Star City: More Rides, More Fun

I started blogging and keeping journals of my travel in 2014. Thus, my travels before this year are not documented yet. So I’m planning to add my old travel stories and photos, starting with our 2012 trip to Star City. 

Star City is an amusement park, located at the reclaimed area of the Cultural Center of the Philippines Complex, in the middle of the metro. It all started when Philippine Center for International Trade and Exhibit conducted annual Toys and Gift Fair every Christmas since 1976. The fair evolved over time and added carnival on the side. It became a hit and was decided to build an amusement park, which was later named as Star City. In fact, the former PhilCite building upon which the park was based upon was pulled down in the late 1990s to make way for the indoor rides of today’s park.

Basically, with its rides and attractions, Star City is bringing the Holiday feels all day everyday.

I haven’t been to Star City again but I heard that  now hosts the Giant Star Wheel, which is said to be the tallest ferris wheel in the Philippines during the year 2012. Each gondolas is air-conditioned. Sadly, it was still under construction when we visited so we just rode this normal ferris wheel that still looks kiddie and colorful. It was fun going up and down and watching the whole compound from the top as the breeze of cold air touched our faces.

Another attraction in the amusement park was the inverted roller coaster Star Flyer, which was marketed as the first inverted coaster in the country. There are five more roller coasters in Star City with increasing level of speed and thrill from childsafe to family-friendly to Star Flyer. While my siblings rode the Star Flyer multiple times, I was contented with Blizzard and Dragon Express. I don’t need the 360 degree loops.

Star City is proud to house The Surf Dance, which is the first of its kind. This platform thrill ride captures the tumult of riding the waves with every twist and turn and lift and drop. I already felt nauseous by just watching the gondola move from the ground. So I did not know why I ended up sitting on one of its benches. Even though I was in the middle part, the intense ride still made me shout every names I can think of.

Most amusement park rides around the world are using slow conveyor system, wherein guests will just sit on moving cars. The Pirate Adventure is the same except from the part that we’re moving in a lagoon-like pathway and we’re riding a boat that was turning and bumping around. It’s like Rio Grande of Enchanted Kingdom. The Pirate Adventure displays characters of the movie Pirates of the Caribbean, hence, this giant pirate ship entrance.

Just like in any other amusement parks, the main problem of visiting Star City is the long queue of almost every rides that consumes most of the visitor’s time. It was the end of school year when we visited so there were a lot of people in park that time. We definitely experienced hours of waiting in some of the rides. Therefore, we missed riding the Star Frisbee, Jungle Splash and Bumper Boat.

Visitors who want to have fun without going to extremes can play in the park’s indoor carnival. Familiar game stations that can be seen in town fairs like basketball, shooting, wire loop game and ring toss can be found in the covered part of Star City. That’s unusual for theme parks but I’m happy they have these here. So yeah! That’s me getting serious in shooting glasses consecutively to get a stuffed toy.

Also situated at the indoor part of Star City are walk-through attractions that feature life-sized cartoon statues. This one is called Land of Giants. If I didn’t searched for it, I would think that this inspired by the Pixar movie, A Bug’s Life, because the characters inside looked like giant ants. With the sound effects, the kids will feel like they’re inside a cave shelter of insects. As for me, I just appreciated the artwork.

Walk-through attractions also include horror houses like Dungeon, Kilabot ng Mummy, Time Tunnel and Gabi ng Lagim. I was surprised that guests really visit these place for Star City to have, not just one, but four spots for spooks. To be honest, it wasn’t that scary. It felt like I was inside our high school fair’s horror booth, except that the characters are non-living things ran by computers.

I’ve been to Snow World with my parents when I was younger. I just couldn’t find our photo because it was a printed copy we availed in Star City. I remembered that cameras weren’t allowed inside, too. Although there wasn’t real snow and the ground is mostly composed of blocks of ice, I had fun playing around. It was my first snow experience! Snow World is the largest ice entertainment area in the country, which featured the country’s longest ice slide.

There are two things you don’t need to forget when you’re in Star City. First, don’t forget to buy themed accessories before you get inside the park. As you can see, I was wearing a big red bow to complete my Star City OOTD. Second, don’t forget to buy souvenirs for your friends before you leave. You can get these items in the gift shops inside. There are also food stalls around if you wish to take a break.