If I recall correctly, the last time we were in Enchanted Kingdom was in 2011, when my brother graduated from college.

In November, we were invited to a birthday party at Enchanted Kingdom. Addis, the son of our friends Adam and Tin, was celebrating his birthday. Only then did we realize that EK offered party packages!

I was coming from a trip, but I knew Lucas would really enjoy it, and we hadn’t seen Adam and his family in a long time, so we accepted the invitation. We showed Lucas some YouTube videos of EK, and he was really excited.

The party was at the Midway Boardwalk part of the park, in a function room beside Anchors Away (park map). I didn’t notice if there were other function rooms in other parts of the park.

An EK party is pretty much like a fastfood restaurant party. There are packed (in this case, plated) meals, a host, games and prizes, loot bags, mascots and a dance number. The tickets are available at the Group Sales office beside the entrance. When you go in, tell them whose party you’re going to, and your name should be on a list. They’ll give you your ticket, and you enter the park through the regular entrance. The program is pretty short, and after that the guests can go off to have fun all over the park.

Boulderville

The park is divided into smaller sections, with different kinds of rides and themes. One of the first ones Lucas explored was Boulderville, which is basically the Flintstones.

He had lots of fun climbing and sliding all over that playground, and I was pretty impressed at how quickly he went up that rope thing!

Roller Skater

Lucas and Addis wanted to try the rollercoaster, so we lined up for over an hour at Roller Skater. The boys were so excited, and even if we spent an hour with Oneal and Adam in line, they had fun talking and playing together.

The ride itself, though, was a whole other conversation. We discovered that Lucas most definitely does not like rollercoasters. It was a very simple rollercoaster, no loops or anything, just tilts and speeding up and down. One ride was two rounds of the entire circuit.

Just as the first one was ending, Lucas told me, “I don’t like it!” I had to tell him that we couldn’t get off in the middle of the ride, so he had to just close his eyes and hold my hand. As soon as the ride ended and he got down, he started crying. “I didn’t like it!” My poor baby. I had to hug him a lot. I told him, “You wouldn’t have known that you wouldn’t like it if you didn’t try it first, so I’m proud of you for trying.” He was upset and sniffling until he and Addis (and his sister, Athena) spent 15 minutes in the ball pit. That made him happy. (Addis was perfectly fine with the rollercoaster, though!)

“It feels funny in my tummy”

I was a little worried that Lucas would be too scared to try other rides, so we went on simple ones that were really for younger kids. We went on the Dinosoarus in Boulderville, and he had fun pressing the button that made us go up and down. He enjoyed it so much that I had to tell him to stop because I was getting dizzy!

Later on we also went on the Stone Eggs ride, also in Boulderville. Lucas had been on a bigger ferris wheel before, but he didn’t really remember, so I guess it was good to try again.

Both times he said that his tummy felt funny when we were high up in the air. It’s something he’s said before, usually when he’s on a swing and he’s going higher and higher. But he said he wasn’t scared, so I just told him that I felt funny in my tummy too, whenever we were going too high.

Bump N’Splash and Swan Lake

Lucas wanted to try many other things, like laser tag and go karts, but those required additional fees or had long lines, so we steered away from those. After the horror that was the rollercoaster, Lucas wasn’t interested in the Jungle Log Jam or the Rio Grande Rapids, but I was surprised that he wanted some other water rides. He and Oneal went on the Bump N’Splash when I needed to go off for a quick bite, and he had a lot of fun with that!

We also lined up for Swan Lake, which is hella exhausting. Oneal and I pedaled because Lucas’s legs wouldn’t have reach the pedals anyway. We told him to steer, but we kept bumping into the plants. We also had to make sure we didn’t end up under the waterfall, which is apparently what happened to Addis and Adam, haha!

Christmas at the park

Because December was approaching fast, that weekend happened to be the launch of EK’s holiday festivities. Late in the afternoon until evening, there was a show with musical guests and various performances. We didn’t really watch the show, but we could hear the music while we were at the different rides. Later in the evening, we made it to the stage area, and caught the lighting of the giant parol. We also saw the fireworks, and the lighting of the big Christmas tree!

Nostalgia

One of the things I always enjoyed at EK was the Rialto, so I was really happy to see it was still around. We tried to explain to Lucas that it was basically 4DX, and he was worried that it would be a bit like the rollercoaster ride, so he wasn’t very excited about it. But we gave it a try, and he was super happy!

I think it helped that the story centered around a family playing a video game, so he could most definitely relate.

We haven’t been to any sort of carnival or perya, so I was happy that Lucas got to see and try some of the games and challenges that you usually find at those events. He saw a rope climb challenge, and he was eager to try it. There was also a game at Boulderville which he tried, and he got a plush turtle!

And of course, you can’t go to a theme park without riding the carousel.

Amenities

To be honest I hadn’t really thought about EK much over the years, assuming it was old and boring. We were happy to find that the park was well-maintained. There were lots of staff at all the rides, ready to answer questions and to assist visitors. There were plenty of bathrooms all over the park, with staff keeping them clean and dry, and telling guests where other bathrooms were located, in case the lines were too long.

There were plenty of food booths here and there, with a variety of prices and options, from rice meals to snacks, and accepting cash and e-wallet payments (or at least GCash). The only problem I encountered was when I tried to get a snack from Belgian Waffles, and I found out that most items were no longer available because they’d run out. Another problem was that in the big food court near the laser tag building, I couldn’t pay with GCash because mobile data signal was bad.

There were also lots of small souvenir shops and kiosks, but I didn’t really check the prices. Lucas already got souvenirs from his loot bag, so he didn’t feel compelled to check.

I think there could be more park benches, since most of the time people visit the park with the whole family, and inevitably there will be tired seniors who need to rest. I also didn’t notice any ATMs, so that might be a problem for some.

So yeah, it was a pretty good day! The birthday party package seems like a good idea, but the ticket prices also aren’t bad, and there’s a PWD/senior citizen rate too. We’ll have to check Lucas’s height to see if he’ll still qualify for a Junior Day Pass next time!

And next time, I need a more reliable power bank so I can take more pictures!

PS: This is not a sponsored post!