The McDonald's Grand Graduation 2012 at WTC

The McDonald's Grand Graduation at the World Trade Center (Roxas Boulevard, Manila City) is the culminating activity for every McDonald's summer kiddie crew workshop.  For 2 hours, the kids get to play games McDonald style like the McFloat Bowling, McNuggets Hockey, McDolympics Football, Javelin French Fries and more!!!  There's the usual giant inflatable slide and Double Arch Bounce my son loves.  For those who do not like too much action, there's the face painting booth, the photo booth and the toy bazaar booth for the value meal toys you may have missed.  And for those who prefer to eat, food is available at the McDonald's counter.

There is also a show towards the 2nd hour of each activity.  This year's presentation was about lighting the Olympic torch in line with the 2012 London Olympics where the largest McDonald's restaurant will temporarily be put up.   The program host and narrator is Ms. JackieLou Blanco accompanied by Ronald McDonald and the gang.  Guests in this year's activity were Phil and James Younghusband who showed us a bit of their football skills.  The other participants for the show were Whiplash, Trumpets, and the University of Perpetual Help Pep Squad.

Tickets to each grand graduation is usually given a few weeks before the event.  The kiddie crew is entitled to 1 free ticket inclusive of food.  Additional tickets can be purchased at Php50 each for the parent or guardian.

Here are some photos of the event:

One of the many games at the venue

Making fun of the oversized oreo props at the McFlurry game

The giant inflatable slide

Ethan waiting for the show to start

Phil and James Younghusband showing off some football juggling skills

The Graduation and Show Finale

Just had to take a photo near Birdie before we go.

A general comment of the event is that there is not enough time for the kids to go around for the games.  The games also do not have prizes, they're just games, no challenge at all!  My mistake this year was going for the face painting booth first which really ate so much of the time.  Some of the images were much too intricate that it takes an artist about 10 minutes to finish.  The line was also very long that we already wasted 30 minutes waiting.  The best grand graduation event we attended was in 2010, the very first McDonald's grand graduation we attended.  The games and booths were great, the show which guested now international star "Charice" was spectacular, the WTC venue was really filled with booths and play areas.  I even remember that a futsal area was set-up for the kids.  The Grand Graduation that year (2010) was an A+, this years's Grand Graduation is only a B- according to Ethan.