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Monkey Island
Rating Details »
- Hours:
Mon. 12:00 p.m. - 8:00 p.m.
Tue-Sun. 10:00 a.m. - 9:00 p.m.
- Good for Kids:
- Yes
11 reviews for Monkey Island
Changing my review to 3 stars. Here's why:
1. the price had gone up (marginally)
2. at least one bathroom is always out of service
3. there's no drinking fountain, and while they used to offer free tap water pitchers on ice, they are now charging for cups. It's 10 cents or something - whatever. BUT... the cooler for getting water was empty and it took forever to get someone to fill it.
It's still a fun place to go with kids when it's rainy or cold outside, but i can't let my 4-star hang.
1 Previous Review: Show all »
-
10/13/2008
Big fun for the young ones. I run around and sweat with my kids. everybody gets "hurt" at least… Read more »
We LOVE this place! 41K square feet of moon-bounces of every kind, all in XXXL! Theoretically kids aren't supposed to run in here but I'm certainly not compelled to keep my 2 1/2 y.o. who's been cooped up in the house all winter from getting every last YA-YA he has in his little body out. Besides, there's TONS of space to run in and hardly anyone in there during the week.
I wish we had found this place sooner in the winter. It's a bit of a booger to get to/from but it's CHEAP (the monthly M-F pass was only $35 for the both of us as opposed to $12 per visit if we pay per individual visit) and it's drop-in so we can come whenever we want and stay as long as they're open (8pm, which is late, as far as kid's play-places go). Just what my little Tazmanian Devil needs during a winter devoid of playgrounds and wide-open spaces.
Outside food is verboten here (though no one checked our diaper bag) and their selection of consumables is pretty much crap, so make sure you feed your kids elsewhere before you come.
This place is great for kids of all ages. If your kid can walk she'll LOVE it here. But MY favorite part is that these moon-bounce contraptions are so big that I can go in WITH my kid! And when I get tired he can keep bouncing around while I curl up at a table with my laptop (free Wi-Fi!) and Yelp!
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Wow- I can't believe I'm the first to review this joint! We went today and had such a blast! It is an indoor amusement park of sorts- and by that I mean that it is a bunch of bouncy castles and the like inside of a warehouse. It is what it is- lots of bouncing, climbing and running to be had. They even have a little toddler section with a mini-playground by Step 2 and kitchen sets and baby bouncers.
A friend gave me directions and she said "take North Avenue until 15th, turn right and keep going until you totally think you are lost and then you'll see it on your left." Perfect directions! It's actually at the intersection of 15th and Armitage, for your reference.
The only con- you cannot bring in outside food or drink. They have a small concession stand that sells water, pop and juice along with some snacks (chips, pizza, nachos, etc). Not cool for mom's on a budget like me- but still worth a trip or 3 during these bleak winter days. It's $8 for ages 2+ and adult price is $4.
Have fun!
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We had our daughter's 4th birthday party at Monkey Island yesterday. It is a huge establishment that has yet to reach its potential. Here are my thoughts:
- They were completely disorganized when I arrived - nobody knew where my daughter's party would be. They should have a sign welcoming the party girl that can also act as wayward signing for attendees.
- The workers were a bit on the rude side, including the manager. However, the woman we had hosting us was nice and attentive.
- There is no supervision by staff on the slides and bouncy games, this causes a problem when bigger kids are rough housing and the smaller kids get hurt. Or, making sure kids use the amusements in the right manner.
- I walked over to arcade area and there were about 20 games in a space large enough for hundreds. And, they are obviously all salvages from an old arcade dealership. Man, these things have seen their day. All of them were very old.
For close to $300 including host tip, I thought the experience could have been better. The only reason why I gave 3 stars is because it is better than Chuck E Cheese and the kids had fun - which at the end of the day is all that matters.
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Right around February, when living with a toddler starts to feel like being in a small cage with a wild leopard, you need a place like this to bring your little animal and cut them loose. The facility is a HUGE socks only astroturf arena with all kinds of crazy inflatable attractions, and a 3 or 4 story jungle gym type thing with tubes and slides. Everything is clean and inexpensive. I think on sunday we paid $4 per person and our 1 year old was free. There's free wifi if your kids are old enough to play unsupervised.
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Our first trip was on a Saturday afternoon-me and my little monkey-and I knew at once I was in heaven. HUGE space for kiddos to run and lots of bouncy, climbing, sliding, and running options. This is a large warehouse that has astro turf all over the floors. Inside, it feels very wide open and has at least nine large air-inflated attractions. Kids (and grownups) can crawl into all of them, often through a mesh flap, and bounce around to their heart's content. There is one with Diego, one with Curious George, a large Slide, an obstacle course, a dinosaur island...you get the picture.
The jungle gym is about eight times the size of a McDonald's playland. It's huge and provides a lot of sliding, climbing, and other kid like reconnoitering.
There is a snack bar with pizza, pretzels, drinks, etc. and it wasn't horribly overpriced. They don't allow outside food or drinks.
In addition to the larger physically active stuff, there is also a little area for younger children (like under three) with some kitchen play and some smaller bouncer attractions.
The bathrooms were very clean, there is an area for birthday parties (private rooms or just the area set aside from the general tables), lots of tables for adults to sit at while we try in vain to keep an eye on our kids. There is also free Wi-fi for those with computer in hand.
