A day at Dreamworld in Bangkok
The story is not about me this time, because a day in the dream world would mean a day in bed. No, I'm going to tell something about my son Lukin, who went to the Dreamworld amusement park in Bangkok with some classmates on “Children's Day” (Thai: wan dek).
Children's Day
Saturday 10 January it was that time again, the second Saturday of a new year is traditionally Children's Day in Thailand, day for the children. Don't ask me why there is a special day for children because I sometimes think that every day is a day for the children.
Here in Pattaya, as elsewhere in the country, a lot is being done about it. For example, Pattaya Park, the large swimming pool, was free to visit and that meant full house. According to the local press, more than 5000 children came to the city hall in Pattaya North to play all kinds of games and get acquainted with army guns and there was a real tank that children could crawl into.
lukin
Our 14-year-old son Lukin has already experienced that Children's Day in Pattaya many times. This year it was time for something different and he went to Dreamworld in Bangkok with 11 classmates. Quite exciting, because it was the first time that he just went on a bus trip for a day without father and / or mother. Going to bed early the night before and getting up early the next morning during the weekend is already special for him, but that all went well. My wife had arranged a van with a known and reliable driver and after the 12 Thai teenagers were crammed into the van, the trip to Bangkok began.
Amusement park
Dreamworld is an amusement park in Bangkok, probably comparable to De Efteling in the Netherlands and Bobbejaanland in Belgium, or perhaps also to Disneyland in Paris. I'm not sure about that, I've never been to these kinds of parks. They didn't exist in my childhood. The most exciting thing I remember from that time is a visit with the whole family to Relaxation Resort De Elf Provinciën in Hellendoorn. A large playground with a maze and a pond on which a boat trip could be made. A lot has changed in Hellendoorn and it is now called Avonturenpark Hellendoorn. I don't have children in the Netherlands, so later on there was no need to visit these kinds of parks.
Dreamworld
Dreamworld is located in Rangsit on the north side of Bangkok. Easy to reach by car or bus from central Bangkok (at Victory Monument). It is immensely large, consists of four zones called Dream World Plaza, Dream Gardens, Fantasy Land, and Adventure Land. With more than 40 attractions and countless shops and restaurants, it is impossible to see everything in one day or use all the attractions. I am not going to specify all this to you, because the own website; www.dreamworld.co.th and an extensive English page on Wikipedia: en.wikipedia.org/Dream_World give you every possible detail of what to experience.
Report
The youth returned to Pattaya at about nine o'clock in the evening and of course I wanted a report of their experiences. I had to wait until the next morning, Lukin was too tired to talk, went to bed and fell asleep like a log. I got the report, albeit in a complicated way. Lukin speaks reasonable English, but not enough to tell a coherent story and you often have to pull the words out of the mouth of teenagers. Yes it was fun and some of the rides were really exciting I got out of it. Then I went through the attractions with him, which are neatly described and with photos on the website and now know that he and his friends (not all, because some were too scared) enjoyed the following attractions:
- Grand Canyon
- super splash
- Sky coaster
- Raptor
- Vikings
- Hurricane
- Tornado
I've taken a good look at those attractions and I can safely say that no one will find me in those things. Too dangerous for me! If I want to dream I'll stay in bed! But of course there is much more to experience for the whole family and if it's up to Lukin, I won't be able to avoid going soon.
I have fond memories of this amusement park. We visited it 2 or 3 years ago. It was boiling hot.
Some attractions I wouldn't do again...I came out broken and you feel that especially the next day (back).
If my memory doesn't fail me, as a farang you could only buy one type of ticket that included access to all attractions.
So Gringo, then you really belong to the old guard among us, I just browsed through the history of Efteling and came across the following; The official opening date is now May 31, 1952. However, the history of the park goes back to the 60s, when a sports and hiking park was opened on the site of the current park” I myself am now approaching 5 and I remember well that as a boy of about XNUMX years old I went to the Efteling went, it was a bit smaller and more aimed at small children than it is now, but many of the old attractions are still there, the huge high slide for example
Yours faithfully,
Lex K.
Yes Lex, my body is almost 70 years old, but beware, my mind and certain physical skills are still 20 years younger, because I live in Thailand.
In 1952 De Efteling must have been something like that relaxation resort Hellendoorn. I lived in Almelo and Hellendoorn is not far away, we went there by bike.
The Efteling was very, very far away at that time, if we had heard of it at all, which I doubt. In other words, De Efteling was further away from Almelo than Paris is now, if you know what I mean!
But still Gringo, Bobbejaanland has also been open since 1961. gr. elly
Elly, see my response to Lex. I'm talking about the early fifties!