Many Malaysians will no doubt be familiar with Sunway Lagoon, the iconic theme park in Bandar Sunway known for its themed areas, artificial surf beach, exciting water rides, and suspension bridge — but did you know that it operates at night as well?

Known as Sunway Lagoon Night Park: The Good, The Bad, and The Wild, visitors can explore parts of the park after dark, including the Americana-themed Wow Wild West section as well as the Wildlife Park.

N and I had an evening free, so after grabbing dinner at Sunway Pyramid, we decided to check out the Night Park! Entry is RM75 for adults, and RM63 for children.

Regular park hours are from 10am to 6pm, so most visitors were actually leaving the park. Since we came on a weekday, there wasn’t much of a crowd and we almost had the whole place to ourselves. No queue for rides!

Our first stop was the Wildlife Park area so we could get a better look at the animals while there was still daylight. We passed through a beautiful arch of flowers and a pirate-themed area, complete with waterfall and a pirate ship ride.

One of the most popular rides in the dry section of Sunway Lagoon is Pirate’s Revenge, a 360-degree rotating pirate ship in the shape of a galleon. While a younger me would have hopped on this without hesitation, the thing about being in my mid-30s is that the heart is willing, but the flesh is weak – had to give this a pass.

The Wildlife Park in Sunway Lagoon is beautifully landscaped with lots of greenery, while the animal enclosures are spacious and designed to emulate the animals’ natural habitats. You can find over 150 species housed here, including birds, snakes, tigers, lions, and bears.

While on the elevated walkway, we spotted this beautiful but camera-shy owl, its brown and white coat almost perfectly camouflaging it amidst the foliage.

Did you know that the collective noun for flamingoes is a flamboyance of flamingoes? Rather fitting, since they always seem to be posing gracefully. The name is derived from Spanish or Portuguese ‘flamengo‘, meaning flame-coloured – a reference to their pinkish hue, which comes from aqueuos bacteria and beta-carotene from their food supply.

Typically, the pinker a flamingo is, the healthier and more desirable it is as a mate, but captive flamingos may not achieve the same colouration since they aren’t getting as much beta carotine as they do in the wild, even if they are fed properly.

A playful bevy of otters. The enclosure features a small stream with flowing water, to better emulate their natural habitat.

A cutie patootie sniggle wiggle noodle with the cutest face. An adorable ball python.

Tree frog having a nice nap.

One of the park rangers was organising an interactive session with some of the animals – in this case an albino Burmese python – which can grow up to 7 metres in length. Its skin has a warm, dry, and pleasant texture. Burmese pythons are opportunistic feeders, meaning that they’ll wait in camouflage for prey before striking rapidly and constricting their meal – hence the powerful musculature and girth.

Assorted animal parts – porcupine quills, colourful feathers, and egg shells from various species of birds.

We had some time to kill before the scheduled tiger feeding at 8pm, so we adjourned to the lakeside for a stroll. Over here, the theme is less Americana and more tribal, with gazebos fashioned from fake elephant tusks.

From this vantage point, one can see the rest of Sunway’s integrated development, including the Sunway Pyramid Mall and the Sunway Hotel. You can even take a paddle boat out on the lake or feed the fishes for an additional fee.

Wasn’t trying to anthropomorphise – but when I saw the three white swans gliding across the water and the black one trailing behind, couldn’t help but compare it to a mean girl clique ostracising another girl they think isn’t cool enough to hangout with them. In the words of Gretchen Weiners, “You can’t sit with us!”

The goat pen offers another opportunity for visitors to get closer to the animals.

The guinea pig enclosure. Some guinea pigs look naturally scruffy, with their fur sticking up in all directions – really wanted to get one and just smoothen out its fur. They are shy creatures and will likely run away from you, unless you have some feed in hand. The rabbits are friendlier, and there is an old tortoise within the compound too.

At the end of the accessible path was a rather macabre wagon housing preserved animals in jars – probably from some of the zoo animals’ stillborns.

