Taiwan Family Holiday - Taipei Children's Amusement Park

Taiwan Day 7

After a little sleep in this morning, we got the kids ready and found a cafe for breakfast down the road.  I didn't mention the soup.

Nothing says holiday like a round of post-breakfast UNO

Just down the road we found a Japanese coffee shop called Ueshima Coffee Lounge.  They served breakfast sets with thick buttered white toast and a hard boiled egg.  We also ordered an egg, bacon and cabbage toasted sandwich and a bacon and cheese bun.  When the kids were fed we played a few rounds of beginner UNO which has been challenging for Mr A as he learns what it means to be a good winner and a good loser.  But mostly learning that it's ok to lose.  And I can totally relate to his heartache at losing.  At his age it really made me cry to lose too and often it was to my younger sister who is naturally a better sportswoman and well, can anybody just say 'a more relaxed personality'?  The Hubs teamed up to help him play on Mr A's condition that he has to help him win.  Fortunately they did win 2 out of our 3 games against me.

We then decided to make the most of the clear though cloudy skies and hopped in a taxi to Taipei Children's Amusement Park.  I had read that this theme park was more suited to older toddlers because there are height restrictions and apart from just three rides, you need to be over 100cm to participate.   However we found the park still made for a great day out even for Mr R who is sub-1m tall.  Here is our experience and some advice for future visits.

Firstly the entrance fee is only NTD30 per adult and free for kids under 6 years old.  But the catch is the rides are pay per use per person.  If an adult needs to accompany the child then you pay twice.  The fee per ride starts from NTD20 and at the most NTD80.  Depending on your child the cost could add up especially if they won't ride by themselves.  However in our experience, there were actually enough free activities that occupied our kids without the need to go on more than 2-3 rides each.

The theme park also used Easycard payments (the same card used for MRT train rides) so you could tap in at the entrance and again for each ride, so we were really glad to have bought these.  There were plenty of Easycard top up machines around the park but they didn't give change so try not to get stuck with an NTD1000 note (we didn't want to transfer that much cash on our cards when we were flying home soon). 

Being midweek the park was not crowded and there were no queues to worry about. Upon entering the park, the kids ran straight for the free playground and sand pit area while I tried to get my orientation around the different rides and their locations.  Everything was as I've come to expect in Taiwan: clean and well maintained.  There were plenty of family friendly toilets, ramp access and elevators and there were a lot of food options not just restricted to fast food outlets.  There were also drinking fountains to refill bottles with ice cold water.  Such a nice detail but so appreciated in a theme park.  

The first ride Mr A wanted to try with The Hubs was a spinning tea cup ride because it featured the Japanese cartoon puppy Cinnamoroll - a favourite soft toy he had received for Christmas.  Of course as I have stated, you had to be over 100cm tall to go on the ride.  When Mr R realised he couldn't join in he cried so much.  So we ensured the next ride was suitable for everyone.  And the monorail ride it was!  This ride just takes passengers in small carriages on a very slow but short lived ride above the park.  The boys loved it but it really wasn't worth it to me and in my opinion I would have chosen the carousel.  But my kids love trains and the carriages were purple (Mr R's favourite colour) so they were happy.  Of course all four of us had to pay for this ride at NTD20 each.

Learning the different Cinnamoroll characters

Riding the purple monorail

At this point we noticed a ride on a 4th floor platform with electric toy cars.  So to avoid further melt downs we split up.  I took Mr R to find the ball pit and indoor playground as it would be suitable for his height and The Hubs took Mr A to ride a toy car which, I hoped was amazing at a cost of NTD80 per ride.  I wasn't sure where I was going so I wandered around looking for a sign and stumbled upon a small undercover area with coin operated rides that were perfect for Mr R!  In particular there were little bumper ride-on cars perfectly sized for toddlers under 100cm tall.  At last I thought.  Cars! Shouted Mr R in excitement.  Another dad was there with his own sub-100cm child and you could see both of us were in the same situation with little ones who wanted to go on rides but were not quite old enough to really manage the concept of a ride either.

