*Published 3 September 2026. All dates, times, zones and prices below are from Mandai Wildlife Group's own media release of 3 September 2026, its River Wonders admission price table, its WildPass page and its live park advisory page. Cover photo: iPanda, via Mandai Wildlife Group.*
Singapore is the first stop outside China for Panda Planet Immersive Experience, a travelling panda exhibition presented by iPanda, the giant panda channel run by CCTV.com. It opens at River Wonders on Friday 4 September and runs to Monday 14 September, which is almost exactly the shape of the MOE September school break (5 to 13 September). Jia Jia and Kai Kai have birthdays in the middle of it.
> Quick view: Panda Planet runs 4 to 14 Sep 2026, 9am to 6pm daily, last entry 5pm, just outside the Pavilion Capital Giant Panda Forest at River Wonders. It is included with River Wonders admission, no separate ticket. Jia Jia's birthday celebration is Sat 5 Sep, 12pm and Kai Kai's is Sun 13 Sep, 12pm, also included. Local adult admission is S$35 on weekdays and S$40 on weekends, and the school holidays do not change that.
What is actually in it
The exhibition sits outside the panda forest rather than inside it, and splits into three zones.
- Giant Panda Science Zone. Evolution, behaviour and the adaptations that make a bear live on bamboo, plus the conservation work behind the species' recovery.
- Kai Kai and Jia Jia Birthday Zone. Fun facts about the pair, and an update on Le Le.
- MR Experience Zone. A mixed reality walk through a virtual bamboo forest, standing in for the pandas' natural habitat.
Across all three there are science trivia challenges and panda photo points, and Mandai says completing them gives you a chance to redeem exclusive iPanda merchandise. The exhibition is part of a themed series under the China-Singapore Panda Relations initiative.
The pricing quirk: school holidays do not make this peak
This is the part worth knowing before you pick a day, because the intuition is wrong.
River Wonders prices on Regular Days and Peak Days, and Mandai defines them narrowly. For the day parks, Regular Days are Mondays to Fridays excluding public holidays, and Peak Days are Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays. MOE school holidays are *not* a peak trigger at River Wonders. Mandai's own WildPass FAQ spells out the one exception: "For Curiosity Cove, MOE school holidays are considered Peak." Curiosity Cove, not River Wonders.
So the weekdays in the middle of the school break, 7 to 11 September, are priced as ordinary weekdays. There is no public holiday anywhere in this window.
| Local resident, single admission | Regular Days | Peak Days |
|---|---|---|
| Adult | S$35 | S$40 |
| Child (3 to 12) | S$26 | S$29 |
| Local student | S$26 | S$29 |
| Senior (60+) | S$25 | S$25 |
Tourist rates are separate and flat: S$45 adult, S$33 child. Senior pricing is the one line that does not move between regular and peak.
Day by day, and where the two parties fall
| Date | Day type | Adult / child (local) | What is on |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fri 4 Sep | Regular | S$35 / S$26 | Exhibition opens. Last day of Term 3 |
| Sat 5 Sep | Peak | S$40 / S$29 | Jia Jia's birthday celebration, 12pm |
| Sun 6 Sep | Peak | S$40 / S$29 | |
| Mon 7 to Fri 11 Sep | Regular | S$35 / S$26 | School holidays, and the cheapest days to go |
| Sat 12 Sep | Peak | S$40 / S$29 | |
| Sun 13 Sep | Peak | S$40 / S$29 | Kai Kai's birthday celebration, 12pm |
| Mon 14 Sep | Regular | S$35 / S$26 | Last day. Also Kai Kai's actual 19th birthday |
Both birthday celebrations are on peak days. That is not an accident, they are the weekend slots, but it does mean the two most popular sessions are also the two dearest.
For a family of two adults and two children, a party day costs S$138 and a school holiday weekday costs S$122. The S$16 gap buys you the ice cakes and the crowd. If what your children actually want is the exhibition, the mixed reality room and a calm look at the pandas, go on a weekday between 7 and 11 September and pay less for a quieter park.
Neither party is on the actual birthday
Worth getting straight, because the coverage blurs it.
Jia Jia turned 18 on 3 September, the day the exhibition was announced. Her celebration is held two days later, on Saturday 5 September.
Kai Kai turns 19 on 14 September, which is the exhibition's final day. His celebration is held the day before, on Sunday 13 September. There is no party on his real birthday.
At both sessions the pandas get ice cakes and treat-filled gift boxes prepared by their care team, designed as enrichment to encourage natural foraging. Both are at the Giant Panda Forest at 12pm and both are included with admission.
