Nestled among trees at Bedok Reservoir, the exciting obstacle courses and ziplines at Singapore's Forest Adventure make for a fun and rewarding challenge for children.
UPDATED: 6 May 2023 (Add Junior Course info, deleted outdated info)
It's been three years since we last visited Forest Adventure. Each time we wanted to go, it'd either be raining or slots were fully booked. So I'm glad we finally made it there on one of the recent long weekends and this time round, my kids have graduated to the Junior Course!
The Junior course at Forest Adventure has a minimum height limit of 1.35 metres while kids below 10 years old need to be accompanied by a buddy who is at least 14 years old. If your kid does not meet these requirements, do scroll down to the original post below where I had reviewed the Kids Course. This newest update is on the Junior Course.
The Junior Course has 26 obstacles and 2 ziplines, including 1 over the water. The course shares a common loop with the Kids and Grand Course. You get three turns on the Junior Course - one blue lane, one orange lane and one green lane. What was new to us was the green lane which is part of the Grand Course. For more details about the blue (the lowest level) and orange (second level) lanes, see the original post below on Kids Course as these two lanes are part of the Kids Course.
My girls' feedback is that the Junior Course is more challenging because of the Green lane which is longer as it extends away from the main structure towards the park. It's also more exciting because it has a long zipline that goes over water. In contrast, the Kids Course's zipline is shorter and not as high.
Another thing they enjoyed about the Junior Course is that it was less crowded than the Kids Course. There were a lot of younger kids who were going for the Kids Course when we were there and at some point, they had to wait for a while for their turn on an obstacle course because a number of kids in the front were taking a while on it.
If you're wondering whether your kid should go for the Kids or Junior Course, well, they
cost the same at $40.90 per participant. So the height and age limit would be one deciding factor. I for one did not want to be an accompanying buddy so we did wait till my younger girl had turned 10 before we decided to go for the Junior Course.
I reckon if it's the first time your child is trying an obstacle course, you might want to ease them in with the Kids Course first. But if they have experience with high element obstacle courses and meet the height and age requirements of the Junior Course, I'd say go for the Junior Course. It's definitely more fun and less crowded. There's no time limit to complete the course. My girls took about an-hour-and-a-half to complete the Junior Course, would have taken a shorter time if not for the "traffic jam" they encountered at one of the obstacle course.
My kids definitely hope to go for the Grand Course in time when the younger one reach the age where she doesn't need to be accompanied (12 years for the Grand Course and Mama's definitely not going up!). In the meantime, here's a vid of the kids on the Junior Course!
Forest Adventure definitely ranks high on my girls favourite high element obstacle course. I really like that it's outdoor and among nature with trees and a reservoir in the background. We'll definitely be back again!
Original post: 16 Jan 2020
Our girls (age seven and nine) had been asking to go to Forest Adventure at Bedok Reservoir for a while now, but we had been hesitating to take them there as I wasn't sure if it was something they could handle. They are not exactly very gung-ho kids who go for thrill rides, you see. I had this feeling that they’ll opt out once they reach the venue or halfway through, ask to exit the obstacle course.
But we finally made the trip to Forest Adventure on a recent weekend. You know why? Because they are now fans of Ninja Warrior and they so want to do obstacle courses and pretend they are one of the show’s contestants!
Well, I'm pleased to say that they ended up having so much fun and my fears that they’ll cry and ask to come down from the obstacle course never happened. If you’ve never been, and wondering if Forest Adventure (also known as Singapore’s largest treetop adventure park!) is something for your kid, read on!
Pre-trip must-knows
There are three obstacle courses at Forest Adventure – the Kids Course, Junior Course and the Grand Course. We’ll only be reviewing the Kids Course as this was the one we went for.
The Kids Course is recommended for kids aged five to nine years old and there's a 1.1-metre minimum height requirement. Children below seven must be accompanied on the course by a participating buddy age 14 and above.
It’s a good idea to book online at Forest Adventure to secure a slot (timings start from 930am and every half hourly thereafter) before you go. Weekend mornings are very popular as it is less hot. When we made our booking in January, we noticed that some of the weekend mornings are fully booked till March! We were pretty lucky we got two slots on a less crowded Sunday morning. You can walk in as well, but that will depend on availability.
Aim to arrive at least 10 minutes before your booking timing to register, sign your disclaimer form and make payment.
