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1.Introduction: Why This Project Matters for Investors
1.1 Project Description: FunXpert in Changchun
FunXpert is Liben Play’s indoor adventure and entertainment brand. The Changchun venue is set to open in December 2025 at Phase I of Changchun Wanda, serving as the core experiential venue within a 47,000-square-meter cultural, tourism, commercial, and sports complex. When evaluating projects, many investors tend to focus solely on the design and pricing of the amusement park itself, underestimating the boost provided by the mall’s anchor tenants. This case study demonstrates how a high-quality mix of retail tenants can enhance an amusement park’s appeal, offering investors a practical reference for assessing commercial districts.
1.2 The Landlord Effect: Tenant Mix Determines the Operational Success of Family Entertainment Centers
Although the venue’s hardware design is impressive on its own, what truly makes this project worthy of study is the layout of the surrounding businesses. The first phase of the Changchun Wanda complex features a 50,000-square-meter indoor ski resort, an ice sports center, a 60,000-square-meter outdoor sports park, and a 5,000-square-meter indoor rainforest pavilion. FunXpert is strategically located along the main pedestrian thoroughfare connecting these major attractions, allowing it to naturally attract a large volume of foot traffic without incurring high promotional costs.
2.Project Overview: The Venue Context
2.1 A Flagship Destination in Northeast China
Changchun Wanda One is not a conventional shopping mall. Developed by Wanda Group and opened on December 25, 2025, the complex spans 470,000㎡ of total gross floor area, positioning itself as a “national flagship” for the “culture-tourism-commerce-sports” model. Key infrastructure includes:
| Component | Scale | Strategic Function |
| Indoor ski slope | 50,000 sqm; 85m vertical drop | Destination driver; regional draw |
| Commercial center | 270,000 sqm | Retail and F&B base |
| Ice sports base | “Dajing” standard | Niche sports programming |
| Outdoor sports park | 60,000 sqm | Seasonal extension |
| Indoor rainforest | 5,000 sqm | Experiential differentiation |
| Total parking | 17,000 spaces | Accessibility infrastructure |
| Brand count | 330+ (92 first-to-market) | Tenant mix depth |
An estimated 30 million annual visitors are projected for this mixed use complex, a statistic that highlights the value of high capacity entertainment anchors that can handle substantial crowds and sustain on site guest stays.
2.2 FunXpert’s Positioning Within the Complex
FunXpert sits on the second floor of the Wanda One commercial podium. Its two-level layout spans roughly 8,700 ㎡. The team selected this location on purpose. Sandwiched between ground-floor retail and upper-level cinema and dining zones, the venue acts as a vertical traffic hub, attracting families and young adults who would otherwise skip the mall’s upper floors.
3.The FunXpert Model: Density, Variety, and Throughput
3.1 Spatial Economics
The Changchun location spans 8,700 square meters and is one of FunXpert’s large-scale venues. The facility features over 50 types of attractions, including VR experiences, light exercise, physical challenges, thrill rides, video games, competitive interactive games, and mechanical rides. This high-density layout is the result of careful planning. For B2B venue operators, the business logic is very clear: integrating diverse, high-quality attractions into an all-inclusive ticket system maximizes revenue per unit area while ensuring unobstructed views and smooth visitor flow within the venue.
3.2 Differentiated Project Layout Across Two Levels
The two-story structure physically separates high-energy-consumption activities from light recreational activities. The lower level features trampolines, interactive projections, combination slides, go-karts, bouldering, and trapeze attractions; the upper level focuses on social and leisure activities, including PS5/Switch gaming rooms, private karaoke booths, billiards, and laser tag. This tiered layout allows parents to supervise young children on the first floor, while older teens and adults can head upstairs to experience competitive and skill-based recreational activities.
4.Traffic Synergies and Tenant-Mix Effects
4.1 Co-Location Logic
Wanda One has introduced 92 brands making their debut in the area, including workshops featuring intangible cultural heritage crafts, a flight simulator experience center, and a CINITY theater. FunXpert fits into, and also strengthens, a full one-day family itinerary: morning skiing, lunch, afternoon play at FunXpert, and an evening movie.
Early operational feedback from the complex has validated this closed-loop consumer experience. One of the anchor retailers exceeded its sales targets just two months after opening, with foot traffic far surpassing initial projections.
4.2 The “Rainy Day” Hedge
The ski slope attracts destination travellers, while FunXpert serves local repeat visitors, giving kids and teens an indoor recreation space during extended cold spells. This dual tenant mix — pairing a destination anchor with a community anchor — delivers steady year-round foot traffic for the landlord. FunXpert caters to guests of all ages. Its marketing focuses on sports relaxation, dates, team building and private parties, so it reaches far more than just young families.
5.Operational Standards Relevant to Investors
5.1 Safety and Staffing Infrastructure
Liben Play, FunXpert’s brand operator, sets standardized safety-first protocols and enforces them consistently across all venues. The Changchun site keeps a dedicated safety officer and trained coaching team on-site. The team inspects and maintains all play equipment on a fixed schedule. Guests must wear grip socks in trampoline and climbing areas, and these socks can be bought at the venue. Since this robust operational system is already in place, B2B buyers considering franchise or management partnerships can shorten their onboarding process and reduce liability exposure arising from high-risk play facilities.
5.2 Programming Flexibility
The venue’s zoned design accommodates both individual ticket sales and full-venue rentals—a revenue stream that many venues dedicated solely to video games struggle to achieve. The game rooms and leisure areas on the second floor are specifically designed to accommodate birthday parties, corporate team-building events, and school group bookings. This B2B2C model—which targets schools and businesses while also serving individual families—can generate high-margin incremental revenue. Mall owners particularly appreciate this feature, as it helps drive foot traffic during otherwise quiet weekday hours.
6.Lessons for Investors
6.1 Anchor Tenants Must Solve a Climate Problem
Wanda’s ski slopes and ice rinks are iconic winter attractions, but visitors cannot stay for long in such cold-weather environments. FunXpert’s warm indoor amusement park serves as a complementary backup. Together, the two form a flexible destination offering: visitors can choose either snow and ice activities or warm indoor entertainment, supporting a complete day-long itinerary.
6.2 Density Beats Scale
FunXpert has arranged more than 50 attractions within an 8,700-square-meter space, with each attraction averaging approximately 5.75 square meters. This compact layout is more efficient than venues with scattered layouts and single-function facilities. It increases the likelihood that each visitor will find an attraction they enjoy, enhances the perception of value for money, and extends the length of time visitors spend at the venue.
6.3 Second-Floor Placement Works for Experience Anchors
According to conventional industry wisdom, the main entertainment offerings should be located on the first floor. The example of FunXpert, which is located on the second floor, demonstrates that as long as there are well-designed vertical circulation routes (such as escalators and prominent signage), foot traffic can be directed upward.
7.Conclusion
The FunXpert location at Changchun Wanda No. 1 is more than just a large indoor amusement park. It is a meticulously planned anchor tenant within this commercial complex—which represents an investment of over $300 million—designed to attract out-of-town visitors and retain local repeat customers. Whether you’re exploring franchise opportunities, planning a mall’s mix of businesses, or benchmarking investments in indoor entertainment projects, this project offers key metrics worth careful consideration. The replicability of this model depends on: the property owner’s ability to provide complementary anchor tenants; local climate conditions that drive stable demand for indoor entertainment; and the operator’s capacity to manage high-density foot traffic with safe facilities and a robust staffing system