KidZania
KidZania is an international chain of indoor family entertainment centers where children role-play adult professions in miniature cities.
Last updated August 31, 2026
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Overview
KidZania is a Mexican-origin international family-entertainment brand built around immersive, child-sized cities in which children can perform simulated adult jobs. Its centers combine elements of an educational attraction, theme park, children's museum, shopping environment, and branded experiential marketing venue. Visitors generally enter a miniature urban setting containing streets, public services, shops, workplaces, theaters, vehicles, and other civic features. Children, principally those between four and fourteen, select activities such as aviation, medicine, broadcasting, food production, retail, firefighting, dentistry, banking, or transportation and follow guided procedures that imitate real working environments. A central feature of the concept is its internal economy. Children receive or earn kidZos, the brand's proprietary currency, by completing activities. They can deposit the currency in a KidZania bank or spend it on selected goods and experiences inside the center. This system gives the attraction a practical-learning dimension, introducing children to ideas such as work, exchange, saving, spending, and institutional services. Electronic wristbands are used in the centers to support child identification and enable parents to monitor children remotely while they participate in activities. The first venue opened in September 1999 at the Santa Fe Shopping Mall in Mexico City under the name La Ciudad de los Niños, or “The City of the Children.” The initial concept was financed in substantial part by corporate sponsors, whose branded establishments helped fund the city and supplied recognizable real-world settings for the activities. The model therefore developed as both a consumer attraction and a platform through which companies could communicate with families through hands-on experiences rather than conventional advertising. The founders subsequently pursued different development paths. Xavier López Ancona continued the La Ciudad de los Niños concept and sought expansion in Mexico and abroad, while Luis Javier Laresgoiti and Grupo Mágico pursued a related U.S. project that became Wannado City. A legal dispute over intellectual property followed, eventually ending in a settlement that restricted Wannado City's expansion in Mexico. In 2006, La Ciudad de los Niños adopted the KidZania name to support international growth. The second Mexican location opened in Monterrey, followed by the first overseas location in Tokyo in 2007. KidZania's international model is based on local operating partnerships, property developers, and commercial sponsors. Individual centers can feature global brands as well as locally relevant companies, with activities adapted to local culture, language, regulations, and labor imagery. Examples cited in descriptions of the concept include simulated work with Coca-Cola, Crest, McDonald's, Procter & Gamble's Safeguard, airlines, and other commercial partners. The Westfield London center was developed with British Airways and operated through a local partnership. The brand has expanded to a large international network of indoor centers and has been described as receiving millions of visitors annually. Its business scope includes the development and operation of permanent family-entertainment centers, licensing and operating partnerships, sponsored educational activities, branded attractions, retail merchandise, and the KidZania identity system, including its fictional currency and mascot characters known as the RightZKeepers. The company remains privately held and is associated with founder and chief executive Xavier López Ancona. Its long-term proposition is to make learning about society and work entertaining, participatory, and commercially sustainable.
History
KidZania was created in Mexico by entrepreneur Luis Javier Laresgoiti and business partner Xavier López Ancona. The first center opened in September 1999 at the Santa Fe Shopping Mall in Mexico City under the name La Ciudad de los Niños. The founders had initially considered a more generic, possibly unnamed concept, but the cost of developing the attraction led them to seek support from real-world companies. Corporate sponsors funded a significant portion of the initial investment and supplied the branded workplaces that became a defining feature of the model. The first attraction presented children with a miniature city containing workplaces, public services, shops, and streets. Through supervised activities, children performed simplified versions of adult occupations and received the venue's internal currency. The concept was intended to combine entertainment with lessons about work, citizenship, money, and social institutions. Its reliance on recognizable company names also gave sponsors an opportunity to demonstrate products and services through direct interaction with families. After the first venue's success, the founders disagreed over the direction of the business. In August 2001, López was reported as taking responsibility for developing the La Ciudad de los Niños concept in Mexico, California, and Spain. Laresgoiti and Grupo Mágico pursued projects in Miami and South America under a separate arrangement. López's proposed expansion in the United States encountered difficulties, including unsuccessful plans connected with a Los Angeles shopping site and the Palisades Center in New York State. The latter proposal faced local opposition after being treated as a theme-park project, with concerns including traffic. Laresgoiti, Grupo Mágico, and the Mills Corporation eventually developed Wannado City at Sawgrass Mills in Florida. La Ciudad de los Niños filed an intellectual-property lawsuit against Wannado Entertainment in 2003. The dispute continued after Wannado City opened and was resolved through a settlement that included restrictions on opening Wannado City locations in Mexico. The episode illustrates the importance of the miniature-city format and related intellectual property to the emerging business. In 2006, La Ciudad de los Niños changed its name to KidZania as part of an international expansion strategy. A second Mexican center opened in Monterrey that year. In 2007, KidZania entered the international market with a center in Tokyo. The company later developed additional locations through partnerships with landlords, local operators, and commercial sponsors. These partnerships allowed the brand to adapt its activities to local markets while retaining a common structure: a child-scale city, professional simulations, an internal economy, and a mixture of global and domestic brand participation. The company added senior marketing and entertainment expertise as it expanded. Entertainment strategist Andrew Darrow joined as executive vice president in 2007, while Cammie Dunaway, whose prior career included work at Yahoo! and Nintendo, became chief marketing officer in late 2010. The London operation was developed at Westfield London in partnership with British Airways and operated by Joel Cadbury and Ollie Vigors through Longshot Ltd. The project reportedly required a substantial construction investment, although no financial figure is included here because the available reference does not provide a source suitable for financial verification. KidZania's centers use a consistent set of brand systems, including kidZos, electronic wristbands, and the RightZKeepers mascots. The characters personify rights associated with the KidZania experience, including knowledge, care, play, creativity, sharing, and personal autonomy. The brand has continued to operate as a privately held international chain of indoor family entertainment centers, with locations across multiple regions and annual attendance described in public reference material as reaching millions of visitors. Its expansion has also generated criticism over its continued presence in Russia during the war in Ukraine.
