SINGAPORE: The newly refurbished Downtown East will remain an “affordable” option for patrons, despite S$200 million having been spent on major upgrades to the facilities at the Pasir Ris resort, NTUC Club chief executive officer Lim Eng Lee said on Friday (Nov 2).
NTUC Club, the entertainment and leisure arm of the National Trades Union Congress, operates Downtown East, which will celebrate the completion of a five-year facelift this month.
Work to revamp the resort began in 2012 and was carried out in two phases. The Wild Wild Wet theme park is now double its original size, a new resort has been built, and new food and beverage outlets have sprung up.
Facilities at Downtown East stayed open throughout its refurbishment.
“Downtown East remains committed to our mission to ensure that leisure choices remain affordable for our members,” said Mr Lim. “We want to stretch our members’ dollars as much as they can.”
Pointing to the example of Downtown East’s food and beverage outlets, Mr Lim said that a “decent family meal” would cost approximately S$20 per person.
“We don’t try to bring in very expensive things here but having said that we also want quality,” he said. “Occasionally, we want to pamper ourselves and spend a little bit more. But we will not be bringing the kind of restaurants that cost S$200 per person.”
One of the main attractions of Downtown East is the nature-inspired D’Resort. The resort, which opened its doors in 2015, consists of 387 rooms, with an upgraded chalet block and a resort block.
“The rooms are upgraded to a level comparable with some hotels in town, but if you compare those hotels’ rates with ours – our customers get so much more,” said Mr Lim, pointing to how union members, for the duration of their stay at D’Resort, are entitled to unlimited admission to the Wild Wild Wet water park.
Room rates start from S$98, if booked six months in advance.
The expanded Wild Wild Wet theme park. (Photo: Gaya Chandramohan)
Wild Wild Wet’s expansion – from two to four hectares – saw the addition of seven new attractions.
A Day Pass for an adult (13 years old and above) at the water park costs S$24 during off-peak periods and S$32 during peak periods, with NTUC members also receiving a S$4 Wild Wild Wet voucher.
In comparison, an adult all-day pass before the refurbishment would have cost S$19.
Downtown East celebrates its 30th anniversary this year, and Mr Lim described visiting the Pasir Ris resort as a “rite of passage for every Singaporean”.
“I dare say that practically every Singaporean has passed through this place at least once in their lifetime – regardless of their income level,” he added.
But as tastes and society’s expectations change, the refurbishment was necessary for Downtown East to remain relevant, said Mr Lim.
Explaining the rationale behind the expansion of Wild Wild Wet and the closing down of Escape Theme Park, he said: “The difference between a water park and ride park is that because Singapore’s weather is hot, people do come again and again.
“As for an amusement park, we are not Disney; Disney is different because they attract tourists. This is for a local market, and people would just come once and would have seen it all.
“We felt (Wild Wild Wet) was more sustainable and so we expanded it.”
Response to the new offerings has been good, added Mr Lim, with Downtown East seeing a 20 per cent increase in visitorship since its soft launch earlier this year.
