Imagine a world where skies are always blue, there are no bugs or insects, no trash in the street, and kids run the town. Imagine if your child asked, “Can we play make-believe?” and you had unlimited funds (or very good corporate sponsorship) to create your own town. This my friends is Kidzania. I just spent the last 6 hours of my life visiting.

Part amusement park, part fantasy, part educational immersion. This place is like Fantasy Island for kids. Given my own travels to Disney, and Las Vegas and other places, I am now convinced if you paint a ceiling blue with clouds, you can freeze time. Svetlana and I had talked about doing this a while ago, but having never been to Kidzania before I had no idea what to expect. The boys had a school holiday today so we were hoping it being Wednesday and not a national holiday, it would be less crowded than say a weekend.  Svetlana purchased tickets for both Chase and Nikita online. Parents get in free. Evidently the place is so popular that to get weekend tickets you have to book at least 2 months out. When we first got there I was pleasantly surprised to see so many St. Mary’s Students also spending their free day at Kidzania.  Everyone I met who had been here before said they were not at maximum capacity, but I must tell you friends, it was still very crowded and we still had to wait. We saw quite a few people who were probably from out-of-town and spent the night to come here. They were rolling their luggage around.

Even though there are lines to wait in, they offer their own “fast pass” of sorts, where you can approach some of the pavilions and ask how long until the next session and they will allow you to reserve a spot on your ticket. Depending on the type of job you are performing you may be “paid” for your work (dentist, construction, store manager, etc…)  or you may have to pay to do the job (rock climber, getting a driver’s license, customer, etc…). They have their own currency and of course the “bank” will allow you to open an account. The attention to detail is incredible. Towards the end of our shift (you register for 1st shift 9am-3pm or 2nd shift 4pm-9pm) I realized there was a parent’s lounge upstairs. I’m sure I’ll get a chance to check that room out the next time I go. The place is incredibly safe and secure. I saw a lot of moms just park themselves at the food court and just hang while kids just ran around doing different things. I could type another 1,000 words about this place, but pictures are probably a better way to go.

Back to Adultzania tomorrow.

Until next time…