FunVille Playground and Cafe - Chesapeake, VA — Attraction in Chesapeake

Two things to know: My husband travels for work and my daughter and i often travel with him. Our favorite thing to do is explore indoor playgrounds when in a new area. All this to say, I’ve been to A LOT of indoor playgrounds. I only leave reviews publicly when a place is extraordinary or extraordinarily bad. I’m writing this one publicly in hopes of saving another family money and time.

Hands down, the worst indoor playground I’ve ever experienced.

Firstly, the front desk employee was sitting in a corner on her phone when we walked in. She looked up and saw us and carried on with what she was doing. After about two minutes of this she begrudgingly walked over and the greeting we were given was: “you do know we close at 8 right?” not even a hello. To which I replied, “yes.” It was 6pm so I understood the attempt to make sure I was informed, but that wasn’t the intent as she followed with: “we WILL close at 8pm, the lights will be cut off at 8:20 and you still have to pay full price.” Trying to stay positive I said “i understand, it’s no problem.” She made it very clear that she did not want to be there and that she did not want us there. I’ve never had a more miserable encounter. She talked so fast and low that I could barley understand anything she said and when I asked her to repeat, she made no adjustment, rather pointed to something that explained what she said or repeated it the same.

It cost just my daughter and I $40 to play. We’ve been to some incredibly nice indoor playgrounds, some in expensive locations, but this is the most I have ever paid, by far. My daughter is three and very chill, so she’s right on the cusp of wanting to be in the toddler area and wanting to explore the “big kid” area. So, you can pay $15 for your kid to play in the toddler zone, which is a tiny area more targeted for babies or $25 for everything. “Everything” being the toddler area and “big kid” play area; not the arcade, ropes course or the slides. Which the ropes course area and fun slides weren’t even opened. I know all of this because I asked and instead of talking me through it she pointed to a sign I could read. So it was $25 for my toddler, $2 for me to be with her and $10 for both of us a pair of socks. We brought our own grip socks, as we do this a lot, but it was “mandatory” that we each have $5 funville socks. I have NEVER been required to buy socks if I brought our own. After I paid this, I was reminded again of the closing time and sent on my way with no further instruction. I had to ask “is that everything” because she was so vague and unbothered.

I didn’t see anything being cleaned until 7pm, when they started closing. Yes, closing down so heavily that I had to find another employee (the only other employee I saw) to make sure they closed at 8pm (even though I had been told this several times.) There is ball section in the big kid area that allows kids to press buttons that cut on air and do fun things. It was very neat and my daughter LOVED this part, however only TWO out of the 8-10 machines they had actually worked. They also have air guns that you can shoot the balls out of, probably 15, none of them worked. At 7pm with NO warning, they shut all the air off. In the middle of my daughter and I playing the air suddenly cuts off and the employee that “greeted” us came in with a bag and started rounding them up. It took me a second to figure out what was going on it was so abrupt. They were pretty much pushing us out of the door at 7pm. We left at 7:38pm (not the last to leave, still several kids playing) and it felt like we were about to get the lights cut out on us. They actually made an announcement stating that lights cut off at 8:20.

All in all, it just felt like a huge scam. Half of the attractions were shut down, others closed an hour early, being required to wear funville socks, shutting down at 7, it was all too much. A few of those things I can handle, but all of that and for $40?! I would not recommend this place to anyone. Please do not waste...

Tonight we had a party at Funville in Chesapeake. I chose this location because I had seen some negative reviews on the VA Beach location. Honestly, I'm a pretty chill person, but my experience tonight left me pretty angry. I arrived at 4:30pm. The party was scheduled for 5pm. I wanted to make sure I arrived a little bit early to finalize whatever payment with the food or paperwork needed to be completed and to make sure we got there before our guests due to traffic and coming from VA Beach. When I went to check in, I was met with "That party isn't even until 5pm though." I mentioned that I wanted to make sure I didn't need to finalize any payment or set up anything before my guests arrived. Who arrives at the same time as their party starts and not before their guests? They said "no" but then mentioned the waiver. I signed the waiver and they gave my kids bracelets. Awesome. The party started. Everything was ok but I literally had to chase my party coordinator down every time someone else came in because they don't keep the bracelets in the front. Halfway through the party, I had to leave my guests to pay. No worries. I paid and left what I thought was a nice tip. We were told we had to be out of the party room by 7pm. At 15 mins to, we gathered our things and brought them out to the dining area where we were told we could still play for the remaining hour before close. Despite leaving the party room 7 mins early, I was immediately told I had to put my cupcakes in my car. Concerned about them spoiling, my friend asked if they could put them in the back? First they said yes. Then they said no. And rudely told me that technicall "NO party food" should be out in the dining room because the other guests couldn't order what we ordered. I pointed out that the pizzas we bought FROM Funville were literally exactly the same ones as some of the other guests were eating in the dining area. My party manager then said she needed to talk to her manager. Her manager then gaslit me and told me that she only said "the cupcakes." Bottom line...I spent over $660. They were completely inflexible, unaccommodating, and quite frankly rude. I ordered a significant amount of food in addition to the party room rental. It really felt like as soon as they were paid, they took it as license to be rude. My guests were all upset and frustrated. It left a really bad taste in my mouth. What should have been a fun day, and was for the most part ended on a really bad note. Spend your $660 elsewhere. I won't be back to Funville...which is sad because the playground is nice. The manager needs some training in customer service...and an...

Overall my daughter had a great day spending time with her friends and family playing in the play area. No complaints on that. My server Kayla was friendly and great.

My only issues are my personal experience with setting up a party for my daughter. I filled out the form online and submitted only to be emailed to write the same information in ink, then scan and email back. Then I was contacted by staff. The initial conversation was fine. She let me know that they were going to be under new management soon. I was signed up for the "Princess" room and set my whole theme around that. I was told after I paid however that the goodie bags was no longer a part of the deal. No problem however I personally feel the price should have been less considering the paper I signed stated goodie bags. I confirmed the balloons would be the #4 and 3 small balloons as well.

The Tuesday before the party I was called to confirm party details. I was then told that new management decided to repaint the rooms so there was no "Princess" room anymore. It was now Paw Patrol and Minions. Not the theme I had already planned for with the goodie bags I had to provide and the cake. Then I was told several times that I had to be out of the room by 4. Not sure why the caller felt that I needed to be told that more than twice but okay.

When I arrived my server Kayla was great. She did an amazing job assisting us. Kudos to her for somewhat making me feel better.

The balloons were not what I was originally told. It was a a deflating "Happy Birthday" balloon with three latex balloons.

At 345 I had all my guests put plates and items in the trash, grab their kids shoes, and we cleared out by 350pm. Right before we were about to clear out after cleaning the room, not sure if it was the manager in the Black shirt but they kept walking by the room and even came in to pretend they were looking for something in the cabinet in the room. It made us feel uncomfortable but were were leaving out 10 minutes prior anyway and we had cleaned up the room to the point where it looked just like it did when we arrived.

I was given a "free pass" for my daughter to come back and the pass was bent and seemed used.

Not sure if I will come back to do a party considering I paid for more...