Genting SkyWorlds Trip Report - Feb 2024

[themagician]

On a recent trip to Malaysia, I got the chance to visit Genting SkyWorlds, located in the Genting Highlands, north of Kuala Lumpur. To get to the park we took an hours taxi ride (which was only about $25 each way using ‘Grab’, which is Malaysia’s version of Uber) and then a 10 minute gondola ride. The park is about 1.8km above sea level, so despite it being very hot and humid in Kuala Lumpur, it is much much cooler up at the park (so if you visit definitely take a jumper). 

Before I took about the park, if you’re planning on visiting the park it’s probably worth staying at one of the many hotels in the Genting Highlands. There is so much to see and do up there on top of the theme park. Its owned/operating by Resorts World, the same company that operate Universal Studios Singapore and many of the other activities at Sentosa Island.

We arrived at the park for opening and it’s a very grand entrance. You enter from inside the mall and the first thing you see is the fountain with the parks sign and Mad Ramp Peak in the background, a perfect photo op. The weather was perfect and at this point, the crowd level was very low. We decided to make our way around the park in an anti-clockwise direction, starting with Rio.

We’re big fans of Rio, so I was very excited to the film come to life in a theme park land and it did not disappoint. The whole land was very well themed, with Carnivale music played throughout the whole lane and for us it was pure joy. The main attraction for the area is Samba Gliders, a Setpoint Swing Thing suspended coaster, with each gondola seating four people (two facing forward, two facing backwards). The queue was very well themed and provides a great outlook over the land (as the station is on the second level). We went on it twice so we could ride it in both directions and facing forward was a lot more enjoyable. The ride was relatively comfortable as it was lap bar restraints, but I just found see where you were going to be a more enjoyable experience. The land also featured a carousel and a Zamperla Demolition Derby.

Next up with ‘Epic’, an animated film based around little people living in your garden. This land featured a Zierer Flying Gondola and the main attraction, an indoor flume ride. A side note to make here for those who don’t know, Genting SkyWorlds is actually constructed over multiple levels. Nearly all of the indoor rides are actually located underground, creating more usable space to fit more attractions. So for this flume ride, it does something rather unconventional. You enter the well themed queue and station on ground level, board your boat and then the main drop is actually first. You then make your way through the flume ride and then the lift hill is at the end, with a very small drop. The rides story is a shortened version of the movie, however it tells the story well and uses a mix between practical sets, animatronics and screens. It’s not at a Disney level, but it’s been executed very well. 

Next up was Ice Age, the biggest and most popular land in the park. It features a flat ride, stage show, trackless dark ride and mine train style coaster. The trackless dark ride, Ice Age: Expedition Thin Ice, was okay. There was no wait for this one, but this queue was one of the longest queues I’ve ever walked through. It took us about 7 minutes to get the loading area and the ride only last 3-4 minutes. And it was a bit underwhelming. It’s more kid focused, but the story did feel well thought through, there were a couple practical sets, but it was mostly screens. The coaster, Acorn Adventure was manufactured by Beijing Shibaolai Mine Train, making this my first ever coaster by a Chinese manufacturer. The queue was very well done (as all of the rides at this park are), the layout was a lot of fun, with a large helix wrapping around a waterfall. However, this thing was very rough and uncomfortable. It really throws you around, the seats aren’t comfortable and this was my first time riding a coaster with shin guards? Why are they there when it’s a sit down coaster?

After this we ate at Bucks Cafe, which has a wide variety of grab n go style food and as its Malaysia, very well priced. 

The next land was Andromeda Base, which features Seprent Slayer, Batwing Spaceshot and Sky Climb (Sea World throwback). We didn’t go on any of these, but once again, well themed. This land does also feature a  Dynamic Attractions SFX Coaster and it does look to be complete, however it’s been listed as ‘under construction/future attraction’ since the park opened. And by the state of the ride from what you can see, if it does ever open, it’s got a lot of work that needs to be done. Since we visited, it’s actually been removed as a future attraction from the parks website and is greyed out on the park maps. So this makes me think we might not ever see this ride come to life, however the parks lineup of attraction needs that one big hero coaster, so I hope they get it going or build something that they can actually get operating.

