Enchanted Kingdom expanding

TAGAYTAY — Enchanted Kingdom, the first and only world- class theme park in the Philippines, is expanding and doubling its size as it aims to be an “integrated attraction destination” in the next 10 years.

Mario Mamon, Enchanted Kingdom chairman and president, bared yesterday his expansion plans for the theme park in Laguna, which includes the construction of new zones and accommodation facilities inside the complex.

“As our way of giving back to the country and to be able to promote tourism and Filipino pride and culture, we are expanding, doubling our size in the next five to 10 years and part of that development will include new zones,” Mamon said on the sidelines of the CALABARZON Tourism Summit.

Mamon highlighted the park’s new cultural zone, which will feature rides and attractions that are related to the Filipino culture and heritage.

The first attraction within the cultural zone, called Agila, will be opened to the public on Dec. 14 this year.

“Agila is the Philippines’ first and largest flying theater in the world. You will be flying as if you were on the wings of an eagle and you’ll be traveling around the Philippines,” Mamon said.

“We took about 30 hours of aerial videos all around the Philippines and from those videos we were able to come up with six minutes for the first film,” he added.

Aside from its visuals, the theater will also enable the audience to feel the wind and smell the nature, giving a full 4D experience.

“With Agila, it’s just one way for us to start teaching the young the beauty of the country. It’s also a way of being able to bring in foreign tourists who do not have time to go around the country,” Mamon said.