TacoCat’s Travels #222 (Genting): Sunny Movie Magic at SkyWorlds Theme Park! 😎

October 2023 · 10 min read · Pahang

Hey Hive!

If you missed the last few posts, we're currently on our first trip up into the mountains of Malaysia, specifically to Genting Highlands, where there's an integrated resort there! I've heard about it a lot but never actually been, and Sean was excited to show me around since he used to go there with his family.

Last week, we finished exploring the Ripley's Believe it or Not Odditorium, going through some truly unbelievable things and people Ripley discovered during his travels back in the day. We went through a space section, the Amazon (not the store) collection before checking out the brain teaser section which was arguably the biggest with a ton of interactivities.

After that was a zoo collection with fake animals and the last was the Luckiest Room in the World with all the symbols for luck found in one place!

We grabbed a late dinnertime snack from Texas Chicken before going to the bakery shop to get more buns for supper. But now it's time for a new day and a new adventure! Lets-a-go!

12 September 2022. Monday.

We awoke to a nice beautiful morning and although it looks very sunny and ordinarily it would be warm it was still quite cool up here in the mountains. I was definitely not used to that since we were still in Malaysia after all.

Today we were going to be spending our day at the outdoor theme park called SkyWorlds! We figured there'd be less people on a Monday and the mall did seem much emptier than the previous day.

We could actually stand right in front of the screens with plenty of room around and watch the light show this time! There was a song playing loudly over the speakers and animations on the screen with animals dancing along to the music.

We went to check out the ticket counter to see how the tickets work and whether there was a long queue there but thankfully there was no one. I think the ticket counter was actually closed at the time, but I did get a picture of the map.

We figured we could just buy the tickets online so we went to get some food before heading in. But first, a drink! Sean felt like having bubble tea so we went to Gong Cha

We didn't really know what to eat and there were so many places we were spoilt for choice! We just wanted something light and there was an empty Korean restaurant not far from the Gong Cha so we went to check it out. We don't really eat Korean food in Singapore since it's quite expensive so it's better to have it in Malaysia.

The restaurant is called MyeongDong Topokki and since I've never tried Topokki before we thought this was the perfect time! Their menu features Topokki with different types of sauces and toppings as well as other common Korean street food.

But they also had full meals like jajjangmyeon (dry noodles), ramyeon, bibimbap (rice bowl) and jigae (stew).

My appetite is not that big in the morning so we just went with the street food and of course the topokki to try. The interior of the restaurant is quite nice and welcoming as well with neon lights to emulate Korean night markets.

We actually had the whole restaurant to ourselves which was perfect to take photos.

The kitchen was also quite open that I could see the staff preparing our order.

After about 15 minutes or so our order was ready! We ordered their standard MyeongDong Topokki and the Soy Garlic Fried Chicken since I was craving some fried chicken, and we figured it would help balance out the spiciness from the Topokki.

It was actually not as spicy as we thought, which was good given that we ordered the normal one and not the spicy version. It was a little sour I guess because of the kimchi but it was otherwise alright. Since it's a rice cake it's quite plain as there's no filling and the soup was okay.

I think we agreed that the fried chicken was tastier although it was a little sweet but we were right in that it did balance out the Topokki.

After that we were full enough so we made our way to the theme park!

We bought our tickets online and they also had a very helpful app that has the ticket info, as well as waiting times for all the rides and a overall map of the park!

When we got to the entrance there was quite a few people there unfortunately but it still wasn't that bad. I think there was a tour group going there at the same time.

They were all hovering around the entrance so we took the opportunity to go in before we got caught in the throng of the crowd. Thankfully it was a lot emptier inside and it felt like we entered a Hollywood theater or something with all the gold shops and lights.

At the entrance there were some shops and of course the service counter for the hotel and park guests.

I felt completely ensconced in gold in this first area it was like a golden temple or something! I think they were going for an olden style grand cinema look.

There was a strong aroma of popcorn from this kiosk and we were tempted to get some even though we're not really big on popcorn.

