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TeamLab Planets Tokyo with Kids: A Full Family Guide (Tickets, What to Wear & What to Expect)
- 7 hours ago
- 13 min read
We went into TeamLab Planets Tokyo expecting a crowded, slightly chaotic tourist trap, one of those places so hyped that it couldn't possibly live up to expectations. While we can't deny that it was busy, it ended up being one of our kids' favourite experiences from our five days in Tokyo and one of the standout attractions of our 100-day family sabbatical.
We certainly had our doubts before visiting.
While planning our 100 day family sabbatical, I spent far too much time reading Reddit threads debating whether TeamLab Planets was worth it or not. Some people called it overrated, others said it was the highlight of their Tokyo trip.
If you're trying to decide whether TeamLab Planets Tokyo is worth building into your Tokyo itinerary, especially with kids, this guide covers how to book tickets, what to wear (and what not to wear), tips for visiting with kids, and the practical details you should know before you arrive.
Having experienced it ourselves as a family, here's our honest review.
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Table of Contents
What Is TeamLab Planets?
TeamLab Planets was one of our favourite family experiences in Tokyo.
It's creative, interactive, a little bit weird, and exactly the sort of attraction that both kids and adults can enjoy equally.
More than anything, it felt distinctly Japanese, blending art, technology and imagination in a way that immediately got our girls excited about what else we might discover during our time in Japan.
TeamLab Planets is not your typical museum. The phrase "immersive experience" gets thrown around a lot these days, but in this case, it's hard to think of a better description.
Rather than simply looking at exhibits, you move through them. You'll walk barefoot through glowing water, lie beneath digital flowers, and interact with installations that change as you touch them.
Or, as our kids put it, "it was really cool."
It's one of Tokyo's most photographed attractions and, despite being busy almost all the time, we completely understand why.
How to Get There
TeamLab Planets is in Toyosu, which is a reclaimed island neighbourhood that sits a little outside central Tokyo.
It's not a difficult journey, but it does mean building in some extra travel time compared to attractions closer to where you're likely staying.
We caught the train from Shinagawa Station, which was close to our hotel, and found the journey nice and straightforward.
There are a few stations within easy walking distance of TeamLab Planets, so which one you aim for really just depends on which line gets you there with the fewest changes:
Shin-Toyosu Station (Yurikamome Line) - about a 1-minute walk, the closest option if that line works for your route
Toyosu Station (Yurakucho Line) - around a 10-minute walk, but generally the most useful station since the Yurakucho Line connects easily from several central Tokyo hubs
Shijoumae Station - roughly a 5-minute walk
We'd suggest simply plugging your hotel into Google Maps and letting it recommend the best route. Alternatively the official website does a great job of laying out all the different route options.
Tokyo's train network is excellent, but the most convenient station usually depends on where you're staying and where you're heading next. Later in this review, we'll also share nearby attractions and food options that pair well with a visit to TeamLab Planets.
How Much Does It Cost?
Pricing varies by age, visit date, and entry time, so you'll need to check the exact day you plan to visit rather than assuming a flat rate. Weekends and peak periods are generally more expensive, while the lowest-priced tickets are often available later in the day, closer to closing time.
Adults (18+): roughly ¥3,600-4,600, weekdays sit at the lower end, weekends and holidays at the higher end
Junior high & high school students: around ¥2,800
Children (4-12): around ¥1,500
Children under 3: free, though you'll still need to register them for a ticket, though you'll still need to register them for a ticket, and there must be one accompanying adult for every three children.
Disability discount: roughly ¥1,800 with a valid disability handbook
There is also a Premium Access Pass (around ¥12,000) that includes priority entry and lets you skip the queue outside. However, it doesn't give you priority once you're inside the exhibition.
Based on our visit, the queue took around 30-40 minutes, so the Premium Pass would have cost our family roughly an extra ¥6,000 per person to save that wait.
For roughly $200 CAD we didn't think it was worth it, but it may appeal if you're visiting on a tight schedule or during an especially busy period.
