ESCAPE Theme Park

ESCAPE Theme Park (15 November 2012)


B. Melayu

ESCAPE (GPS: 5.44942, 100.21538) is a theme park in Teluk Bahang, Penang. Sprawls over a seven-acre tract of secondary forest, it comprises three portions: the dry park called Adventureplay, the water park called Waterplay, and the world's longest tube water slide, called Gravityplay. The park straddles Jalan Teluk Bahang and the two sides are linked by an overhead pedestrian bridge.

ESCAPE Adventureplay was officially opened by the then Chief Minister of Penang, the Right Honourable Lim Guan Eng, on Saturday, 8 December, 2012. Mr Lim also officiated in the opening of ESCAPE Waterplay five years later, on 16 December, 2017. Mr Lim and current Chief Minister of Penang, Mr Chow Kon Yeow, jointly officiated the opening of ESCAPE Gravityplay two years after that, on 9 November, 2019.

ESCAPE Theme Park Visitor Information

The theme park is open every day except Monday, which is a maintenance day for the attractions. Opening hours are from 10:00am to 6:00pm.

Getting there
Most people reach ESCAPE by car. The park is approximately 1km south of the Teluk Bahang Roundabout.

Coming by Bus from George Town
Take Rapid Penang Bus 101 takes you to the bus stop serving ESCAPE and Entopia.

ESCAPE's entrance gate and car park are on the east side (right side if coming from Teluk Bahang Roundabout) of the theme park. The road is one way, with one entrance an an exit. The ticketing kiosk and entrance is on this side.

Entrance Fees
Buy your tickets online to enjoy up to 50% discount. Do it here. There are all sorts of tickets including the 1-day ticket, 2-day (with 1 overnight stay at Base Camp) ticket, 1-week ticket (actually, 6 days, since ESCAPE is closed on Mondays). There's also special rates for travel agents, corporations, associations, school groups and the ESCAPE Passport (for unlimited entry for the whole year).

Contact Information

ESCAPE
Jalan Teluk Bahang
11050 Penang
Phone: +60 4 881 1106
Web: www.escape.my
Facebook: escape.my

Video of ESCAPE Theme Park

Components of ESCAPE Theme Park

Swimwear policy
In order to ensure that its water filtration system is kept free from lint and fibres, for its Waterplay and Gravityplay components, ESCAPE enforces a swimwear policy where only swimsuits, swimming trunks and religious swimwear are allowed, and regular clothes are forbidden from its pools.

The ESCAPE Development

The map below shows the location of ESCAPE Adventureplay. Out of the entire development area (light-shaded green), only phase one (dark-shaded green) is ready and open to the public. This section is called the ESCAPE Adventureplay. (Throughout this write-up you will see me using the terms "ESCAPE Adventureplay" and "ESCAPE Adventureplay" interchangeably, though the latter refers only to the section presently opened to the public while ESCAPE Adventureplay includes areas of future development. The site is immediately north of the Penang Butterfly Farm, at the foot of the Teluk Bahang Dam.

Updates on ESCAPE

25 September, 2019
ESCAPE Theme Park receives Guinness World Records certification for the longest tube water slide in the world, with a length of 1,111 meters. This was certified by Guiness World Records adjudicator, Mr Pete Fairbairn, at the theme park today, saying the previous records were set at the Galaxy Water Slide World in Erding, Germany, which is 356 meters.

Mr Sim Choo Kheng of ESCAPE receiving the certification from Guinness World Records adjudicator Mr Peter Fairbarin, for ESCAPE's longest water slide. (25 September 2019)


Guests giving the longest water slide a test run. (25 September 2019)


23 June, 2019
Members of AnakPinang visited ESCAPE Theme Park to view the world's longest waterslide, which at the time of visit was nearing completion. When completed, the waterslide will be 1,111 meters long, breaking the record held by the 602-meter waterslide at Action Park in New Jersey, USA.

Here I am with the world longest tube water slide at ESCAPE Theme Park (23 June 2019)


A section of the world longest tube water slide. (23 June 2019)


The rainforest trees are protected during the construction of the water slide. (23 June 2019)


Starting point of the world longest water slide. When it is operational, the leaves will be removed and there is constant water flowing. The water used comes from the forest itself. (23 June 2019)


3 December, 2012
The ESCAPE Adventureplay Theme Park will be officially opened by the Chief Minister of Penang, the Right Honourable Lim Guan Eng on Saturday, 8 December, 2012.

ESCAPE Adventureplay is on the Map of Teluk Bahang, Penang

Come as a group to ESCAPE! (15 November 2012)


The ESCAPE balloon welcomes visitors visible from a distance (15 November 2012)


Signage to additional parking bays at Escape theme park (15 November 2012)


The additional parking bay across Jalan Teluk Bahang (15 November 2012)


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ESCAPE in 2012

ESCAPE Theme Park has changed a lot since its opening in 2012. In the first year, its car park was on the west side (left side if coming from Teluk Bahang roundabout) of Jalan Teluk Bahang. The car park was like a vegetable garden. Some of the lots have pergolas where woody vines such as bitter gourds and cucumbers are trained. You can see the gourds hanging down above your car. All around are other vegetable and fruit trees, among them ciku, roselle, kacang botol (winged beans, Psophocarpus tetragonolobus), chien hom, potato, and many other vegetable plants and fruit trees.

