crowds. We didn’t have to wait more than a few minutes for every ride ( a lovely change from other big parks in Japan) and the kids loved being able to quickly chop and change.
*Cash. And, if possible, a fair amount of smaller notes. I didn’t spot anywhere to use any credit cards at all. Even at the entrance.
*Your own snacks. Snacks at the park aren’t too expensive but it’s always good to have extra options.
*Water bottle – there are vending machines everywhere if you need to refill
*I took a stroller but I actually don’t recommend. I had to carry it up and down a lot of stairs. I think I needed it just for getting back to the car at the end when the kids were tired – but, apart from that, I wish I’d left it at home.
*This is another step of advice, I would recommend bringing one adult per child under 5 years old. My kids had to take turns riding with me – which was fine as they were very well-behaved on that particular day – but I did wish we could have all been together. Most of the rides had a rule that under 5s need to ride with an adult (even on the tiny little ride on bullet train. So that’s something I’ll do differently next time.
*If you think the kids would like the jumping castle, it will be easiest if they have easy slip-on and off shoes on.
To be honest, I was a bit surprised when it was time to buy the tickets at the entrance.
It is 1200 yen per adult, while kids are 600 yen for 3 year olds until Junior High School age. However, rides are not included.
I knew the kids wanted to go on lots of rides and, since we had travelled all this way, I wanted to make it worth our while.
The one day pass for adults is 2800 yen. And kids ( 3 year olds until Junior High School age ) were 2300 yen. I do feel like we got our money’s worth as we went on almost all of the rides. I still did pay a little bit extra for some coin operated rides as we went – so I probably spent an additional 1500 yen on top of that.
This elephant ride was our favourite. There was stroller parking outside so I actually left the stroller here all day.
My kids love the treehouse just inside the entrance.
This train was slow and went through a few tunnels. I think it might have been a bit more impressive in the evening but I did love a train ride through the autumnal countryside.
These are some of the battery operated rides that required coins.
These furry rides are so dodgy and old school that they always make me laugh. The kids love them. I kind of want to shampoo them – and then I also want a turn too. Only in Japan, right?
On the weekends, there are performances and shows on the main stage.
There is a small and modest gift shop with cookies, toys and some other merchandise.
A lot of it is the same as the goods sold in the Sanrio stores. I do love all the different Sanrio candy options. So cute.
This little rollercoaster was teeny and really cute.
I did have to ride with one child at a time.
They did have a place for me to keep my bag while riding.
These teacups are an instagrammers dream, right?
The hard part? They ask you to wait to spin until the ride starts – that required a LOT of self-control from my 3 year old…. for sure.
The three of us were all able to ride this baby ferris wheel together. I was sooo squished in though. Kids loved it.
This tiny bullet train was cute. My little guy was convinced he was the driver.
These battery cars did require coins too. And they spit out little Hello Kitty cards as ‘prizes’ once the ride was over.
The jumping castle was the only part that I didn’t feel was very safe. It was manned and only a had fun of kids at one time. But it did seem to inflate and deflate a lot and I worried that the kids would get swallowed up – but, then again, maybe I’ve just watched too much scary tv. I didn’t want them to go again though.
If you love candy coloured vintage signage – you’ll LOVE this place.
My kids loved that a food truck sold 30 different flavours of kakigori. Kakigori is a shaved ice treat with flavoured syrup. It is usually only found during Japanese summertime – so this was extra special . The same food truck also sells glow in the dark cotton candy in the evenings and kebabs.
The carousel was old school and so overly decorated. It was like out of a movie – so cute.
As my little guy is under 5, I needed to stand next to him.
I am so keen to attend in the evenings now. All of these displays light up – it would actually be an adorable date night. A romantic, winter carnival vibe, even. This winter illumination will continue until March 3rd, 2019.
It is possible to buy night passes from 4pm-10pm.
SEIBU YUENCHI AMUSEMENT PARK
埼玉県所沢市山口2964
2964 YAMAGUCHI, TOKOROZAWA, SAITAMA
SEE THE OPERATIONAL CALENDAR HERE( THERE ARE SOMETIMES RANDOM HOLIDAYS SO PLEASE CHECK FIRST)
MOSTLY OPEN 10AM-9PM
NIGHT TIME PASSES FROM 4PM-9PM
WEBSITE (JAPANESE ONLY)
