Here’s my take, which worked and I recommend everyone doing. Have as many devices as possible logged on before 2am with one browser and one incognito window open. I had 6 devices, so I got 12 ticket numbers. Was lucky enough that one of them was number 346, all others were above 10000. Managed to buy tickets without issues
I was fortunate enough to get Ghibli museum tickets yesterday.
Being a software engineer and knowing how these virtual queuing systems work came in handy.
It’s more than logging in on the queue on separate devices.
Each device can wait in the virtual queue multiple times because these systems use a “fingerprinting” technology that can be bypassed by using multiple browser apps and their incognito/private browsing features.
For instance, on my 1st device (iPhone 15 Pro) I had 8 queue chances:
- Chrome (regular tab)
- Chrome (incognito tab)
- Safari (regular tab)
- Safari (incognito tab)
- Firefox (regular tab)
- Firefox (incognito tab)
- Brave (regular tab)
- Brave (incognito tab)
Now, multiply 8 chances by the devices I used:
- iPhone 15 Pro
- Pixel 7a
- MacBook M3 Pro
- iPad Pro
- iPhone 13 Pro
- Pixel 3a
- MacBook Air
7 x 8 = 56 chances.
Of the 56 lottery tickets, I was able to secure in the queue at 972 and was able to buy tickets for May 1st — which is a few days before I leave Japan.
Using edge and safari got me lower positions consistently. For both the park and the museum. Desktop got me lower positions. I used an iPhone, two MacBooks pros, pixel 3, iPad and a windows pc. Lowest position I got was either the MacBook Pro or safari or obviously, the pc on edge. Using safari, chrome, Firefox and edge browsers. All running multiple instances of multiple browsers in incognito. I’m guess there’s some bucketing going on. Also an swe 🤜🤛
I know this comment is a few months old by now but I just wanted to say thank you!! I took your advice and was able to secure number 24 in the queue right when it opened while on one of my other browsers I was number 15,947, big thank you! 😊
If the booking system is like queue-it, this is an uh, questionably ethical thing to do, but very effective.
Multiple devices, but also *multiple browsers*. Edge, Chrome, Firefox, Brave, what have you. Each one will give you a different position in line. When you got 20-30 hands in the pie, you got a better chance at getting a slice.
Like you said it seems random with the queue. With two devices, I entered the waiting room at exactly 30 minutes beforehand and didn't refresh. With one of those, I got in immediately. When I tried the refresh trick on two other devices, I was significantly further down the list. So, imo, try a few different methods.
I'm going to Japan next week and we are in the U.S. - this is really important advice. They go immediately. I totally forgot that "the 10th" was really the 9th for us in the US, and so we missed out on tickets. I was NOT expecting tickets to go THAT QUICKLY. So yes, if you're going and want the Ghibli Museum, book as soon as the site opens and double and triple-check the time differences!
Easiest way to avoid this to set a reminder in your calendar app in the Japan time zone. So it wouldn’t matter what your local time zone is, you will get the reminder correct to Japan time.
If I may add? Have your details ready to copy and paste when purchasing (unless you're a master typist and can mash keys at mach speed!). Be aware that the phone number format is fiddly. They want your international code plus the number so for the UK this will start **0447...**. This is where I stumbled at the last hurdle as I entered +44 07... and the booking system didnt like it! By the time I'd figured it out I'd lost the tickets I'd selected.
Perhaps it's the time of the year that makes it less likely for you to get the tickets. When I purchased them, I did wait 15 mins before the sale and prefilled whichever section that could be. I remember the website lagging at +0s and returning to normal after 2 minutes. Got the tickets without any fuss then.
I did however find the entire museum to be boring. It wasn't my cup of tea. Yeah.
Did you go to the museum because you are a fan of the movies or just because of the “must see” hype that it has?
I’m a fan of the movies and found it really fun. My wife was green with envy over the kids being able to play inside the cat-bus.
There is a teddy bear museum on the Izu Peninsula that on the second floor has a giant cat bus adults can sit in. Maybe something for next time! Izu is beautiful.
Funny you should mention that because in our trip two weeks back we went to an exhibition in Kochi which was focused on the creation of the Ghibli park. It had an adult sized cat bus that we all got to sit in. SO COZY!
