KidZania Manila has been on our places-to-visit-soon list for some time now. After seeing how much fun our kid had during a KidZania Zoom event, we decided to go ahead and visit them last weekend.
RATES
As of September 2017, the KidZania rates (as found on their official website) are as follows:
| AGE | MONDAYS - FRIDAYS | SATURDAYS - SUNDAYS (AND NATIONAL HOLIDAYS) |
|---|---|---|
| KIDS (4-17 years old) | Php 900 | Php 1,100 |
| TODDLERS (1-3 years old) | Php 500 | Php 600 |
| BABIES (below 12 months) | FREE | FREE |
| ADULTS (18 years old and up) | Php 630 | Php 770 |
ENTRANCE AND PARKING
KidZania is located at Park Triangle. The entrance is on the ground floor. If your taxi/Uber/Grab drops you off at the 11th Avenue entrance, just go inside, past McDonalds and look for the entrance on the right. If you're bringing your car, there's an underground parking area. You have to enter Park Triangle via 34th Street, and keep your eye out for a turn on the left side. This is the way to the underground parking.
KidZania's website offers more detailed directions (for getting there via car, bus, MRT and jeepney), should you need it.
BOARDING
After passing through the security checkpoint, you will go through a small hallway and emerge in the boarding area, which looks like Cebu Pacific's airport ticket counters. [Note: In the interest of safety, I have pixelated the faces of the children (including mine) who are in some of the pictures in this blog post.]
This is where you buy tickets or have your tickets verified if you bought your tickets online or through Ticketworld. After paying for (or verifying) your tickets, you will receive a boarding pass and a check for 50 KidZos (the official Kidzania currency), which you can encash at the BPI inside KidZania.
You and your child will also both be given an RFID security bracelet. Your child's bracelet will be matched with yours. At each activity station, before their cycle starts, the kids have to check in at the station using their RFID bracelets.
You will then go to a check-in counter where you will present your boarding pass. The ticket counters open at 8 A.M. but the main KidZania area doesn't open until 9 a.m. (10 a.m. on Sundays) so if you arrive and check in before 9 a.m., you will be led to a holding area.
Once KidZania opens, you go up the escalators or stairs and turn left. Then just keep going until you reach the main KidZania area.
After passing through the entrance, where there's another guard stationed, the first establishment on the left is where you can get your PaZZport.
PAZZPORT
When you sign up your child for KidZania's B-KidZanian program, your child will receive his/her own PaZZport. Being a CitiZen and getting your PaZZport is optional, but it does come with perks, namely: discounts on redemption items at the Department Store, discounts at the National Store and Photography (souvenir pictures of your kid), earn more KidZos at earning activities, and spend less KidZos on training activities. For more information, you can visit their B-KidZanian website.
At each activity, your child will get a stamp on his/her PaZZport. Once their PaZZport is completely filled up, they'll get a new PaZZport and a PaZZport upgrade that comes with better perks.
PaZZport Application Process
If you didn't fill up the form online, you can fill up a small form available at the counter. You then hand the accomplished form and P250 payment to the KidZania PaZZport staff for processing. Another PaZZport staff will then encode the information you provided, take your child's picture, then print out the inside cover of your child's PaZZport.
The whole process actually doesn't take that long, but we were there for awhile because when the KidZania staff tried to scan my son's bracelet, she found out it wasn't working correctly so she had to leave to get a replacement.
ACTIVITIES TRIED
After the PaZZport office, we headed to the Fire Station, but by then the first cycle had already started. Prior to the trip, I made a list of the activities my son was most likely to enjoy and organized it so that we started with the ones he was most interested in first. (See ADDITIONAL INFORMATION section below for the chart I made.) Because his first choice wasn't available, we tried the Hospital - E.R. first.
Hospital - E.R. (Paramedic)
The Hospital (composed of the Emergency Room, Operating Room, and Baby Care Training Center) is located right next to the Fire Station. My son loves playing pretend doctor so I figured he would enjoy being a paramedic. I was right.
Before entering, the kids are given Green Cross vests. This is what the E.R. looks like.
The kids are taught first aid basics, and each child gets to try a different task which he/she will then get to do again in a practical setting later on.
