Dream World, an amusement park in Bangkok

A major amusment park in Bangkok is Dream World located just north of Bangkok. If you are on holiday in Thailand with your kids and need some entertainment for a day, then take a trip to Dream World. There are many rides and activities for kids which make it a fun outing for a day if you are hanging out in Bangkok for a few extra days. However, if you are expecting something similar to Disney World, then you will surely be disappointed. Dream World in Bangkok is a good value whne you consider the cost, but it is more suited for younger children.

One of the major attractions at Dreram World in Bangkok is definitely Snow Town. Of course, for Europeans, this might not be such a big deal. It doesn't matter if you don't have appropriate clothes to enter Snow Town as you can borrow boots and a jacket. However, they don't give you any gloves. The temperature in this giant freezer was a very chilly -3 degrees Celsius. A drop in temperature of about thirty degrees. Really, the snow was more like frozen water and it wasn't that easy to make snow balls. But, they did have fluffy flakes at Snow Town. For bigger kids there is also a sled ride down an artificial hill.

Some of the bigger rides include "Sky Coaster", a suspended rollercoaster, "Super Splash", a boat ride where you will definitely get wet, "Grand Canyon", where you go on a trip down some rapids, "Hurricane" which does somersaults and flips, and an old favourite "Viking", which swings round and round. The day we were there, most of the lines for the rides had only had a dozen or so people waiting. We went on a weekday and most of the visitors seemed to be school kids. During weekends and holidays you will probably see more families. Other great rides include "Bump Boat" and the more traditional "Bumper Car". There are even go karts. If you are bored with rides then there are more traditional fairground games where you can win teddy bears and other stuffed toys. Also for young families, there are plenty of photo opportunities in the Dream Garden and also Fantasy Land where you can see the Gingerbread House and the old lady who lived in a shoe. The Giant House from the story of Jack and the Beanstalk is also favorite attraction for younger children. Everything in the house is extra big which includes not only the chairs and table but also things like a box of matches and a spoon and fork.

When we first arrived at Dream World, we took the cable car ride which gave a great bird's eye view of the park. This took us more than halfway across the park. We then went straight to nearby Snow Town which turned out to be a good idea as most people were still playing the rides. For lunch we ate at KFC. But there are also other food venues at the park. We spent the early part of the afternoon looking around that area. At 2.00 p.m. we went to watch an Animal Show. We then went to the main arena to watch the Stunt Show at 2.30 p.m. During the weekends there are extra shows. It was worth watching but it was all in Thai. We then slowly walked back to the front gates, stopping here and there to take pictures. We had hoped to watch the Parade but it started to pour with rain.

We had a great time. The park has a two price system; however, the foreigner's ticket is actually a better value for the money if you play everything. The Thais have a choice of paying an entry fee of 150 baht and then pay for the rides as they go. These range from 20 baht to 80 baht. They can also buy a saver ticket for 365 baht which allows them to play everything once. There are several tickets for foreign tourists. The super value one is 450 baht and gives you unlimited rides on all the attractions. The price is the same for kids. I think that is a good value for people who are planning on doing everything more than once. You buy your ticket from the Information Office instead of the normal ticket window. They speak excellent English and they will clearly tell you what is included or excluded for each kind of ticket. The park is open daily from 10 a.m. You can reach this amusement park in Bangkok by catching bus number 523 from Northern bus terminal and 538 from the Victory Monument. You can also join tours to go there for about 1,000 baht each. If the Bangkok city bus system is to difficult to navigate, then take a Bangkok taxi to Dream World in Bangkok.