It has been five years since our last Genting Highlands trip, so we thought now is the time to pay this cool hilltop attraction a visit before the 20th Century Fox opens later the year. The drive to the cable car station is only 45 minutes from KL, making it quick and easy.
1. Awana Skyway
The new gondola (or cable car) station is called Awana Skyway and it is located at Level 4 in the Premium Outlets. It takes just 10 minutes to ascend from Awana Station to the final stop – SkyAvenue Station. There are ample parking spots at the car park in Premium Outlets.
There are two types of gondolas – Standard and Glass Bottom Gondola. The standard one costs RM 8 and the glass bottom gondola RM 35 per person for one way. I recommend to upgrade to the glass bottom for an adventure at least one way. A bit expensive if you have a family of five, like us, but it is well worth it – a breathtaking view of the 130-million year old rain forest below awaits.
On the way up you will be able to see the construction site of the highly anticipated 20th Century Fox World Malaysia that is due to open later this year (again).
2. Jurassic Research Centre
This is different from Jurassica in The Gardens. The Jurassic Reseach Centre is more like a walkway with different type of dinosaurs surrounding you. They roar, they move and yes, you can touch them or pretend to feed them, there are no barrier between you and the dinosaurs. Next you will come to Fossil Lab, set up as an excavation site with some real fossil and dinosaurs bones on display. The journey ends in a room with a short video simulating an attack of the dinosaurs!
If you are unsure whether this attraction is right for your child, there are a few dinos outside the entrance to give them an idea of what to expect inside.
3. Ripley’s Believe It or Not
I always find Ripley’s Believe It or Not a bit tacky, but it always turns out to be great fun for both adults and kids. We learnt so many odd facts here and there are loads of interactive/hands-on activities for the kids to explore.
Since our last visit to Ripley’s, it has been renovated and all exhibits are tidy and working! Some are still quite creepy, though!
4. Chin Swee Temple
Whether you are on your way up or down the mountain, you would not want to miss the stop at the midway point where you can disembark at the Chin Swee station at no extra cost and explore the Chin Swee Caves Temple and its scenic surroundings. Remember to keep your cable car ticket as you can use the same ticket to continue your journey either to the peak or down to the Awana Station.
5. SkyAvenue
SkyAvenue is the main attraction in the peak of Genting Highland for now. It is a new retail mall with plenty of shops and restaurants. Most restaurants are located on level 1 and level 4.
The Sky Symphony is a free installation that runs every hour for 5 minutes. It is an orchestra of audio, visual and kinetic technology and is amazing to watch. It is best viewed from level 1.
There are a few more attractions at Genting that we did not explore like The Zombie Outbreak (yes, mommy was too scared!), The Snow World (at Level 2 – if you have experienced the real snow you wouldn’t probably want to go here), Alive Museum (looks small from the outside but might be good inside), Jungle Gym (a big one, I bet the little ones would love this) and The Arcade. We tried the arcade and kids had some fun but the credits ran out quickly. The use the card system now whereby you just purchase the credits on a card and use the card to operate the games you desire.
The kids wanted like to go out of the building and experience some cool, fresh air but we were told by the staff that this is not recommended as the outside is under contraction and there isn’t much to see or explore. Most roads are closed due to the works on the theme park. We hope they will eventually have outdoor spaces to enjoy the beautiful nature and cool air!
Till our next visit – looking forward to the 20th Century Fox theme park!
