Singapore’s Changi Airport doesn’t have many passengers flying in or out of its amenity-filled terminals right now. But creative holiday-themed landside activities are making sure the airport remains a desirable destination.
In Terminal 3 visitors will encounter T-rex and other dinosaurs, a two-story snow luge, and a ‘snowfall’ experience.
In Terminal 4, one of the seasonal attractions is a dinosaur-themed go-kart track.
Glamping at Jewel
Over in the Jewel entertainment and retail complex that is home to the Rain Vortex, there’s an overnight glamping experience.
Tents are pitched on the attraction’s highest level next to ficus trees decorated with fairy lights. And on the ground level, in the Shiseido Forest Valley, there are tents set up right next to the Rain Vortex.
Doesn’t it look like a lovely place to spend the night?
Those over the top fountains, waterfalls and other grand features found at hotels, malls and parks are quite snazzy – and expensive. But are they making natural attractions seem boring? Here’s our story that appeared first on CNBC.
If you visit Las Vegas and make your way to the Fountains
of Bellagio, the Mirage volcano or any of the five curious and creative water features at
City Center, you’ll see great examples of natural elements being used to create
over-the-top entertainment.
Each experience is part of a
portfolio of more than 200 unique installations around the world created by LA-based
WET, a design firm that has
been perfecting its techniques and pushing the boundaries of art, technology
and attraction for more than 35 years.
“We do one-off features with new
and unusual stuff that no one’s ever seen or done before,” said Jim Doyle,
WET’s director of Design Technology. And like the cauldron it created for the
2002 Winter Olympic Games in Salt Lake City and the showpiece it created for
the Winter Olympic Games in Sochi, Russia in 2014, many of WET’s project are big
and boutique projects that people talk about, take pictures of and share on
Instagram and Facebook, said Doyle.
The 130-foot-tall Rain Vortex is the newest example of WET’s work. Now the world’s tallest indoor waterfall, the Rain Vortex serves as the centerpiece of the Jewel shopping, dining and entertainment complex designed by Moshe Safde’s architecture firm for Singapore’s Changi Airport.
For Jewel, WET figured out how to create
and build a circular waterfall that drops seven stories from the roof of the
building.
“It’s
the first time something like this has appeared in the middle of a building,”
said Doyle, “There’s nothing in there that is standard.”
Impressive
enough during the day, at night the rain vortex, plus some man-made fog,
creates a canvas for a first-of-its kind, 360-degree projected
light-and-sound-show.
WET’s water features aren’t just meant to be pretty, said Doyle, “They become works of art, but they are also serious investments put where they’ll capture attention. You’re not going to spend money on a water feature no one will see or that doesn’t have a reason for being there.”
In Dubai, where bigger is always
better, WET created the
Dubai Fountain, the world’s tallest choreographed fountain.
Located next to
the Dubai Mall, one of the world’s largest malls, and Burj Khalifa, the world’s
tallest building, the $240 million fountain project has jets that launch water
a record-setting 50 stories high, with more than 1,000 individually
programmable elements.
“They needed something to give people a reason to come
back to the building and to the shops and the restaurants in the mall time and
time again,” said Doyle, “That required a very large performance feature we
could continually update so that people could walk out of the building, watch a
show or two, sit down for dinner, watch another show and then go back into the
mall and spend more money.”
Do high-tech attractions with natural elements make
“real” attractions seem boring?
While millions of travelers may flock to high-tech
attractions such as the dancing light and water fountains in Dubai and Las
Vegas, travel experts don’t seem to be worried that much-loved low-tech and
natural attractions will seem boring by comparison and become overlooked.
“There is manmade and
then there is manmade magnificent,” said Jean Newman Glock, managing director
of Signature
Travel Network,
“The pyramids of Giza are and will always be a destination that Las Vegas could
replicate but not replace. It’s the in-situ aspect – the desert that fills all
your senses with the heat and arid sands of the nearby Sahara – that the Luxor [hotel]
just can’t get quite right.”
