£16 to take our child to a party!

[SteppingIntoSpring]

I am currently sat in a children's 4th birthday party with DH having had to pay SIXTEEN POUNDS to stay here with DD3.

We are 15miles from home so would be silly for one to go back. The party is in a farm park but at the indoor play area, the mother hosting the party is mortified as only one of the kids invited (all aged 3 or just 4) wanted their parents to stay. They mum had no idea you had to pay for parents too.

£8 to sit here, not use any facilities other than the loo and buy coffee seems a bit excessive to me. Surely most pre-schoolers want their parents to stay at parties? All the parents are .

AIBU to think that no mention of this charge from the establishment, £16 for entry, £4 for coffee and a gift make for a costly 2hrs on a Sunday morning given the parents have already paid for the party itself.

[SantasLittleMonkeyButler]

Gosh, I'd have been rather put out at having to pay to watch my child at a party too!

I have 3 DCs aged between 18 & 4 and have never come across this. My niece had her birthday party at a lovely farm/soft play venue last summer and there was no mention of adults paying to accompany their invited DCs.

[Ameliablue]

It is a rip off considering you are only using the soft play part. I do however think the parents of the birthday child should have checked. I've thought about parties like this before but discounted them because I didn't want parents to have to pay to accompany their child.

[Letustryagain]

Hmmm well the party child's Mum should have investigated first to be honest... We had DD's party last year at a Farm Park.

I made it clear that I was happy to take the children (there were three of us adults - DH, FIL and myself so enough for the 8 children invited) on their own but that if adults wanted to come along, they would need to pay for themselves to get in.

Most of them came along to enjoy the day and I also managed to track down lots of 'one child free per paying adult' so gave the adults the money for their child to get in and they just had to pay the difference.

So I don't necessarily think it's the fault of the farm park. I think the Parents of the child should have asked that question before booking and then given parents the choice. Or if they felt that the children wouldn't want to stay without their parents, gone for something else.

It's rubbish for you though OP, but just badly organised.

[SteppingIntoSpring]

The party finished at 12.30 so I left saying nothing. I feel its upto party mum to complain if she wishes. I will however email and ask why this info is not on their website or invitations.

[SlimCheesy]

A play barn and animal park near us used to cost £15.95 PER PERSON...... PER EVERY SINGLE CHILD AND ADULT. So when DH and my DParents naively took DS there it cost us £75 odd quid to sit there nursing a cup of coffee (strictly prohibited to bring your own drinks or picnic) while DS played in the hay for a bit.

It is the kind of thing you do just once.

Went out of business this past summer, unsurprisingly.

[WeAllHaveWings]

Heads of Ayr used to be a fantastic little farm park where you could see/feed some animals, fling a welly, play in their park, go down a hill on an inflatable tyre, play on some trampolines bring a picnic and enjoy a full day out with a fresh sea breeze.

Now its getting more facilities like the big bouncy pillows, indoor drop slides, and indoor soft play its becoming more commercial/expensive and has lost its local attraction feel. We haven't been now for a couple of years.

[HanYOLO]

Fucking hell

The poor mum

The place is taking the utter piss

You should all complain. Not just party host parent. You'd have thought they would have been happy to have the extra coffees bought - that is what normal places that want repeat custom do.

[Aeroflotgirl]

I have just looked on their website, its stupid, why would you not be allowed to accompany your very young child, they would probably not like being left at that age, with strangers. Stupid people. They will be a victim of their own greed, as people will vote with their feet.

[PrimalLass]

I don't know why these places charge for adults, it's not as if the adults would go on thier own - why not just chargea little extra for the children and a parent goes free.

This. We go to Cairnie fruit farm in Fife and it costs more for an adult! I'm not going on anything, I just sit and watch. I always get so cats bum faced about it,

[cookiefiend]

It makes no sense- surely better to get adults in and overprice the coffee or something as that will put people off now they know. Insane.

[PurpleCrazyHorse]

We had a farm park birthday party for DD and the cost per head included party room, whole of the farm, hot food, unlimited squash and an adult per child. Definitely the sort of thing to check but I agree that 10+ parents are likely to be a bit about it and instead of booking it for their own parties, probably will avoid. Very short sighted by the venue.

[EllaHen]

I would say this is the fault of the party parents. Wrong venue for a party for children so little.

Head of Ayr Farm Park is worth the money only when going for the whole day.

Lesson learned.

[witsender]

Tbh you didn't have to stay, I wouldn't have done. I'd have left dh and gone for a drive, popped into town for an hour or whatever.

[howabout]

There are so many better places in Ayr not to mention Ayrshire for this sort of party and lots of them would be free!!!

[RubbleBubble00]

The is terrible for a party.

There's a fantatic play farm in North East - lots to do, very varied BUT they are charging 9.50 per person so £19 for me and dh to watch kids run about - bit much for us so we haven't gone. Shame really.

[eddielizzard]

that is outrageous.

[bibbitybobbityyhat]

I still don't understand why you and your dh both had to go?

[hyperhypermum]

Honestly though it's the fault of the host as they should have known that the majority of parents will stay at a 3/4 yr olds party and they should have checked with the venue .

I don't actually think it would have occurred to me, as party host, to check if accompanying adults needed to pay! I always stayed at parties when mine were that age - soft play, farms & similar - was never asked to pay and would’ve been horrified if I had been!

[MrTiddlestheFatCat]

Ah I didn't realise you weren't staying for the whole day- a few days for the kids parties is steep, I agree with that. But for a day, I don't really mind. rubblebubble I'm north east too- one we go to costs £7 each and we don't go to the other one very often as its very steep for the same things!

[tothesea]

This does not surprise me about the Heads of Ayr. We used to love it there ..until DS1 split his head open in the very same 'soft' play area! The management did not give two fucks...even as he sat on my knee bleeding profusely. Brick walls right next to fireman poles are not a good idea. I believe it has since had padding put up. We have never gone back.

[DiscoGlitter]

You what?! That is absolutely ridiculous. With two kids, I've been to hundreds of soft play/birthday party over the recent years and never have the parents had to pay anything at ALL to stay to parties, never mind such a huge amount!

[pregnantat50]

This sounds like my experience, it wasn't heads of ayr Farm Park was it?

Total rip off

[wheelofapps]

I have found rural Scotland to be somewhere that prices can be hiked as little alternatives for the customer are available.

[iMogster]

My local farm and soft play, have 1 free parent per child(any age) attending party. And if a second parent wanted to come, they pay 50% adult rate. After party, you have use of whole place for the rest of the day.

[moreginrequired]

I find HOA a bit manky these days and the staff haven't seemed to give a hoot...

I'd be interested to see though, if they shouldn't have some type of adult to child ratios to ensure the safety of the children at a party that is effectively run by them...

It seem pretty ridiculous to me, I'd be mortified as the party mum but it wouldn't have ever occurred to me that parents would pay, poor woman, I'd feel like such a twit