KidZania

Every KidZania is themed as a child-sized replica of a real city, including buildings, shops and theaters, as well as vehicles and pedestrians moving along its streets. In this city, children aged 4 through 14, work in branded activities from bottling Coca-Cola, working in a Crest-sponsored dentist office, working at a McDonald's restaurant, painting with Corporação Industrial do Norte, washing hands with P&G's Safeguard soap, and using airline tickets from American Airlines, Flydubai, Egyptair and Saudia. The children earn kidZos (KidZania's currency) while performing the tasks, and the money is kept in the KidZania bank for children to spend at the gift shop and on KidZania's activities. Inside every KidZania facility around the world, children wear electronic bracelets that allow parents to keep track of their kids remotely. The currency symbol for the kidZo is a capital letter Z with two horizontal strokes across the middle, which resembles the Ukrainian hryvnia sign (₴) but with sharp corners. Bollywood actor Shah Rukh Khan owns a 26% share in KidZania India and helps promote the brand in India. == History ==

KidZania was created and developed by the Mexican entrepreneur Luis Javier Laresgoiti, alongside his business partner Xavier López Ancona, the current KidZania CEO. The first KidZania opened in September 1999 in Santa Fe Shopping Mall in Mexico City, and was named La Ciudad de los Niños ("The City of the Children"). Laresgoiti and Grupo Mágico, alongside the Mills Corporation, were able to begin construction on a center at Sawgrass Mills under a different brand, Wannado City, which opened in 2004. In 2003, La Ciudad de los Niños filed a lawsuit against Wannado Entertainment for infringing their intellectual property, and rejected Grupo Mágico's attempts to settle the lawsuit. Shortly after Wannado City opened, Wannado paid a settlement to La Ciudad de los Niños to end the lawsuit, and was forbidden from opening Wannado City locations in Mexico. In 2006, La Ciudad de los Niños rebranded as KidZania to better suit itself for international expansion, and opened its second location in Monterrey. The following year, KidZania hired entertainment strategist Andrew Darrow as executive vice president. The same year would see KidZania's first international location in KidZania Tokyo. Cammie Dunaway, previously of Yahoo! and Nintendo, joined in late 2010 as the chief marketing officer. In partnership with British Airways, it was operated by Joel Cadbury and Ollie Vigors through their Longshot Ltd company. == Controversies ==

KidZania faced criticism for continuing its operations in Russia despite the ongoing war in Ukraine. The company was listed on the "Leave Russia" project, which monitors businesses that remain active in the Russian market. Critics argue that KidZania’s continued presence in Russia indirectly supports the Russian economy, undermining international sanctions and efforts to pressure Russia during the conflict. ==KidZania characters==

The mascots of KidZania are called the RightZKeepers. According to the website's story, they represent the rights that all KidZania patrons have. Before Bekha's appearance back at 2017, they used to share an extra sixth right, the Right to Be. The following are the mascots that KidZania has adopted over time: • Urbano (Right to Know): A nine-year-old, green-haired boy who is ingenious, inquisitive, and adventurous. He is interested in conducting experiments and making inventions. (First appeared in 1999) • Vita (Right to Care): Urbano's younger sister, a seven-year-old kind and thoughtful blue-haired girl who loves all living things. (First appeared in 1999) • Bache (Right to Play): Urbano and Vita's pet Blue hound dog. He loves to play, and has a huge appetite. His dream is to make sure every kid in the world is as happy as he is. (First appeared in 1999) • Beebop (Right to Create): Urbano's ten-year-old best friend. He is a huge fan of music and is very artistic. He has orange hair that covers his eyes, and wears a yellow shirt with a record design on it, a white long sleeved undershirt and headphones. (First appeared in 2012) • Chika (Right to Share): The fashionista of KidZania, a ten-year-old sociable and cheerful pink-haired girl who wears a headband with fake cat ears. She gets her inspiration from her favorite anime and manga characters. (First appeared in 2012) • Bekha (Right to Be): An eleven-year-old dark blue-haired girl, who, according to the story, shows the power to be self-determining, unique and free in harmony among humankind. This Right is grounded in the eternal idea of freedom: the power to act, speak and think as one wants without hindrance or restraint. (First appeared in 2017) ==Gallery==

File:Edificio de rappel en Kidzania.jpg|KidZania Mexico File:Cocina en Kidzania.jpg|KidZania Mexico File:Kidzania 2017 (4).jpg| File:Kidzania plaza Cuicuilco.JPG| File:Fruit Orchad02.jpg| File:Hospital01.jpg| ==See also==