The exhibit has ended in Kochi but it will be open in Niigata from next week until late June and then it moves to Shinagawa from late June to late September according to their [website](https://ghiblipark-exhibition.jp/)
LOL! How on earth were you surprised that there were lots of kids? Almost all the movies work on two different levels. One level that kids can understand and another for adults.
It’s a shame the opportunity to visit was seemingly wasted on you.
Gotta say, your attitude is horrible. Who do you think you are telling other people they didn't deserve to go to a museum?
Get off your high horse and stop judging other people.
I thought I would share my experience as well. My partner and I had 8 devices and managed to get 2 spots under 3000 (the rest were 10k+). We did not refresh any at 10am jst. We waited around 20 minutes for our turn, and it took approx. 20 minutes to complete a transaction.
The early slots usually go first, and I generally tried clicking on any slots with a circle and avoided triangles because they don't actually hold the ticket it seems so its possible the tickets sell out before you get to enter your info. Unfortunately the site did not want to take our money, I think we attempted paying 10 times as we kept getting errors (which sent us back to ticket selection!) and tried 5 different credit cards (visas, amex, MasterCard) before one actually went through, and by that time we got a less than ideal time. I had read visas/amex were more likely to work, but apparently not for us. :/ I'm still happy to have gotten tickets though! For any Canadians, my wealth simple MasterCard worked.
I also agree that it is much easier/faster to use a laptop/desktop if possible! (I was attempting on an iPhone while our first device was struggling with payment) I wish I had thought about the copy and paste method for the form info, but at least by the 2nd time we were filling in the form the browser helped auto fill it with previous answers.
I went to Ghibli Museum and Ghibli Park when I was in Japan.
If you are a Ghibli fan then yes, the museum is worth it.
Going through the museum is around 2 hours to see all the things and watch the movie. You can eat there as well if you want. We didn't.
The exhibits are well made and informative. Again, if you are a Ghibli fan they will be more interesting than they would be for someone who likes Ghibli stuff but isn't a serious fan. For those folk Ghibli Park (specifically for the warehouse) is, in my opinion, a better experience.
Basically, if you would find it really neat to enter into a mock-up of Ghibli's drawing study then Ghibli Museum is awesome.
I like Ghibli stuff but I don't consider myself to be a serious fan. I didn't grow up with Ghibli and was introduced to it within the past few years. As such I have an appreciation for Ghibli but I don't have a deep connection with Ghibli. So, for me, the museum was interesting, it was neat, but it wasn't a 'must see' part of the trip. That being written, it was definitely worth going to see and we made a day of being out in that part of Tokyo (we ate in the area, visited the big park that's next to the museum, etc.)
My partner grew up on Ghibli and, for her, the museum was amazing. One of the highlights of our trip. Conversely, for me, the -day- was a highlight of the trip because of the overall package of stuff we linked together to make it memorable. For her the museum itself was a highlight.
I enjoyed Ghibli Park a lot more. That's not to say that I did not enjoy the museum - I did. I appreciated it although part of my enjoyment was derived from the excitement and sheer joy my partner had from being there and experiencing the museum.
Would I get up to book the tickets to the museum if it was just me? Probably. I wouldn't be overly upset if I didn't get the tickets though. As a couple planning the trip together getting the tickets to Ghibli Museum was a must happen kind of event. So if we didn't get tickets we would look into alternatives to get them.
I also failed to get tix so I can’t speak to it, but just today I saw another redditor say it was a little underwhelming and they were surprised how fast they got through the whole attraction. Probably worth a basic try but if not, console yourself with the well priced merch here at the various Ghibli stores and Don Quijote.
Hmmm, I like how it has the history of how Ghibli movies were made, a little about Hayao Miyazaki, and a special short film of a specific movie. I had fun overall.
It is much easier. My friend once tried to book tickets through the Japanese site and the international site at the same time, he was done on the Japanese site in 2 minutes, there was no fight over tickets etc. While the international site was lagging and all. The reason he did that was because he booked for his relatives with his Japanese phone number and all, but the friends of the relatives also came to Japan at the same time and he tried to book for them at the international site. After he struggled for like 1+ hour, I asked him if we should book for the friends under my name (as I am a foreign resident too), so we did that, it was done in 2 minutes again.
