IT was during the Emerging Tiger era of the Philippines under the Ramos administration in the early 1990s that Cesar Mario Mamon along with a group of friends and business colleagues came up with the idea of setting-up an honest-to-goodness, all-year-round theme park, following his family’s diversification from agribusiness in the Laguna area.

CESAR MARIO MAMON
Chairman & President
Enchanted Kingdom Inc.

Having a growing family and enjoying seasonal carnivals like Big Bang sa Alabang and Boom na Boom and other local amusement parks such as Fiesta Carnival and Star City, and also inspired by what he, his wife Cynthia and their children saw and experienced abroad in Hong Kong (Ocean Park) the United States (Disneyland and Universal Studios) and others, an idea dawned in his mind to establish a place back home for people to “escape” from the doldrums of everyday life and enjoy and have a different outlook whenever they are inside the magical place

It was on one of his many trips abroad, specifically to Hong Kong, that Mr. Mamon attended a trade show and conference about the amusement and attractions industry to know more about the new venture that he was getting into. This is where he met consultants and suppliers and discovered the International Association of Amusement Parks & Attractions or IAAPA, the global association of the industry and he readily enrolled and became a member in 1992 and attending his first global convention and trade show in Dallas, Texas, USA in November of 1992.

“The idea was to create something different from what Filipinos normally see in local amusement parks and facilities and we thought and brought in rides that indoor and seasonal parks did not offer,” he told The Manila Times in an interview at his office in Makati, adding that they were fortunate to have acquired an initial 10-hectare property in Sta. Rosa to put up Enchanted Kingdom (EK), operated by Enchanted Kingdom Inc. (EKI) that formally opened to the public on October 19, 1995.

EK was and still is considered to be the first and only world-class theme park in the Philippines and boasts of rides and attractions unique to the country in terms of size, number and magnitude.

Besides being the founder and top executive of EKI, Mamon is also the first Filipino and Asian to be a member of the IAAPA Board of Directors and became the association’s global Chairman for the year 2014. He is also a recipient of the Theme Park Industry Icon – Philippines Award from the Malaysian Association of Theme Park & Family Attractions (MATFA). The award recognized international partners which have significantly contributed to the promotion and development of the theme park and family attractions market in the region. He is also the first Filipino to receive the prestigious Inspiration Award in the Asia Pacific (APAC) Region from the International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions (IAAPA). Aside from these industry awards, Mr. Mamon had also been recognized and honored by De La Salle Lipa, his high school alma mater, and by the University of the Philippines at Los Banos and Diliman where he finished and obtained his Bachelor of Science in Agribusiness degree.

For someone who had always been fascinated by anything mechanical such as airplanes, cars and ships, Mamon saw the fulfillment of those childhood dreams into reality with the variety of rides at Enchanted Kingdom.

These rides and attractions are located within nine meticulously themed zones interspersed with food and merchandise outlets and kiosks as well as various game stands that add to the “enchanting experience,” away from the day-to-day realities of life.

EK is also venue of choice for various events such as personal milestones like birthdays, weddings, and debuts; corporate events, conferences, company anniversaries, awarding ceremonies, product launches, and team building events featuring EK’s unique “EK Magicalympics”; and school activities such as educational field trips, commencement exercises, Junior-Senior Proms and even selected sports events.

It can cater to in-park group reservations from 10,000 to 25,000 guests in various themed environments in EK’s nine zones or in its various events venues: Eldar’s Theater (600-seater) at Space Port, Boardwalk Party Place (300-seater) at Midway Boardwalk and Enchanting Events Place (2,000-seater) at the Cultural Village Zone beside Agila the EKSperience – Saribuhay..

EK boasts of “themed entertainment” in each zone. It also has a variety of musical shows throughout the season using in-house and TV network partner talents. Entertainment and special events are usually held at any of the aforementioned venues.

Through the spirit of participation in education-related undertakings, the theme park can greatly contribute to the future of the country’s educational development.

Enchanted Kingdom was able to weather the Asian financial crisis in 1997 that evolved into a global one, rebounding almost a decade later after a virtual roller coaster financial ride. When the global Covid-19 pandemic hit in 2020, the Mamons were undaunted as before and faced and embraced the new challenges, never backing down even during the early months wherein people were in lockdown and were not allowed to go out or visit recreational venues like theme parks. As 2020 was Enchanted Kingdom’s 25th year, the park was still able to erect and construct its newest roller coaster ride, the Twin Spin, during the height of the pandemic and had it ready to open to the public when travel restrictions were lowered in 2021 onwards.

Enchanted Kingdom currently continues to enhance and expand its various offerings, especially its education programs as the theme park experience is a “different kind of classroom” for students of all ages, may it be the physics of the ride, the botany of the plants, etc. all of these beyond the confines of the ordinary classroom. It has also been able to acquire additional areas for development as EK now has an aggregate area of 35 hectares, more or less, with some 15 hectares of this still for future development. EK plans to allocate an area for agri-tourism, where guests can enjoy the vibes of farming and gardening, picking fruits and produce themselves as part of the experience. Also in the works is an integrated development where hotels, conference venues and retail and dining venues that will give a holistic experience to guests of all ages.

Although still hands-on being the Chairman and President of Enchanted Kingdom, Inc., Mamon says he consults not just with his management team that includes his children on the trends today but also with his grandchildren – the oldest at 21 and the youngest at eight years old – as all of them represent various age groups and they know better what are the trends that can attract not only the young ones but the parents and grandparents as well.

“Like the shows that we have for our anniversary weekend, if I were to decide who should be performing, younger audiences may not appreciate it so we have the Manila Philharmonic Orchestra and various OPM Stars on Saturday, October 18th and Cup of Joe and Parokya Ni Edgar on Sunday, October 19th,” he chuckled.

Since then and until now, the amiable park owner and the first Filipino and Asian to head the IAAPA takes to heart his guiding principles, which are also the core values of EK, namely, Love of God, Respect, Integrity, Loyalty and Innovativeness.

There are no immediate plans to expand or put up branches of EK or similar endeavors around the Philippines but they plan to increase their presence in strategic places in the Visayas and Mindanao for wider reach and mind share of their intellectual property, especially the popular and jolly Eldar the Wizard.

“Our goal is for Enchanted Kingdom to be reachable and known by the people in Visayas and Mindanao, not necessarily through a physical theme park, but maybe through other means to increase awareness of our brand and the product and enchanting experience that we offer at the park in Santa Rosa City, Laguna so that when these people in the provinces visit Luzon, hopefully, they will include Enchanted Kingdom in their itineraries,” he said.

“Through the last three decades, EK has been a part of many lives. Some of our present employees or cast members, as we call them, are already children of our pioneers. Some met their ‘forever’ at the park, others made their proposals, some held their weddings and their children now enjoy what they have enjoyed in their younger years, and for sure, among the visitors now could be grandchildren of those who made EK part of their journey,” Mamon expressed.