After the lecture and mini training, they go on an emergency call. This is the fun part because they get to ride in the KidZania ambulance.
The kids board the ambulance which then heads to a patient in a different part of KidZania.
They will then treat the patient using the skills they learned at the E.R.
The kids then head back to the E.R. and my kid got his first photo op of the day. KidZania has official roving photographers who take photos of your child and you can get as many (or as few) of these photos of your child at the PikZ Station.
Fire Station (Firefighter)
After eating, we were finally able to try the Fire Station. This is a really popular activity and the slots filled up quickly, even when the previous group still wasn't finished.
Once all the 8 slots were taken, the children were moved from the waiting line to a small holding area. They were then given disposable hairnets. I loved that they gave these out at every food activity station and pretty much every station wherein they had to wear head gear.
They then go in, put on their coats and take a seat for the lecture.
After the lecture, there was a short cartoon video.
After the video, one of the KidZania Firefighter Instructors will alert them to a "fire" and the kids will all have to get their helmets and run to the fire truck.
Eight kids and one instructor (plus another one in the driver's seat) can fit comfortably in this truck.
The fire truck will then take the firefighters to a hotel inside KidZania that is "on fire," and they have to put the fire out.
Once the fire is out, it's time to head back to the station.
Aviation Academy (Pilot)
This is another popular activity.
There are actually two jobs you can choose from at the Aviation Academy: pilot and cabin crew. My son loves airplanes and pretending to fly them, so I figured we'll try the pilot activity first and try the cabin crew activity next time.
This is the entrance to the Aviation Academy training areas.
The pilot training area isn't visible from the outside (it's located on the left, up a small flight of stairs), but you can see the cabin crew training area here.
Parents' Lounge
The Parents' Lounge is located right next to the Aviation Academy. It's quiet, clean, and the chairs are comfortable. You can also buy coffee from the McCafe there. I didn't stay long, though, since I decided to check out the location of our next stops so we wouldn't waste time looking for them.
Ice Cream Factory (Ice Cream Production Engineer)
Some of the activities at KidZania have giveaways. That is, there are items that the kids get to take home. Most of these are the food-related ones, like the Ice Cream Factory. As you can see from the sign in the picture above, unlike other activities wherein there are no giveaways, kids can only participate in these activities once per day to give others a chance to get their own freebies. For this station, it was a vanilla ice cream cup.
The kids all get their own Magnolia vests to wear while inside.
The KidZania Ice Cream Engineer instructor teaches them about the ice cream-making process. The machine closest to the window is the best part for the kids, I think. They get to push a button, wait for a few seconds, and then their ice cream cup pops out of the machine. Very cool.
Snack Factory (Snack Engineer)
The session starts with a discussion and the kids each get to try a piece of Cheez Curls (?) each. I'm not 100% sure on the product since I couldn't hear the discussion but on the door of the Snack Factory, as with other food-related stations at Kidzania, there are allergy warnings for the products that the kids might/will consume.
Afterwards, they got to look at the machines and press some of the buttons. Unlike the Ice Cream Factory, though, the snacks didn't come out of a machine. They were each handed a small bag of Chippy, along with their KidZos and PaZZports.
It was also at this station that a KidZania staff told me that she added a sticker to my son's passport, and we just had to show that sticker at Via Mare (near the Fire Station) to claim a free bibingka.
Car Design and Dealership (Car Designer)
This activity station is located in one corner of KidZania, next to the Gas Station and near McDonalds.
In this activity, kids get to design their own car on a special program. The sign you can see in the picture below is standard at all KidZania activity stations so kids and parents can estimate what time to come back to the station so they can join the next activity cycle.
The kids also get a free printout of the car they designed. My son told me he chose the sticker for the car because it had a fire symbol on it (the Fire Station activity was still on his mind).
Gas Station (Gas Dispatcher)
My son really wanted to try the Driving School but he's below the minimum age for that activity. He decided to try the gas dispatcher job instead since the Driving School test is in the same place and he wanted to see the cars up close. They learned how to use the gas pump and clean the cars.
