(Daddy reviews)
Remember the 'Wave Rider' video clip that I posted one week back, which showed the 2 monkies sliding down one steep blue wave slide?
Well, this adrenaline-inducing slide can be found at Singapore's newest indoor playground - Amazonia, at Great World City Level 3 which is open from 10am to 10pm. I think it has only been open for about 2 months and the fact that its website isn't even up yet at the time of writing shows how new the place is.
Rather than have the boys bouncing off the walls in my house (and driving me nuts in the process), I would love for them to expend their energy elsewhere. But in a safe and confined environment.
And so, I was eager to bring them down to Amazonia to check out the place. Naturally, the boys have no reason to object.
The place sure does look big enough - with a jungle-themed super playgym for those aged 4 years and above, complete with an 8-metre high wave slide as its main kids' magnet.
As for the 3 years old and below, there is a dedicated toddler play area with toddler-friendly play equipment like a ball pit and a giant musical keyboard.
Admittedly, the boys didn't pay too much attention that particular play area since they were too big for it anyway but more importantly, they were itching to go onto the wave slide!
No prizes for guessing which play feature ended up as their fave then.
The look on their faces said it all, and it made me want to go on the slide as well. Bummer.
I had to peel the boys away from the wave slide to explore the other parts of the Play Gym.
Well, they have the mandatory ball pit enclosure.
And also, the twisting and winding slides which one has to scurry up high in order to reach the slide mouths.
I risked life and limb to scramble upwards and downwards in the play structure - just to snap shots of the monkies in action. It was no mean mean feat for a man of my size squeezing through the obstacles if you must know.
But I stopped short of following them down the spiraling slide.
I was afraid that I might get stuck somewhere in between. Now, that would be way too embarrassing.
There was the standard trampoline area too.
As well as the rest of the other gym structures which had the boys scampering to and fro. Far ahead of me no less.
A unique feature of Amazonia is that it has two other separate play areas for kids to indulge in as well. I use the term indulge because these 2 areas have charges that are ON TOP of the the entrance fees. And with regards to the fees, I will comment on that later in this post.
First up - the 3D Glow Golf Putters.
Billed as "the first of its kind in South East Asia", this 3D Glow In The Dark Golf game features 9 holes and a range of 3 different themes - Marine life, Pirate Adventure & Dinosaurs.
I have to say, the effects were pretty well done - the putting holes came complete with props that are motion and sound activated, like the Shark's mouth where the boys had to smash the ball through its mouth in order to reach the hole.
And I loved the 3D glow-in-the-dark ambiance inside, which was completely lost when I utilized the camera flash.
Okay, non-flash mode certainly works better. Heh.
The Dinosaurs area, which had a full-bodied moving & roaring dinosaur, was probably the boys' fave area. And it was where they put their last ball, as they made their way to the second feature of Amazonia - Spaceball.
It's a classic versus shooting game, where up to 5 players on each team load up their air guns with foam balls and attempt to shoot target boards located above the opposing team.
The battle rages on for 5 minutes, and whichever team scores the most number of hits will be victorious.
Shooting. Guns. Competition. Hardly surprising that the monkies enjoyed themselves tremendously then.
I also caught a glimpse of the party area, where bookings for Birthday Parties are held. And it does look pretty nice, with a prince's castle and a princess' castle etched on either end of the room. Don't think the packages come cheap though. :P
The boys were beginning to miss (!!!) the wave slide after their golfing and spaceballing sessions. So it was back to the main gym area for some top-to-bottom fun again.
2 hours whizzed by pretty quickly, and what have the monkies got to show for after all that play?
A head full of perspiration. Eeew.
But I'm pretty sure they enjoyed themselves tremendously. :)
And the price of fun?
Entrance fees for those 3-12 years is $30 for 2 hours while for those between 3 months to 3 years, it is $20 for 2 hours. It is certainly more expensive than the Polliwogs, Fidgets & Go Go Bambinis.
As for the extra charges for the Golf Putters & Spaceball game:
Putters - Child $15 (9 holes) Child $22 (18 holes); Adult $18 (9 holes) Adult $30 (18 holes)
*Current Promotion - Second person pays 50%.
Spaceball - $5 per pax for 5 minutes
*Current Promotion - Buy 1 game, get 1 game free.
Pricey? You bet.
Even with the current promotions for the Putters & Spaceball, 2 hours of playtime cost me $87.50. And that's excluding GST.
And so, my final verdict?
What I like about Amazonia:
- High fun factor, especially with refreshingly entertaining play features like the 3D Glow Golf, Spaceball and the ultimate 8-metre Wave Slide.
- Dedicated toddlers' area for those below 3 years of age.
- Cafe (with yummy food) situated right acorss the main Play Gym area, which makes it easy to watch over the kids.
What I don't like about Amazonia:
- Overpriced entrance fees. Fun as it may be, the entrance fees and additional charges for the Golf & Spaceball games may be a tad too much for the wallet.
- Adults being allowed to go on the Wave Slide with their children. It's not difficult to envision what th% consequence would be should a kid be unable to move away from the bottom of the slide fast enough and that an adult come crashing into the kid on his/her way down.
That said, the monkies did really enjoy themselves and have even declared it to be their favourite indoor playground by far. It's my fave too - my favourite 'once-in-a-blue-moon' treat for the monkies. Heh.