The rides cost between 3 to 4 tokens.  Unlike the rest of the park you need to have coins for this area of the park to exchange for tokens which cost NTD5 each.  The little bumper ride-on cars were the most appealing and Mr R jumped on a bulldozer.  When I inserted the tokens the bumper car literally shuddered to life and I was terrified my kid would do a runner on me.  But he held on and the thing spun and jutted around randomly and he had a huge grin of delight on his face.  There were two joysticks on top that provided some control of the car but unless they were pushed forward the car wouldn't move.  And as this proved difficult for Mr R I had to stand right next to his car and help keep him moving or else I was quite sure if it stopped, Mr R would lose interest, abandon the ride and 'bye bye' money.  I could see the other dad was stuck doing exactly the same thing for his kid too.

When the ride ended, Mr R clearly wanted more and tried to hop onto some of the other rides.  But a lot of these cost 4 tokens and I only had 3 tokens left.  I couldn't buy just one more token as the coin exchange took NTD10 minimum and I'm a tight butt and didn't want leftover tokens.  Furthermore the other rides involved simulated driving games which would be difficult for Mr R who really just wanted to drive a car around.  So he went back to the bumper ride-on cars and chose a fork lift vehicle which he called Guido after the character in the movie Cars.  To my delight Mr R was much better at manoeuvring it on his own this time and I was hands free.  He really had a good time and I was so glad he got to find a car ride for himself.

The face of pure joy

More joy with 'Guido' the forklift.  Note the same dad in the above photos also stuck with his kid.

Meanwhile...Mr A cruising along

Since I had told The Hubs I would meet them at the ball pit I needed to continue my search for this place!  It was fortunately right next door to us.  The ball pit is a huge indoor playground complete with obstacle course and ball pit.  It is probably the best kept secret of this theme park because it is suitable for kids between 90-150cm and it is free.  And here's another reason I love this place, to maintain order there is a reservation system to limit overcrowding in the playground.  Play sessions are divided into hourly blocks and tickets could be pre-booked up to 2 hours in advance at two ticketing machines.  When I arrived the next session was fully booked so I had to choose the next available slot, two hours away!  Around 10 minutes before the end of each play session, everyone has to exit so the play area can be disinfected.  At this time, the next group of people start queuing up and any 'no-shows' or free tickets are given to stand-by guests.

My suggestion for next time is to book the ball pit tickets in advance and then go on other rides so your time is spent efficiently and you can plan to avoid any clashes with impending naps (unlike us).

By this time, The Hubs and Mr A had found us and reported back that the toy car ride had been a success.  Since I had our ball pit tickets booked we decided to have lunch first and I knew Mr R would need a nap. 

We headed upstairs to the food court and there were a surprisingly good selection of food choices.  There were lots of different Chinese dishes available so we ate rice, noodles, dumplings and soup.  Of course there were lots of high chairs, family friendly bathrooms and a low sink area for kids to wash their hands.  We ate our meal outside and enjoyed views over the park.  We overlooked the theatre podium and there happened to be a magic show performance for the kids to enjoy too. 

Lunch with a view 

Mr R had to nap after lunch and I knew he would miss our ball pit play session but Mr A was able to enter and literally, he had a ball.  Again I have to mention how wonderful it was that the staff were very patient and professional and that everyone respected the rules.  It made the whole experience very pleasant for everyone.  Temperatures were taken, hands sanitised and everyone had to remove their shoes before entering the padded play area.  And once again, I could see that broken balls were taken out of action and removed from the ball pit by attentive staff!  I was stuck waiting with Mr R in the stroller asleep but the staff were so nice that they found me a seat just outside the play area to rest and wait. 

My view of the indoor playground and ball pit while I waited for Mr R to wake up

I was amazed at the amount of energy Mr A had to keep running around continuously inside the play area.  Unfortunately Mr R never woke up in time and so we adjourned downstairs to look for refreshments.  Somehow kids can smell ice cream even in their sleep because on cue, Mr R woke up outside the ice cream shop.  We had soft serve cones from a cafe near the gift shop and I really cannot recommend them.  The flavour tasted artificial and sickeningly sweet.  But hey the kids didn't mind. 

We decided to end our time at the park here as it was getting close to evening and the kids had thoroughly enjoyed themselves even with the limited number of rides they had experienced.  Now it was time for some parent activities i.e. cafes and coffee.  So we decided to take a cab to visit an area around Minsheng Park that I had flagged for great cafes and would possibly have a spot for dinner too.

