TERRIBLE experience. Disappointing and overpriced for foreigners. Summary: Employees don't speak English so your kids will have no clue what is happening during the activities and be bored. You aren't allowed to enter the activities with your kids. Also, very few activities for little kids. Lots of the activities were closed when we came. The whole experience felt like a scam. Detailed: I took my two kids (4 and 11 years old) to Kidzania while in Istanbul. We were looking forward to it all week. But we were all realllly disappointed. Bear in mind that the tickets for foreigners are much more expensive. Kids tickets are double the price and adult tickets are more than 3x the price. Because foreigner tickets cost more and the website is in English, I assumed that the employees would speak English. Not the case. NONE of the employees at the activities spoke English. This meant that my kids couldn't really participate in many of the activities because they didn't understand what to do. The manager's "solution" was to send us a translator who would walk around with my kids to each activity while we adults sat in the parents lounge. Understandably, my kids didn't want to walk around with some strange guy. My 4 year old was scared of him. On top of that, his translations during the activities were boring. After a LOT of arguing, I was able to convince the manager to let me attend the activities with my kids so I could explain things and try to make it more interesting. Despite getting permission, I still had to explain to each activity leader that I was allowed to enter with my kids. Then they would get on the phone and call the manager. Basically, we had to wait 5-10 minutes before each activity (not counting the time spent in line) just to get permission again. The entire experience was frustrating and annoying. I felt like they were scamming the foreigners. It's not okay to charge more than double the price for such terrible services. Now, if you speak Turkish and your kids are around 6 to 8 years old, then Kidzania is probably worth it: you get to sit and relax while your kids run around and have fun. But, if you don't speak Turkish, it's definitely a waste of money. read more

"I am an American with degrees in Psychology and Communication, and I work in Human Resources with an International Company here in Istanbul. I speak Turkish fluently, and we send our daughter to a reputable Turkish preschool. Today we visited KidZania for the first time, and I expected to be treated both fairly and respectfully; however, that was not my experience today. Unfortunately, a number of the employees treated both myself and my Turkish friend disrespectfully. While I understand that there are guidelines that must be followed in such an establishment, the manner in which an employee enforces certain guidelines and conducts him or herself with customers (many of them highly educated professionals bringing their children) says a lot about the business. While I love the product that KidZania is "selling" and the experiences my daughter had, the manner in which some of the employees carried themselves left something to be desired. I wondered if their manner comes back to the training KidZania provides or the lack of education and experience of their employees. At any rate, it will be a while before I venture to KidZania again, and when I do I will put my "thick skin" on and prepare myself for the disrespectful behaviour of their employees." - Sarah, Dave L's wife read more