KidZania is an indoor mini-city built for kids inside R City Mall, Ghatkopar West. When I first heard about KidZania from my friend, I knew nothing about it. We just went with our friends and experienced a unique kids’ play area that was definitely not just an educational one; kids loved it too.
Ticket pricing and Timing durations
A full-day pass is available, but I took two tickets online before reaching the Mall. This ticket’s duration was five hours. A ticket for my seven-year-old was rs.1550, and for me it was ₹700. Time of opening is 10 AM to 8 PM we were some of the first ones to enter and we found KidZania pretty much empty and we were able to enjoy the area much longer before all the crowds came in around 12 or one or 2 o’clock once you bought the tickets, the team will give you and kids a RFID wristband which is going to help you find them in case they went to another activity.
If your kids are big enough, like 7 years old, you can let them have fun on their own while still keeping an eye on them. With the tracking band, the staff also gave a cheque for 30 Kidzos (KidZania currency). And yes, KidZania has its own currency. Kids are supposed to encash this money at one of the banks inside KidZania. With this cash, kids can choose to spend it on any experience activity or work as a DHL courier or Dabbawala to earn money in the city.
Our kids chose to do a firefighter activity. Where first they took the money for the activity, which cost 15 Kidzos. So now our kids were left with 15 Kidzos for the other activities. We were not allowed inside for the briefing. But parents with younger kids, like 4 or 5 years old, can accompany their kids to the briefing. In KidZania, you will see some activities that require a certain height, and each activity has its own specifications as well. For the firefighter activity, kids were briefed first, then taken to their assignment: they rode on the firefighter truck. The truck circled KidZania and arrived at a hotel on fire. It was so much fun seeing them putting out the fire with those play guns attached to the ground and also chanting, “Fire Fighter KidZania”.
The educational benefits of coming to KidZania
In KidZania, kids learn how jobs work and how people get paid. Kidzania activities give kids opportunities to understand how the world of economics works. We earn and spend. And then we earn again to spend. We enjoyed many activities during our 5-hour visit. The kids were still active and wanted to stay longer to explore more here.
Staff and helpers at Kidzania
The staff are very patient and very good at teaching kids what to do.
Choose the day of your visit carefully.
We were lucky that the day we chose to visit KidZania was free of school outings. If there is a school outing on the same day, then you won’t enjoy your time here. Kids will have to wait in longer lines to do the activities, and it will be very, very crowded to even see the stores and shops to choose from.
Food Section in KidZania
We never got a chance to sit and enjoy lunch or snacks over here. Kids kept running from one activity to another, keeping us on our toes.
But during lunchtime, I noticed all the restaurants in Kidzania were full. There was even a birthday celebration in one of the restaurants.
You can’t bring in outside food here. One thing to know is that the KidZos they earn inside are play money for activities, not currency you spend on food. Meals are paid for separately.
Age limit in Kidzania
The main activities are built for kids aged 4 to 16. If your child is between 2 and 4, there’s a separate toddler zone, but they won’t get the full run of the city. Under 2, entry is free since they’re just tagging along. One thing worth knowing — parents don’t go into the activity zones with the kids. You wait in the lounge areas while they’re in there on their own, with staff supervising. The toddler zone offers simpler activities for under-4s. I saw some big kids (teens) also enjoying many activities here.
Activities and zones in KidZania
Though I won’t be able to list all 100+ activities kids can do at KidZania, I can name some for your information.
Kids actually care about doing as many activities as they can. One of the activities I liked the most for my son was trying his hand at the Aviation Academy, flying a plane.
KidZania is a city designed for kids to play and learn about the city’s economy. There are stores built section-wise and dedicated to specific professions.
Some spending/Experience activities are :
Climbing for 12 Kidzos, and kids and parents must wear shoes for this one. There was one lady who wanted to do a climbing activity with her son, and she was wearing sandals. She asked me to give her my shoes so she could do the activity afterwards, and she was very happy with her performance. She later urged me to do the activity.
As I mentioned earlier, kids started their time with a firefighting activity, which was for 15 Kidzos per child.
Driving/Racing: Some activities required participants to be a certain height and age. Like driving classes. Kids over 130cm were supposed to learn to drive first, then get a driving license, and then drive in a car race or something. My son was very upset because he really wanted to learn to drive and race. For racing, do not visualise a long track or a short one with many turns. Check this out in this video.
Earning activities were:
- Make Ice candy – earning activity- 8 Rs.
- Do deliveries as a DHL Courier and a Dabbawala
Other professions to enjoy KidZania were,
- Dentist,
- Radio City FM Jockey,
- Mid-day newspaper journalism,
- At the Parle G factory, kids were allowed to work and learn how to make biscuits. They were allowed to take their produce with them, which was so nice for the kids; they were very happy,
- There were sections for greeting card making and Colouring,
- Pottery Barn to put their hands in the clay bowls and make something similar.
- Salon and
- apparel shops where you can earn or spend, both can be done, or
- become a florist or
- Animator.
- There’s also a Hospital, a Department Store, a Construction Site, a Courtroom for mock trials, a Bank where they can open an account and get a card,
Tips to enjoy Kidzania:
- I would suggest wearing shoes over here. You have a place to sit down, or you can find your kid’s locator, but it’s still a bit relaxing if you wear a shoe.
- Book online in advance because the offline queue moves more slowly.
- Go on a weekday if your schedule allows; it’s noticeably less crowded.
- Let them pick their own activities instead of planning them out for them. That’s half the point of the place.
- Look for activities that will pay the kids, since some experience activities are expensive.
- Kids around 7 years old and above will love this place more than younger kids, as they will understand the money movements and activities quickly and can plan to do the activity to enjoy this place.
- Make sure there is no school day out on the day of your visit.
- Be prepared to handle some meltdowns. Some kids can get rejected because of their height or something. And kids don’t like it.
- Let the kids wear good shoes to run around and take part in activities here.
Conclusion
Some may feel it’s expensive, but it’s worth the money. At the end of the day, if the kids still have some Kidzos left, they can buy something from the Kidzania shop for themselves and spend their money over there. This money is not useful outside Kidzania.