This place is another "great idea, failed execution". Its been a really popular birthday party location and school fundraiser spot for my middle-school aged son, so I thought I would go check it out on what I figured woukd be a less busy weeknight. I figured we could go with his friend after work and school, have some pizza or whatever other fast food options they might offer and then head home, shower, and get to bed. But that's not at all how it worked out....
Firstly, their check-in process is poorly set up. When you enter you are naturally inclined to walk straight ahead toward the (miserable, disinterested) person standing at the counter who will then tell you to walk back to where you came from to the unattended computers to complete your waiver, then come back to her to pay. (Suggestion: have the computers take credit card/cash payment and have the employee just assist with buying skysocks, if needed and answering questions) The waiver is a bit of a pain because it sort of forces you into dishonesty, I mean, we had my son's friend with us, I'm not his legal guardian but his parents obviously entrusted me with his care, but unless you have their parents sign the online waiver prior to going, you have the note all children as your own. So I know for next time....
We pay appprox. 40 bucks (a little expensive for an hour and a half of entertainment IMO) and proceed to enter the complex. I was amazed at how empty it was...we were the ONLY customers there along with about four million teenaged employees who were yelling screaming, jumping on the mats and clearly having a good time...I initially though they were customers but they just seem to have different uniform shirts but upon closer review they all had the logo. They were clearly just bored and entertaining themselves. Since I had never been there my husband and I walked along with the kids to check it out and spectate but the employees shenanigans got so unpleasant to overhear and so loud that we couldn't hold a casual conversation comfortably so we left the jump area and went to check out the food situation for dinner. One thing we both noted is how extremely CLEAN the place is, especially for a kids recreational business we were really pleased with the cleanliness of the floors, mats, tables, etc.
We stroll over to the food counter at 7:30 on a weeknight and ask what they have since the signage isn't clear and a (much more pleasant) employee tells us that they don't offer pizza or any actual meal-type food on weeknights because they are too slow so they only offer snacks, pretzels, bottled beverages and can basically.....doesn't that seem like a bit of a catch-22 scenario?? As a mom, why would I bring my kids somewhere ON A WEEKNIGHT that we can't grab a quick DINNER? Maybe if they offered more substantial dinner options they would be more busy on weeknight...the kids come over and tell us that they can't play dodge ball (the thing they were most looking forward to) because there weren't enough customers...so im a little more than annoyed at this point but we tell the kids to make the most of a not so hot experience and use up the jump time we paid for (which I simultaneously rememember was not exactly cheap).
My husband and I sit on the black leather couch they have in a TV area, assuming for parents, but there was no remote for the TV and the music was too loud to hear it anyway and without a view of the jump area to watch the kids, we just resumed our unrelated conversation and waited (anxiously) for the kids to get done so we could leave and call the friend parents to tell then we would be late getting him home on a school night because now we needed to still get dinner....
This place may be great on the weekend, but they would probably be way more successful with the weekday sales if they made it a better overall experience: add full menu, better coaching or supervision for employees behavior, add something parents can actually do while waiting for the kids, maybe open the upstairs section to parents so they can look down and view all of the courts as their kids move throughout them. And if the weeknights will continue to be a "lesser" experience, then admission should be offered at a LESSER price. I never would have paid 40 bucks for an hour and a half experience of this sort...next time we'll just go to the movies. read more