Kidzania is a must see in Kuala Lumpur with kids. It’s essentially a mini-city that’s run by kids, and they get to try out all kinds of jobs like airline pilot, courier, policeman, fire fighter, even making a burger and taking part in a fashion parade.
Here you’ll find all the info on visiting Kidzania KL including what to do there, how to buy Kidzania tickets, some top tips for your Kidzania Kuala Lumpur visit – including an amazing travel hack that will get you there for less than $2USD – as well as some recommended hotels if you’d like to stay nearby.
Contents
- 1 What is Kidzania?
- 2 How to buy Kidzania Kuala Lumpur tickets
- 3 Kidzos
- 4 Things to do at Kidzania Kuala Lumpur
- 5 Top tips for visiting Kidzania Kuala Lumpur
- 6 How to get to Kidzania from KL Sentral and back for less than $2USD
- 7 Hotels near Kidzania KL
- 8 The best places to stay for families in Kuala Lumpur
What is Kidzania?
The Kidzania concept in a nutshell is that kids get the chance to experience doing real life ‘jobs’ in a mini-town with different pretend shops, businesses and organisations. In return they get paid Kidzos for their efforts. It’s a wildly successful operation that’s now in many cities around the world.
Kidzania is a fun way of learning about different occupations and concepts along with the value of getting paid! The concept was apparently dreamed up by kids and started in Mexico.
Kidzania is aimed at kids from 4-14 years old, but there is also a section for children aged 2-3.
There are now Kidzania branches all over the world including Kidzania Bangkok, Dubai, London, Tokyo, Singapore and various places in the USA.
How to buy Kidzania Kuala Lumpur tickets
There are a number of ways to buy tickets for Kidzania KL. You can purchase your tickets at the entrance, or online directly from their website.
But it’s worth looking around as you can often find Kidzania discount tickets or Kidzania 2 for 1 deal. Other places to find a Kidzania discount include:
- Klook
- Kidzania Groupon discounts (Groupon Malaysia is now known as Fave)
- Air Asia also have Kidzania promo from time to time, particularly if you have flown with them and have a boarding pass, so it’s worth keeping an eye out.
Kidzania entrance fee
Non-discounted Kidzania tickets have a tiered pricing system as follows (correct at June 2017):
- Under 1’s – free
- 2-3 years – RM41.00
- 4-17 years – RM85.00
- 18-59 years – RM41.00
- 60+ – RM35.00
Kidzania KL opening hours
Monday: Closed
Sunday – Friday: 10am – 5pm
Saturday, Public Holiday & School Holidays: 10am – 7pm
Ramadan: 10am – 4pm
(Hours correct as at June 2017)
When we visited we bought our tickets online and arrived bang on opening time at 10am. It was pretty straight forward to get a scannable bracelet attached to us all – kids so they knew which parents they belonged to and also so the official photographers can scan the endless photos they take, all for you to buy at the end of the day.
Checking in at Kidzania Kuala Lumpur
Kidzos
Kidzos are the official currency of Kidzania. You earn Kidzos when you work at jobs and spend them to buy services and goods. After check in at the front desk it was time for the kids to cash in their Kidzo cheque at the bank, and we figured out straight away that it really was all about the kids as no adults are allowed to accompany them into the activities.
If they need any help, the Kidzania staff do it all. It’s a nice break for parents and good for boosting kids confidence and independence!
Cashing their cheques to get some Kidzos
Back off now adults, kids run the show here
The other thing that was immediately obvious is it’s a marketers dream – every job/activity is branded and sponsored by a company, get ‘em while they’re young 😉
Things to do at Kidzania Kuala Lumpur
Flight simulator and flight attendant
Armed with Kidzos, we headed to the first activity which was upstairs to the flight simulator. We’d read that this is VERY popular, so went there early on in the day. Again no parents allowed, however they have CCTV installed so you can see what your little darlings are up to inside. Jack had his heart set on being a pilot and having a go on the flight simulator, but he must have bottled it inside as he ended up being a flight attendant with Sophie, awww.
They got to wear Air Asia uniforms, do the safety message and hand out the food to the ‘passengers’ (other kids). 20 minutes later they came out all smiles and ready to head to the next activity. No photos of this one because only the ‘official photographer’ is allowed in aka you have to fork over $7 USD if you want a photo of your kid….
Entrance to the Air Asia flight simulator, with CCTV for parents outside
Fashion model and catwalk show
Next up was being a fashion model and taking part in a runway show for Sophie. They actually did this inside a big theatre, so again a good confidence boost getting up on the stage with all the lights and music with parents as the audience.
Lining up on the catwalk
Striking a pose
Here’s a wee video of the catwalk:
Make your own burger
By this time it was nearly lunch, so we went to the hamburger restaurant where the kids got to make their own lunch. For this activity they had to pay to participate, so they were quickly learning about how you have to ‘work’ for money in order to ‘spend’ it.
