To be annoyed play centre held a party at the same time as open session?

How does it make any different to the same number of children not attending a party?

I don't see what the issue is to be honest. Kids always make friends in these please and they move on easily - one might leave before an other etc.

Oh OP, you’re being so precious 😂 I’m
more sorry for the birthday kid having a load of randoms in there.

Honestly what a silly comparison. I said I repeatedly tried to remove her and that the lovely parents invited her to join in, which meant meeting Micky mouse and having a small piece of cake. If the parents were unpleased I would’ve continued to remove her. Unsure as to what your problem is?

I think you probably would have had better responses if you'd phrased it differently from the start.

I agree with you in that: I believe such a small location should not have had a birthday party booking and also other bookings. Or at the very least, they should have given you a heads up to expect it "we're happy to host you as well, but we also have a big party who will be taking up most of the space." Being in the middle of, essentially, a big party but not actually being included in it would be really awkward, and I'd be irritated that I'd paid that money so that my children could just sit around with no more children left for them to play with while the big party got on with their activities, right in front of them.

(and some people might take it this way so let me stress: I'm not saying you should have been invited to some other child's party to make up for the situation. I'm saying, you should have been informed so you knew what your children would be in for when you arrived, because I assume you'd have opted to book for a later session)

Am I the only one as a kid who would of loved the play area to myself why the other kids had to go eat

Where I live, places like this have parties during special times when they are not open to the general public. That seems like a more reasonable solution to me.

Was there still ample space and equipment to play? If so, it's just one of those things that you have to get on with I'm afraid. Yes they're having a party but your dc still has the same situation they originally had. The way you respond to their disappointments will show them how to deal with them. It is good that they understand these things. I remember making it clear from early on that not everyone got invited to every party etc. It's good to be able to take these things and know how it works.
I remember dc meeting a few school pals at soft okay and being delighted only for them to run off to a party 15 mins in.. that was just unfortunate.
I wonder did you say anything on leaving?

I'm not replying to op I'm t
Replying to the poster who said you can't stop a strong willed toddler

You pay per child for birthday parties. If you’ve paid for 25 children and let an extra few join, you’d be charged for the extra few children.

You don't pay £30 to walk down the road or go in your kitchen.

OP I think the most sensible thing to do would be to complain to the venue - say that you should have been told that there was a party happening as it really impacted your young children who didn't understand why they couldn't join in or eat with the other children. Say that it has put you off going again so would they consider informing people in the future.

What do you do if she's running into the road or wants to climb into the oven

We'd already paid for the play session, so no the family wouldn't have had to pay. In our case, it was in a play cafe, where it's a closed session from say 10 until 12, not families coming in and out.

So you had one smallish room, set up for a birthday - bowls of crisps, sandwiches, birthday cake, balloons etc. Party games like pass the parcel and musical statues. Then say 25 children all eating cake and playing, then three other children, whose families had all booked the session and paid for it in advance (unaware there was a party at the same time), who were 4m away from the festivities but excluded.

I wouldn't expect another family to pay, no. But as it would have cost them nothing, any decent person would say "This is a bit of an awkward situation! But we'd love for you to play musical statues with us, and have a slice of cake, if you'd like".

Edited to say too - the venue was also massively at fault, as really not best practice for a business catering to children either (mainly 0-5s). They should have closed for a private event, as many play cafes / small soft plays do at the weekends, to facilitate birthday parties.

Great, so they got a valuable life lesson and a nice play session in the same day. What's the issue?

I was waiting in a&e with my DC recently - DC had their tablet and was watching Disney with headphones. A little girl of about 18 months behind us kept coming over and grabbing the tablet. Her mum would half-heartedly shout her back, then eventually come over with sigh and remove her, only for her to come straight back and try to grab the tablet. After the 5th time, she said to her mum, this is ridiculous, they should put that away, it’s distracting dear child, how am I supposed to stop this?

Obviously she was completely ignored. Some people think others need to help them parent.

I think they should have at least advised you before accepting the booking. Most places like that would close I think.

Shouldn't be in the position of having basic manners?

Do you do nothing when you kid steals another kids toy? I mean you 'shouldn't be in the position' that their parents bought their kid something your kid doesn't have right?

I imagine your the type that calls it 'sharing' and demands others be forced to do it though.

It boggles my mind how some people deal with life... you basically are a brand new mam with two little toddlers, you are in for some real world shocks as time goes on and you start to realize how all this stuff actually works (like hosting class parties etc...).

Never had that, but I’d deal with it if it happened. As a general rule I find when my kid are indulged with friends, party and presents they are on a high and happy with everything. They’ll give a random toddler a fruit shoot themselves

YABVU

I’ve been to lots of parties/ soft play sessions and it’s very rare for play centres to close when there’s a party on, and they don’t tell you when you book either as they have so many parties. Customers would be very annoyed if they closed for a party, and party prices would go up significantly to make up for lost business.

You have two DC so at least they had each other to play with. There will always be quieter times, party or not.

I get it, OP. I don't know why everyone is being so obtuse. I do think it's a bit off to not at least warn you when you book or just not be open on a party weekend when it's somewhere small.

It's not the role of this business to protect you from having to be a parent. You're paying for use of the equipment, not to have your children's every whims pandered to so you don't have to face any minor upsets.

The OP is saying the tickets shouldn’t have been sold to her, not the party.

Is it a full moon tonight?

But what if you’d taken your children and it was only them there plus a couple of others? Would the enjoyment of your session be compromised? Of course, you might be a little disappointed but that’s the way of things - the place could be full or almost empty.

As for the party, surely this is completely normal? My DC have been to similar - small play centre, large birthday and they only moaned for a few seconds (because they wanted a party bag). They enjoyed playing with the attendees and understood that they were having extras because they’d paid for a party. They knew that if they chose to have their party there, they’d get the same.

The play centre I mentioned has now shut sadly due to financial pressures. Don’t make it harder for them unnecessarily.

That's very usually and sounds amazing... Love the idea of crafting parties ...might do that for dd next time.