Fun @ Thomas Town

Words by Looi Sue-Chern

The cartoon character Thomas, the fictional steam locomotive from the popular ‘Thomas & Friends’ TV series, has arrived at Penang’s Gurney Paragon Mall, promising children fun, happy memories and maybe new toys until October 16.

Children visiting the mall will get to see, touch and take photos with 70 one-metre tall Thomas & Friends engines from the well-loved kids’ series in the ‘Mini and Mighty’ tour, which started on October 1, at the complex’s concourse area.

Thomas Town, Puteri Harbour’s ‘Mini and Mighty’ Tour launches at Gurney Paragon Mall in Penang on October 1, with VIPs unveiling the mini engines from the popular children’s show.

Apart from Thomas, the iconic blue engine, there are other familiar engines like Percy, James and Gordon. Some engines are also spotting themes like Dino, Heroes, Spooky, Racers, Neon, Robo, Chillin’ and Metallic.

There are also offers and other activities to check out, like the photo contest offering two grand prices of Thomas & Friends Minis Collector’s Playwheel, Gurney Paragon Mall shopping vouchers worth RM100, and four all-park passes to the Thomas Town attractions in Puteri Harbour in Johor. The contest also offers 20 consolation prizes of two all-park passes.

To take part, families can share their photos taken with the mini engines on the mall’s Facebook page with creative captions that also include the hashtags #ThomasMinis and #GurneyParagonMall. The photo must also tag the ‘Thomas Town – Puteri Harbour’ Facebook page.

Families spending RM200 in a maximum of two combined receipts at any Gurney Paragon outlet, the Thomas Town ticketing booth or Thomas & Friends merchandise area can redeem a pair of free passes to the train ride for kids aged four to 12. This is limited to the first 100 pairs daily.

Shoppers and their kids checking out the attractions at the Thomas Town, Puteri Harbour’s ‘Mini and Mighty’ Tour at Gurney Paragon Mall, which will run until October 16.

The engines display and merchandise area are available daily until the tour ends. Train rides are also available daily at 10am-12pm, 1pm to 3pm, 4pm to 6pm and 7pm to 9.30pm.

On Fridays from 1pm onwards, there are Thomas Town trivia, maze and track challenges. On Saturdays and Sundays from noon onwards, there are meet-and-greet sessions with the characters Rusty, Dusty and Sir Topham Hatt; story-telling programmes and maze and track challenges.

Meanwhile, those who sign up for the Gurney Paragon card by October 16 will get a Thomas Town theme park ticket worth RM85. This is limited to the first 10 new members per day.

The tour is presented by Thomas Town – a family-centric indoor themed park in Puteri Harbour, Iskandar Puteri, Johor – together with major toymaker Mattel and Gurney Paragon.

For more details, visit www.puteriharbour.com/play/thomas-town.