On the whole, airports (granted, except for aviation geeks) are generally pretty boring. Granted, as they are built, rebuilt or expanded, some are offering more bells and whistles than in previous decades. But in general, the vast majority of them are still pretty “meh.” I mean, sure, you’ve got gates and planes, shopping and dining and hopefully a few lounges. If you’re lucky, there may be an art installation or maybe even a house of worship for those who want to partake (here’s how religious institutions came to be in some airports). But most airports still don’t offer a whole lot.
Singapore Changi International Airport, meanwhile, has always been fascinating to me. As someone who has lived flying in and out of “typical” U.S. airports such as MCO, EWR, JFK, AUS, etc., Changi sounded like something special. A butterfly garden? Suspended trampolines? The world’s largest indoor waterfall? AND it was connected to a shopping mall? I was in.
Our trip to Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia was mainly for Joe – it was his “birthday that ended with a 0” trip and there were a lot of “bucket list” stops for him. The only thing I requested was an extended stop at Changi so I could finally see this seemingly magical airport that had won so many awards.
Joe managed for us to have an overnight stopover at Changi, so I could explore to my heart’s content. We saw all the sights and did “all the things” (OK, not the trampoline) and although it was fun, I have to admit that my feelings about Changi were pretty much what others had warned me about for years – it was overrated. Was it nice? Oh, yes. Different? Absolutely. But I think all those awards it had won, and articles I had read, had raised my expectations a little too high.
Oh well…it is what it is.
That being said, there was one part of Changi that I thought was AWESOME.
The big slide.
I think I have mentioned in past posts that I am a little kid in a middle-aged woman’s body. That usually explains my enjoyment of fart jokes, but it also means I still enjoy rides (not thrill rides – I’m not a big coaster person. Never have been) and having fun with simple things.
Changi, as you may know, has 3 slides. The newest one is in Terminal 4, and it opened a couple of years before the pandemic. It’s located next to stairs and an escalator that leads to the boarding area for Gates H1 to H8. It’s free – you use your boarding pass to enter.
Here’s a video of it:
The other two slides are in Terminal 3 – which opened in 2010. There’s a smaller slide that’s about one story long, and another one that’s the granddaddy of all slides. Formally known as “The Slide @ T3,” the 4-story (Level 1 to Basement 3), the 39-foot slide is also the world’s tallest slide in an airport.
There’s no photo that really does the two of them justice, but Changi Airport posted one on their Facebook feed in 2018 that’s pretty good:
Anyway, after hearing about them for many years, I HAD to go on those.
The smaller slide is free. It also doesn’t appear to be used very often – the day we went, its main riders were little kids; strictly under 7 years old or so. But that didn’t stop me from giving it a try:
It was cute, but not really fun…unless maybe you’re 6 years old.
The bigger slide has a height requirement of 1.3 meters and 2.0 meters (about 4.3 feet and 6.6 feet). I’m super duper short (4’6″) so I’m glad I just squeaked in under the wire (although if I keep shrinking like the way I’ve been doing, I may not be able to “play” on it one of these days LOL).
You have to get a ticket to ride the “big” slide. And the only way to get a ticket is to become a member of the Changi Rewards program. It’s free to join.
Joe found the kiosk to get a membership and he came back with my pass to ride the slide 10 times. HOORAY!
Here’s how it went.
As you can see the slide wasn’t very crowded. But they do have a huge queue for it.
They’ve got plenty of rules for the slide:
You use the barcode on your ticket for auto-entry. There’s a secondary entry that doesn’t open until the person currently on the slide has exited. And then it’s your turn (or, in this case, mine).
I did the slide one more time, and by then I had had my fill.
Gotta admit…it was fun! Probably the most fun I’ve ever had at an airport 😉
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3 comments
Looks great. Out of curiosity, how do you get your carryon down?
No idea. I guess you give it to whoever you’re traveling with, to take the stairs, escalator, etc. For the slides in T3, you can take the elevator back up to Level 1, so I guess for that too, you’d have to have a “buddy” to watch your stuff.
I had a vision of someone tossing your stuff on the slide after you. Unlikely but pretty funny.