As the summer progresses into the monsoon, parents look for evergreen and wholesome activities to keep their kids occupied while staying indoors. One such popular option in Delhi-NCR is KidZania, which is described as an interactive children’s entertainment space. However, truth be told, it is much more than just entertainment.
This indoor theme park seeks to educate children by allowing them to participate in role-playing activities inspired by real life. The space is built like a city, and functions exactly the way a city does, complete with transportation, a variety of businesses and governing aspects, and even its own currency to fuel its economy. Children enjoy the responsibility of play-acting as adults even as they learn new and essential life skills. The activities have been designed by educationists, experts and child physiologists so that each one hits home.
My son and I visited KidZania, Delhi-NCR a few months ago when we were invited for a birthday party there. When one is invited for a party, things are obviously taken care of, and one sees the space in its best avatar. However, I would still like to share my review of KidZania, Delhi-NCR in case you are interested in taking your kids there too.
Location:
KidZania is located in Noida’s Entertainment City, right next to the popular Great India Place Mall. It is easily accessible from Delhi by car or metro on the blue line. The nearest metro stop is Sector 18 from where you can take a rickshaw. If you are driving to the location, bear in mind that the parking is quite far from the actual entrance to KidZania, so you will have to park and walk quite a bit.
What’s on Offer:
The Main Concept:
As explained above, KidZania is an indoor theme park that seeks to recreate real-life activities for children. One enters into a simulated airport where everyone – children and their accompanying adults – are given passes (like air tickets) to proceed into the main centre.
Once inside, they can choose from a variety of different activities from private services, public services, entertainment, airline, automobile, retail, restaurants and factories. Kids play roles like being a pilot, detective, surgeon, engineer, TV producer, chef, RJ, and more. There are over 60 such role playing activities to choose from.
There are also some group activities that really appeal to kids such as riding the fire truck in their firemen costumes, being co-pilots on a plane, or learning how to drive on a simulator to earn their driving license.
Some activities are led by professionals in collaboration with brands who teach the kids the science behind the manufacturing of those particular products. Some examples of these include Frooti, Parle-G and Kinder Joy.
Games:
KidZania prides itself on offering absolutely no video games or mindless entertainment of that kind. Instead, they focus on creating a lively and engaging atmosphere through their role-play activities. However, there are certain things that adults can do to keep themselves entertained while their children have fun. A waiting area for parents offers a billiards table, carrom board and reading material.
Dining:
There are many options to choose from when it comes to dining. KidZania has a widespread food court like atmosphere so everyone can choose whatever they want. As we were invited to a birthday party, the menu was pre-fixed by our hosts, but everything tasted good.
Events / Birthday Parties:
Separate rooms are earmarked for birthday parties or other events. Hence, your guests can all sit comfortably, chat and eat in a separate room. It’s also where the kids assemble to cut the cake and eat their meals in the midst of all the action.
Ticket Prices and Opening Times:
The ticket prices depend upon the age of the child as well as the number of hours you are booking the slot for. The timing slots include 3 hours, 5 hours or full-day packages, and the highest priced tickets are for children between the ages of 4 and 16. It starts at Rs 1100 for 3 hours and goes up to Rs 1450 for a full day. Babies under 2 are free, and children under 4, adults and senior citizens pay discounted rates.
KidZania is open from Tuesday to Sunday from 10 am to 7 pm. It’s closed on Mondays.
My Review of KidZania, Delhi-NCR:
Before I begin my review of KidZania, Delhi-NCR, I have to put a caveat out there. I’m aware that many mom bloggers and mom influencers are paid to promote KidZania. I have not been approached by them at all, so this is my genuine opinion, even though I didn’t pay for the experience (having been invited for a birthday party).
Quite impressively, KidZania is a prominent brand across the world with branches in 29 cities of 22 countries including America, Japan, Korea, and others in Europe, Middle East and Asia. Its concept is really cool and should be applauded.
The whole process of entering the space is quick and seamless. Kids also get to keep ‘passports’ which can later be used in other KidZania centres in India or around the world. The activities are well-curated and will appeal to children with differing interests. Parents also need not get bored as they can keep themselves entertained with food and games and still keep an eye on their children.
However, there were a couple of minor issues that I did notice. Firstly, in the branded activities, there were limited spots for children at a time. These activities were timed and the slots would open up when the previous slot was about to end. Now, obviously excited children are not going to be willing to wait 20 minutes in line and waste time they could spend elsewhere. So my son and his best friends would turn up just 5 minutes before the slots were to open, and would sadly miss their turn every time. It was only after I spoke to the people at that particular kiosk quite sternly that they allowed them to go in. This problem can easily be solved with a list of names of who came first or a band that starts vibrating / lights up when it is the child’s turn.
Secondly, when you go in a larger group, some kids are obviously more skilled at certain activities than others. Hence, when some kids don’t make the preliminary cut for those activities, they end up being disappointed. A prime example of this was the driving test which was basically a video game – if you passed the video game (which obviously some kids were good at while others weren’t), you could drive, and if you failed it, you couldn’t. This can be avoided too or dealt with slightly differently by allowing kids who didn’t pass the test to do an easier driving track – after all, it’s all fake!
So, this is my honest review of KidZania, Delhi-NCR. Have you been there? Do you have anything to add to what I’ve shared? Do let me know in the comments below!
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This blog post is part of the blog challenge ‘Blogaberry Dazzle’ hosted by Cindy D’Silva and Noor Anand Chawla in collaboration with Dr. Preeti Chauhan.
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*This is not a sponsored post.
**Copyright in pictures and content belongs to nooranandchawla.com and cannot be republished or repurposed without express permission of the author. As I am a copyright lawyer by profession, infringement of any kind will invite strict legal action.
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