Next is a throwback to the 2005 animated movie Robots. This was the parks smallest land with only two rides, which are actually stacked on top of each other. They were flat rides that didn’t interest us, but they were very well executed.

Liberty Lane is their San Francisco land that is more of a themed pathway that connects two large lands, however for me, this land contained the parks standout attraction. Invasion of the Planet of the Apes is a 3D trackless dark ride. The queue was one of the most immersive and well themed queues I’ve ever been in. It was very well detailed and featured a pre-ride show to set up the storyline. The vehicles were similar to the style of transformers/spider-man at universal parks and you went through rooms that featured large practical sets and screens. The story was really well done and I was totally immersed into it. At the end it does feel like it needed one more scene as it felt like the ride abruptly ended, but otherwise I loved it.

The final rides we went on were in Central Park, with there being an Aerobat, Independence Day: Defiance (flying theatre) and Night at the Museum: Midnight Mayhem (shooting dark ride). The flying theatre caught me off guard with how much I enjoyed it. The screen covered a lot more area so when riding, you couldn’t actually see the edge, making it much more immersive. The story was pretty good and made good use of the flying theatre aspect of the ride. Definitely worth checking out. And finally, the shooting dark ride had a very well themed queue, really well detailed and felt like you were in a museum. The ride itself however was fine, just a typical dark right with little to no theming between the screens.

There is one more land, Eagle Mountain, however this land just contains one attraction, which is also coming soon. ‘Mad Ramp Peak - Full Throttle Racing’ is a Dynamic Attractions Duel Power Coaster that looks like it will be a lot of fun. The attraction is very well themed, with heaps of rock work and waterfalls throughout its layout. This attraction/land can be seen very all corners of the park and will make a massive difference to the park and offer something unique and thrilling. This is said to be opening this year, so hopefully it does because I think it will elevate the park and put it on the map for a lot of people who aren’t sure if it’s worth the visit.

In general, the crowd levels were pretty low with a maximum wait of 20 minutes for rides, but most only had a 5-10 minute wait. There were also quite a few other food outlets and stores throughout the park that all offered something different. You can definitely tell the park hasn’t yet got the crowds they were hoping for because all of the merch was on a heavily discounted sale (and it was all of good quality). I definitely recommend visiting this park if you’re in Malaysia, especially once Mad Ramp Peak is open. And as a comparison because I know a few people on here have been to USS (which I’ve been too twice), I preferred this park.

For my final score, I’d give Genting SkyWorlds an 8/10.

Edited March 31 by themagician

[Aw hype]

Regarding those unopened coasters, from what i can gather, dynamic attractions went way over budget building them (and mission ferrari at Ferrari world) which led them into bankruptcy. It also doesn't help that Disney cancelled the ip that Genting wanted to use for them requiring a complete retheme. Im sure there'll be some sort of legal proceedings going on behind closed doors, and no one is going to want to come in and finish the project until thats finalised, especially without access to Dynamic's unique product patents.

[Park Addict 93]

Quote

The first of the rides is themed to the Aliens vs Predators (AVP) action movie and DAL committed to building the coaster system for a lump sum of $34 million. Recent filings by DAL reveal that it has already spent $26.4 million on the ride and "has only been paid $24,000,000." The filings add that "AVP Malaysia is not operational and would take a significant further expenditure of funds to be completed...The $10,000,000 of funds remaining to be paid by Genting on the contract would not cover those costs which are estimated to be $16,000,000. Because of the complexity of the ride system, and the design changes that would be required to make it operational, there is a risk that the client could cancel the contract and demand that the ride components installed to date be removed from the facility."