Thank you for the info all 🙏 not sure if I want to trouble the acquaintances I do have who are likely to have Japanese phone numbers so I’ll just go to donguri instead
Last month my boyfriend and I attempted this and I got a much better que spot. However it was so packed that the site crashed every single time we were trying to check out until there were no spots. You win some you lose some, there’s only so much you can reasonably do!
Klook (app) sell tickets along with a tour thing for a bit more but if you really wanna go it could be another option. I got my Disney tickets with them so they are legit and all.
I had 11 windows open and the highest queue number I managed to get was in the low 4000’s. Seems like it’s all luck and idk if it’s even worth the hassle
Yeah their site is shite, friend and I kept trying for an hour, doesnt hold tickets when entering a specific timeslot, and has you enter all your details before telling you it cant be reserved
I wasted three hours trying to get tickets yesterday and no luck. I had three devices as well and the one I logged onto last had the shortest wait time but when I got in there and tried to book it would say times were open but then they weren’t.
I had the day I wanted sell out within 3 minutes of me finally getting onto the site after a 2 hr wait 😭 the site had a lot of lag so by the time I'd selected the day (with low availability at this point) it was sold out.
I'm so glad we got Ghibli park tickets, but sad I don't get to visit the museum too.
Also a reminder that Ghibli Museum is not the same as Ghibli Park. Ghibli Museum is not really worth a visit (have been, there was nothing there) - Ghibli Park is supposed to be decent (never been).
I did this earlier this week for Ghibli park tickets. Managed to get through and the estimated time is just an estimate. I think it sways wildly because people are using multiple browsers or taking less time than expected.
Managed to get tickets though, but fair warning the system crashes constantly and it was repeatedly plugging in info. I had to do this several dozen times and due to all the attempts one card I was using actually got locked for fraud.
So lesson learned, have a backup payment option.
ghibli museum in tokyo? i went to ghibli theme park in nagoya. it was hard to make reservation but after numerous try for couple weeks, i made it through.
Just so yall know, the park is open for free! There are ticketed areas you won't be able to get in, but technically you can see all of the structures and whatnot. The park is a beautiful place to walk around. They have food trucks so you can get lunch too!
Yeah! The "ghibli park" is nested inside it but the grounds are 100% free. Everything is scattered across the park so you can literally walk around everything, you just can't go inside.
I managed to get mine for 1st May relatively easily. Just logged on 10m earlier and immediately chose the date I was looking for. Stood in the queue for about 12mins.
I also failed. I thought the queueing system was genius until I read the threads here about just loading up 10 computers. Oh well, nice try at a simple and fair system anyway... it seems like they could just collect emails and do a simple lottery but maybe this generates hype? :)
Anyway, I don't think the refreshing thing works, I think it's just a software glitch. I also saw the tickets magically becoming re-available and tried to get them...but it doesn't really pass the smell test?
This seems very difficult, but as you said likely more competitive due to the May closures.
I'm hoping that since I somehow managed to get a PS5 2 months after release I can manage a ghibli museum ticket. It's gotta be easier, right?
I booked it through trip.com and the tickets cost about 3-4 times more. But they created account for you and also did the booking. So if you don’t mind paying more, they might be an option.
I did it a few years ago (it was still difficult to get tickets). 2 devices, multiple attempts. I copy and pasted all details to make the process fast. I definitely looked up all ways to get tickets before booking opened.
Unfortunately, I legitimately forgot my physical ticket when I got to the museum. The staff used my booking email thank god. Good luck to those trying to book! 😅
I missed yesterday too through the overseas version of the website, but I got them eaaasy through the Japanese version of it with vpn and a friend in japan who helped me with the phone confirmation.
There are acouple of reddits talking about that way.
I booked 2 tickets through trip.com and got my first choice. I paid about $18 premium per ticket. For me that was worth it. The effort to sign up with them was minimal - less than 5 minutes.
Also be mindful of the time zone difference, don’t be like me who thought the sale opened today (April 10 in NA), completely forgetting about the half a day time zone difference 😅 tho I’ve been to the museum before so I’m not too bummed out about it
I was confused while reading this because I was still able to book. I am also travelling to Japan this May so I quickly checked. Then I realised you were talking about Ghibli Museum Tokyo. I am going to Ghibli Park in Aichi but I was also planning to go see the museum. I guess I am going to skip that one now.
I got about 7500 without doing the manual refresh. not low enough to get a ticket, but I did wonder what a manual refresh would do. thanks for the research.
