Indoor Adventure Play Complexes
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Well now that I've understood what "General Discussion" is for, and seen some of the non-media issues being aired here, I felt this is the ideal place to start a debate I've been dying to recently, but wondered where on the web to do it.
INDOOR ADVENTURE PLAY COMPLEXES
You may well already know the sort of places I mean. Indoor complexes which house the following:
Soft play equipment (including net bridges)
Tube slides
Wavy slides (aka Astra slides - does anyone know why?)
Drop slides (some call them death slides)
Ball ponds
and so on.
I was born in 1971 and places like this didn't exist when I was a boy. During the past eighteen months, I have gone to two theme parks in South Devon which have indoor play complexes like I've described. Better still, at the times I went (don't know if the rules have changed since) ADULTS were allowed to play on everything! Therefore I took the chance to try out the "adults permitted" indoor playgrounds, and to say I thoroughly enjoyed myself is a gross understatement.
Playing on everything during my visits to those "adults permitted" complexes made me wish such places had been around when I was a boy. They weren't around then (seventies and eighties). The snag is, such places are common as muck these days. There's quite a few in the south west, for starters. Trouble is, how many, or how few, allow adults on the equipment in these places? Some specifically say "children only - no adults", and some don't bother to say one way or the other, which just leaves me in the lurch. Why couldn't these places have been around when I was a kid? It's not fair!
I'm all for the indoor adventure playgrounds being designed large enough to be suitable for adults as well as children, and for adults being allowed to use them. Even if, in some cases, that may mean organising special adult only sessions on an evening when kids aren't around. As I already said, such places didn't exist when I was a lad, so I feel I missed out on the fun as a kid.
What are YOUR opinions on the matter? Should provision be made for adults to play in indoor playgrounds? If so, should it be during normal opening time (when kids are around) or special adult only sessions in the evening?
Of appeal to adults born before 1980:
How many of YOU have played on "adults permitted" play areas in the last few years?
Do YOU wish such places weren't around when you were kids?
Do YOU feel you missed out on all the fun as a child?
Please air your views here.
INDOOR ADVENTURE PLAY COMPLEXES
You may well already know the sort of places I mean. Indoor complexes which house the following:
Soft play equipment (including net bridges)
Tube slides
Wavy slides (aka Astra slides - does anyone know why?)
Drop slides (some call them death slides)
Ball ponds
and so on.
I was born in 1971 and places like this didn't exist when I was a boy. During the past eighteen months, I have gone to two theme parks in South Devon which have indoor play complexes like I've described. Better still, at the times I went (don't know if the rules have changed since) ADULTS were allowed to play on everything! Therefore I took the chance to try out the "adults permitted" indoor playgrounds, and to say I thoroughly enjoyed myself is a gross understatement.
Playing on everything during my visits to those "adults permitted" complexes made me wish such places had been around when I was a boy. They weren't around then (seventies and eighties). The snag is, such places are common as muck these days. There's quite a few in the south west, for starters. Trouble is, how many, or how few, allow adults on the equipment in these places? Some specifically say "children only - no adults", and some don't bother to say one way or the other, which just leaves me in the lurch. Why couldn't these places have been around when I was a kid? It's not fair!
I'm all for the indoor adventure playgrounds being designed large enough to be suitable for adults as well as children, and for adults being allowed to use them. Even if, in some cases, that may mean organising special adult only sessions on an evening when kids aren't around. As I already said, such places didn't exist when I was a lad, so I feel I missed out on the fun as a kid.
What are YOUR opinions on the matter? Should provision be made for adults to play in indoor playgrounds? If so, should it be during normal opening time (when kids are around) or special adult only sessions in the evening?
Of appeal to adults born before 1980:
How many of YOU have played on "adults permitted" play areas in the last few years?
Do YOU wish such places weren't around when you were kids?
Do YOU feel you missed out on all the fun as a child?
Please air your views here.
1
Comments
1) I have, but only when taking kids to such places.
2) Of course it would have been nice to have had them around, but I don't feel that I missed out. I did lots of other fun stuff. But then again growing up in South Africa with near perfect weather, we could play outside just about 364 days of the year, so why bother going indoors to play.
3) No
Basically, I do love that sort of play thing, but I would not go out of my way to go to such a place (without kids) and doubt there's a market as such for "adults only".
For your information, Portsmouth Playzone is a large indoor play complex which has monthly "adults only" evenings the first Friday of each month.
Click here for more.
