Hurray, there's free entry to Canopy Park at Jewel Changi Airport Singapore! But first, here's how to get the free entry (comes with T&Cs!) and what to expect.
UPDATED - 30 August 2020 (original post 29 August 2020)
Alright, I felt obliged to update this post after being there this Sunday morning and the crowd at Canopy Park has definitely increased from a week ago. Am pretty sure it's because more people now know of the free entry. So, I've updated this blog throughout to reflect the latest situation!
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If you don't already know, Jewel Changi Airport is offering free entry to its Canopy Park from 21 August till 30 September 2020! We were there recently but we didn't utilise this free entry promotion as we had tickets for the walking sky net inside Canopy Park which included entry to Canopy Park. But if you're wondering about the crowd and best time to go during this ongoing promotion (there are T&Cs to fulfill!), here are six things to know before you make a beeline for the park!
1) You'll need a receipt showing same-day spending at Jewel to gain entry for two pax
Nope, you can't just head straight for the park. You'll need to present a receipt at the Canopy Park entrance which shows spending of any amount on the day you're visiting the park. So no dated receipts, ya? One receipt will allow entry for two pax. So if you have a family of four, you will need two receipts. Generally, spending at all Jewel outlets are acceptable, except those at Jewel attractions including Changi Experience Studio and YOTELAIR. See Jewel's website for details for more details on acceptable forms of spending.
2) This is only valid for first 500 redemption in the day
We spoke to a staff there and generally Canopy Park is less crowded on weekdays, but on weekends it's best to visit before 1pm to avoid the crowds. That said, on the Sunday morning we were there, the free entry poster at Canopy Park showed that the free entry has been fully redeemed. I have no idea how early it was fully redeemed but I saw this poster at 11:30am. That said, I still saw people entering the park. It could be people who have tickets to the chargeable attractions or staff might have put up the "fully redeemed" sign as they were near full redemption? I can't say for sure but if you want to be certain of the free entry during a weekend, your best bet might be to come at 10 plus in the morning!
3) Does entry include access to all attractions inside Canopy Park?
No, it does not include access to all attractions. There are attractions like the bouncing and walking sky nets, hedge maze and mirror maze which you'll need to separately buy tickets for if you'd like to visit them. The entry to Canopy Park allows access to Discovery Slides, Foggy Bowls, Petal Gardens and Topiary Walk in the park.
4) Are the free attractions inside Canopy Park engaging for young children?
Our kids (age eight and ten) found the Foggy Bowls and Discovery Slides most fun. Foggy Bowls is an area where mists are emitted out of "bowls" in the ground and this is definitely a favourite with kids judging by the number of children we saw running around and chasing the mists there!
Our kids also kept returning to the Discovery Slides. But note that there is a 1.1-metre height requirement to enter the Discovery Slides area (we saw quite a few younger kids turned away as they did not meet height requirements!), children below 1.4 metres will need to be accompanied by adults and when we were there on a Saturday morning, only two slides were operating.
There is also a capacity limit of five at one time at the Discovery Slides area. On the Sunday morning we were there, there were queues of about 20 people waiting to go inside the Discovery Slides area, a great contrast to a week ago when there weren't any queues for the slides at all and our kids could go again and again for the slides!
At the Discovery Slides area, you could also get a vantage view of Jewel's waterfall. So do head up there with the kids for a nice photo op with the waterfall!
Topiary Walk and Petal Gardens are pretty but more for photo ops than playing for the kids.
5) Are the free attractions enough to entertain the kids?
If you're not going for the other chargeable attractions at Canopy Park, an hour is quite sufficient to go around the park and its free attractions, including photo ops with the beautiful flora around the park.
On the whole, the park's not extremely big, to be honest. But if you'd like to spend more time since you are already there, you can opt for the chargeable attractions. Currently there is a 55% discount for these chargeable attractions till 31 August (might be a little late by the time you see this though!). See Jewel's website for more details on ticketing and the promo.
6) How crowded is it on a weekend?
I think because of the free entry promo, it was pretty crowded the Sunday morning we were there. Hubby reckoned it was at least three to four times the crowd compared to when we were there a week ago on a Saturday morning when the free entry promo just started. Here's how it looked at Foggy Bowls, which is very popular with kids:
The Discovery Slides also had a queue of about 20 people the Sunday morning we were there (see point 2 above). We didn't stay long on Sunday morning due to the crowd, and left after a short while. The kids didn't want to queue for the slides as well. I'm kinda thankful that we had managed to enjoy the place a week ago before the crowd descended for the free entry promo!
I'm thinking if everyone is heading there early to get the free entry, might be a good idea to visit in the afternoons if you're holding tickets for the chargeable attractions?
That's it for now! I'll have another post on the Canopy Bridge and walking sky net at Canopy Park soon, so watch this space! Meanwhile, have you visited any of the chargeable attractions at Canopy Park? We're thinking of visiting again and would love to hear your recommendations!
Disclaimer: We paid for our tickets, 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.