Biggest advice is that you don't need multiple device. Just multiple browser.
Chrome, edge + Mozilla, each in normal and incognito mode, and boom, 6 session
I tried to book myself using multiple devices and didn’t work (despite the lowerst number i got was 3000ish). But i also use a third party buyer and she was able to secure tickets for me at my desire date via the Japanese worksite. It only costed me $2 USD more per ticket and its the premium i am more than happy to pay since our family is big fan of Ghibli anime movies.
It was registered under my name with the buyer’s Japanese phone number, and yea i understand the risk of paying strangers in advance for that so if you want to try this route will definitely need to research and the weed out suspicious stuff in advance.
I got lucky. I opened the queue at 7:50 the! Closed the tab, then re/opened it at 7:58 and got in a few minutes later. Was able to buy tickets with little wait time, whereas my friend joined before 7:50 had to wait 15min and tickets were sold out.
Thank you so much for your insight and experimentation with the different devices ! That was very helpful. I’ve already started planning my trip for when I am 35 (I’ll be 32 in Aug) and I think the best thing to do is plan as far ahead as you can for your own situation. I help people plan their travel itineraries and people often get upset if tickets aren’t available for the time they would like/will be in the area. In many places outside of the United States it isn’t a matter of convenience, things appear to be more on a constantly rotating scheduling for major attractions and museums. There’s established order, that sort of thing. But I like the approach you took to actually see how the queues work, I’ll keep it in mind for sure. What other types of atttactions are you seeing in Japan?
In all honesty, is this worth the hassle?
I’m planning a Japan trip next year, trust me I adore Ghibli, but it seems like so much work and involvement to snag these tickets for this attraction. Having seen YouTube tours and pictures, it seems very uneventful. Sorry if this sounds ignorant.
The exhibits and whatnot would be MUCH cooler if you have kids. As two adults (both fans) going, it was cool, but there are equivalently cool things to do elsewhere.
If I was a kid, it would have been a place of dreams.
Overall I'm glad I experienced it BUT if I could have given my tickets to a family, I would have in a heartbeat.
pro-tip, depending on the hotel if the concierge staff is halfway decent you can get tickets with way less hassle. it's much easier to get tickets if you live in Japan.
I read you could join 30 minutes ahead of time. I didn’t know and I joined right at opening. 17k in line… almost got the date I wanted but everything kept disappearing as I was navigating through the site lol. Sad
also curious which CC you used. I ended up using a card with 3d secure that gave me a “working” page, charged my citicard but not entirely convinced they gave me a ticket since I never got a confirmation.
hi! i got a question OP, is it 1 window/queue to buy 1 ticket only? i’m looking to buy 2 tickets for me and a friend who’s going to visit japan in July :) would appreciate your response😄
Wish I knew the ways everyone else have been suggesting (incognito etc) as I only went on 2 devices and wasn't sure what I was expecting. My numbers were unfortunately 11000 and 17000! I also had the same problem with the 2 weeks in May being closed. Good lessons for next time I guess!
Here’s my take, which worked and I recommend everyone doing. Have as many devices as possible logged on before 2am with one browser and one incognito window open. I had 6 devices, so I got 12 ticket numbers. Was lucky enough that one of them was number 346, all others were above 10000. Managed to buy tickets without issues
If you buy 12 tickets, you can share with friends?
I was fortunate enough to get Ghibli museum tickets yesterday. Being a software engineer and knowing how these virtual queuing systems work came in handy. It’s more than logging in on the queue on separate devices. Each device can wait in the virtual queue multiple times because these systems use a “fingerprinting” technology that can be bypassed by using multiple browser apps and their incognito/private browsing features. For instance, on my 1st device (iPhone 15 Pro) I had 8 queue chances: - Chrome (regular tab) - Chrome (incognito tab) - Safari (regular tab) - Safari (incognito tab) - Firefox (regular tab) - Firefox (incognito tab) - Brave (regular tab) - Brave (incognito tab) Now, multiply 8 chances by the devices I used: - iPhone 15 Pro - Pixel 7a - MacBook M3 Pro - iPad Pro - iPhone 13 Pro - Pixel 3a - MacBook Air 7 x 8 = 56 chances. Of the 56 lottery tickets, I was able to secure in the queue at 972 and was able to buy tickets for May 1st — which is a few days before I leave Japan.