Le Le is not here, and has not been since 2024
The Birthday Zone carries an update on Le Le, Singapore's first and only locally born giant panda cub, and that phrasing has already been read as "Le Le is back". He is not. Le Le returned to China in January 2024 to join the conservation programme run by the China Conservation and Research Center for the Giant Panda. The zone tells you how he is doing. It does not show him to you.
If you have a child who remembers Le Le, it is worth saying that before you arrive rather than at the gate.
What else is closed while you are there
Three live advisories on Mandai's own page overlap this window, and none of them appear in the exhibition coverage.
- The Mekong River and Yangtze River exhibits are partially closed to 30 September for upgrading works. The Giant Panda Forest itself is *not* closed, and still runs 9.30am to 6pm daily. Yaffa, the red panda who arrived from Taipei Zoo in August, is in a new purpose-built exhibit in the Yangtze zone and is open to visitors.
- Amazon River Quest is closed 31 August to 30 September for annual maintenance. If you are already holding an Amazon River Quest ticket, Mandai says you can use it as a cash voucher at in-park retail and F&B outlets. The exclusions matter: not at KFC, not at Starbucks, not at mobile kiosks, and not at the Mandai Wildlife WEST and EAST dining outlets.
- A S$5 surcharge applies to every taxi departure from Mandai Wildlife Reserve between 1pm and 11.59pm, daily. It is there to pull more taxis up during peak hours, but it is a real cost on the way home if you are not driving.
Note also the small opening-hour mismatch. Panda Planet runs from 9am, but the Giant Panda Forest itself opens at 9.30am. Arriving at park opening gives you a half hour with the exhibition before the bears are viewable.
The S$10 of vouchers on every ticket
Every park admission ticket comes with a S$5 retail voucher and a S$5 F&B voucher, usable at in-park shops and dining outlets across all the parks.
The condition is the bit people miss: each one needs a minimum spend of S$20. So the pair is worth S$10 only if you were going to spend S$40 across retail and food anyway. Treat it as a discount on a lunch and a soft toy you were already buying, not as S$10 back.
If your own birthday is in September
A neat overlap for local residents. WildPass is free, and one of its benefits is Wild Birthday: a complimentary entry during your birthday month to your choice of Singapore Zoo, Bird Paradise, Rainforest Wild Adventure or River Wonders.
Two conditions Mandai states plainly. The free entry must come with a full paying adult ticket, and it is for onsite ticket purchase only. That last one sits awkwardly against the other WildPass benefit, because the discounted local-resident admission rates are the ones you get by buying online and entering your WildPass-registered email at the order review page. If you intend to use both on the same visit, ask at the Guest Services counter how they price it rather than assuming they stack. Mandai's own terms say the WildPass discount is not stackable with other promotions.
WildPass itself is open to Singapore citizens, PRs, and Employment Pass, Work Permit or Dependant's Pass holders aged 15 and above, with a one-time Singpass verification. The digital card is emailed the same day, usually within 30 minutes. It also carries 10% off selected F&B, retail outlets and photo booths, and free entry to Mandai Gallery.
The fine print
- The exhibition is free with admission, but River Wonders admission is not free. There is no separate Panda Planet ticket to buy or book.
- Last entry to the exhibition is 5pm, an hour before it closes.
- Both birthday sessions are 12pm and are keeper-led feeding moments, not ticketed shows with seating. Arrive early on a peak day.
- WildPass rates are the local-resident rates quoted above. If you turn up and buy at the counter without presenting your pass, Mandai gives no refunds of the discount afterwards.
- Prices and advisories were checked on mandai.com on 3 September 2026. Park advisories change, so look at the advisory page again the morning you go.
Related
- Singapore September School Holidays 2026: 8 Things to Book Now
- 6 Best September School Holiday Camps in Singapore 2026
- Minecraft Experience: Villager Rescue at Mandai, Till 13 Sep 2026
- 7 Best Attraction and Theme Park Deals in Singapore 2026
- 6 Best Places to Bring Kids in Singapore
- ICA: Heavy Traffic at Woodlands and Tuas From 4 to 14 Sep 2026
*Sources: Mandai Wildlife Group media release "Kai Kai and Jia Jia celebrate birthdays as Singapore's first Panda Planet exhibition opens" (3 September 2026), the River Wonders single attraction admission price table and ticket pricing periods, the WildPass programme page and FAQs, and the Mandai announcements and park advisory page. All checked on mandai.com on 3 September 2026.*