If I'm ever in Portsmouth on the first Friday of the month, I'll keep that in mind
No seriously, I am sure "some" market exists, but I doubt it's significant.
What exactly are you referring to - kids' trolleys or indoor adventure play complexes (soft play areas)?
If you meant soft play areas, how old were you when you first went in one, and where?
Erm..first time i went in one was probably when i was about 5, i cant remember where though. I remember lots of slides, inflatable bananas and ballpits! As well as loads of crazy areas to crawl under through cobwebs and stuff..well fun
Whatever next! One replying to one's own intro.
One of the two South Devon theme parks I was anonymously referring to is Woodlands Leisure Park near Dartmouth.
I first went there on Saturday 28 August 2004, having seen their advert plenty of times on Carlton West Country the previous year. I went into the following two indoor adventure play complexes there.
Master Blaster: The main attraction is the facility to fire foam balls from pneumatic air guns. Also present is soft play equipment around the edge, and a couple of tube slides. At the time adults could go on all of it.
Sea Dragon's Play City. This is the main attraction housed in the large blue building The Empire of the Sea Dragon. A five-storey indoor play complex with soft play, net bridges, spiral rope nets, tube slides (the longest two are both called the Sea Serpent), "Barracuda" wavy slide and three drop slides. They claim it's the UK's largest indoor venture centre. Again, adults could play on everything. One problem, I didn't have time to cover it all in just 40 minutes.
That day I found both the above areas mega fun, and wondered why they were not around when I was a boy.
I went back there for my second visit last Monday (14 March), and am glad to be able to say, adults can still play on everything in the Master Blaster and Sea Dragon's Play City. This time spent about an hour and a half in Sea Dragon's Play City, and I think I covered just about all of it.
If you happen to be in the area, I suggest you give it a go. You won't regret it, and if you're of my age (born 1971) you'll think to yourself what a shame such places didn't exist when you were kids.
Adults being able to go in the ball pool or on the soft play equipment - mega fun!
I think your other idea of kiddie trolleys so that the kids do the shopping whilst the parents play in the ball pond / soft play area will be a recipe for disaster. How could kids be expected to lift the kind of large items IKEA are likely to sell.
Safeway once tried mini trolleys for kids, intended for young children whilst with their parents. Those trolleys didn't last long, so what hope is there for getting kids to shop alone?
The hotel we stayed in had a water based playground, called the splash landings hotel. There was everything from swing ropes, nets to climb, tunnels to clamber through, sentry water pistols & even buckets to tip onto unsuspecting little kids walking below you !
best of all there was no age limit, and it seemed there were more adults than kids enjoying it !
I'm pretty sure the majority of chain family pubs have the kind of "fun zone's" you described in your post, i know the ones around here (Leeds) do adult only evenings too.
good luck in finding your lost youth
I always go on the stuff with my son, I can't expect him to play alone can I ??
What I was referring to was indoor adventure play complexes at larger visitor attractions, e.g. Woodlands Leisure Park near Dartmouth, or standalone ones e.g. Portsmouth Playzone. Have you seen my note (reply #10) about my recent visit to Woodlands?
Loads of visitor attractions in the south west have such complexes, e.g. Dobwalls, Dairyland (both in Cornwall). Snag is, I'm not sure whether or not they let adults in theirs.
I must admit small soft play areas are to be found in all sorts of places, including leisure centres and supermarkets.
Lightwater Valley has an excellent death slide for all ages :cool:
Where is Lightwater Valley? Please tell me more about its facilities.
When you say "death slide", do you actually mean a drop slide? I have heard vertical drop slides being called death slides occasionally. Surely that's wrong though. I always thought a DEATH SLIDE is a sloping wire or rope, with a loop around which you hold on to. You launch yourself from a high platform at the top, hold the loop and slide down the wire or rope. The kind of thing that is used on assault courses e.g. The Krypton Factor years ago.
You go on with your son. It would be useful if you said a) WHERE you mean, b) the SIZE of the centre and RULES for its use, and c) your son's AGE (if you are willing to divulge that).
The last few weeks, I've spent hours Googling around for "drop slide", "drop slides", "wavy slides", "soft play", "indoor adventure" etc. From my findings soft play areas are to be found all over the country.
I have, in this way, come across quite a few which say "The equipment is designed for children e.g. 2 to 12 years, however parents are free to move over the equipment to supervise their children, however they may not go on the slides". Some places which lay down this kind of rule allow parents on with under-fives, but if they are supervising children 5 or over, they must sit and watch them from OUTSIDE the play area.