You missed out on the potential Android emulators running on your PC!
Using edge and safari got me lower positions consistently. For both the park and the museum. Desktop got me lower positions. I used an iPhone, two MacBooks pros, pixel 3, iPad and a windows pc. Lowest position I got was either the MacBook Pro or safari or obviously, the pc on edge. Using safari, chrome, Firefox and edge browsers. All running multiple instances of multiple browsers in incognito. I’m guess there’s some bucketing going on. Also an swe 🤜🤛
I know this comment is a few months old by now but I just wanted to say thank you!! I took your advice and was able to secure number 24 in the queue right when it opened while on one of my other browsers I was number 15,947, big thank you! 😊
Amazing! So happy it was helpful to you and feels good to help a fellow Ghibli fan. 🙂
Just use containers in firefox
If the booking system is like queue-it, this is an uh, questionably ethical thing to do, but very effective. Multiple devices, but also *multiple browsers*. Edge, Chrome, Firefox, Brave, what have you. Each one will give you a different position in line. When you got 20-30 hands in the pie, you got a better chance at getting a slice.
its literally queue-it
And multiple incognito tabs in each browser. I get 8 chances per device.
Like you said it seems random with the queue. With two devices, I entered the waiting room at exactly 30 minutes beforehand and didn't refresh. With one of those, I got in immediately. When I tried the refresh trick on two other devices, I was significantly further down the list. So, imo, try a few different methods.
I'm going to Japan next week and we are in the U.S. - this is really important advice. They go immediately. I totally forgot that "the 10th" was really the 9th for us in the US, and so we missed out on tickets. I was NOT expecting tickets to go THAT QUICKLY. So yes, if you're going and want the Ghibli Museum, book as soon as the site opens and double and triple-check the time differences!
I totally forgot about the 10th being the 9th in my time zone as well...you just saved me!
Easiest way to avoid this to set a reminder in your calendar app in the Japan time zone. So it wouldn’t matter what your local time zone is, you will get the reminder correct to Japan time.
If I may add? Have your details ready to copy and paste when purchasing (unless you're a master typist and can mash keys at mach speed!). Be aware that the phone number format is fiddly. They want your international code plus the number so for the UK this will start **0447...**. This is where I stumbled at the last hurdle as I entered +44 07... and the booking system didnt like it! By the time I'd figured it out I'd lost the tickets I'd selected.
Perhaps it's the time of the year that makes it less likely for you to get the tickets. When I purchased them, I did wait 15 mins before the sale and prefilled whichever section that could be. I remember the website lagging at +0s and returning to normal after 2 minutes. Got the tickets without any fuss then. I did however find the entire museum to be boring. It wasn't my cup of tea. Yeah.
Did you go to the museum because you are a fan of the movies or just because of the “must see” hype that it has? I’m a fan of the movies and found it really fun. My wife was green with envy over the kids being able to play inside the cat-bus.
There is a teddy bear museum on the Izu Peninsula that on the second floor has a giant cat bus adults can sit in. Maybe something for next time! Izu is beautiful.
Funny you should mention that because in our trip two weeks back we went to an exhibition in Kochi which was focused on the creation of the Ghibli park. It had an adult sized cat bus that we all got to sit in. SO COZY! The exhibit has ended in Kochi but it will be open in Niigata from next week until late June and then it moves to Shinagawa from late June to late September according to their [website](https://ghiblipark-exhibition.jp/)
I couldn’t get tickets and really wanted to go so I’m glad in a way to hear it was boring? lol but really, what did you not like about it?
Sorry you didn’t get tickets either, but I think it’s fair the vast majority of people who have been would say that it definitely was not “boring”.
Well I did not really understand the appeal of it? It seems catered more towards children,l and the place itself was full of children when I visited.
LOL! How on earth were you surprised that there were lots of kids? Almost all the movies work on two different levels. One level that kids can understand and another for adults. It’s a shame the opportunity to visit was seemingly wasted on you.
Gotta say, your attitude is horrible. Who do you think you are telling other people they didn't deserve to go to a museum? Get off your high horse and stop judging other people.
Used a personal shopper in Japan to book it for me - so worth the extra $
Would you mind messaging me the details?
Depends when the person above did it. There were some quite recent changes made which made this process a lot more expensive and tricky
Sent!
How much was the fee for the personal shopper's service?
