Wannado City

Wednesday we went to Wannado City. This is a really neat place to visit for children, especially ages 7-12-ish, maybe even a little older.

We walked from the sunny morning into the mall and entered the Wannado City site. The children checked in and were given wristbands to match mine. This way they can (theoretically) go off on their own while the parents relax in the Eagle's Nest lounge on the second floor and peer over the balcony at all the city streets (picture universal studios neighborhoods) below. To find your little ones, scan your wristband at a locator and the screen will show you precisely where they are.
The cautious and sound sensitive Engineer was not thrilled. Inside was dark (until the eyes adjusted) noisy as all get-out, and some schools on field trips had bigger kids (they looked 10 - 11 to me) running and screaming all over the place. He was terrified! He did calm down after noon when the school buses left.At check-in the children were also each issued a paycheck. Priority one was finding the bank to cash the kids' checks. They were each given 150 Wongas (unit of currency) to spend on various activities in Wannado City. If they wanted to do more things they would have to get jobs and work for the money. When it is time to leave Wannodo City they can go back to the bank, open an account and save their money for next trip. We skipped that part and the kids gave their Wongas to one of the Quipper's co-workers.

After that was a planning session: what jobs are open all the time? what will be open in the morning only? what will be open in the afternoon only? will my son ever leave my lap? where on the map are we now and where do we want to go first? Plantation General Hospital needed people to work in the nursery. So my children donned scrubs; bathed, powdered, changed, fed and burped some life size babies and were each paid 40 Wongas for the work they had done. Soon it was clear we would need to split up. Everything the Artist wanted to do was scary for the Engineer. And once he caught site of the amusement park, I knew where he and I would be spending most of the day. He rode the green airplane about 10 times, and took 5 or 6 train rides too, all at 10 Wongas a ride. Once while we were waiting in line for a ride we saw the Artist doing some police work. She learned she is not good at keeping the people she arrested in custody. The Engineer was curious about being a dentist. He got to count, brush and polish a patient's teeth and take some Xrays. I think he was intrigued by the foot pedal powering the tools. But he had a singleness of purpose throughout the chores: more Wongas = more airplane rides. At the circus, the Artist got some juggling lessons. The Engineer missed mom too much to complete pilot training. In this photo he is just about to chicken out. He never went into the cockpit of the actual airplane in Wannado City's airport. A flight attendant bright him to me at the parent's waiting area before the tears came though. The attendant told me they have actual flight simulators in there for the kids. They can see how their manipulation of the controls looks on their screen. The Engineer liked the grocery store too. He enjoyed shopping and he got paid for re-stocking when he was done. One of the last places we went was the bakery. The kids rolled out and seasoned their own soft pretzel for baking, then they got to enjoy them.