05 April 2015

A Soldier's Family at Enchanted Kingdom

After a heavy breakfast at Rowena’s, we travelled straight to Philippines’ happiest place — Enchanted Kingdom! Woohoo! Can you picture out the bouncing little brave girl shrieking in delight at the backseat of the car? She kept on asking us “are we there yet?” like on every stop, haha!


We finally arrived on our destination a little before 12noon but a few excited families have already began to pile up at the entrance. My guts told me that most were from the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) and R thought so, too. You see, it was November last year when EK announced that all AFP personnel can enter for free until October 31st of 2015. I believed that it was in celebration of AFP’s 79th founding anniversary. Wait, there’s more (in a sales pitch tone, of course)! Their dependents can enjoy 50% discount and up to 5 companions can slash off 25% on the ticket price. Isn’t that such a great news? Don’t forget to bring your dependent’s IDs (yours and your children’s) for validation. Yup, mistresses and illegal wives will still pay full, heehee.

Anyway, I have a confession.

I’m a scaredy-cat. In fact, I get goosebumps just by merely thinking about that simple rollercoaster ride called Roller Skater in EK. I screamed so loud when it suddenly made a turn. And you know what my 6-year-old did after hearing me? Well, she laughed so hard; so hard that it made my husband laughed, too. Grabe sila sa akin nun ha! I felt alone in that helluva journey, more so because I was seated beside a stranger, who didn't even care. LOL, or not. I told myself to resist from screaming the next ride so my daughter would think that I am as brave as she is. Who am I fooling? When we tried the Jungle Log Jam, that steep but not too high slope made me want to call my mom. I guess my husband’s manliness hiked up the mountains upon realizing that he married a baby girl. However, he told me he was a bit scared, too — not for him but for our brave little one. Extreme courage can be dangerous, that was what he was worried about.



I allowed him to worry about it. He is the father, after all.

As for me, I’m more than okay with the courage Sophia showed us. That feeling of knowing that I co-produced an offspring that is a lot like me but better than I was in many ways was super indescribable. If she can, I’m sure she could have ridden and tried even the most frightening rides she wasn't even allowed to be in yet. That is how brave and free-spirited she is. Perhaps, her innocence affects it all.

But, no. R and I agreed that “we won’t do what we know we can’t do”. Simple but spot on. We didn’t go to the vomit-causing rides aka Anchor's Away and Space Shuttle. We went there to enjoy and not pee on our pants, haha!


As what you may have already read from other blogs, you can’t bring your own food inside. But for water, yes; as long as it’s on your personal bottle. There’s a food court at the back part of the park, almost near the race track; unfortunately, we haven’t been there yet when we starved for late lunch. Fret not, there are a lot of food stalls around. Warning, though: There’s one that is very unsatisfactory. I forgot the name of where we ate at but it's near the smoking area and just right beside Bump N' Splash. Frankly, food was blah! Rice toppings na sobrang daming rice but no ulam tapos too much MSG, ang mahal pa. Sad, sobrang sad. Buti na lang, there’s Orbits, the mini doughnuts that we so, so love! It made us, especially the girl, happy already.


What made our day and probably, the most remarkable moment was the ride in the Rio Grande Rapids. It was getting dusky when we lined up for it. The line, by the way, was super crazy! No thanks to the schools that went there for their field trip, hehe. We did our best to keep cool 'cause we really, really want to enjoy every moment of our stay there, albeit the stench  from the kids' sweat. The heavens must have heard my prayers, a staff called for groups of three! Yay! Time to get wet. If the line was crazy, the ride was crazier. I got drenched that even my underwear was dripping after it. So yes, bring extra clothes. R and I are laughing every time we'd all get wet kasi pagdating sa akin, buhos talaga! Well, I think I was the heaviest in the group. You know, Physics and all. Whatever.


In between our first and last rides were moments of a typical happy family. We may have gotten a little discount for having a haligi ng tahanan in the military but it feels so right to say that we were just like any ordinary family, who only wished nothing but the best for each one of us. Will we go back? Definitely, YES.
Some quick tips:
  • If you want to get the child-like excitement of getting in, go there when it's about to open pa lang. May pa-background music na nakakakilig! Bonus pa 'cause Eldar (the wizard) and the princess will be there to welcome you; you can have your pictures taken with them.
  • If you can, just bring cellphone and camera and money. Or if you have water-proof totes, you can bring more than what I mentioned. Remember, there's Rio Grande Rapids!
  • Wear comfortable clothes. 
  • Bring umbrella, hat and slather on sunblock. Ang init! Sun is the enemy.
  • I have nothing against parents who brought their babies and toddlers there but personally, it's best not to. Wala masyado (or none at all) na rides intended for kids with height below 38 inches. The reason why we brought our daughter na kasi she's 48 inches tall already. Mas fun if you will all get to ride together, especially if you went there as a family! Right?
  • Allot budget for food. The rides are fun and tiring so talagang nakakagutom. Expect your kids to go "bilmoko". Hehe. Ang daming food stalls everywhere! Hindi mo sila pwedeng iwasan.
  • Most of all, safety first. For us, the true sign of courage is when you know when to say no. Hindi basehan ng tapang ang pagsakay sa rides noh, haha! Choz.

***

Enchanted Kingdom
Twitter: @EK_Philippines
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2 comments:

  1. I want to bring my kids sa EK. But thank you for the heads up, hintayin ko muna lumaki si bunso tsaka kami punta dyan pra ma enjoy nilang dalawa ang mga rides.. Sayang din naman , imagine, pmasahe pa namin ppunta dyan, malaki na, tapos di sila mag eenjoy hehehe

    I am happy na you had fun sa birthday ni R! Thanks for sharing a lot of your beautiful photos..

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    Replies
    1. Thanks, Zoan! Yes. Better to plan everything ahead especially that you live far from the place. :)

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