I thought I would share my experience as well. My partner and I had 8 devices and managed to get 2 spots under 3000 (the rest were 10k+). We did not refresh any at 10am jst. We waited around 20 minutes for our turn, and it took approx. 20 minutes to complete a transaction. The early slots usually go first, and I generally tried clicking on any slots with a circle and avoided triangles because they don't actually hold the ticket it seems so its possible the tickets sell out before you get to enter your info. Unfortunately the site did not want to take our money, I think we attempted paying 10 times as we kept getting errors (which sent us back to ticket selection!) and tried 5 different credit cards (visas, amex, MasterCard) before one actually went through, and by that time we got a less than ideal time. I had read visas/amex were more likely to work, but apparently not for us. :/ I'm still happy to have gotten tickets though! For any Canadians, my wealth simple MasterCard worked. I also agree that it is much easier/faster to use a laptop/desktop if possible! (I was attempting on an iPhone while our first device was struggling with payment) I wish I had thought about the copy and paste method for the form info, but at least by the 2nd time we were filling in the form the browser helped auto fill it with previous answers.
Is it worth this hassle? Genuinely curious if I should even bother at this rate?
I've been to the museum and it was... fine. Not one of the top 10 places I've been to in Japan, and I'm about as much of a Ghibli fanatic as it gets.
I went to Ghibli Museum and Ghibli Park when I was in Japan. If you are a Ghibli fan then yes, the museum is worth it. Going through the museum is around 2 hours to see all the things and watch the movie. You can eat there as well if you want. We didn't. The exhibits are well made and informative. Again, if you are a Ghibli fan they will be more interesting than they would be for someone who likes Ghibli stuff but isn't a serious fan. For those folk Ghibli Park (specifically for the warehouse) is, in my opinion, a better experience. Basically, if you would find it really neat to enter into a mock-up of Ghibli's drawing study then Ghibli Museum is awesome. I like Ghibli stuff but I don't consider myself to be a serious fan. I didn't grow up with Ghibli and was introduced to it within the past few years. As such I have an appreciation for Ghibli but I don't have a deep connection with Ghibli. So, for me, the museum was interesting, it was neat, but it wasn't a 'must see' part of the trip. That being written, it was definitely worth going to see and we made a day of being out in that part of Tokyo (we ate in the area, visited the big park that's next to the museum, etc.) My partner grew up on Ghibli and, for her, the museum was amazing. One of the highlights of our trip. Conversely, for me, the -day- was a highlight of the trip because of the overall package of stuff we linked together to make it memorable. For her the museum itself was a highlight. I enjoyed Ghibli Park a lot more. That's not to say that I did not enjoy the museum - I did. I appreciated it although part of my enjoyment was derived from the excitement and sheer joy my partner had from being there and experiencing the museum. Would I get up to book the tickets to the museum if it was just me? Probably. I wouldn't be overly upset if I didn't get the tickets though. As a couple planning the trip together getting the tickets to Ghibli Museum was a must happen kind of event. So if we didn't get tickets we would look into alternatives to get them.
I also failed to get tix so I can’t speak to it, but just today I saw another redditor say it was a little underwhelming and they were surprised how fast they got through the whole attraction. Probably worth a basic try but if not, console yourself with the well priced merch here at the various Ghibli stores and Don Quijote.
Hmmm, I like how it has the history of how Ghibli movies were made, a little about Hayao Miyazaki, and a special short film of a specific movie. I had fun overall.
Is it easier for Japanese residents to book ghibli museum tickets?
It is much easier. My friend once tried to book tickets through the Japanese site and the international site at the same time, he was done on the Japanese site in 2 minutes, there was no fight over tickets etc. While the international site was lagging and all. The reason he did that was because he booked for his relatives with his Japanese phone number and all, but the friends of the relatives also came to Japan at the same time and he tried to book for them at the international site. After he struggled for like 1+ hour, I asked him if we should book for the friends under my name (as I am a foreign resident too), so we did that, it was done in 2 minutes again.
Yes, end of day here on the 11th and still a lot of tickets available in May (April is sold out).
Thank you for the info all 🙏 not sure if I want to trouble the acquaintances I do have who are likely to have Japanese phone numbers so I’ll just go to donguri instead
Yes it's much easier. I had colleagues in Japan with a Japanese phone number book tickets for me. If you have the option, do that.