Lynn
Minnaert, a clinical associate
professor with the Tisch Center of Hospitality at New York University
who visited both Las Vegas and the Grand Canyon last year, agrees.
“A lot of things we
treasure as tourists, like Rome’s Trevi Fountain, are low-tech and man-made, said Minnaert, “And while sometimes people
travel purely for entertainment, those technologically-enhanced features that
may be spectacular and nice to look can sometimes turn people off because
they’re easily duplicated.”
High-tech attractions can
add flair and a sense of place to casinos, malls, hotels and spaces that
weren’t built to be authentic, said Minnaert. But natural attractions, such as
the Grand Canyon or Yellowstone National Park, don’t need anything added. Those
places will never be boring, said Minnaert “And are beautiful as is.”
I’ve been in Singapore this week checking out – and experiencing – the new pre-security attraction at Changi Airport called ‘Jewel‘.
Housed inside a toroidal (doughnut-shaped) glass and steel structure designed by noted architect Moshe Safdie, the Jewel attraction sits next to Terminal 1 on a piece of land that once housed a parking lot.
Inside there’s a lush four-story tiered garden, more than 280 retail and dining outlets, a Yotel short-stay hotel, and a multi-screen IMAX theater. But the attraction’s centerpiece is without a doubt the 140-foot-tall Rain Vortex that is now the world’s tallest indoor waterfall.
A few ticketed activities in Jewel’s ‘Forest Canopy’ will open in June, including a 164-foot-long glass-bottomed bridge, nets for bouncing and walking above the forest, mazes, topiary sculptures and more.
Shopping
galore
In addition to global brands such as Adidas, Coach and Levi’s, Jewel’s many shopping venues include a good number of new-to-market shops.
There’s the first Pokémon Center outside of Japan, shops selling gift foods and plenty of Singapore brands, such as In Good Company (clothing) and Supermama (design and crafts items).
Gift by Changi Airport carries many specially-made Changi Airport-themed items, including the airport’s signature orchid, spice and plant-sourced scent and work by sought-out local artists.
From Shake Shack to fine dining
Dining options in Jewel Changi Airport range from fast-food to fine dining and include cuisines from Asian to Western. Singapore’s first Shake Shack (with unique to Singapore menu items) is here as are numerous cafes that offer ‘outdoor’ dining with a view of Jewel’s forest and waterfall.
Bonus
amenities for travelers
Many passengers have long layovers at Changi Airport or have many hours to wait between hotel check-out time and late-night flights.
For those passengers Jewel has early check-in counters, bag storage facilities and a pay-per-use lounge.
The newest in the Yotel chain of “cozy” in-city and airport hotels, the YOTELAIR in the Jewel Changi Airport has 130 cabin-sized short-stay rooms.
Each room has its own shower and toilet, TV, WiFi and a space-saving ‘Smartbed’ that can change positions at the push of a button.
There’s a gym for guests, but during my four-hour stay I discovered that the best part of this YOTELAir is the patio that sits out front. It was a perfect, private spot to have a coffee, gather my thoughts, view the waterfall, the forest and all the shoppers going by.
Opening rates at the YOTELAIR are S$140 (about $103 US) for overnight stays in a Premium Queen Cabin and S$80 (about $59 US) for day stays of four hours. (Shower-only packages will be S$20 – about $15 US).
With a butterfly garden, pool, free movie theaters and much, much more, Singapore’s Changi Airport is all about the wow.
With the opening of the Jewel Changi Airport attraction, this award-winning airport is even more wow.
Located right in front of Terminal 1, on space formerly occupied by a parking lot, the Jewel is a large dome-shaped structure with a lush “Forest Valley,” a Rain Vortex that’s now the tallest indoor waterfall in the world, a 130-cabin YotelAIR hotel and 280 shops and restaurants.
I was on-site today for the opening-day preview events. Here are some snaps from the day.