We doubled back to the Wildlife Park’s entrance at 8pm for the scheduled tiger feeding, featuring the stars of the park, two Bengal tigers named Samson and Asha. This striking colouration happens in about 1 to 10,000 births, when both parents carry a specific gene, making white tigers rare to find in the wild. They also tend to be slightly larger and heavier than regular Bengals.

The glass enclosure allowed us a borderless view of Samson and Asha. They basically acted like big cats – grooming and licking each other affectionately, rolling around in the dirt, jumping from one ledge to another. It was fascinating to watch. Not going to get into the whole ‘are zoos inhumane’ argument, but I think here at least, they are doing their part in conservation and raising awareness about the plight of these majestic animals.

It was dark by the time we left Wildlife Park. We still had not gone on any rides, so we hopped onto the nearest one, which happened to be spinning tea cups.

Adrenaline junkies may call this a kids ride, but I think it was just the right amount of fun and excitement for a couple in their mid-30s. And don’t be fooled – the cups spin at pretty fast speeds!

We then returned to the Wow Wild West section to go on the Wagon Wheel, a Ferris wheel with gondolas shaped like priarie wagons. It wasn’t very high, but since the Hubs is afraid of heights, this was the equivalent of a nightmare. He was only able to relax a little after the third or fourth spin – but immediately clutched the railings until his knuckles turned white when the ride stopped for awhile with our wagon at the top, swaying back and forth gently in the wind for a good few minutes. That aside, the view from above with the breeze in our faces felt relaxing after the spinny tea cup ride.

PS: Before you come at me for being a terrible wife, there was no coercion – he wanted to ride this lol.

The Wild West section in Sunway Lagoon is themed around old Americana culture, complete with a replica of a street in the old West, as well as the Alamo, a historic compound and fortress in San Antonio, Texas.

Rides here are more family-friendly, like the Butch-Cassidy Trail ride with boot-shaped gondolas that rotate around a central point.

And then this Vultures ride (they call it that but they’re really pterodactyls), which would move up and down on mechanical arms whenever the rider tilted the handle.

There was also a wet ride called Colorado Splash, featuring a pair of aquafury slides which you can ride down on rubber rafts – but we didn’t go on this as we didn’t bring a change of clothes. If you’re feeling up for a surge of adrenaline, you can hop on the Mechanical Bull ride for an additional fee.

Aside from cowboys, the Wild West area also has a section featuring Native American elements, with depictions of wildebeest, totems, and tribe chieftains.

Food selection is limited in the park at night, but you can enjoy a snack and a drink while relaxing by the water’s edge at the open-air restaurant. Following the Americana theme , the resto is mostly wood and is decorated with elemnets like stacks of hay, fake mounted animal heads, and black and white photos of the Wild West.

You’ll also find a barn here, sponsored by local dairy company Farm Fresh. Housed within are two pretty black and white cows called Holly and Koci. There are milking sessions on certain days – during our visit, the ladies were already retiring for the night.

The finale of our experience was the fire show at the Lorado Theatre (Which unfortunately I do not have pictures of because I was too busy taking videos). Let’s just say it was very impressive, from the costumes and the showmanship of the performers, to their excellent use of pyrotechnics and fire to wow the crowd. It was intense too as we were standing at the back and could still feel the heat!

Overall, while the rides are quite limited at night at Sunway Lagoon, I think it’s still worth the experience if you a) hate crowds, b) hate queueing, and c) want to experience a theme park at night, in cooler, more comfortable weather. Look out for seasonal celebrations too, like Christmas, where there will be different performances and events.

Tickets can be purchased on https://sunwaylagoon.com/.

PS: If you enjoyed reading this, please consider supporting my website via Patreon. This will go towards hosting fees and ensuring that I can continue to deliver authentic content for your reading pleasure. Or buy me a cup of coffee at paypal.com @erisgoesto. Thanks for stopping by!

PS2: All expenses are out of my own pocket unless otherwise stated. Views here are my own and are based on my personal experience. They are not meant to endorse or disparage businesses in any way.