How to Book Tickets
This was actually one of the first things we booked for our Tokyo itinerary. Timed-entry tickets for TeamLab Planets regularly sell out weeks in advance, particularly during busy periods.
We knew that this was something we wanted to do so we secured our tickets months before we even arrived in Japan and were glad we did.
We booked through Klook, the same platform we used for most of our ticketed attractions across Asia. A few things worth knowing:
Don't try to buy on the day. Availability at the door is almost always sold out.
Check Klook if the official website is sold out. We found that tickets are sometimes still available through Klook even when the official TeamLab Planets website showed no availability.
Combo tickets are worth considering if you're also planning to visit Tokyo Skytree or Tokyo Tower. We found that Klook's bundle packages can work out cheaper than purchasing tickets separately, so they're worth comparing if either attraction is already on your itinerary.
TeamLab Planets is just one of several attractions in Japan (I'm talking to you Nintendo Museum!) that can sell out in advance. Check out our guide to the 10 kid-focused experiences worth booking before you leave home to avoid disappointment and make the most of your trip.
What to Wear (and What Not to Wear)
One of the unique things about TeamLab Planets is that you're not just looking at the exhibits, you're walking through them. Several installations involve water, mirrored floors, and soft or uneven surfaces, so what you wear can make a big difference to your experience.
What to Wear
Comfortable shorts, skirts, or trousers you can easily roll up are ideal. In the koi pond area, you will be walking through water that reaches roughly knee height on adults, so you'll want to keep clothing out of the water.
Note: The flooring has a soft, rubber-like surface and is not slippery.
Easy-to-remove shoes are also a good idea. You'll be barefoot for certain parts of the experience and you have to take off your shoes, but you will need shoes for the other areas. Easy slip on sneakers are perfect.
Comfortable, casual clothing works best. You'll be walking, climbing gentle slopes, and navigating uneven surfaces, so dress for comfort rather than fashion. Judging by some of the outfits we saw, not everyone got the memo!
What Not to Wear
Avoid long dresses, wide-leg trousers, jeans, or clothing that drags near the ground. There's a good chance they'll get wet in the water exhibits.
Be careful with short skirts or dresses. Several rooms have mirrored floors, and reflections can be visible from below. TeamLab provides free shorts to borrow if needed, but it's easier to plan ahead.
Skip high heels and sandals. You'll need to remove your footwear for part of the exhibit anyway, and sandals are not permitted in the Forest area. Shoes can be borrowed if needed, but comfortable, easy-to-remove footwear is your best bet.
Don't bring anything you can't carry securely. You'll be moving through dark spaces, water features, and uneven surfaces, so large bags can quickly become cumbersome. Cameras and phones are permitted, but that's about it. Selfie sticks and tripods are not allowed.
Trust us on this one: TeamLab Planets is far more enjoyable when you're dressed for the experience rather than for the photos.
The Three Exhibition Areas: Water, Garden & Forest
The museum is split into three distinct areas, Water, Garden, and Forest, and understanding that structure upfront makes the whole visit much easier to follow.
There are free lockers right at the entrance to the Water area, and this is where your shoes, bags, and jackets need to stay while you navigate the exhibit.
Some sections, like the water exhibits, follow a set one-way route, so you don't need to worry about missing anything or getting lost. You'll naturally pass through every room as you go.
That said, while entry times are scheduled, there's no time limit once you're inside. You're free to explore at your own pace and spend as much time as you'd like in each room.
Towels are provided after the water-based exhibits, so you won't be walking around with wet feet for the rest of your visit.
Water
This is where most people picture TeamLab Planets when they imagine it, and it's every bit as immersive as it looks in photos.
Drawing on the Water Surface Created by the Dance of Koi and People is the signature room, and one of the reasons that most people book in the first place. You wade through water while digital koi swim around your legs, scattering and bursting into flowers when they collide with you or the walls. Our girls could have happily stayed in this room all day.
From there, you move into the Soft Black Hole, which is a dark room with a soft, sinking floor that genuinely throws off your sense of balance. It's a shared, connected kind of space, where your movement affects the surface for everyone else in the room too, so the experience is constantly changing as people move around the room.