Mini Sensory Museum
We went to the KidZania Tiangge to find the Tattoo Studio but one of the KidZania staff told us that the Tattoo Studio is now the Mini Sensory Museum. The Mini Sensory Museum focuses on Filipino heritage and culture.
Vet Clinic (Veterinarian)
The kids are each assigned one (stuffed) animal.
First, they brush the animal's fur. Afterwards, they put a flea collar on the animals and give them medicine. Finally, the collars are taken off and they brush the animal's fur again before putting them back in the cage.
Window Washing (Window Washer)
My son wanted to try one more activity before leaving and this was the one he opted for. The Window Washing station is beside the Construction Site.
The also receive a window squegee and cleaning tools in a handy bag.
They then leave the activity station and head to the ABS-CBN Mobile Shop to clean its windows. I'm not sure if they always go there or different cycles visit different stores.
FOOD
KidZania doesn't allow visitors to bring in food except for certain circumstances. There are plenty of food options inside KidZania, though.
We bought food at the McDonalds Take-Out Counter and ate at a nearby table. We ate before the lunch rush, so there were still plenty of tables available.
Here's the free mini bibingka we got from Via Mare. It was really good.
PikZ Station
There are KidZania official photographers who go around to take posed pictures of the kids. You can buy printed photos or soft copies of all your child's pictures. If I remember correctly, 1 6R photo is P250. There are options to get 3 and 6 6R photos as well, but I forgot to take note of their price. You can also opt to buy soft copies of all the pictures for P1,500. I went with the multiple photo (basically 2-in-1 6R photo) since my son only had 4 photos. The quality of the picture was good and they give me a link to a free soft copy version of that file. The regular price of the multiple photo is P300 but I got it for P285 because my child had a PaZZport.
TIPS
1. If you can, go on a weekday.
This is for two reasons: ticket prices and shift schedules. Ticket prices are cheaper on weekdays. As for the shift schedule, from Monday to Friday, the KidZania shift is from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. On Saturdays, there are two shifts: 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. and 3 p.m. to 8 p.m. On Sundays, the shift is from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., but there might be a lot of people. You'll get more for your money if you go on a non-holiday weekday.
2. Try to arrive before 9 a.m.
Ticket counters open early so if you're there early, you can be at your first choice station almost as soon as KidZania opens.
3. You can wait to encash your check.
Kids are given a check for 50 KidZos at the ticket counter. The KidZos are used as payment for some of the activities. However, if your top choice stations aren't training activities (like the Aviation Academy) which require KidZos payments, then you can wait to encash your check.
4. Get a PaZZport.
It's P250, but worth it, especially if you plan on coming back. You get discounts at the PikZ station and National store and we got a free bibingka as well. :D
5. Bring something you can put your KidZos in so you don't lose them.
You can use envelopes or you can do like some of the kids I saw who were wearing ID straps with big ID holders which held their KidZos and PaZZports.
6. Some activities are very popular so try to line up early.
Also, try to take note when the next cycle starts. Just look for the red signs that the staff place in an easy-to-see place.
7. Eat a heavy breakfast before going.
Some kids might be too excited to eat well while there. Also, this way, if all the restaurants and food areas are packed, you can afford to wait a little while longer.
8. Read KidZania's City Codes and Guidelines before going.
There are plenty of important information here that you need to know before going so you can avoid potential issues. These include information on: ticket terms and conditions, appearance/dress code, security measures, prohibited items, and list of food and drinks you can bring in. It's a little long, but read it anyway.
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
KidZania provides a list of their activities on their website, but to make comparing and planning easier, I transferred the information into an OpenOffice Calc Worksheet. I have provided screenshots here to help you plan your trip too. I used the maps in The Filipino Homeschooler's blog post to plan the order in which we did the activities. Please note that I didn't include the two toddler areas (RightZKeepers' House and Kindergarten) here.
CONTACT DETAILS
KidZania Manila
Park Triangle
North 11th Avenue
Bonifacio Global City
Taguig City
+632 711-KIDZ (5439)
Facebook:
Collect all stamps and visas to get a chance to Fly to KidZania Singapore!— KidZania Manila (@KidZaniaManila) September 5, 2017
Visit https://t.co/H0BhLNowrE for more details! pic.twitter.com/TJVmoWLWrA
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