this is going to be long but here goes:
most places are free for under 1s but i think it should be free for under 2's. i really begrudge paying the same amount as older children who can use the whole centre when my little boy can only use the baby area and even then he can only really sit in the ball pit and with those shape things cos he can't climb up by himself. ours is free for under 1s, 1-4s are £1.50 and over 5s are £2.95. ours does have a thing though where you pay full price for the first child and each additional child is only £2. another good thing is recognised groups and childminders get a discount and the prices don't increase in school holidays or weekends. there is also a group rate where if there is 10 children or more you get 50p or £1 off each child.
i like the ones that are open from 9:30am to 8pm every day - it means it doesn't get as crowded cos the times when people go are more spread out.
unlimited play is best unless it is really busy then i think a 2 hour limit would be good.
partys are a good idea too. our local one does laser parties where they go around in the dark trying to shoot one another,pottery painting parties, 5 a side parties and mini make over parties. popular themed party rooms at these places are pirates, space, diamond mine, land of sweets, desert island, under the sea, jungle, disco, harry potter, star wars, pop idol where they have a karoke competition. some have a party throne for the birthday boy/girl. you get free invites, party bags and a free return visit for the birthday child. one has an option to have a stretch limo!!!
good idea to advertise on the website if you are goin to be closing early because of a party or if certain areas will be closed off.
obvious essentials are lots of parking, lots of easy to clean high chairs and play gyms for younger babies, low sinks and toilets for littlies, toilets big enough to take the buggy into, empty nappy bin regularly - ours has one of those nappy wrappers and it hardly ever smells and if it does if you tell them they empty it immediately. i think all staff should crb checked and therefore need to be 18+. choc/sweets not on counter - ds often stands up at the counter and grabs as much as he can which is a bit of pain. also a cleaning station is useful but only if it is high up. same for the little table where you have milk, jugs of water, sugar etc for drinks.
ours has a netted off area with blow machines to fire soft balls at targets, a bouncy castle and an indoor sports area. every saturday they do a soccor group for 1-5 year olds in there. they hire out their sports area to local 5 a side teams and tennis and basket ball clubs, a gymnastics school and a dance school. they also do rollerblading sessions.
every morning and afternoon up until 3:30 is parent and toddler group which is for up to 2 children for £2 and you get 2 rounds of toast, a hot drink, squash and biscuits or toast for the children and every afternoon where the adult gets a hot drink and a cake and the children get squash and biscuits. it's 50p for additional children. also every afternoon they have a different activity on which includes free play after. after 3pm you also have the option of paying £3.25 and you get tea and squash included.
mondays is dancing
tuesdays is pottery and painting
wednesdays is music group
thursdays is cookery
fridays is story and rhyme time
they also do a baby signing group on one of the mornings.
instead of horrible plasticky seats ours has big sofas and leather beanbags to sit on and they serve gorgeous (and healthy) food like wraps, paninis and baguette amongst other things.
also ours do a thing mon-fri where if you buy an adult meal you get a child's meal for a £1. they also sell sunday roasts on a sunday which are very popular apparently. they have sky tv which show are the latest programmes and premiership football matches. also companies can pay to put adverts on the tv.
Also one near us allows you to take your own food if you want. A lot of people don't bother but for weeks when i don't have much money but still want to do things with ds, it means i can still go as it only costs £1.50 but i don't have to worry about paying extra for food and drinks for him.
I love it cos there is no height restriction so i can go up too!! also have the age limit as 16 cos often, especially if you are on holiday and using one of these places or going en route from shopping or whatever you will have older siblings with you and they will probably want to join in too. no one wants a sulky teen hanging around whilst their younger brothers and sisters are having the time of their lives. and make sure the adults can go on too. when i take my child somewhere i want to be able to play with him and have fun not sit bored at a table. The only thing with this is you need to make sure the staff will enforce rules cos older children might be a bit boisterous and start throwing balls out of the ball pit etc and hurting the younger ones.
agree an outdoor area and air con would make me more likely to go in the summer. passes are a good idea too. ours has a loyalty scheme where after every 10 visits you get a free one.
i agree 3 areas would be good but i would make it so younger children can go in the older area at their parent's own risk but older children can't go in the younger areas. i would do it by age not height cos some children are tall for their age and its a shame if they can't go on when all their friends can.
if you have those air hockey machines, pool tables, coin operated machines can you make it so they don't actually require any money? i don't know how but i have been to one where they work without putting anything in them - i'm not sure if they use tokens or something instead?
it also has a kids hair salon and beauty rooms which are a great hit with the mums. they offer a creche service so you can go off and get pampered or go and do your shopping whilst your kids go and play or bribe your kids with being able to play after having their hair cut.
ours does a play scheme for over 8s where you can leave the children and they have trained play supervisors to keep them amused. it is £7.99 in term time and £8.99 at weekends and in holidays. they have a creche for younger children which is £4.20 for up to 2 hours or £2.95 for up to 90 minutes.
One thing I've seen at one play centre that I haven't seen anywhere else is alarmed belts to put on the children when you go in, so that any child heading out the door will set the alarm off. The belts are 'locked' with a key onto the child's clothing.
another thing that i hate is all these places have horrible flickering lights. would it kill them to put a few windows in so we could get some natural light?
lockers for handbags, purses etc i always have to make sure i wear trousers with large pockets cos i don't want to leave it unattended when i go on the equipment with ds. a buggy park could be useful too.
someone told me about one in australia with a little train than ran around it. that would be fab!!
staff who don't just spend the entire time chatting and ignoring the children would be nice. ones that get involved and help them and play with them would be fab.
a bit of music is fine obviously but not blaring!!
magazines and newspapers a good idea along with some kids mags and books.
in cardiff there's a place called cafe junior which is a play area with lots of wooden toys. They have a brio train set, a wooden noahs ark, dolls, cars, castles, kitchens, dogs, rocking horses, animals, push alongs, bricks, slides, play houses, books, prams, costumes and much more. i wish our play centre had a little area with stuff like this cos sometimes by little boy is too tired to go climbing and sliding and just wants a quiet play with trains and cars.
ds loves those huge car mats too. he spends ages playing with those. my friend goes to one with trampolines which sound fun. ours has a supervised messy area where you can do painting, pottery, playdough, colouring, drawing, cutting and sticking etc. they've just got some of those wheelybugs which all the kids love. there is also a sensory room which is fabby. we've also been to one where they had a little race track for ride on toys which ds thought was great.
also been to one where they had a disco room with flashing lights and music and a games console area and a tv room with lots of floor cushions and beanbags where they play movies etc.
a big play pen where you can put younger babies would be good. i used to hate it when ds would crawl off and i would be trying to drink my drink. more than once i've jumped up in alarm to rescue him and knocked it all over me.
a gift shop that sells little crafty items will bring extra money in.
i have been to one with internet access but i would love it if you could take your own laptop and get wi-fi - even better if it was free like in wetherspoons/starbucks.
oh i forgot one round here has just started doing a cookery session and face painting and
there seem to be quite a few with climbing walls and go kart tracks aswell these days. climbing and go karting parties would mean getting older children having parties there too as do the sports areas which mean you can have netball, basketball, tennis and football parties. oh and the one with the disco room i mentioned has disco parties.
they also do adult parties between 8 and 10pm which are fab. my favourite bit is the drop slide!!!! it's £5.95 per person and you get free food and drink.