The outlook is brighter for the second SFX Coaster at SkyWorlds which is based on the Sons of Anarchy (SOA) series about a father who balances parenting with his involvement in a motorcycle gang. DAL committed to building the coaster system for $24 million and according to the filings "the client has paid $23,000,000." They add that "SOA Malaysia is about 95% complete with a punch-list of work to get it operational and it is estimated that such work could cost an additional $1,500,000." That sounds pretty close to the budget but it's actually far from it as DAL has already spent $30.7 million on building the attraction.

So far, the world's only operating SFX Coaster is in Ferrari World: Abu Dhabi and it opened in January to rave reviews. No expense was spared as the filings reveal that it has come "at a total cost of USD$28,300,000 on a lump sum contract of USD$18,200,000 which the client has only paid USD$17,200,000."

https://www.forbes.com/sites/carolinereid/2023/03/22/leading-disney-ride-manufacturer-puts-itself-up-for-sale/?sh=adfa66640ea0

For those interested in knowing more about the park and the timeline of its construction and BTS images theres a great thread here on ThemeParkX.

11 hours ago, themagician said:

The final rides we went on were in Central Park, with there being an Aerobat, Independence Day: Defiance (flying theatre)

Was the large alien animatronic/preshow working on your visit? I was very disappointed it wasn't during my visit in October.

I've visited the park twice now on 2 different trips and have to agree with most of your thoughts.

Would also highly recommend the VIP experience for the extra $70ish on top of general entry.

[themagician]

58 minutes ago, Park Addict 93 said:

Was the large alien animatronic/preshow working on your visit?

I forgot to mention that. Yes it was and its scale caught me by surprise. Its movements weren’t amazing, but to see an animatronic of that scale up close was cool. 

[Guest 239]

Genting SkyWorlds is an excellent park and it looks like you visited on a beautiful day! When we went it alternated between rain and cloud every 20 minutes which seemed fairly normal talking to the staff. 

On 01/04/2024 at 7:05 AM, themagician said:

The next land was Andromeda Base, which features Seprent Slayer, Batwing Spaceshot and Sky Climb (Sea World throwback). We didn’t go on any of these, but once again, well themed.

That's a shame. Considering the height, theming, and a little surprise before the launch, the Spaceshot is one of the best I've ever experienced. 

[themagician]

17 minutes ago, Guest 239 said:

That's a shame. Considering the height, theming, and a little surprise before the launch, the Spaceshot is one of the best I've ever experienced. 

We were planning on riding it for that reason, but it when down temporarily and by the time it had reopened we had to go.

[Guest 239]

Just now, themagician said:

We were planning on riding it for that reason, but it when down temporarily and by the time it had reopened we had to go.

That sounds about right. They had a lot of operational problems whilst we were there from rides randomly going down to a park wide fire alarm that halted everything for like 30 minutes. 

[themagician]

10 minutes ago, Guest 239 said:

That sounds about right. 

Thankfully for us, this was actually the only disruption the effected our plans. I think other rides did go down throughout the day, but because of the order we did thinks we didn’t feel the effect.

[Gazza]

Quote

he next land was Andromeda Base, which features Seprent Slayer, Batwing Spaceshot and Sky Climb (Sea World throwback). We didn’t go on any of these, but once again, well themed. 

I was miffed the space shot was closed when I was there because their version has a dropping floor in the station, so the gondola drops down into underground show scene before the main launch.

[Park Addict 93]

11 minutes ago, Gazza said:

I was miffed the space shot was closed when I was there because their version has a dropping floor in the station, so the gondola drops down into underground show scene before the main launch.

It's a great gimmick but unfortunately the show scene wasnt much during my visit in October.

The original plan of descending into an alien filled environment would have been incredible and it's a shame they didnt try to atleast have some kind of unlicensed creature attacking you are escaping from.

[mzarif27]

Some interesting photos from the former president of the park showing the special effect track "Sideway Drop Track" and the conditions inside the building.