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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

to refuse to pay £24 for a visit to an indoor play place?

49 replies

mclazy · 30/11/2010 21:14

visiting friends in milton keynes at the weekend. They are recently married and no kids yet. It was freezing and plans for all the lovely parks nearby had to be changed as too icy.

So we found an indoor play frame place and were really looking forward to coffee and catch up while ds 2.5 had fun wearing himself out.

i was that they charged £3.95 for each adult. So i suggested that friends didnt need to stay and that we would meet them for dinner later.

was then even more when they added another £5 registration fee without which we couldnt go in.
i told them this was ridiculous and walked out with screaming toddler under my arm.

is this an English thing? here in ni there is never a charge for adults or even small babies in most of these places

OP posts:

bigbarnfarm · 30/11/2010 21:55

Sorry, that was too ilovetiffany, kids play is the later turning into knowlhill.

Original poster

mclazy · 30/11/2010 21:59

milton keynes was lovely though cant wait to visit again - but in the spring/summer so can do all the lovely (free) parks and walks by the lakes

OP posts:

cupofcoffee · 01/12/2010 10:54

One of the play areas by me has started to charge for adults. Only 50p but I really don't understand the principle of the thing. There is nothing for me in there other than to sit drinking their coffee which has to be paid for. If they do not take enough money then if they were to put the ticket prices up for kids I could understand but I don't see why DP and I should pay to use their cafe.

HecateQueenOfWitches · 01/12/2010 11:03

If they made me pay, I'd go dive on into the bloody ball pool!

tibradden · 01/12/2010 11:04

There was a lovely one in vale farm wembley near my very dear and much missed mil.
Used to be £5 for any amount of play in the mornings outside school holidays.
When we were there recently had changed to Party man world. £10 registration fee, £10 for ds and £5 for me.
This was not half term or a weekend

His explanation for the registration fee was that we could use any party man world think he mentioned one in Basingstoke!! And the fee for me was that i would enjoy watching ds having fun.

Asked to have a look around and we were the only people there.
Offered to pay £10 for ds but was refused.
Told ds would be back when they had changed ownership!!!

flowerybeanbag · 01/12/2010 11:05

Our local one doesn't charge for adults and also doesn't charge for under-1s.

zipzap · 01/12/2010 11:23

I'm loughton based but when kids were little often used to take them to Tumblers in Buckingham rather than pop across the road to Activity Land or 360/Gambados (as was).

If you have a little one the size of the play area is small enough that you can sit and see them for most of it, the food is much better than the MK ones and it is significantly cheaper...

Not so good once they get to 4/5+ (unless there with little siblings) but Buckingham can be quite nice for a little wander around too.

Bit further afield is one in Brackley - can't remember it's name but think it starts with a B. Bit bigger, more to do, nowhere near as fancy as 360 or Activity Land but just big soft play area and much cheaper than them too.

There's also a free christmas grotto outside John Lewis in CMK at the moment, however it is about half the size it normally is as the other half has a tacky christmas market in. You have to pay to see santa but there are several other areas to look at, a couple of high tech gizmos and a wishing pond. Compared with their usual effort it is more grotty than grotto but the little ones usually seemed to like it, even it it did only entertain them for half the time! Think there is also something santa/xmas based in the xscape but haven't been in to see it to know.

And yes, it's fab in MK - not sure why it has such a bad reputation but it is a great place to be with kids!

bigbarnfarm · 01/12/2010 15:00

Zipzap, you must live VERY close to me!

We are going to see Santa at the xscape on Sunday - it's at Snozone, basically a train ride, play in the snow then see Santa. Thought the snow would be a novelty.

Maybe not!

MrsSchadenfreude · 01/12/2010 15:13

I lived just outside MK for three years and thought that MK itself was a shithole! DH called it the "Chav Triangle" - MK, Northampton and Bedford!

bigbarnfarm · 01/12/2010 15:16

That's nice MrsS

MrsSchadenfreude · 01/12/2010 15:35

Yes, sorry but didn't like it at all! Couldn't see that it had any redeeming features, apart from nice countryside and villages surrounding it.

The "City Centre" -it was a shopping centre FGS! And the different areas were all just small soulless housing estates.

GabbyLoggon · 01/12/2010 15:57

If you feel like complaining then do. But its mannagment that set prices.

BearCrimble · 01/12/2010 16:03

I hate/love Gambado. There's one just down the road from me so now that it's cold it is a godsend. Under 1s are free but it is £2 per adult. There's the midweek madness voucher you can get which is a fiver for an adult and a child of any age.

They say you're not allowed to take your own food - you can only consume stuff bought in their cafe. They're supposed to do Ella's pouches and they had none. None at all. THey were "being delivered next week", If I'd been them, I'd have gone to the supermarket to tide me over.

They're so short staffed no one would notice if you bought your own stuff which I will next time.

And the strap on the changing table has been broken forever.

But... DS loves it and my house is tiny/impossible to childproof and in this weather I can't take him on long walks around the park any more.

bigbarnfarm · 01/12/2010 16:25

Bearcrimble, that sounds better value than the 360. They do have a beat the clock thing if you go at 3.30 but it means 1 adult and 1 child is 7 quid to get in rather than 9, so still really steep!

castleonthehill · 01/12/2010 16:48

There is one near me that charges 1.95 per adult I challenged them as to why they charged for adults and they said it was because adult can play on the stuff too. I then asked if there was a disabled rate (there wasn't). On the flip side when your child is to tall they get charged the adult rate. So an older child could "play" with a younger one for 1.95

Blondeshavemorefun · 01/12/2010 17:08

our soft play area charge per child tho one does charge £1 for adult

some charge £5 per child whatever the age and i begrudge paying £5 for a baby of 5mths that couldnt even sit let alone play

think all under ones should be £1 or £2

never heard of a registration fee

IAPJJLPJ · 01/12/2010 17:27

MrsSchadenfreude - thanks for that

Being a chav I personally think that is way to much even if the facilities are good.

SkyBluePearl · 01/12/2010 19:40

shocking to charge adults - it's not like they would go and hangout at a soft play center without kids. they are only there to supervise the kids, chat and drink coffee! I always buy a coffee and bring my own kiddie food/drinks. It's such a rip off otherwise.

MumNWLondon · 01/12/2010 19:43

the one near me is expensive - but 2 adults free with each child, and £1.50 for extra adults. Under ones free with paying child.

rastaClaus · 01/12/2010 19:52

Total rip off.

However, loads of softplay centers around me charge for adults. There's one here that's £6.50 for children and then a further £1.75 for each adult. It ends up being £16.50 for our family. Piss take which is why we never go!

MrsSchadenfreude · 01/12/2010 19:57

You're welcome, IAPJJLPJ.

santasbluebaubles · 01/12/2010 19:59

We go to one which charges 50p per adult and another one which doesn't charge for adults or non-walking children. I think they just all pretty much do what they like. I've never heard of one charging a registration fee before though!

ShittySnowyDays · 01/12/2010 23:54

None of the one's I have been to have ever charged for adults.

zipzap · 02/12/2010 23:30

waves to bigbarnfarm - hello! funny to think somebody else is sitting tapping away on mn in this gridsquare

If you do venture up to the snozone to see santa, please do say what it's like and whether or not it's worth going to...

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