Originally Posted by
evergrn
Okay, in that case (assuming you've got 9a-9p), you're going to want to get to Huis ten Bosch by ~3.30p and stay as late as you can. You'll want at least 2-3hrs there before the sun goes down, but the real highlight is the night-time illumination.
As jib points out, not everyone may be into Huis ten Bosch. I completely get that, and I'd totally understand if you skip it. I will say that all the photos on his links make the place look a bit dead and uninspiring. If you ask me, I would describe the place as fun during daytime, romantic at dusk, mesmerizing at night. Plus the baumkuchen they sell there might be the best I've had anywhere.
So, we went to Huis ten Bosch - easy train side from Sasebo.
This was afternoon of a weekday and we were underwhelmed, but suspect we aren't the target audience. The place was dead. No one in line for tickets, no "oomph". There was a combo blaring out waltzes outside the restaurant in the square making it impossible to have a conversation, we were the only customers and there were maybe 2 people outside listening.
I think the main focus these days in on the theme rides, which are heavily into VR. We couldn't stay for the illumination since we had to be back to the ship.
I know the place has had a troubled financial history - at least one bankruptcy in hard economic times. We struggled to get the point of the Dutch part. Seems like a lot of pseudo-dutch architecture if the real appeal is a theme park. It wasn't a horrible day, but personally I have no need to go back.
It must have cost a boatload of money to construct, and we noticed many examples of deferred maintenance, tattered table umbrellas, peeling paint, rust, etc. There was, however, obnoxious pan-European music blaring out of loud speakers everywhere to the extent that you couldn't escape it. Even as we walked across the bridge as we left we repeated thought "we've finally passed the last speaker" and then there were always more.