Kids Kingdom is the newest indoor play park in Ottawa. They have two locations: Orleans and Kanata. Last winter, my son attended a hockey tournament in Kanata and we were given a handful of free entry passes (like, literally, a handful). At the time, this was the first we had heard about it, and didn't really understand what it was. But then the summer rolled around, and by late summer my son (who was 5 at the time) started getting antsy so we thought we would try it out. To be honest, I didn’t instantly love it; there were a few kinks I assume they were still trying to figure out and I am not sure they expected it to take off so quickly (I'm sure handing out handfuls of free passes a year before it opened contributed to this swell of visitors within the first few months).
My son, however, loved the place. No, it wasn't as big as Cosmic Adventures, but it was brighter, much cleaner, and, honestly, I prefer the setup. One of the things that I liked to most (because I'm nostalgic and prefer the way things were when I was a kid) was that the arcade - which had new games that actually worked (Cosmic has about 20 games, but only about 10 of them work at one given time) - and the machines give out paper tickets! I realize it's not exactly environmentally friendly, but what is more fun than carrying around an armful of tickets as opposed to some plastic card and, in order to play the games, they give you beautiful, shiny gold coins! At one time we went and a machine ate our tokens. Without question, the girl replaced our tokens and then gave us a “tip” as to which game gave out the most tickets. My son ended up winning 450 tickets that day and got to take home something better than a plastic ring. So we started coming back more often. I had to concede, he preferred it and the $4 difference (not to mention adults are $3 – I guess because they realize that parents don’t play and charging them an arm and a leg to get in is ridiculous), so it's a lot more feasible in so many ways.
The second last time I came was what really sold me on this place. It was a last minute decision. I was supposed to do something else with my son and my niece but it didn’t pan out and I made a split decision to come to Kids Kingdom. I realized before I got there that I had to transfer money from one account to another, but what I didn’t realize was that I would end up having to call two different banks, delete a bunch of stuff on my phone to download an app, change my password and so on. The entire process took about 30 minutes.
About fifteen minutes in, my son and niece were getting extremely impatient and the more they pestered me the more stressed and irritated I got. The woman at the front eventually told me I could send the kids in and let her know when everything got sorted out. I ended up having to go to my car before I could even pay and she was very nice about it. Once the kids were inside, I was able to patiently continue without pressure. At one point, the girl even asked me if there was anything she could do to help. I couldn’t get over how helpful, patient, and accommodating they were considering I must have looked like a crazed lunatic, and there was no guarantee I would be able to pay them, since they knew it was an issue with my bank. I was so thankful, but never got around to writing a review.
Today, Thursday of March break 2017, I took my son and his friend for a day trip. That’s another thing (I chose Thursday specifically because it is half off day which is amazing!). I also have a daycare kid I take care of and thought it would be a good place to go for my son to enjoy himself as well as the baby – without mommy guilt.
About three hours in, the baby decided he was done and needed a nap. There was just too much going on for him to concentrate on to sleep so luckily I planned ahead and brought the stroller. The stroller isn’t allowed in the place which is understandable so I took him outside (and felt good leaving my son in there and that he was safe - there's just something about the place that makes me feel good about him being in there - at Cosmic I still don't even let him go to the bathroom by himself). Within seconds the baby was asleep, but then I realized I couldn’t go back in the play area because of the stroller. I wheeled him inside, dead asleep, and parked him in the corner. I planned on sitting in the floor, but then one of the front desk girls brought me over a chair, but not just any chair, I mean, she could have brought me one of the plastic chairs from the eating area, but no, she brought me a leather office chair with arms (can you tell that I generally have very low expectations of people haha).
And that’s where I am now – sitting in a leather office chair with about 100 kids (or more) running around, the baby fast asleep and my son enjoying his day. I’m not irritated or uncomfortable, and I actually have time to update the blog I haven’t had time to update in months!
Thanks Kids Kingdom for being so accommodating and making life just a little bit easier! On days like today, you have no idea how something so little can help so much. The place itself may not be as large as Cosmic but the staff here more than makes up for it! Cheers! (Disclaimer: Although I will choose this place above any other place place until I can no longer, it is a tad smaller and so children over the ages of 7 may get bored quicker, but for kids 0-7, it's perfect!)
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