Play arena on Little London Road

[garrence]

What is the point in that giant rotating inflatable octopus thing in the under 3's area? It looks as though it is intended to be sat upon and yet the majority of children in that area are too small to climb on to it.

 

If an adult attempts to help the child then a staff member rushes over give the adult a stern ticking off.

 

When asked what is the procedure should a child become entangled and need assistance - perhaps the adult is meant to leave the child unattended whilst they seek a staff member - staff could not answer.

 

:confused:

 

I dislike their attitude.

Edited May 13, 2013 by garrence

[sall242003]

I have been to pretty much every play centre in Sheffield and I cant stand the play arena!

 

Theres so many Health and Safety issues their.. its an accident waiting to happen. I saw the flooring being installed in the outdoor play area and their is hardly any depth to it at all its very thin yet the play equipment outside is pretty high (Im sure theres some legislation to say you have to have a certain depth if the equipment is so high).

 

When they had the giant inflatable outside they just removed part of the safety fencing and shoved it up to the edge (any small child could have easily squeezed between the inflatable and the fence and end up in the busy car park.

 

Lots of the equipment has broken and is not getting repaired or replaced (she shouldnt have chosen so many moving items if she couldnt afford to keep them maintained!) and the waffle type foam flooring inside is uneven, popping up and a tripping hazard, the magnetic lock on the exit door is often left unlocked...... do I need to go on!

 

We once went to their advertised toddler session in a morning where you supposedly got a snack prepared by their chef, a drink and activities run by their experienced staff...what a joke that was, the children got a cup of water and a cadbury animal biscuit, the experienced staff stuck a cd on in a little room and left us to provide our own entertainment!

 

As for their birthday parties, they kick the kids out as soon as they have finished eating! all playcentres let them go back in for a play after their food during a party but the play arena cant wait to get rid of you and get the next overpriced party in.

 

Anyway thats my take on it! As mentioned above I really like runarounds near crystal peaks, they seem to have got it right..but i imagine it would be difficult to get to if you dont drive.

[garrence]

Their most recently filed accounts seem to show an £85,000 loss on the year, which may explain the reported lack of maintenance and penny pinching.

 

They only need 40 visits per day to add that sum of money and should focus on building repeat business - although the manager's rudeness is a common theme in the many negative reports of the place from those that say they shall never return.

 

---------- Post added 14-05-2013 at 16:08 ----------

 

There were a couple of babies who were brothers / sisters of the kids that came along and just laid in pram as too young to play etc.

 

On way out we were charged full price for them and told we should have advised them of the right numbers, they were both about 4 months old !

 

Their website clearly says that under 1's are free when accompanied by a paying sibling.

[shells2909]

hey, is that runaround accessible by tram? A lot of these places aren't goood by public transport, which we rely on. That wasc a good point about Play Arena, but it sounds a bit ****ty LOL

 

 

Yeah, the blue tram goes quite near to Runaround. Get off at the Westfield stop and follow the road road and it's on the left hand side. We dont drive either, but have been over to Runaround for a few parties and found it to be brilliant! Lovely and clean, food good quality and reasonably priced etc.

[morrisminor]

perhaps just take the kids to the woods and let them run around there? free after all. when looking at play arena i am struck by a sort of horrible irony - that the industrial surroundings mean 9 - 5 drudgery to adults, in this day an age we now take kids there to play. perhaps we will eventually end up living in crinkly tin warehouses as well so we can maintain a consistent environment.

 

maybe these guys have something to offer kids in woods but in a more organised way? http://www.wildwoodactivities.co.uk/

[francypants]

perhaps just take the kids to the woods and let them run around there? free after all. when looking at play arena i am struck by a sort of horrible irony - that the industrial surroundings mean 9 - 5 drudgery to adults, in this day an age we now take kids there to play. perhaps we will eventually end up living in crinkly tin warehouses as well so we can maintain a consistent environment.

 

maybe these guys have something to offer kids in woods but in a more organised way? http://www.wildwoodactivities.co.uk/

 

 

Although a nice idea if there is a group of you but nowadays woods are not ideal if you're on your own with kids. Unfortunately this is the world we live in.

[geelim]

It is a disgrace. Apparently a recent badly broken arm that came through the skin no one had the expertise to know what to do. The food is diabolical and when a complaint is made you are shot down in flames. I had to have a very long drawn out argument to get my money back for a over cooked re-heated jacket potato that had gone that brown and sweet at the bottom it smelt like sick. The only thing the lady diva manager does is walk around stating *I'm the manager you know* steer clear

[francypants]

I took two of my grandchildren last year and the whole place was so disorganized. The impression I got was that nobody knew what they were supposed to be doing. The long food queue just got longer and longer as the staff were so slow and the food is over priced for what it is.

I won't go there again, hopefully it will close down.

[Boing]

I didn't realise people had had such bad experiences but I can quite see why, reading the reviews! I haven't seen the manager but it's clear she's terrible and has no people skills whatsoever. I avoid playcentre parties like the plague anyway but have obviously been to friends' kids' parties. I do like the place as does my 4 year old daughter, although my 2 year old son just plays on the cars near the entrance and occasionally kicks a ball around, so it is a bit of a waste of money for him. However I can totally see where people are coming from - I never eat there as the service is slow and it's expensive (though I find it's similar in most playcentres) and I do find the octopus for under 3s very strange and pointless! The health and safety comments are also very worrying and I will be keeping a sharp lookout if/when I next go.

[circle]

Omg this place sounds horrific- how is it still open?! is no way id take my 15 month there. The firdt aid thing is definitely illegal. Im amazed places like this can get away with it. We should vote with our feet snd not go there again.