Also, note that Forest Adventure is located about a ten minute-walk from Bedok Reservoir’s Carpark A, so you’ll need to budget for enough time to get to the venue.
What’s on the kids course
Once you’ve got the administrative stuff settled, a safety briefing will start at the time of your booking. Our Forest Adventure instructor was very clear on how participants should use the safety gear when they are on the course. This is important as instructors will not be on the actual course itself. Other than a demonstration, our instructor also asked each participant to try their hands at maneuvering their gear at the demonstration area and made sure participants know what to do.
Each participant gets three turns on the Kids Course, which is made up of one course - known as the blue course - on the first level, and another - known as the orange course - on the second level. For your third turn, you can choose which of the above you want to go on again.
Our kids said the first level blue course felt relatively easy.
I thought they were pretty fast on this level, though I told them to take their time as there isn't any time limit to complete it.
We saw quite a few kids younger than our girls on the kids course, and they too seem rather confident on it. The only one obstacle course our girls felt were a little harder and scarier is this one.
A maximum of three is allowed at each waiting area and only one person is allowed to be on an obstacle course at any one time. The kids didn’t have to wait along initially, but as more turned up for the later slots, they had to wait slightly longer for their turn at a few obstacle courses.
The orange course is one level higher. Our girls felt it was slightly more challenging than the blue course mainly because of the height. But most of the obstacle courses on this level were still manageable and none too scary, they said. Even the following, which - I thought - had rather big gaps...
...and the following which had narrow planks weren't difficult at all, according to our kids.
The following spider web was a little challenging and it takes some effort to climb across, our kids said. But they found a way to cheat - by sitting on their gear and sliding across!
The only one they found a little scary (but had no problems going across it!) is the following. I think I'd be weak-kneed up there!
Both the orange and blue courses finish with not-too-high zip lines, which are our girls' favourites.
They chose to go on the higher level orange course for their third tries. All in all, we were pretty surprised and also proud that our girls had completed the Kids Course with such gumption.
There is no time limit to complete the course. Most people usually take around an hour to complete the Kids Course, according to Forest Adventure. Our kids spent around an-hour-and-a-half (including safety briefing) to finish their three turns (it wasn't crowded during our 930am slot with just six participants, including our children).
Junior course next?
Our girls said they want to go on the Junior Course the next time but I don’t think Little E meets the height requirement of 1.35 metres. Note that for the Junior Course, children below ten must be accompanied by a participating buddy of at least age 14 on the junior course.
One friend of ours whose kids have been to Forest Adventure a number of times recommends kids try out the Kids Course first if it’s their first time there to gauge if they should go for the junior course the next time. She had seen some kids who wanted to come down halfway through on the Kids Course. And like Forest Adventure’s website say: "Some children may find the experience physically and emotionally challenging and parental support and guidance is required."
As much as the kids (who look around five or six years old) we saw the day had all gamely tried out the course, I think as parents we have a good gauge of our kids' fear threshold. Well, I for one know that our kids’ fear threshold has definitely become higher with age!
Bonus tips for your trip:
- Make your booking at the Forest Adventure website. Note that once you book and make payment online, that'd be no refund even if it pours and you can't go on the obstacle course. You can buy a wet weather insurance at $2 per participant which allows you to reschedule your session once in the event you wish to cancel your session due to inclement weather. What we do is that we usually only book near the session we are going just so that we are rather sure that it wouldn't rain. Of course by doing so, you're risking the slots being filled up but for me, I rather be sure the kids can play after I had paid for their tickets.
- Fully-covered sports shoes are required on the courses. Children on the Kids Course wear helmets (you're not allowed to use your own) and Forest Adventure suggests bringing a bandana to make it more comfortable, and bicycle gloves to protect hands, if you like. We went without these items on our first trip and were okay without them. For the Junior Course you don't have to wear helmets.
- If you are driving and using GPS, search for “Bedok Reservoir car park A“ which will take you to the closest car park on Bedok Reservoir Road. Car park A is the closest car park to Forest Adventure.
Forest Adventure's opening hours are Monday 9.30am to 2pm,
Tuesday-Friday 9.30am to 6pm, Saturday to Sunday/ Public Holiday 9.30am to 6.30pm.
Disclaimer: We paid for our visit, and my opinions and reviews here are strictly my and my family’s own.
©Vivian Teo. All content and photos are copyrighted to Vivian Teo unless otherwise specified.