Making chicken burgers for lunch
Intense concentration despite the hairnet coming down over his eyes!
Art school
After lunch it was a quick stop into art school where they both painted a nice painting.
Budding Picassos
Then Jack went off to do some house painting – you literally get to paint a house all dressed up in overalls.
Beauty salon
Sophie found the beauty salon. And proceeded to spend the next 1.5 hours there, first as a customer getting makeup done, then as a worker doing another customer’s make up twice, then as a customer again getting a manicure. This does not bode well for the future!
Being a customer getting her makeup done….
Then as a worker doing someone else’s makeup
And just enough time to get a manicure done
Firefighter
One of the main attractions was being a firefighter, and this was in hot demand and the longest queue we waited in all day (40 minutes). The main reason is not only do you get to dress up as a firefighter, but you also go in a fire engine complete with lights and siren to the other side of Kidzania and put out the ‘fire’ at the hotel with real life hoses. Both of the kids really enjoyed this.
The fire station
Getting a briefing and uniforms issued
Quick, the alarm’s gone off! Jack jumping on board the fire engine
Putting out the fire with real hoses and water. Note the “police” blockade at the scene also responding to the emergency
Here’s a little video of the firefighters in action!
Paramedic
From there it was time to be a paramedic, with Jack acting as the patient and Sophie and another kid the paramedics. He had fake blood put on him and had to be unconscious – a part he played very convincingly. He got patched up by the girls and off he went.
Doing a great job of being an unconscious patient. Note the *blood* on his arm that needs patching up
Soph with the stethoscope checking he’s still alive. “Mum I could really hear his heart beating!”
Nurse
Continuing with the medical theme, it was time to go to the hospital where they were both nurses and gave a ‘patient’ (a mannequin) an injection apparently.
Main entrance to the Kidzania hospital
Scientist
Then it was time to do some science, so they went and learned all about vitamins and how they are made.
Little scientists learning that acid turns litmus paper red
Making vitamins. Jack’s coat is a wee bit too big 🙂
By now it was nearly closing time, so we squeezed in one last activity.
Jewellery designer
Sophie was a jeweller and got to make her own bracelet.
Jewellery designing
Courier
Jack was a courier and delivered some parcels to some of the different businesses around Kidzania.
Man on a mission
We left when it closed at 5pm, a very full on but wonderful day 🙂 There were still a bunch of jobs we didn’t get to try – police officer, lawyer, magician, street performer, engineer – but we got to try out some different activities when we visited Kidzania Bangkok.
Things for parents to do
One of the beauties of Kidzania is that no adults are allowed – which means your kids get a true chance at independence and you get a rest 🙂 There is a great parents lounge at Kidzania Malaysia where parents can grab a coffee, chill out, read the paper or even sit in a massage chair!
You’re also welcome to watch your children perform in the various shows, and there are a couple of activities which are normally for parents/guardians and children.
One of the town squares at Kidzania
Top tips for visiting Kidzania Kuala Lumpur
-There are discounts on entry cost if you book online. We also got a special Chinese New Year deal that gave the kids some extra Kidzos and entry for one adult and one kid for 88MYR ($21 USD). It says on their website that they charge a printing fee if you don’t print the online voucher off, but we just showed the email on our phone and it was fine.
-You can take in water but not food. We had a few snacks that we were going to take in but they search your bag in the way in and we had to pay 5MYR to store it in a locker! To be fair, we thought the food prices inside are fairly reasonable and they don’t price gouge you like they could. There isn’t all that much variety though and the food is a bit average, so have a big breakfast before you go!
-The most popular activities on the day we went were the flight simulator, firefighter and milk processing plant (being from New Zealand where we’re inundated with cows and milk we didn’t do this one!). So go to these ones first.
-It was quiet until about 12pm and then it got very busy in the afternoon, so get there for opening time if you want to pack in as much as you can in one day.
-The official photography is great but expensive. We chose one photo of the kids when they were doing their hospital stint, from about 15 that were taken and were all beautiful, but they work out to be about $7 USD each, ouch.
-If your kids are older (teens) you can actually leave them at activities and there’s a great parents lounge which kids aren’t allowed into that serves half decent coffee, has comfy chairs, WiFi and a stack of magazines.
-You may need to split up if there is more than one adult and child. Some of the activities that Sophie wanted to do weren’t age appropriate or not interesting to Jack, so we’d split up for an hour or so.
How to get to Kidzania from KL Sentral and back for less than $2USD
Where is Kidzania? Well it’s located in the north of KL, next to The Curve Kuala Lumpur – a giant shopping mall. A few things we read and were told is that you really have to take a taxi to get there and back. But that costs anything from $15 – 30 USD return and is apparently open to dodgy taxi drivers taking you for a ride (excuse the pun) and charging unsuspecting tourists more than that to get back to town from the ‘burbs.
