£15 per child for an hour, absolute rip off

[elliejjtiny]

Where we live the only attractions within walking distance are several restaurants, 2 garden centres and a trampoline park. No play areas or anything like that. No woods or places to walk unless you want to walk round the business park. Dh is away most of half term (eldest uni interviews and then working) and I can't face staying at home all week with the younger dc. Dh will have the car and ds2 can't cope with public transport due to SEN. In laws would sometimes help but they have their other gc all week.

So our only option for going out is the trampoline park which costs £15 per child per hour. Plus extra for ice creams, drinks etc which we will not be having. If I had the car we could go out for the day for less than that. The trampoline park is always heaving with people when we go so people pay the money but I can't see it costing that much to run the place. We will go once because there is no other choice really. My dc are too old to want to go round the garden centre now.

You could also use a disability buggy for public transport if that's makes it easier and depends on age my DD is too old for one but there are ways to make it easier if you try.

When you take in all the running costs, maintenance, safety etc, £15 per child sounds pretty reasonable, OP. They are a business, not a charity.

I don't believe there's nowhere to walk, or kick a ball, within travelling distance either. No buses at all?

Hiring a car for a couple of days would be a lot cheaper than Ubers/taxis or DH and older child using the train.

Then you could pack a picnic and go out for much longer/go to free places etc.

This is a business. They have wages, insurance, rates, running costs etc to budget. This is not unreasonable and they don't have a duty to make it cheaper because of where you live.

Family games and picnic in the park / beach / forest (wherever you are) is free.

https://www.mumsmakelists.com/50-fun-things-to-do-outdoors-for-free/

Tampoline parks and insurance.

They can not be staffed lightly. Because insurance.

A SEN kid somewhere which ALREADY needs heavy supervision because of risks.

Of course its going to be expensive.

If you break down the running costs and the staffing costs, £15 will be reasonable.

Doesn't sound like a great place to raise children, especially as they get older and want to be more independent go out to play/go places with friends, are there options to move or are you tied there for work/with finances?

We are fortunate to have a country park around 2 miles (30 min walk/10 min cycle) away and ds spent most of his childhood weekends/holidays there with friends from age 10/11-ish.

Expensive attractions like trampoline parks were very much occasional days out and birthday parties etc only.

Soft play places have not had the serious injuries in anywhere the same numbers as tampoline parks have.

Tampoline parks have a reputation for broken bones and life changing injuries.

I avoid them for that reason.

Do you really have to go out? What about an adventure at home? Clear a floor space and have picnic, make a den under the dining table/behind the sofa with some sheets and lots of cushions, have crafting sessions together, bake some biscuits.......let your imagination run riot and you'll find lots of things to entertain the DC in your own home at little cost. Have fun.

I own a similar type of place and can tell you a rough cost to run the Flip out near us.
Rent and rates £450k a year
Staff £350k a year
Insurance £50k a year
Then they have the water, electric, maintence, loan repayments, uniform... It never ends.

Perhaps see how busy the attractions are during term time when many of the same costs still need to be paid before deciding the half-term prices when busy are a rip-off?

Sounds like you live in a pretty unusual place, where there is NOWHERE to walk or play within walking distance but there is a trampoline park!

I've lived in lots of places - inner city, suburbs, big housing estates, small/medium towns, and have never been more than 5 minutes away from either a play park or some sort of green area(usually far less than that, about 2 minutes). I'm thinking about where my parents, siblings, friends, live, and they all have somewhere green they could walk to within 5 mins or less, but you have absolutely nothing within 15 minutes?

You understand the trampoline park doesn't consider its customer base people who are within walking distance, but is covering a much wider area? It's mad you expect a BUSINESS to not meet costs, or even lose money, to subsidise someone who CHOSE to live where they live because you can't afford to run a second car and "can't face" either using public transport or staying at home.

To be blunt, why on earth should they care?

And tbh £15 probably isn't making them a huge amount of profit and is close to 'what it costs them to run'- with new minimum wage each staff member will be costing them at least that per hour even when they are on minimum wage, by the time you include pension, holiday and sickness pay, etc.