The first place I brought us too was SunnyHills.  Taiwan is famous for pineapple cake and I had heard about SunnyHills from a friend who gifted us pineapple cake from their Hong Kong outlet.  It was one of the nicest pineapple cakes I have had which is saying a lot because my grandmother made the best home made pineapple cakes.  SunnyHills cakes are full of real fruit jam filling with a thin pastry exterior and not too sweet.  The cakes are made with fresh ingredients and contain no preservatives so they won't keep beyond 3 weeks.  And this has probably led to their clever marketing concept. Designed as more of an experience than a cafe or a retail shop, all visitors can sample their cake with a cup of tea for free in their beautiful cafes with no obligation to buy, thus enabling the cafe to keep a high turnover of their cakes.

When we arrived at SunnyHills, we were immediately greeted by immensely nice staff.  Even the security guard outside tried to help me carry Mr R in the stroller up the front steps!  The place was bustling with customers sampling their cake and tea but the ambience still held a real sense of calm and zen.  The aesthetic was incredibly refined and Japanese in style.  Beautiful long wooden communal tables and chairs filled about four large dining areas and there was a lovely mossy garden right in the centre near the bathrooms that was calm and tranquil.  This cafe is worth visiting even just to appreciate the decor.  We were seated at a big table near the back and the children were given water instead of tea which was so considerate.  And then of course there was the cake.  Delicious and the boys devoured their portion with, I regret, less finesse than the cafe atmosphere called for.  Mr R even managed to charm another customer to give him her piece of cake.  I guess she wasn't going to eat it anyway.

The retail section of their cafe is again a very refined system, somewhat like a cake shop version of the Apple store.  Less is more.  There are just two types of cake available for purchase - the cake that is sampled and a pineapple sponge cake.  Customers tell the staff waiting behind the two cake displays which one they wish to buy and she nods and directs you to the cashiers.  Miraculously the staff behind the register knows what you want, you pay (you can pay with your phone of course) and your purchase is passed to you in a beautiful cloth carry bag.  There may be no obligation to buy anything but buying something was to me quite worth the experience in itself.

Our next stop was the All Day Roasting Company for the coffee with the best online reviews and we hoped perhaps there would be food for dinner.  It was a totally perfect space to relax and have a coffee however there were serious negatives.  This was clearly a hipster joint and not suitable to children as the staff told my children off for doing not much more than sitting on their couch.  There was also a minimum NTD100 drink spend per customer which tends to feel off-putting but it was made worse when they included Mr A who is only 4 years old.  Which is all a shame because the coffee itself was definitely recommended.  I feel sorry that people who run cafes like this do not appreciate that one day they may have children too and will be made to feel ostracised from their own coffee communities if they don't create a more generous environment for all.  Parents need to drink good coffee too!  I also think I was surprised to feel this way in Taiwan after having had so many child-friendly experiences everywhere else.

The owners do not know who is about to enter, yes children!

So of course this cafe was not the best place to eat as they only served snacks or desserts so we found Bravo cafe for pizza and pasta right next door.  In stark contrast, this place was completely family friendly that it even had a baby change room, a little library reading area and of course kid's set meal, high chairs and kids serving ware.  Unfortunately the food was just ok (or it could have been the 'bad taste' the cafe next door had left us with).  We tried a jalapeño and Hakka salted pork pizza that was quite an interesting fusion of flavour.  The kids had a creamy chicken spaghetti and we shared a Caesar Salad.  I know we should have known better than to eat western in Asia but we just wanted to eat and this was the easiest place we could find.  Plus we had run out of cash and needed somewhere that took credit card or else we wouldn't be able to pay for the taxi home! 

We did successfully cab back to our apartment after a less successful evening than we had hoped. And this is what happens to us sometimes when the time to fly home draws near:  When we hopped out of the taxi we saw that the alley behind our apartment block was teaming with cafes and we felt compelled to investigate even with under-napped children and full bellies.  It turned out the whole area was filled with wonderful izakayas and hidden dessert cafes that just come to life after 6pm.  We found a green tea dessert cafe that had lots of potential and ordered a massive sundae but the boys would only eat the milk ice cream and wafer and noting else!  So mum and dad had to eat a tonne of matcha ice cream and shaved ice all by themselves.  It was a really good quality matcha soft serve but it was not the best I've eaten compared to Japan's Nana's Green Tea cafes.

The sundae that nobody would help us consume

With so much green tea on board I was very awake but our children definitely needed to sleep as we had a big day planned the next day at the zoo so we got everyone home to bed and called it a night.