From both your points, my blind guess is that you are going to a SMALL soft play area of the kind I have just described, i.e. designed for children BUT where you are required to go on the frame to supervise your son, especially IF he's under 5. As already mentioned, the extra information called for above would help me to help you.
Indoor adventure play complexes come in a range of sizes though. The big one I went on at Woodlands near Dartmouth two weeks ago today, Sea Dragon's Play City, includes soft play, V-net bridges, tube slides, wavy slides and drop slides. Adults are allowed to play on EVERYTHING there during normal opening hours, but then again, it is the UK's largest indoor adventure play area.
I actually spoke to a Ranger whilst I was having fun playing in there, and learned an important technicality in the process. He agreed with my comment to him that it's great they allow adults on, because he said a lot of such places elsewhere only let children on, and added that adults seem to get more fun out of this complex than kids. He explained that Sea Dragon's Play City is modelled around an eight foot frame (that being the height separation between levels, of which there are five), whereas many soft play areas only have six foot frames which are only suitable for children.
One other indoor play complex I accidentally discovered whilst searching as described above is Portsmouth Playzone. This is a bit different, in that they only allow children 1 to 12 on during the day (10 am to 5 pm). However they have family sessions 5 pm to 7 pm, in which adults can go on as well. The first Friday of each month they have special ADULTS ONLY sessions from 8 pm to 11 pm. I take it their complex is quite a big one, but I know from seeing the web site and some leaflets I sent for that they definitely have a wavy slide and two drop slides.
I am all for the big ones, with equipment large enough for adult use, being open to adults as well as children. In some such cases the management may feel it's OK to allow adults on during normal hours, in other cases they may feel for whatever reason, it's best to only allow children on during the day and have special evening sessions for adults. That's what I meant in my openng about making provision for adults.
It's happened again, me replying to my own message. SAD! Any chance of more input into this thread?
Anyway, Dobwalls has TWO indoor adventure play complexes: Krazee Kavern and Rattle Snake Ranch.
When I wrote my note, I already knew that the Rattle Snake Ranch was only for very young children. However, at the time I wasn't sure what the regulations were for the Krazee Kavern.
I can now reveal: the Krazee Kavern is ONLY for children who are too tall for the Rattle Snake Ranch. Adults are NOT allowed on the equipment in the Krazee Kavern.
The other Cornish visitor attraction I quoted, Dairyland near Newquay, also has an indoor adventure play complex called The Bull Pen, with wavy slides, drop slides, soft play equipment, nets, fireman's poles etc. I am still trying to find out who can use that. As soon as I know I will let you know. Watch this space!
"It's Fizzical Fun for Kidz, Mumz & Dadz whatever the weather" Arghhh! Just that spelling makes me want to whack the owners round the bonce with a blow up bat
I go to these sort of places with my children, and have fun playing with them. So I don't feel I missed out at all.
I wish they'd clean them a lot better than they do ... there's always a cheesy/wee whiff about them
Still, kids like them.
Not sure about "adult" parties ..... does that involve nakedness and a bottle of baby oil? mmmm ... oh well in that case, put my on your party list
Portsmouth Playzone holds "Adultz Only Evenings" on the first Friday of each month, from 8pm to 11pm (last entry 9pm). Such sessions cost £6.50 per head. As far as I'm aware, you just turn up, pay and play. These are what I was referring to in my earlier message.
Other than that, the place can be hired for private adult only functions (parties etc.) on other evenings (8pm to 11:30pm) when the centre is not in use for any other purpose. There must be at least 25 adults for such bookings.
In my day we had parks with good things in them....the witches hat that had like a climbing frame built in and went round and round. Mega fast roundabouts very high slides. Not like the parks of today a few swings, a small slide and a seesaw if your lucky. When I think of the accidents that could of happened!
Having discovered Portsmouth Playzone, purely by accident whilst Googling around for drop slides, wavy slides, etc, I'd love to try the place out. I'm hoping to go to an "adultz only evening" one "first Friday" later in the year.
I agree. drop slides can appear daunting when you approach one you've never been down before for the first time. It would be hypocritical, if not rude, for me to call you a chicken for not going down the drop slide, because I have chickened out myself on such slides before.
The first time I visited Crealy near Exeter in September 2003 I loved the Waterfall Slide in the Adventure Zone, i.e. the two-stage drop slide where you land in a pit of balls. However I was too nervous to descend the Red Devil single stage drop slide next to it, or the 6m Buzzards Swoop drop slide outside. When I went back last August, I overcame my fear to go down both, indeed last year I loved the Red Devil come finish with.