Then there's the rental costs (massive), heating (going up every year), insurance (going to be very high somewhere like a trampoline park!), purchase and maintenance of the trampolines, not to mention all the normal business costs like advertising, cleaning, accounts, HR, paying for booking systems, admin, water bills, electric, council business rates....

You sound both naïve and pretty entitled. If you're that annoyed why don't you be pro-active and ask them if they'd consider reduced rates for local people or monthly subscriptions for people who come often rather than paying per session?

Yes, that's a bit pricey - the one near us in London is £13/hr for older children and £10/hr for younger. But then it's not a necessity, so you don't have to pay it.

Can you take a bus at a quieter time of day - later morning, before lunch? Or get a taxi for one day to another town and make a day of it? Or cycle?

Could you go with your husband and eldest child to wherever the uni interviews are and do something in those places while they are at the uni? Or if your husband can't get to work via public transport, could you give your husband a lift to and from work on those days so you have the car during the day?

Could you suggest something to the in laws that all 5 of you could do together somewhere?

There’s a few housing developments near me that are like this, one is walkable to a large soft play place but not to any green space.

What about geocaching? Fun for everyone, and mentally engaging too. Free unless you want to maybe pay for a month's membership of an app which would be just a few pounds. There's bound to be something near you.

MaybI not your sort of thing but have you tried geocaching? You need an app which is a few quid but then lots of walking to find the ‘caches’, lots of fresh air and exercise and a bit of interest with things to look for x

Why can't you drive DH where he needs to go and keep the car? We used to start days out early and drop him at work on the way.

Thank you.

I tend to bend the truth on posts when it comes to irrelevant details to keep myself relatively anonymous. I thought most people did that these days. I like to be able to moan about my in-laws occasionally without them seeing it and recognising me. So no, I can't drive but I thought it wouldn't be relevant if dh had the car anyway, I forgot about hire cars.

Taxi quoted £40 each way to get to town with library, free museum, softplay etc. Nearest park is closer so would be cheaper, still probably not much cheaper than trampoline park and at least trampoline park would be warm!

Dc2 problem with buses is he can't cope with waiting for them, can't cope if the bus is late, can't cope when he sees someone he knows on the bus, can't cope if a wheelchair user isn't allowed on the bus because there is already a buggy on the bus. Also most of the bus drivers won't let him on the bus if he is having a meltdown which is understandable but makes the meltdown worse. We have tried and tried with him but realistically about 2/3 of the time I have to phone dh to come and get us because ds can't cope. Ds2 is 16 and weighs about 11 stone so I can't manage him in a meltdown on my own anymore. He is ok with noise and crowds, as long as everyone follows the rules.

Dc are 2 older teens, 1 younger teen and 2 nearly teens.

We have NT membership but nearest NT property is 30 minutes drive away. We also have another different local membership each year that costs about £50 for the family.

Can't remember if there were any other questions.

We do just dance and similar on youtube and I have a few exercise/dance dvd's as well. Big climbing frame in the garden which the dc use most days.

Can't move house unfortunately as it's tied in with dh job.

Dh is normally working from home with flexible hours so we can go out as a family most days, this is an unfortunate one off situation. In laws usually look after their other gc a couple of days but not all week. Eldest has applied for 3 universities and had interviews at each one. Dh and eldest have to stay overnight in a hotel which would cost more for all of us. If it was just the day we would probably all go and do some sightseeing, we often do that if dh had to go away for a day with work.

With respect, if your child can't cope with a bus how do think they will cope with a busy trampoline park? I don't think £15 is excessive. Their insurance alone must be huge let alone all the extra costs

I’m guessing you’re not in the UK ?? OP as you apply for 5 Unis here through UCAS, not three.
although that’s a complete side issue anyway…tbf.

Unless there's a drip feed coming that there is a medical reason stopping you from being able to learn to drive, this seems like the obvious solution to being able to go to places further than the one trampoline park.

You need to learn to drive, it is a life skill. Especially with teenagers.

Up to five maximum
You can apply for one two three four or five

With Sen children they really do need to be out and about and burning off energy, sitting them at home all the time is not great for their mental health.

One of my dc has announced that he doesn't want to go to the trampoline park which will save me an absolute fortune and make the price a lot more manageable.