Being the cheap budget conscious travellers that we are, we found a way to get there and back for less than $2USD from KL Sentral station! It wasn’t easy to figure out with a distinct lack of signage, so I took some photos to make it easier for you if you want to give it a go:
Step one: From KL Sentral station, take the Kelana Jaya train line to Kelana Jaya (it’s the last stop as it’s the end of the line). Cost is $3.40 MYR (81c USD) per adult and kids are free. Or if you’re coming from KLCC it’s $4 MYR (95c USD) and further 4 stops on the line.
Train on the fast, clean Kelana Jaya line
Step two: Go into the shopping centre that’s there and find the overbridge that crosses to the opposite side of the road. DON’T go downstairs to the bus station there. You’ll feel like you’re waiting on the side of a highway but this is the right place. (a local had to help us with this bit as there was no signage).
The Kelana Jaya station and shopping mall on the left hand side. Walk across this overbridge to the other side of the road.
Not much of a bus stop!
Step three: Take the FREE IPC shopping centre bus to the IKEA centre that’s opposite the Curve shopping centre and adjacent to Kidzania. We got the 9am bus and were there in plenty of time for Kidzania opening at 10am – the bus itself only takes 10 minutes! You can find the IPC bus timetable here.
The free IPC Shopping Centre shuttle bus.
This is where the bus stops outside the shopping centre and the IKEA. Kidzania is opposite the Tesco superstore, about a 200 metre walk from the bus stop.
To get back at the end of the day, do the reverse steps as above 🙂
All up it took us about 45 minutes from KL Sentral to get to Kidzania which wasn’t bad considering it was the end of peak hour and would probably take you that long in a taxi. On the way home we had dinner at the Curve shopping centre and caught the 6pm shuttle bus back to Kelana Jaya.
Let us know if you give it a go!
Hotels near Kidzania KL
If you want to stay close to Kidzania Malaysia Damansara to maximise your time there, here are some recommended family hotels nearby:
Royal Bintang The Curve
This 4 star hotel is a great option as it’s 300 meters to Kidzania and only 100 meters from all the shops, restaurants and entertainment that The Curve mall has to offer. It has great family rooms available with a bonus of 20% off admission price to Kidzania and free entry for 2 kids to the Royale Ice Skating (correct as at June 2017). It’s also got an outdoor pool. Click here for the latest prices.
Royale Chulan Damansara
Another great choice is this 5 star hotel that comes complete with an infinity pool, indoor ice skating rink and is a 5 minute walk to Kidzania. There’s also a kids playroom at the hotel. Family rooms also offer 20% off Kidzania admission and free entry for 2 kids to the Royale Ice Skating (correct as at June 2017). Click here for the latest prices.
The best places to stay for families in Kuala Lumpur
We are big Air BnB fans, and love having a ‘home away from home’ when we travel with our kids. We’ve stayed in a couple of fabulous apartments in Kuala Lumpur that we highly recommend:
KL apartment with amazing infinity pool
A very reasonably priced studio apartment that sleeps 4, with one of the world’s most amazing infinity pools on the rooftop that guests can use. This apartment is clean and reasonably spacious for a studio, and the kitchen is equipped with basics – great for breakfast but you probably wouldn’t want to cook a 3 course meal there! Food is so cheap in KL it’s actually better on your budget to eat out. It’s a 5 minute walk to the Putra mall with all amenities, and close to public transport to get you easily around KL. Oh and did I mention that pool?!
Want a $20 USD Air BNB credit? Click on this link when you’re booking and we both get a $20USD credit courtesy of AirBNB ?
Amazing infinity pool at Kuala Lumpur Air BnB apartment
View the KL Air BnB apartment here.
Izumi Hotel, Bukit Bintang
This was the very first hotel we stayed at in KL and a great mid-range budget option. It’s in a great location right next to the shops and hustle and bustle of Bukit Bintang. It’s a short walk along the street to the famous food street Jalan Alor. The hotel is clean and the beds are extremely comfortable. It was also very close to public transport for getting around.
Click here to view prices and book.
Our comfortable bed at Hotel Izumi, Bukit Bintang, Kuala Lumpur
Street vendors at Jalan Alor Food Street just around the corner from Hotel Izumi, Bukit Bintang.
Impiana KLCC Hotel
For a prime location next to KLCC shopping mall and the Petronas Twin Towers, you can’t beat the Impiana KLCC Hotel. We’ve stayed here a couple of times and the location is so handy for everything. It has an outdoor pool, spa, family rooms and is super close to the KL Aquaria, the amazing playground at KLCC and the wonderful nightly sound and light show at the fountain.
Click here to check prices and book.
The fabulous playground at KLCC near the Hotel Impania
We’d love to know if you end up visiting Kidzania KL and please tell us of any handy hints you come across!
Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links. This means that if you make a booking after clicking on one of these links that we receive a small commission at no extra cost to you.