Pergola parking bay at ESCAPE Adventureplay (15 November 2012)


Pergola car porch growing with kacang botol at ESCAPE (15 November 2012)


Bitter gourds hanging from the pergola of Escape theme park (15 November 2012)


Cucumber growing at the ESCAPE parking lot (15 November 2012)


Kacang botol growing on a pergola at the ESCAPE parking lot (15 November 2012)
In 2012, the Ticketing Building was on the west side of Jalan Teluk Bahang. It was a thatched shed, which is still standing in 2019, but the entrance has since been relocated across the road. The ticket is in the form of a Stored-Value Card. The card allows you unlimited play of almost all the activities. The few where you need to pay extra to use include Atan's Leap, which I'd describe later. In addition, you use the ticket to pay for the use of the Locker, as well as for meals at the ESCAPE Food Court. If your ticket runs low on value, you can top up at the Top Up Counter within the park.

Nowadays the majority of visitors buy their tickets online at www.escape.my so if you do that, you can straightaway enter.

ESCAPE Adventureplay Ticketing Building, front view (15 November 2012)


Ticketing counters at ESCAPE Theme Park (15 November 2012)


Escape Ticketing Building, rear view (15 November 2012)


ESCAPE Adventureplay Entrance (15 November 2012)

Top-Up Counter

If your stored-value card runs dry, you can top up at the counter located next to the food court.

Top-Up Counter, ESCAPE Adventureplay (15 November 2012)

Lockers

Leave your belongings safely locked up while you go play. There is a charge of - if I'm not mistaken - RM5.00 for the full-day rental of the lockers, payable using your stored-value card from the touch-screen terminal.

Lockers at ESCAPE Adventureplay (15 November 2012)

First Aid Room

If you don't feel so well after all the fun, head to the First Aid Room, located between the park office and the Gift Shop.

First Aid Room, ESCAPE Adventureplay (15 November 2012)


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Gift Shop

This is the final site at ESCAPE before you exit the park. You can purchase park-themed souvenirs as mementos of your visit.

ESCAPE Gift Shop, park-side view (15 November 2012)


Gifts galore at the ESCAPE Gift Shop (15 November 2012)


The ESCAPE Gift Shop, as seen from outside the theme park (15 November 2012)


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Nature-inspired Design of ESCAPE Theme Park

The Gift Shop, Park Office and Food Court, which collective I'll refer as the administrative buildings, preserve quarters originally housing workers involved in the construction of the Teluk Bahang Dam. These have been given a period look with exposed brickwork.

As I explored the ESCAPE Theme Park, I come across several instances (and the park people were fast to point them out to me) where environment and nature-friendly designs were incorporated. The roof of the administrative buildings is grass. Though the grass needs regular maintenance, it keeps the interior temperature down while allowing excess water to collect for recycling. This is channeled into a brass drum with a tap at the bottom.

Workers tending to the grass roof, ESCAPE Theme Park (15 November 2012)


Rain-gutter water recycling, ESCAPE Theme Park (15 November 2012)

Meet the boss, Sim Choo Kheng

ESCAPE Adventureplay is the brainchild of Mr Sim Choo Kheng, the Penang-born chief executive officer of Sim Leisure. Having spent his childhood in the village, Mr Sim want every urban child and child-at-heart to experience the joy of life in the kampung. The opportunity arose when the state government opened to tender the land in Teluk Bahang for the creation of a new world-class tourist attraction in Penang.

ESCAPE Theme Park enables urban folks jaded by life in the concrete jungle the opportunity to enjoy the natural environment. For those who grew up in the countryside, Mr Sim hopes to bring back fond memories of the joy of living close to nature. This particular theme park materialises his vision of creating a world-class theme park for his native home island, and at the same time showcase how much fun it could be to enjoy and appreciate nature. ESCAPE taps the experience garnered by Sim Leisure in developing theme parks all over the world.

I am delighted to see the opening of ESCAPE Theme Park in Penang, and wish Mr Sim and the ESCAPE team all the best!

Tim with Mr Yeoh Seng Hooi (Director of Finance, Sim Leisure) and Mr Sim Choo Kheng (CEO, Sim Leisure) (15 November 2012)

Return visit to ESCAPE Adventureplay

About five years after ESCAPE Adventureplay opened, they invited me back to have a look around at the progress since then. I am happy to see that the nature theme park is still attracting visitors. They have also added a few new attractions such as the Kite Flyer and a new camping site.

Here I am with the owner of ESCAPE Adventureplay, Sim Choo Kheng (left) (7 January 2017)


On my second visit to ESCAPE, I had a chance to sit down with Sim Choo Kheng, the CEO of Sim Leisure, which owns and manages ESCAPE Adventureplay. We met briefly when the theme park first opened. This time, we get the chance to sit down and have a long talk. It was a most invigorating conversation, and we discussed a wide range of topics, from environmental protection to challenges facing Penang's tourism industry, and when I finally took leave, I learned that we have been talking with each other for five hours! I discovered that we are in agreement on a lot of things, and we also have much in common: we are of the same age, we were born in Penang's countryside, and we bore witness to all the changes to Penang over the past half century.

My wife and I at ESCAPE Adventureplay (7 January 2017)


ESCAPE Adventureplay (7 January 2017)

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