When I visited Woodlands near Dartmouth last year, I gave up on the Triple Drop Slide outside the Master Blaster. In the Sea Dragon's Play City, I went down the two-stage drop slide no problem. However I was nervous about the much taller three-stage drop slide "Triple Deep G Dive", in which it's vertical drop, flat bit, slope, flat bit, slope, ball pit. The Ranger in charge said to me "Go on, you've nearly got it" and I let myself go. It wasn't so bad after all. As for the Depth Charge single stage one next to it, I went down it from its lower launch height but not its upper launch height.
During my second visit to Woodands in March this year (quoted earlier) I went down the Triple Drop Slide (though I had a job letting myself go from its highest beam). I loved the Triple Deep G Dive. Also I descended the Depth Charge from both heights. That said, the first time I approached it from its top height, I chickened out and went down the Triple Deep G Dive! It took a couple goes from the lower height of the Depth Charge to get met to go from its upper beam!
The manufacturers of the equipment of both the Crealy Exeter Adventure Zone and Woodlands "Sea Dragon's Play City" admit that drop slides can appear daunting at first sight. I wholeheartedly agree. Mind once you try it, you can actually end up loving a slide that, at first sight, put you off!
The first time I ever played in a ball pool or on soft play equipment anywhere was my first visit to the Adventure Zone at Crealy near Exeter quoted above, on my 32nd birthday 30 September 2003. As I had a wail of a time, I felt what a pity this wasn't around when I was a kid.
During my childhood, I used to always go on the trampolines and bouncy castle on summer day trips to Weymouth with my family. Also as a once off, when my family took me to Cricket St Thomas Wildlife Park near Chard in 1978 (I think - late 70s anyway) I had a couple of sessions in the open-air wooden fort. Going up and down the ladders and around the balconies was mega fun at the time! Bar that, there was the common-or-garden, bog standard park stuff: see-saw, swings, roundabout, slide. Plus a climbing frame and/or concrete pipes to crawl through if you were lucky. As for the witches hat, I came to hear about those, though I never went to a park or playground that had one.
As for indoor soft play, ball pits etc, of course I didn't moan "I wish someone would build an indoor adventure play complex". Of course I didn't miss what didn't exist at the time, though in hindsight I now feel it's a shame I missed out on something which ought to have been around when I was a kid (seventies and eighties). You could equally apply the same argument to kids' TV, an hour or two a day on BBC1 and Westward (or HTV, ATV, Tyne Tees whichever) . There wasn't the plethora of dedicated childrens' channels on cable or Sky like now.
Well Playzone (they have one in Swansea as well as Portsmouth) are not the first place to mis-spell "physical" in this manner. Back in the late 70s and early 80s, Corona said in their fizzy drinks ads "Every bubble has passed it's fizzical".
I agree though, that is a bad example to children if you think about it. They should use the letter S to form plurals, not Z. If children read the Portsmouth Playzone site or leaflets, they may wrongly think you pluralise words by adding Z. Mind you, Heinz were just the same once, back in the 70s and 80s their slogan was "Beanz Meanz Heinz".
I suppose the mis-spelling is intended as playing with words, for purposes of advertising hype. They obviously feel it's worthwhile or they would surely spell words properly.
What I would like to see on the web is a central list of ALL standalone indoor play complexes (e.g. Portsmouth Playzone) and visitor attractions with indoor play complexes (e.g. Dobwalls in Cornwall). Such a list should be organised on a region by region, or county by county basis, and include the following vital pieces of information:
Complex name
Contact details: address, phone no, e-mail address
Link to web site (if the place has one, it should nowadays)
Opening hours
Age range allowed to use it
For simplicity, have specify whether or not adults can use it (it may be necessary to provide a more detailed explanation than yes/no)
That way, one could just go straight to this central list and see what's available in one's local area without having to spend hours Googling around for "drop slides", "wavy slides", "soft play" etc, or making additional enquiries after. I bet the question "Are adults allowed on the play equipment?" must be the number one FAQ for places which don't make it clear in their publicity (leaflet or web site) whether or not adults can use the equpment.
Crealy here in Cornwall has lots of slides, but then you probably already knew that?, we call it Slideworld and adults and children were on them, Dragon Kingdom was great fun, adults, children and my 3 year old wouldn't leave the slides etc alone, neither did I for that matter
Been on some of the things at Dobwalls, especially all the outside slide and climbing stuff, didn't know I wasn't supposed to
Paul