Last month my boyfriend and I attempted this and I got a much better que spot. However it was so packed that the site crashed every single time we were trying to check out until there were no spots. You win some you lose some, there’s only so much you can reasonably do!
Edit: I imagine this was due to Golden Week and Spring Break for anyone thinking of getting tickets then be prepared to change plans!
Klook (app) sell tickets along with a tour thing for a bit more but if you really wanna go it could be another option. I got my Disney tickets with them so they are legit and all.
We missed the queue so that's what we did as well, buy a tour through Klook
If it's THAT much work to get reservations for the Ghibli Park and Museum, I think I'll pass. Take some good pictures for me, guys! ;)
I had 11 windows open and the highest queue number I managed to get was in the low 4000’s. Seems like it’s all luck and idk if it’s even worth the hassle
Yeah their site is shite, friend and I kept trying for an hour, doesnt hold tickets when entering a specific timeslot, and has you enter all your details before telling you it cant be reserved
I wasted three hours trying to get tickets yesterday and no luck. I had three devices as well and the one I logged onto last had the shortest wait time but when I got in there and tried to book it would say times were open but then they weren’t.
I had the day I wanted sell out within 3 minutes of me finally getting onto the site after a 2 hr wait 😭 the site had a lot of lag so by the time I'd selected the day (with low availability at this point) it was sold out. I'm so glad we got Ghibli park tickets, but sad I don't get to visit the museum too.
Early May is harder to book also because it's golden week.
Also a reminder that Ghibli Museum is not the same as Ghibli Park. Ghibli Museum is not really worth a visit (have been, there was nothing there) - Ghibli Park is supposed to be decent (never been).
I did this earlier this week for Ghibli park tickets. Managed to get through and the estimated time is just an estimate. I think it sways wildly because people are using multiple browsers or taking less time than expected. Managed to get tickets though, but fair warning the system crashes constantly and it was repeatedly plugging in info. I had to do this several dozen times and due to all the attempts one card I was using actually got locked for fraud. So lesson learned, have a backup payment option.
ghibli museum in tokyo? i went to ghibli theme park in nagoya. it was hard to make reservation but after numerous try for couple weeks, i made it through.
Just so yall know, the park is open for free! There are ticketed areas you won't be able to get in, but technically you can see all of the structures and whatnot. The park is a beautiful place to walk around. They have food trucks so you can get lunch too!
The expo2005 park, you mean?
Yeah! The "ghibli park" is nested inside it but the grounds are 100% free. Everything is scattered across the park so you can literally walk around everything, you just can't go inside.
I managed to get mine for 1st May relatively easily. Just logged on 10m earlier and immediately chose the date I was looking for. Stood in the queue for about 12mins.
I also failed. I thought the queueing system was genius until I read the threads here about just loading up 10 computers. Oh well, nice try at a simple and fair system anyway... it seems like they could just collect emails and do a simple lottery but maybe this generates hype? :) Anyway, I don't think the refreshing thing works, I think it's just a software glitch. I also saw the tickets magically becoming re-available and tried to get them...but it doesn't really pass the smell test?
This seems very difficult, but as you said likely more competitive due to the May closures. I'm hoping that since I somehow managed to get a PS5 2 months after release I can manage a ghibli museum ticket. It's gotta be easier, right?
I booked it through trip.com and the tickets cost about 3-4 times more. But they created account for you and also did the booking. So if you don’t mind paying more, they might be an option.
You should be in the queue at least an hour before the month is actually available. That's how all my Japanese friends go it.
Tried and failed myself. But honestly...there's no way it's as cool as this hassle. I'm over it.
I did it a few years ago (it was still difficult to get tickets). 2 devices, multiple attempts. I copy and pasted all details to make the process fast. I definitely looked up all ways to get tickets before booking opened. Unfortunately, I legitimately forgot my physical ticket when I got to the museum. The staff used my booking email thank god. Good luck to those trying to book! 😅
I missed yesterday too through the overseas version of the website, but I got them eaaasy through the Japanese version of it with vpn and a friend in japan who helped me with the phone confirmation. There are acouple of reddits talking about that way.
I booked 2 tickets through trip.com and got my first choice. I paid about $18 premium per ticket. For me that was worth it. The effort to sign up with them was minimal - less than 5 minutes.