After leaving the Soft Black Hole, you follow a dimly lit corridor before arriving at The Infinite Crystal Universe. In this exhibit, tens of thousands of LED lights hang within a mirrored room, creating the illusion of an endless field of shimmering stars.
The Water area finishes with Floating in the Falling Universe of Flowers, which was amazing, if not a little disorientating! You lie back on the floor of a mirrored dome and watch flowers bloom and fall overhead, like a planetarium made entirely of petals.
I found it made me a little dizzy at first, but after a while I settled into it and found it quite relaxing actually.
Once you're done with Water, you'll head back through the locker room to collect your things before heading to the Forest section (there are separate lockers in that area if you need them).
Forest
The Forest area is the newest part of TeamLab Planets, added as part of a 2025 expansion, and it definitely felt more geared towards kids than adults. It's also, without question, the most hands-on and interactive section of the experience.
Our girls could easily have spent 2-3 hours exploring the different exhibits and moving from one activity to the next.
There's a separate locker room at the entrance to Forest, along with shoe rental if you need it (heels and sandals aren't allowed inside). You'll watch a short video before you're let in, and depending on how busy it is, there may be a short wait here too.
From there, you can choose between two spaces.
Catching and Collecting Forest is where our girls spent most of their time, and this was probably the most visually impressive exhibit for me. It's a beautiful space with colourful digital creatures roaming the walls, which you can track down and "collect" using an app on your phone. The fact that the girls were allowed to use our phones only added to the experience for them!
Athletics Forest is the more physical of the two, and is an interactive play area where you climb, jump, and slide through three-dimensional spaces. It felt noticeably more chaotic than the rest of the museum, and there were quite a few queues for some of the activities.
Think of it as a highly immersive kids' play area rather than a conventional art installation.
Garden
The Garden area is noticeably calmer than the Water and Forest section, and features one of TeamLab Planets' most iconic exhibits.
That exhibit is the Floating Flower Garden, a living orchid garden suspended from the ceiling, where the flowers rise and fall as people move beneath them. The orchids are constantly shifting, creating space for people to walk through the display.
It was wonderful to sit quietly in this room and watch the flowers move above us, and it was probably my favourite exhibit at TeamLab Planets.
Before leaving the Garden Area, you'll also pass through the Moss Garden of Resonating Microcosms, which is an outdoor moss garden dotted with reflective silver spheres and filled with drifting mist.
During the day, the mirrors create some great photo opportunities, but this is one exhibit that would be even more impressive after dark, when the giant "eggs" illuminate in different colours across the garden.
Nearby Attractions & Where to Eat After
As mentioned earlier, TeamLab Planets is located in Toyosu, a little removed from Tokyo's main sightseeing districts. Rather than simply visiting the exhibition and heading straight back into the city, it's worth planning a half-day around the area.
My guess is that most visitors arrive, experience TeamLab Planets, and leave again, but there are plenty of nearby attractions, restaurants, and waterfront walks to explore. We ended up staying much longer than expected and found several spots, including a fantastic food market just a short walk away.
Food Options
Vegan Ramen UZU Tokyo
If you're looking to grab something to eat immediately after finishing the exhibition, Vegan Ramen UZU Tokyo is located right beside TeamLab Planets and is actually located within the same complex. It gets some fantastic reviews on Tripadvisor.
We really wanted to eat there during our visit, but it was absolutely packed, which probably tells you everything you need to know. It's worth considering if you're looking for something unique and don't want to venture far from the museum.
Toyosu Senkyaku Banrai
Instead, we ventured a little farther for food and found a place called Toyosu Senkyaku Banrai, which turned out to be the perfect post-TeamLab stop.
Toyosu Senkyaku Banrai is a food and entertainment complex located near Toyosu Market, which has been designed to recreate the atmosphere of an Edo-period town. It's really nicely done and has traditional-style streets lined with restaurants, food stalls and cafés.
It does feel a little touristy, but for our family it was ideal. Everyone could choose exactly what they felt like eating, from yakitori skewers and taiyaki to fresh sushi and other Japanese specialities.
