If at some point you came up with the idea of a children’s amusement that, instead of being centered around thrills and entertainment, was dedicated to giving them a taste of adult work-a-day drudgery, you most likely consigned that notion to oblivion almost immediately.
It turns out, however, that you were THIS close to striking gold – that is, if you’re the type of person who can summon large amounts of venture capital at the snap of a finger.
In 1999, KidZania, a “family entertainment center” that puts children in simulated work environments, popped into being in Mexico City. Cut to 18 years later and the company operates 24 branches in multiple countries, with one slated to open in Guadalajara’s Plaza Patria in 2018.
Each Kidzania branch is a small facsimile of a city, complete with shops, theaters and vehicles tootling down its streets. In exchange for units of currency, called kidZos, children perform a variety of tasks (while overseen by actual adults) as “employees” of various real-life corporations, such as McDonalds, Coca-Cola and American Airlines. The fake money, stored in a bank, can be spent at the gift shop and on kidZania’s many activities.
Children are prevailed upon to don electronic bracelets, allowing their parents to keep track of them no matter where they stray.
Other features of a typical KidZania universe are a mock court, a kid-run government and a cast of mascots, called the Rightz Keepers. Each mascot is dressed distinctly and represents a different “right.” Examples of these rights are the Right to Know, Right to Care, Right to Play, Right to Create and Right to Share. Last but not least, the Right to Be.
The Guadalajara project will cost in the area of 250 million pesos and employ 500 people, according to Diana Pino, Kidzania’s director of communications. In addition, she estimates that yearly attendance at the entertainment center will be approximately 400,000.
The branch’s expansion to Guadalajara is a dry run for the company’s metastasis throughout Mexico, with further locations planned in Leon, Queretaro, Merida and Puebla should the Jalisco venture prove successful. Currently, Mexico boasts three locations, two in Mexico City and one in Monterrey.
Infection is also slated to spread to North America over the course of the next two years: Chicago, Dallas and Toronto are currently bracing for Kidzania’s arrival; Chicago in 2018, Dallas and Toronto in 2019.