Sky Zone Kitchener

We had our daughter’s birthday here today. We have booked birthdays here before and had great experiences, pre-Covid. Today, our experience was MUCH different, so much so that we won’t be booking a birthday here again.

Not only was the place packed (which is great for business, not good for safety), but the staff were so disorganized. I had to approach the front desk at 4pm, when we should’ve gotten our room, and apparently there was another party in our room, while another room was empty. We had to wait for the staff (who were very hesitant), to basically kick that party out and “switch” rooms, then move everything from the lobby to the room, which ate up approximately 10 mins of our already short 40 mins in the room. In previous years, we had the party room right from the start of the hour jumping + 40 mins afterwards for pizza/cake etc. This time, we did not have a room until the jumping was done. This was a combined family & friends party, so we took up 2 tables in the “lobby” area where I had some snacks out for the adults who did not jump & kids. The tables were a mess and we had to locate a staff member to clean them up.

Then it took another 10 mins to pay for the party. My husband and I were brought to 3 different tills, because none of them were working? I also had to rewrite all our jumpers names down on a receipt paper, for the lady to “check them in”? What were they doing when they checked themselves in for a wristband and socks?? Just a mess.

Then I was told that I had booked a certain package, when I had not booked that package. The employee was adamant that I had, so I had to search my email, while holding a baby, to find my confirmation email. Then she had to call the manager over to correct that. Not to mention, they forced friends of ours to “check in” their non-walking 1 year old as a jumper, which would’ve put us over our allowed # of jumpers, which meant we owe more $…I refused to let that happen and told them to take her off, which they did.

To attempt to smooth things over, the staff offered 2 free buckets of popcorn for the mix ups. Thanks?

Overall, they are squeezing in as many birthdays as possible per day, but the quality of their parties is suffering because of it. I completely understand the need to recoup what was lost during the closures of the pandemic, but my gosh, at what cost? You are losing business because of it. Most of the staff are useless, and no, they were not short staffed, because I saw many “staff” behind the concession stand, standing around chatting. All teenagers who clearly aren’t there to work unfortunately.

My suggestion? Figure out a time slot for a group to jump together, and pay their regular jumping fees. Because it’s a great place for the kids. Just don’t book a party. It’s not worth the headache and stress I experienced today.