The Ark — Attraction in Kingston Deverill

The Ark is a nice place to take the kids on a rainy day. Beautiful views from the windows and an outside seating area. £9.50 per child for two hours of play isn't too bad. There are better play areas out there for the same price or cheaper. There were a few people without socks on or wearing shoes which I found disgusting. No one was there to monitor this or to tell the individuals they needed to wear them. Could probably do with better signage on the entrances to make people more aware of this. There is a sign near the under 3's play area, to the right of the counter which you wouldn't really notice unless needing the toilet and another one on column which no one really pays attention to. No member of staff asked me to read the rules or if I understand the terms and conditions prior to setting the children free. Plenty of signage about not bringing your own food or drinks into the Ark and several about safeguarding children. The staff were polite and friendly. I think the food is a little over priced for what they have to offer but this is a personal opinion - Paid just over £10 for 3 ice lollies. The car park has cramped spaces and can be awkward to get small children out of the car or if one is a little larger than the average person when cars are parked so close to another when parked well within the lines. I like the idea of a locked gate at the front of the entrance which can only be operated by a member of staff behind the counter. Means you don't have to worry about your child vanishing out of the building if you have taken your eyes off them for a short time. The only downside to that, you may have to wait several minutes before a staff member notices you to let you out...A small price to pay...

I’ve never been so appalled at the state and price of a softplay. Looking at other reviews this is not a new issue. I was charged £8.50 to bring my 15 month old into the soft play so was expecting good things. However the smell when you walk in makes you immediately gag. It smells incredibly strong of old urine and there is no doubt this is due to the lack of cleaning. I have never smelt any soft play like it. The soft play is split into two parts, a toddler area for the under 3’s. Well if your child is of walking age this is far too small and lacking anything they would even want to play with. It’s simply a soft mat, tiny ball pit and a couple of soft animal things to sit on. The other area which was for older children was dangerously overcrowded. I’m not sure what the limits are for the venue but it felt like they were double over capacity. So this brings me to the main question of, why are you charging a just walking baby the same price as an 11 year old? My daughter was far too small to even be able to gain access to the older children’s section and too big to sit in the toddler section. On another note, if you’re coming here is a parent make sure you’re ready to stand the whole time as there is no where near enough seats to accommodate for the amount of people they let in that door. Kids were tripping over parents legs as they sat in the main small walkway with nowhere else to go. Children were gathered around the toilet doors having to eat their snacks or have drinks because there was so little space. I have never been so dissatisfied with a...

The Ark cafe is pretty nice but can get busy. The ice rink is reasonably priced. The soft play is horrible - I've been twice. The first time it was moderately busy but I managed to find space for my pushchair. My daughter enjoyed the small under 3s area for a while despite there not being much to do in there. However older kids kept coming in and one of them was throwing balls at her. There seems to be no enforcement of rules and parents often don't supervise their kids. The second time I went it was incredibly busy, no tables at all, no space to park pushchair or leave shoes. Despite this staff kept letting people in! We couldn't get in the under 3s area because it was full of children and parents, who seemed to be using it as a place to socialise and lounge around. We decided to take our daughter in the bigger play area as we had paid £5 to get in and we wanted to let her have some play time. In the ball play area none of the machines worked and it smelled of wee. We couldn't take her down the slide as kids were climbing up them with no parents present. This went on the entire time we were there so we gave up trying to use the slides. It was very busy, no one seemed to be watching their kids and we couldn't do all that much. I'm reluctant to go there again. Just seems to be a bit of a money spinner for the owners. Oh and there are no baby changing facilities in the cafe. There's a disabled loo with a shelf which I think we're supposed to use, that's all.

I think The Ark could be great with some improvements bit for now I can't...