Seeing as it's still the school holidays, and I have pritty much exhausted the places to go for a local-ish day out with my 7 year old, I jumped at the chance to take him to a new play gym after I had heard some positive reviews from friends who had recently visited.
As you can imagine, in almost 8 years, we've probably been to every play gym in our area, and although the kiddies seem to love them regardless of the amount of times we visit, it is nice for us adults to have a slight change of scenery every now and again.
Also, we are on the look out for a place for "The 8th Birthday Party" that is large enough for a horde of boisterous boys, so hopefully these boxes get ticked too!
With all this in mind, our destination for the day was Funopolis Play Gym, Shipley, Bradford, BD17 7AD.
I did a little internet research before we went - basically looking for opening times, entry prices etc and found that there was a lot more information, including plenty of photographs on the Funopolis Facebook and Twitter pages rather than on the website itself, but all were easily accessible.
A big bonus - when I contacted Funopolis via Twitter, the staff were very quick to respond and answer my questions - which is always handy in my book.
So - what was it actually like?
Well, as stated on the website, the play-gym is fairly new, and was opened in April, 2013. This is very obvious to see when you arrive. The whole place just screams of "newness".
The play equipment - and there is a LOT of it - is brightly coloured, clean and in excellent condition.
Funopolis is set in a massive, open room, with the majority of space taken up by the play equipment. There are slides and tubes and things to explore EVERYWHERE - the children loved it! Smiles all round. :)
If all that room for exploration wasn't enough, there are small party rooms dotted in within all the fun giving a private place to eat on that all important party day.
There is a Go Kart Track for the children to whizz about on. You have to pay an extra £1 per turn, but I think it is pretty reasonable and seems to be the same in other play-gym's I have visited that offer this service.
There are ball guns to practice target shooting, a stage which was filled with little ladies putting on a show for their parents, a small basketball court/football pitch filled with little boys letting off steam, and also a separate play frame for the younger children which gave them a fun place to play away from the fast paced, busy main play equipment, without making them feel left out.
~ !!Fun Packed!! ~
There are plenty of tables for families and carers to sit and grab a coffee or a bite to eat whilst the little ones tire themselves out. It was quite busy when we arrived, and still we managed to find a table.
Seeing as I mentioned food, it seems only right to comment on this too.
There is wide menu to choose from, with lots of Italian dishes - pizza and pastas, as well as burgers, breakfasts and lighter options and although we din't actually eat anything, the food I saw other people ordering looked lovely.
We did sample the coffee though, and that was nice!
Having had a peek inside the menu, I did think that the prices were a tad expensive, especially when compared to other play-gym's I have been to...
- Roasted Pepper's, Red Onion & Goat's Cheese Sandwich - £4.25
- 12" Pepperoni Pizza - £6.95
- Lasagne - £6.95
- Gourmet Beef Burger - £6.95
- Kids Lunch Box (inc sandwich, drink, crisps, fruit/chocolate) - £4.10
...yet this is likely to be noticed in the quality of the food, which I have been told by a friend who has eaten at Funopolis, is quite high, so this is to be expected really.
Oh - and the ladies loo's were clean. (Always important to know!!) :)
As I said earlier, part of today's visit was to "test the water" so to speak, for my son's birthday party.
Funopolis offers different party options to suit different budgets. You have the option to choose from a warm or cold menu; to include the Go Karts into the party, or just to have a basic play party.
There is even an option to add some pottery painting into the party day, as Funopolis has it's own pottery studio situated away from the main play area.
So, quite a lot on offer to please even the fussiest of child!
And the last word goes to the people with the most valuable opinions on this subject - the kiddies:
"I love it here!"
"It's massive"
"Can we come back again?"
I think that speaks for itself!!
No comments
Post a Comment
Due to an increase in spam I am moderating all comments. They are welcome and appreciated and I will get them moderated as soon as possible :)