Junibacken — Attraction in Stockholm

You might think this is a good rainy day activity but it’s not! This only means that the already overcrowded place will be more crammed full of people since the kids can’t use the outdoor playground. When we arrived we had to wait at least 1.5 hours because they were at capacity. While we waited we went to the bookstore and cafe - the prices are absolute ROBBERY. This is the most expensive children’s museum I’ve ever encountered, in North America or Europe. Charging an insane price for an adult bringing a child (who must be supervised) is despicable, and there were way more adults there than kids, making it impossible to move around or even see your own kid while they are playing. They should limit the number of adults per child because I was seeing 3-4 adults per child, which is ridiculous and results in severe overcrowding to the point that you can barely move. If your kids aren’t familiar with Astrid’s entire library the train ride will be a bit confusing as it literally starts with the assumption you’ve read everything she ever wrote. It was cute regardless, but we had no clue who they were talking about. The level of NOISE was enough to make you feel intense anxiety, and the fact that some of the stuff isn’t the safest guarantees you will hear constant screaming and crying. The floor surfaces in the little village were constantly causing children to trip and fall. Also why are they letting teenagers and big kids in to play? This is meant for children under 10 for sure, the size of everything clearly caters to preschool-grade school ONLY. I watched bigger kids play rough and actually hurt smaller kids because they were rough or pushing or not looking where they were going. The stroller parking outside isn’t secure but moreover when it’s raining that means there’s a good chance your stroller will get SOAKED. Luckily mine folds up into a tote bag and I put it inside in a locker. I saw many soaking wet strollers out there, though. Save your money and your sanity and skip this one. My daughter enjoyed it when she finally got to actually play at the very end when people started...

We visited Junibacken with our 3,5 y.o. daughter during Midsummer's weekend. Over all I think it is ok value for money but I guess my expectations were really high after reading a lot of reviews. The playrooms are nice and well executed. Also the theater was enjoyable, the kids who were acting were really talented and great! The train raid was magical although I understand it can be a bit scary for the youngest. One thing that I would have wished for is more aaccessibility for the parents in certain rooms. Sometimes you could not see where the kid was or had no control over what was happening (especially in Emil's playroom). Our daughter went in some tunnel and after that I had no idea where she was, until I heard her screaming and crying. I located a small hole in the wall where I could see her hanging - she was scared coming down. Luckily I am not a big person myself, so I could fit that hole and grab her. Also the slide in the Moomin park outside is a hazard for younger ones. The stairs up to the narrow Moomin house are steep and then there is a quite steep tunnel slide do go down. My daughter was too scared to come down the slide so I could just once again hear her cry in panic, but I could not access her because there were so many kids going up the stairs and she could not come down. I think the most proper thing is to put an age limit OR at least warn about this. We heard a lot of similar kids ending up crying up there, and parents standing outside down at the ground, no access to help or to go and pick them up. Eventually I climbed in the Moomin house (I am a rather small person so I could) and prevented other kids from entering, while I gave instructions to our daughter to come down the stairs. I also thought to myself about safety aspects of this: having so many places unaccessible to parents, who eventually are in charge of their safety. It seemed not very well thought through. I would recommend visit Junibacken but one time is for...

Junibacken – a place of mixed feelings and ratings.

This is a great place when your kid is in the age starting of 3 or 4 years. He or she knows maybe the presented tales. A lot to explore and to see – highlight the story train. If I would stop now here, I would give Junibacken a 5-star rating.

But...

if you have one kid it's fine. If you have two, then be prepared that you can't enter Junibacken with a stroller. Meaning, we needed to carry our youngest one all the time. This limits already a lot your experience. If you go with two kids then they should be able to walk and survive some hours without stroller – or pack a kid-carrier. We didn't know, so we needed to carry our one year old daughter all the time. The stroller was parked outside, unlocked, between hundred of others. There should be more communication about this! Especially when you try to attract families. We understand now, after we saw the place, that you can't go there with a stroller – but this isn't the first thought when you plan a visit to an exhibition for children.

The whole exhibition is nicely done and the story train is really good, the highlight of our visit. BUT... this whole place is way too tiny or they should limit drastically the amount of people which are at the same time in this building. In some rooms, we couldn't do a single step without stepping someone others feet. And now imagine kids between this chaos running around. Same situation in the restaurant... so much food on the floor and tables left. Nobody took care about it.

Pre-booking!? Why is there a pre-booking? You are anyway waiting in a long queue. There should be a sign for people who pre-booked the entrance that they just can skip waiting. Especially when you can enter only in a certain time window.

It's a nice place – don't get me wrong. But it's too tiny, too full and could need some more...