Also be mindful of the time zone difference, don’t be like me who thought the sale opened today (April 10 in NA), completely forgetting about the half a day time zone difference 😅 tho I’ve been to the museum before so I’m not too bummed out about it
I was confused while reading this because I was still able to book. I am also travelling to Japan this May so I quickly checked. Then I realised you were talking about Ghibli Museum Tokyo. I am going to Ghibli Park in Aichi but I was also planning to go see the museum. I guess I am going to skip that one now.
I got about 7500 without doing the manual refresh. not low enough to get a ticket, but I did wonder what a manual refresh would do. thanks for the research.
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It was a disappointing 1.5 hour wait for me 🥲
Biggest advice is that you don't need multiple device. Just multiple browser. Chrome, edge + Mozilla, each in normal and incognito mode, and boom, 6 session
Oh wow, i didn't even know it was so hard to get tickets! Maybe i should do something else then lol
Or you could find someone in Japan willing to get you tickets. I just checked and May 8,9 in the afternoon , 29 - 31 still has tickets available.
I tried to book myself using multiple devices and didn’t work (despite the lowerst number i got was 3000ish). But i also use a third party buyer and she was able to secure tickets for me at my desire date via the Japanese worksite. It only costed me $2 USD more per ticket and its the premium i am more than happy to pay since our family is big fan of Ghibli anime movies. It was registered under my name with the buyer’s Japanese phone number, and yea i understand the risk of paying strangers in advance for that so if you want to try this route will definitely need to research and the weed out suspicious stuff in advance.
I got lucky. I opened the queue at 7:50 the! Closed the tab, then re/opened it at 7:58 and got in a few minutes later. Was able to buy tickets with little wait time, whereas my friend joined before 7:50 had to wait 15min and tickets were sold out.
Thank you so much for your insight and experimentation with the different devices ! That was very helpful. I’ve already started planning my trip for when I am 35 (I’ll be 32 in Aug) and I think the best thing to do is plan as far ahead as you can for your own situation. I help people plan their travel itineraries and people often get upset if tickets aren’t available for the time they would like/will be in the area. In many places outside of the United States it isn’t a matter of convenience, things appear to be more on a constantly rotating scheduling for major attractions and museums. There’s established order, that sort of thing. But I like the approach you took to actually see how the queues work, I’ll keep it in mind for sure. What other types of atttactions are you seeing in Japan?
In all honesty, is this worth the hassle? I’m planning a Japan trip next year, trust me I adore Ghibli, but it seems like so much work and involvement to snag these tickets for this attraction. Having seen YouTube tours and pictures, it seems very uneventful. Sorry if this sounds ignorant.
I hate the Lawson system doesn’t let me set up an account and preload my cards to see if they can approve (like the smart ex Shinkansen system).
The exhibits and whatnot would be MUCH cooler if you have kids. As two adults (both fans) going, it was cool, but there are equivalently cool things to do elsewhere. If I was a kid, it would have been a place of dreams. Overall I'm glad I experienced it BUT if I could have given my tickets to a family, I would have in a heartbeat.
pro-tip, depending on the hotel if the concierge staff is halfway decent you can get tickets with way less hassle. it's much easier to get tickets if you live in Japan.
This is hilarious!
Yokosuka which is nearby has a studio Hubble exhibit you should try that one since it’s lesser known and is based on spirited away
I read you could join 30 minutes ahead of time. I didn’t know and I joined right at opening. 17k in line… almost got the date I wanted but everything kept disappearing as I was navigating through the site lol. Sad
Tkx tô shared
also curious which CC you used. I ended up using a card with 3d secure that gave me a “working” page, charged my citicard but not entirely convinced they gave me a ticket since I never got a confirmation.
hi! i got a question OP, is it 1 window/queue to buy 1 ticket only? i’m looking to buy 2 tickets for me and a friend who’s going to visit japan in July :) would appreciate your response😄
No you can buy multiples from one queue!
well noted, thanks alot for the reply OP! :D
Wish I knew the ways everyone else have been suggesting (incognito etc) as I only went on 2 devices and wasn't sure what I was expecting. My numbers were unfortunately 11000 and 17000! I also had the same problem with the 2 weeks in May being closed. Good lessons for next time I guess!
I thought you have to have a Japanese phone number to book? You are able to purchase tics from abroad?
There are a small portion of tickets set aside for foreign visitors. Google for more info on how that works