The title 'Jerudong Park' is something of a misnomer. Jerudong Park itself is a very large area beside the South China Sea in Brunei, South East Asia. It contains among other things a royal palace, a private clinic, polo grounds and some leftover horses, golf course, and Jerudong Park Playground. It is the Playground, which would more accurately be called an amusement park, that I think is what is meant by the heading given.
Jerudong Park website:
http://www.jerudong-park.com/jpp/
The Playground itself is only open from Wednesday to Sunday, 5pm till late. By this time the worst of the day's heat is dissipating and the mosquitoes are coming out to play.
You can get a ticket, $3 brunei for children and 5 for adults, which will give you access to all the rides.
The Park is very large, and the rides and amusements are well spread out. This means it's a bit of a footslog to get round the place. There is a short train ride over one side, but when the place was built the designers missed a big opportunity to have a track all round, so you could get to rides without exhausting yourself. But, like so many things in Brunei, this didn't happen. You can, however, rent a buggy for $20 an hour and get round that way.
There are various rides - dodgems, roller coaster, go karts, log flume, paddle boats, pirate ship, to name a few. There's also a good kids playground with swings etc. This, the dodgems, and the log flume are perhaps the most popular attractions. There used to be more rides. And if you go, not all the rides may be working. And if they are working, you may wish to contemplate the worst thing that could happen to you . And there's another thing. Even if the ride is working, and you decide to go on it, you might just be going through the turnstile when the loudspeaker starts up, and the ride attendants say 'sorry mam, sorry sir, closing for prayer time.' Then they switch off the power and disappear into the little booth. Yes, all the rides close for the evening prayer times. The religious authorities have to be kept happy. And oh yes, women may well not be allowed on a ride if they are wearing a vest type top. Keep the tops of your arms etc well covered. And you can't wear flip flops either. You have been warned.
The Playground was built in the late 1990's to celebrate the Sultan's birthday. When it first opened it was free to the public. Money was no object. You could hardly walk along a path for tripping over a gardener. Now it's reminiscent of the Scooby Doo teatime tv cartoons that I watched as a kid - the deserted fairground, the corrupt owner dressed up in a sheet. Except here they don't have the sheet guy.
The Bruneian idea of a nice holiday is to go to London, stay in a posh hotel, and spend money on all the things that you can't do or get in Brunei. So they have a different conception of tourism. There is therefore no backpacker-friendly bus system. Therefore if you are a low budget traveller you will have to get a taxi out here. If you are on a tour you will be bussed in. If you are staying with relatives there, you can get taken. You cannot walk to it from anywhere. There's a large open air food court area with a sadly dwindled number of stalls open, so you can make an evening of it and eat too.
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