Studio Ghibli’s $ 100 million investment plan may not be enough to keep the Ghibli Park, one of the most ambitious theme parks ever built. This morning the Japanese newspaper Tokyo Shinbun reveals some new attractions coming in the near future, and the final design looks really amazing.
According to the newspaper, the government of Aichi Prefecture, Honshu has plans to build two more mini-areas within the Ghibli department store, as well as one Replica of Laputa’s airship – castle in the sky. Add to this the recent re-enactment of Howl’s Moving Castle and at least a few new unannounced attractions.
As for the two mini-areas, it has been confirmed that they will be used for My neighbor Totoro is Earwig and the witch. Below you can see the concept art of the first area, where we can see some houses, a big tree, a Gattobus and some attractions for children. The second will be much larger and will include Earwig and the Witch’s House, as well as a nearly 1,000-square-meter restaurant. A nice economic expense, which will be completed with the construction of the replica of the airship of 6.3 square meters.
Of course, this is just a small area of ββthe park that we remember that it is made up of five huge areas: the Ghibli Department Store, the Youth Zone, the Dondoko Forest, the Mononoke Village and the Valley of the Witches. The first three will be open from the opening (but it is not clear if they immediately encompass the two mini-ranges mentioned above) while Mononoke Village and the Valley of the Witches will arrive between 2023 and 2024.
Ghibli Park opens near Nagoya on the island of Honshu in Japan, and according to studio representatives around 1.8 million visitors per year are expected. The studio intends to expand the park cyclically with new attractions, even if it all depends on the payback period.