Read our dedicated blog post for over 30 kid‑friendly foods to try on your trip to Japan, as well as our guide to fun and unique food experiences for kids.
Toyosu Market
Just a short walk away is Toyosu Market, Tokyo's main wholesale fish market that replaced the old Tsukiji Market.
While best known for Tokyo's iconic tuna auctions, which require an early start, this market is also a great place for enjoying some of the city's freshest and most delicious seafood.
If you're timing your TeamLab visit around lunch rather than dinner, this is one of the best places in Tokyo to enjoy exceptionally fresh sushi.
Things to See Nearby
Exploring Odaiba
If you've got extra time, Odaiba is only a short journey away and pairs well with a visit to TeamLab Planets.
Highlights include the life-sized Unicorn Gundam statue, Odaiba Seaside Park, the LEGOLAND Discovery Center, and plenty of family-friendly shopping and dining options.
KidZania
We didn't visit KidZania ourselves, but having been to similar attractions in the UK and Canada, we know the concept works really well for younger children.
Kids can dress up and try a variety of real-world jobs in a child-sized city, making it a fun mix of play and learning. It's a great option if you have extra time in the area or need an indoor activity on a rainy day.
Urban Dock LaLaport Toyosu
If your family needs a break from museums and sightseeing, Urban Dock LaLaport Toyosu is a large waterfront shopping centre that has restaurants, cafés, shops, and indoor space to escape the heat or rain.
It's huge so there is plenty to do!
Practical Tips & FAQ
How long should you budget? Around 2-3 hours to see everything without rushing, longer if your kids get properly absorbed in the Forest area. The best tip is to keep it flexible.
What are the opening hours? Generally 8:30am or 9am until 10pm, making it a genuinely good evening activity if you want to see it at its most dramatic.
Can you bring a stroller? No, strollers aren't permitted inside. Bring a baby carrier instead if you're travelling with a younger child. Stroller parking is available outside the building, where you can secure your stroller with a wire lock.
What can't you bring in? Bags, shoes, and jackets all go into lockers before you enter, only phones and cameras are allowed, and tripods or selfie sticks aren't permitted. Locker dimensions are: 23cm wide x 34cm deep x 37cm high
Is it the same as TeamLab Borderless? No, they're different experiences. Borderless is more exploratory, allowing visitors to wander freely between rooms, while Planets centres on physical immersion, including the water exhibits.
Can you re-enter if you leave? Re-entry is not permitted.
Is it accessible for wheelchairs? Wheelchair access is available with accessible facilities and staff guidance, but some exhibits have restrictions or require transfer to a special wheelchair and a companion, while certain attractions and mirrored-floor installations may have limited access for safety reasons. A full room-by-room accessibility guide is available here.
What's the one QR code per booking about? Group bookings issue a single master QR code rather than one per person, so make sure whoever's holding the phone with the ticket stays with the group at entry.
Final Thoughts on Visiting TeamLab Planets in Tokyo With Kids
TeamLab Planets is unquestionably touristy. It's busy, heavily photographed, and firmly on most people's Tokyo must-do list.
But the more I've travelled, the more I've realised that attractions usually become popular for a reason.
So, is TeamLab Planets Tokyo worth visiting with kids? A lot depends on what you're hoping to get out of the experience. If you're focused solely on capturing the perfect Instagram photo or reel, it could become frustrating. For our family, though, it was two hours of laughter, splashing through water, and experiencing something truly unlike anything we'd seen before.
In fact, we'd visited Sengaku-ji Temple, home to the graves of the 47 Rōnin, earlier that day. It was a reminder of what makes Tokyo so fascinating: one moment you're immersed in centuries of history, and the next you're wandering through a world of interactive digital art.
If we were planning the same Tokyo trip again, we'd book it without hesitation.
For the rest of our time in Tokyo, take a look at our Tokyo 5-day itinerary.
We're a Calgary-based family that travelled for 100 days, documenting each step so other families can get an honest, real-life look at long-term travel with kids.
You can browse the full 100-day daily diary contents list here.
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