Sanrio Puroland - aka, Hello Kitty EVERYWHERE!

So, Japan is home to Hello Kitty which means naturally there is a Hello Kitty LAND! It has been on my list of places to take the kids since we moved here, but it is not easy to get to. You have to go to Shinjuku (aka, massive amounts of people, trains with little elevator access) and get on a JR train and go west of Tokyo. I just avoid Shinjuku at all costs unless I can ensure the hubs is with me to help me navigate. So, yesterday when my friend offered to drive us to Hello Kitty land on the downpour rain day we were having, I easily agreed. The thought of being in the small apartment all day watching the rain did not appeal to me, so off to Sanrio Puroland we went with our friends from BSF. Folks, it was a lot of Hello Kitty. And that is ok. When you go to Disneyland, you expect lots of Mickey and Minnie Mouse. I expected lots of Hello Kitty at Hello Kitty land. What I did not expect were the amount of couples there on a date, sitting in each others' laps during the main parade. I also did not expect grown adults there, by themselves, getting annoyed by children standing up in front of them so that they could not see the parade and video it. Let's just say many Japanese people love their characters and they take them VERY seriously. Hello Kittyland is mostly shows. They have one boat ride that is quite good, and we rode it 4 times! But that is about it. They have areas you can walk through where the characters are making juice or ice cream, and if you turn around you will find a juice or ice cream vending machine to buy some for yourself. The shows are not Broadway...in fact the Kitty in Wonderland show reminded me of Hello Kitty meets Las Vegas, but not in a good way. My friend heard that the dancers do some risky moves to keep the fathers a bit entertained for the day. I could see that in the performance. But my kids loved it and we had fun. We got to check it off our list and not change trains in Shinjuku or get wet in the process so that was an added blessing.