N has never been to KidZania before, so I thought it might be fun for him to visit it with his friend during the March school holidays. We opted to go on a Wednesday morning, as we thought it might be less crowded, but it was PACKED. Apparently, Friday afternoons and Sunday afternoons are less crowded, and you can call ahead to check if there are many school groups visiting on a particular day, so I’ll probably try to do that before our next visit.
This was a common sight everywhere we went
We bought our tickets online, so we just had to collect them at the “check-in counter”. Being total noobs, we preordered our lunches at the counter as well, because the lady told us that it would be more expensive inside. We thought there were no other food options inside, but when we went in, there were cheaper set meals from the same shop, as well as a pizza shop, burger shop, donut shop, and two bread shops (I think). The meal we preordered was really sad, but now that we’ve learnt our lesson, we will not preorder our meals again.
Our really sad-looking lunch
Since it was both boys’ first KidZania experience, we were given the option of getting them paZZports, which cost IDR85,000 each. They could use the paZZport to collect stamps when they complete each station, and I think they earn extra KidZos with the paZZport too.
There was no queue at the paZZport office upstairs, probably because we were early (we got to Kidzania at about 915am), so the boys got their paZZports really quickly, and headed to the bank to cash out their cheques.
Getting their paZZports
With their paZZports and cheques
Cashing out their cheques
It was a bit overwhelming when we entered KidZania, and we didn’t know where to go first. As you can see from the maps, there are quite a lot of jobs available, and since it was our first time, we didn’t know what to expect either.
The Maps
N spotted the test driving centre, and made a beeline for it. We were told that he needed a driver’s license, which meant that he had to pay for his photograph to be taken, as well as a medical examination at the hospital nearby. He then got to do a round in the test driving centre, before they issued him his driver’s license. With that, he could participate in the car race, but it cost 20 KidZos! His friend decided not to go for the race, so N went on his own. He didn’t quite make the minimum height requirement of 110cm, but they decided to let him go for it anyway.
Can you spot N?
N was the second car throughout the first two laps around the race track, and on his final lap, he somehow managed to inch past the leader, and came in first. He was so happy, and I’m glad he went ahead to do the race even without his friend.
N wanted to be the cashier at Indomaret, the local minimart, but the staff gave the job to the older girls, and he was tasked to be a customer instead. He spent ages examining the items on the shelves, and finally chose a few items. I knew he thought that he could bring back whatever he bought, because he was picking his favourite drinks and snacks, and laughed when I saw how puzzled he was when he was sent out with only his paZZport and pay for his “job”.
At Indomaret
Next, the boys decided to be magazine sellers, which was a really simple job, because they just had to dress up, and walk around a little with a copy of the magazine. They were supposed to ask passers-by if they wanted to buy the magazine, but they obviously didn’t do that, and just returned to the booth a few minutes later to collect their pay.
Would you like a magazine?
We had our lunch break (refer to photo of the sad lunch we had) and the queue for the pilot job wasn’t too long, so they finally managed to be pilots. It was their absolute favourite activity, and we couldn’t see what they had to do, except from the TV screen downstairs. Apparently they had to pull some levers, and “fly” the plane for some mission, but they said it was super fun, and wanted to go again. Unfortunately, the queue had gotten quite long again, so we convinced them to try some other jobs instead.
Mini pilots
The window panes at the Cleaning Master station were way cleaner than all the other windows around, because there were so many kids taking turns to clean them. The boys went up in a mini gondola, sprayed water on the window panes, and cleaned them enthusiastically.
Window cleaners
There are quite a few jobs available upstairs, and the queue at IndoMie wasn’t too long, so they went to make noodles. N had fun squishing the noodle dough, then putting it through the noodle maker. He was also quite fascinated by how the noodles were cooked and sealed into packets, but they didn’t get to bring the noodles home with them. But then again, I’m not sure if I’d dare to eat the noodles that he made!
Squishing the noodle dough
The good thing about KidZania Jakarta is that there’s a countdown clock outside each station, so you’ll know how long you’d have to wait. The mums tried getting the boys to try jobs that didn’t require them to wait too long as far as possible, but that also limited their options, because they kept walking around to see what other jobs were available. KidZania closes at 4pm on weekdays, so they didn’t have much time to do that many jobs by the time they got used to the whole idea of KidZania. The last job they did together was the book-making one, and N loved being able to design his own book cover. He also got to bring his own book home, and he spent a lot of time drawing pictures and writing his own story in it.
Waiting to design his own book cover
The queue for firefighters was perpetually long, but it was slightly shorter at closing time, so N joined the queue. Each round could only take eight kids (I think), so the wait was still pretty long. The kids got to put on the uniforms before watching a safety video, then rode the firetruck to put out the “fire” at the nearby hotel. N had a lot of fun aiming the water hose at the various “burning” windows, and I think all the kids loved that part too.
Firefighters
We tried bringing the boys back to the pilot station again, but it was closed for the day, so we decided to leave as well. There were so many other fun jobs that they missed, so it looks like we’d have to come back again! I think I’ll try to bring him during the supposed non-peak periods, ie Friday or Sunday afternoons, and see if it is really less crowded then.
******* KidZania Jakarta Pacific Place L6 – 601 Sudirman Central Business District, Jalan Jendral Sudirman No.52-53, Jakarta 12190 Mon to Thu: 9am to 4pm Fri to Sun: 9am to 2pm (Session 1) / 3pm to 8pm (Session 2) Website HERE
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