I wanted to get a nice photo with the logo here but there was way too many people so we went off to look around first.

Everything seemed very new still since it was built during the pandemic and only opened a few months before we were there.

We weren't sure what SkyWorlds was though since it's not a big media company like Universal Studios of Disney. I think Genting was supposed to have a deal with 20th Century Fox but they pulled out of the license deal and those rides that were already built Genting got to keep while the rest were scrapped or repurposed into original ones. Quite a shame, really.

There were still some similarities though like this old Western style area, and there were some surprises like this Central Park Gardens that I think is supposed to emulate Central Park in New York.

This led to a old New York style street I guess? With a hotel, cinema and the Department of Public Works for some reason. I'm not sure if this was supposed to be a movie reference but if it is I'm unfamiliar with it.

There was of course a sci-fi themed area as well.

And a very colourful alley with carnival games linking the two areas together.

There were some recognisable movie-themed rides though like this one from Independence Day:

and the cinema that had a ride called Invasion of the Planet of the Apes:

We walked down this old NY style street that had a slight incline,

before arriving at a section based on the movie Robots! Man I remember watching this movie back on TV in the early 2000s, what a throwback!

It was a pretty good movie too and I enjoyed it when I came across and watched it again recently. They even had statues of the actual robot characters from the show!

I guess the ride here was for a carousel of sorts which I thought was a little lame. I think they could've done a show instead and it would be cool.

But the architecture here was really nice and movie accurate! They even had the restaurant that the robot aunt ran (the one with the big booty).

As always our strategy for theme parks is to walk around and scout the rides we think are worth queuing.

We noticed that some rides were unavailable until certain times and some were still closed for maintenance since the park was relatively new. I did read in the news that some rides were still not fully open yet due to safety regulations which was probably for the best.

It looks like the sci-fi ride called Andromeda Base was probably the most popular and it was also the most thrill-seeking one we noticed in the whole park. It seemed to work like the infamous Tower of Terror where it would send you flying up to the top of the tower and drop swiftly several times.

There was also an Ice Age area which had quite a few things including a cafeteria, theater and a roller coaster! There was a cart selling bubble wands and toys here making bubbles fly through the air right at me.

The roller coaster here seemed to be quite elaborate with a long track and multiple loops but unfortunately it wasn't open at the time.. We figured that would probably be a very popular ride if it was.

There was also a kiddy zone over here with some water fountains.

There was also an area for the movie Epic which I also remember quite fondly. It was actually a pretty underrated animated movie about miniature leaf people and I remember the world being quite beautiful since it was all in nature.

There was a boat ride here that was indoors and since it was getting quite warm out with the sun we decided to check it out to get out of the afternoon sun.

Moonhaven is the name of the place that the leafmen live in the movie so I guess this ride is about going there.

They said the waiting time was about 10 minutes and thankfully the lines were completely empty.

When we arrived to the front of the queue it was like we were in a dark forest and there were a few people waiting there.

I think we waited about 10-15 minutes but it was air conditioned thankfully so we didn't mind. Soon enough it was time for us to board a boat! It was 2 people to a boat and we sat beside each other as we zoomed along a river.

I tried my best to get some photos but we were moving too quickly for my phone to focus in the dark. I was also afraid of dropping my phone into the water.

There were some recognisable characters from the movie with voice overs and I guess we were on some mission to take a flower bud to safety but got attacked.

It got pretty intense, but of course in the end it was all good. The ride was actually quite engaging the whole way and didn't feel at all hypnotic like It's a Small World.

When we got out it was blazing hot and we regretted bringing our jackets along.

We had to walk a little ways before we could actually exit the place and of course we wound up in the gift shop first. It looked like the inside of a tree and there was even a mouse peeking through which I remember from the movie as well.

There was another Epic ride outside but this was another carousel where the cars would bob up and down and it was way too hot to take it so we passed on it.

It was a pretty fun ride though and I was bummed it was over so quick since we had to endure the sun but the design was great! I think this house is modeled after the main character's quirky uncle's house.