- 2017
Bekha introduced
[1]Bekha is introduced as a RightZKeeper representing the right to be self-determining and unique.
- 2012
Beebop and Chika introduced
[1]The RightZKeepers character group expands with Beebop and Chika, representing creation and sharing.
- 2010
Cammie Dunaway joins the company
[1]Former Yahoo! and Nintendo executive Cammie Dunaway joins KidZania as chief marketing officer.
- 2007
International expansion begins
[1]KidZania opens its first overseas location in Tokyo and appoints Andrew Darrow as executive vice president.
- 2006
Brand renamed KidZania
[1]La Ciudad de los Niños adopts the KidZania name to support international expansion, and a Monterrey location opens.
- 2004
Wannado City opens in Florida
[1]The related Wannado City project opens at Sawgrass Mills after development by Grupo Mágico and partners.
- 2003
Intellectual-property lawsuit over Wannado City
[1]La Ciudad de los Niños brings an intellectual-property claim against Wannado Entertainment in connection with Wannado City.
- 2001
Founders pursue separate development paths
[1]Xavier López Ancona and Luis Javier Laresgoiti move toward different expansion strategies for the concept and related businesses.
- 1999
First center opens in Mexico City
[1]The first La Ciudad de los Niños center opens at Santa Fe Shopping Mall in Mexico City, establishing the miniature-city role-play format.
Products and positioning
Experiential edutainment that combines imaginative role-play, practical life skills, family leisure, and brand-sponsored activities in a controlled miniature-city environment.
Indoor family entertainment · 1999
KidZania city centers
Permanent indoor attractions designed as compact, child-sized cities. Each venue includes streets, buildings, service institutions, workplaces, shops, theaters, and activity stations where children participate in supervised simulations of adult occupations. Local partners adapt the city and its activities to the surrounding market while preserving the core KidZania format.
Edutainment activity · 1999
Professional role-play activities
Structured activities allow children to act as pilots, doctors, dentists, broadcasters, firefighters, food workers, retailers, bankers, and other professionals. The exercises are designed to be entertaining while introducing concepts related to work, teamwork, public services, money, and community life.
In-center currency system · 1999
KidZos
KidZos are the fictional currency used inside KidZania. Children earn the money through selected activities and can deposit it in the KidZania bank or spend it on eligible products and experiences. The system gives the attraction an economic-learning layer and helps connect separate activities into a broader simulated society.
Safety and visitor technology
Electronic wristbands
Electronic wristbands are issued within KidZania centers to help identify children and allow parents to monitor them remotely while they move through activities. The technology supports the brand's family-oriented operating model and the separation of children's and adults' experiences inside the venue.
Brand characters · 1999
RightZKeepers
The RightZKeepers are KidZania's mascot characters and fictional civic guides. The group represents rights associated with the brand, including the rights to know, care, play, create, share, and be. Core characters include Urbano, Vita, Bache, Beebop, Chika, and Bekha.
Controversies
Criticism over continued presence in Russia
KidZania has faced criticism for continuing to operate in Russia during the war in Ukraine. Critics and organizations tracking corporate activity in Russia argue that maintaining operations may indirectly support the Russian economy and undermine efforts associated with sanctions and corporate withdrawal.
Brand decisions
2007
Launch of international operating modelStrategyBackground
Following the name change and development of a second Mexican location, KidZania sought to replicate its format outside Mexico.
Action taken
The company opened its first international center in Tokyo and expanded through local operating, property, and commercial partnerships.
Aftermath
The partnership-based model enabled the brand to develop a broad international network while incorporating local sponsors and activities.
2006
Rebrand from La Ciudad de los Niños to KidZaniaStrategyBackground
The original Mexican brand name was considered less suitable for international expansion and a more portable global identity was needed.
Action taken
The company adopted the KidZania name and used it for the subsequent international development of the miniature-city concept.
Aftermath
The rebrand preceded the opening of additional Mexican and overseas locations, beginning with Monterrey and Tokyo.
2003
Intellectual-property action against Wannado EntertainmentOtherBackground
A related miniature-city attraction developed by Grupo Mágico and partners operated under the Wannado City name, leading La Ciudad de los Niños to claim infringement of its intellectual property.
Action taken
La Ciudad de los Niños filed a lawsuit against Wannado Entertainment; the dispute later ended in a settlement.
Aftermath
The settlement restricted Wannado City from opening locations in Mexico.
Sources2 sources
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