I love theme parks! I enjoy them ever since I can remember. It’s one of those places where you seem to enter a different world beyond the entrance gates. And it’s that time of the season once again where theme parks spark back to life. We may not have Disneyland in the Philippines but we do have Enchanted Kingdom which has been the country’s premiere park since it opened in 1995. It’s been almost a couple of years since my last visit, so I gladly took their invite on their Media Appreciation Day and see what has changed.
If you’ve been to other theme parks outside the country, Enchanted Kingdom is a lot smaller than the famous ones like Hong Kong Disneyland or Singapore’s Sentosa, but it doesn’t mean it doesn’t have the same FUN Value as other parks. Besides, it’s a lot closer with only 30minutes to an hour from Manila then a P500 pesos entrance fee for most of the rides inside the park.
You can only do so much in a theme park, once you’ve been there it can get pretty tiring, that’s why parks try to offer something new once in a while and attract revisits with gimmicks and events. Well EK’s got a new ride which got me real curious enough to join the visit. It’s the Ekstreme Ride which is quite similar to Genting Highland’s Space Shot which I really really enjoyed.
There’s an P80 fee for the ride. The ride opened just last October and it doesn’t have that long queue. Maybe it’s the additional fee or the fear factor of the ride but there were a few eager thrill-seekers excited to get in line like us. We watched excited faces as they get lifted up the tower and for a brief time hear them wail as it goes down.
I was looking forward to the ride and chose the seat with a good view. Then we were slowly lifted up and we get to see a lot of the park and Laguna. I was pointing out to Mt Banahaw when suddenly, in only a few seconds I was screaming as we were plummeting down real fast while my feet was flying up in the air. I think we left our souls up there for a while haha. It doesn’t have the yoyo effect of the Space Shot but it does have that scary surprise factor not knowing when it’ll go down.
Aside from the new ride, we also noticed the new mini games attraction similar to some moving carnivals or perya. Games where you shoot some hoops, get a ring on a bottle nose, pick a rubber duck for a prize, break a couple of plates, or dart some balloons. I don’t know when they started but it adds as a nice attraction to the place. We did try out few.
We still tried out a few of the familiar rides like the Wheel of Fate and Roller Skates in between snacks. We weren’t able to catch the fireworks since our shuttle bus ride leaves at 6pm. But it was a nice and fun afternoon here at Enchanted Kingdom. Despite being here for almost 15 years, it remains strong, which I think will be as long as there are people looking for some fun and thrill.
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Join our Backpack Photography Photo Tours and Workshops for early 2011. Banaue Photography 101 for beginners on February, Bewitching Siquijor Photo Tour on March 2011 and Batanes Island Hopping in April 2011
Ferdz Decena is an award-winning travel photographer, writer and blogger. His works has found print in publications such as Singapore Airlines’s Silver Kris, Philippine Airlines’ Mabuhay, Cebu Pacific’s Smile and Seair InFlight. He has also lent his expertise to various organizations like the Oceana Philippines, Lopez Group Foundation, Save the Children and World Vision, contributing quality images for their marketing materials.