If your kids need to get the energy out, go and let them run it out. Then go home and watch them fall asleep within five minutes of getting in bed. There's the real reward!
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I agree that it definitely has some kinks to work out - it's pretty new, so hopefully these really will be worked out. The food looked nasty - glad to hear that observation backed up by some other reviewers... they could definitely step that up a notch. It was nice that they had a water cooler.
The place itself is like a magical utopia for children. I can't even imagine being that little and having all those bouncy places of fun at my disposal. Our kids ran wild and jumped with glee. Yes, we kept up with them. I think wherever you go with kids there will be the bored nannies and inattentive parents - not the place's fault.
I would agree that it might be worth their while to have a few more staff watching over everything. There were a few loose nets and cords that seemed as though they could pose potential problems - maybe a good thing for them to watch the kids in action to monitor for glitches in the equipment.
We will definitely be spending a lot of time here and I'm really happy there is finally something like this in existence.
This place really really gives you a workout! I am pooped!
We went to Monkey Island twice already in a span of a week. My favorite mommy playmate Xtie recommended that we try getting the boys together here. We absolutely loved it! Had I known about it sooner, it would have prevented the cabin fever that we suffered from all winter long. I also want to let others know that they have improved their selections in the snack bar area to include a few more kid friendly selections such as all beef hot dogs, crackers and juice boxes.
My little one told me that he prefers Monkey Island to Chuck E Cheese and Gymboree. This place is humongous, tons of fun places to explore, huge blow up slides, moon bounces, a soccer field, indoor gym, Foosball, air hockey, the works. It is also really parent and kid friendly...parents can participate, or use their free wifi. The restrooms are extremely clean, and I like that I can feel somewhat secure. We purchased a monthly pass for $35 for my son and I. For $10 I can add on Dad. The pass really pays for itself if you intend to go a few times a month.
My only real complaints about this place is previous to the new additions to snack bar, the pizza wasn't that good. They also don't have a ton of staff on duty for such a huge place. There is usually only 2 or 3 staff workers present. They often double as the door attendant and concessions worker. They would really benefit if they would install a gate that blocks the entrance/ exit or installed an exit buzzer for security so that little ones do not try to run out. At Chuck E Cheese they stamp the parents hand as well as the child's with black light ink to insure that no one is leaving with your child. I really wish that they would do that here.
They also have laser tag, an arcade and pool tables in another room off to the side of main area for older kids/ adults. Luckily, we go earlier in the day and never on weekends so it is never in use when we are there. Watch out for the heavy bathroom doors. 2 kids including my little one got their fingers and arms caught! I totally wish that they had lockers! It would be great to be able to lock up your stuff so that you can run about.
P.S. Make sure to dress your kids appropriately! If they are too old to wear onesies, tuck their shirts in! You can get some serious slide burns on your back if you are not too careful...I did. :(
Update 5/19/08
It is insane during the weekends!
This is a great place to host a kids party. I just hosted a party for 42 adults and kids here for my son's birthday party. The party package included a few pizzas and pitchers of pop. I did not want to feed this to three year plds, and I know that many parents of children this age would not appreciate it. I also know that many kids have allergies, and many parents in this day and age prefer organics. Technically, you are not allowed to bring outside food here, but they were kind enough to bend and allow me to bring my own food. We were given a small private room for 2 hours that could not possibly fit all of the guests. The children had an excellent time, but I did feel very rushed/ unorganized. We were given a party attendant, but I think that it would have been helpful had they announced when it was time to eat or cut the birthday cake. It was very difficult to find everyone in the space and round them up, and clear out of the room in time for their next party.
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Monkey Island was a great experience for me and my five year old son. We had his birthday party there and he and his friends had the time of their lives. What also sold me about the place is that it was also geared towards the adults.....yes the adults could run, jump and play along with there kids.
Very large, very open. Kids like it and run around, I can check my email but only as long as they are in my eyesight (not too long). It's almost too big for the smaller kids - they are faster than you think and disappear very quickly! Since there are 12 yr old boys in with my 5 year old daughter, I am not ashamed to say it made me nervous. No a/c in the summer - we went on a 95 degree day in July and they had 2 fans. I agree about the staff, they could care less about you. The little kids' area has seen better days, looks like a garage sale with broken toys.
Not for my kids! As soon as we walked in, I thought 'WOW!' it's huge! Despite the fact that just entering the parking lot was a mission in itself, I thought I would give this place a chance because of its size. There are about 7 or 8 bounce houses and a small arcade in this huge warehouse type place. The first thing we did before entering was sign a waiver...i guess this means if your kid gets hurt, it's on you. After a few minutes of being in there I had realized that there was absolutely NO employees walking around making sure things were in order. And parents basically just let there kids run loose and didn't really watch over them. News flash to parents.... Although your kids can have a great time and run wildly.. you should still keep an eye on them. I didn't see much of that going on there. I was watching my 3 year old play and I see these huge kids topple over her. I was pissed! There should be an age limit for this place... and on top of that there was this creepy guy standing outside of the women's bathroom for the entire 2 hours we were there just staring at people. His eyes would wander when ever a girl went inside the bathroom. I took it upon myself and told one of the employees in the front. When I realized she did not give a crap about what I said.. I took off with my girls and vow to never return! It's a shame because it's a great place for kids to run around and play... but it's very ghetto. Sorry to burst some bubbles people.. this is only the truth!
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