Thrive Family Fun Center — Attraction in Cookeville

I'm torn because I make it a point to support small local businesses, but I do not feel even remotely good about my last experience. I want to preface by saying that I went to Thrive often before their renovation. The only hiccup we ever had were undercooked pizzas served at our daughters birthday party. We didn't serve them and by the time new ones came out the party was just about over. At the time we let that go because they were understaffed and we were there so often for family night with friends...we understand things happen. Well the understaffed issue hasn't changed. Last night we went in around 5pm. There were only two employees. The one at the front desk wandered in and out of back rooms frequently, on his phone. The second, a woman supervising the jump floor, had to leave her post at one point to sell us water, which we appreciated, because the Cafe was closed and every other drink machine was either off or cost a minimum of $3. As far as the cost and value I was very frustrated. I have 3 children, who are 7,5 and almost 1. It cost the same amount for the 1 year old as my older children....and he spent maybe 10-15 minutes on the jump floor. The rest was spent wandering around the arcade and looking at all the flashing lights right adjacent to the toddler area. I felt that charging the babies and toddlers full price was a shark move....they do not stay on the equipment and they do not put the same wear and tear on it as older kids. While the renovations in many ways are impressive, they have removed the giant foam pit, the climbing wall, the toddler toy section and all but one of the aerial swings (which a couple kids camped on)....all of which were favorites of my children...so I was sad to see those changes. Lastly the arcade. Many of the machines were off and since our toddler kept wandering around them, we spent over 150 credits between the family while we were there. One of us had to follow the baby around and so our older children kept checking back to play games as well...it was frustrating trying to constantly herd the little one back to the jump area. The kicker for us was when the hour for my kids was up, our 5 year old was almost to the top of the rope ladder to ring the bell and the attendant came and booted her off. Two more rungs and she would have reached it....Given how much time and money we spent in the arcade it would have been nice if she would have let her just ring the bell. So for us...we spent $60 for three kids to jump, another $50 in the arcade, there was no food and I made it a point to pick up bite size up foam pieces left about that other kids had torn off so my child didn't eat them. It was expensive, exhausting and not a good value for the money. If toddler prices change and family deals or homeschool times are offered we would consider returning, but as it stands, we did not have a good time. I miss...

We went on a Saturday. They have certain deals on certain nights. Saturday night is: from 8pm through 11pm 15$ per person for the those 3 hours you can enjoy everything except the arcade games. Arcade games cost credits that you can get on a card at kiosk near entry. Those prices are $5, 20, and so on. Cards are free and you can have as many cards as you want. BUT!!!!! Here is the trick. Right before you get your cards....after you have selected how many you want, and what price deal you will need for "X" amount of children you have in your party, you see a pop up (barely noticeable, especially if you have even 1 child standing near asking for their card as kids do:)........), that says each card will cost 4 credits. I'm sure I could of figured out the best deal but like I said...I had 4 children requesting that they receive their cards as promptly as possible:))))) So I opted for the $20 deal where I recieved 80credits that would be dispensed evenly between the 4 cards I requested. I chose this deal also because it gave me +12 BONUS!!!!POINTS!!!!......WOW, I though, not bad. So I selected it because it was the amount I was willing to purchase. Then I saw the bubble after Iput the money in. I possibly could of reversed at that point because I saw that if I had requested less cards I would of gotten to play games for those extra cards instead of losing 4 credits per card. I know that it's not highway robbery but I try to save money and find the best deal. Even at my child's birthday. The Staff, were all very polite and helpful when I asked or needed something. The nerf war room: parents should go in and see how the children do. Make sure they have what they need and find a nerf gun, mask, etc. Games like this among children in groups, that may not know each other can be good but can also go badly. Nobody likes to be the parent in the middle of two children whom have just had an argument over a nerf gun and boths story's are different. They do have drinks available and the jump room is pretty nice. I jumped with the kids and and alot of fun. Bathrooms were clean and it wasn't crowded, you could easily keep your 6ft distance in most cases and hand sanitizer was available at all station.I recommend wearing a mask for anyone who doesn't want Covid 19 because that's the safest thing. If your wanting somewhere to take your child to have fun check this place out it's worth it. My group ages were 7, 11, and 12 yrs old. But even older kids and teens were there having fun. Support this place it's really a good thing and a great place for kids to play. Hope this helps...

We took our son to thrive for his birthday outing today. $17 per kid, okay no problem. While my son and my two other kids was jumping I took my shoes off and carried my one year old and went up to the jump area to sit and watch my children that were jumping. One of the thrive workers came to me and ask “do you have an armband?” I replied “no I’m sitting here with my daughter watching my other kids jump” in which she replied “you have to have a armband and socks to be up here in the jump area” so I replied “I have to pay for an armband to sit here and watch my children?” The thrive worker replied yes! All while 3 moms was sitting together in the jump area with only jump socks and NO armbands!! And the thrive workers was even talking and cutting up with these moms that had no armbands!! This made me furious. So I walked to the front desk with my daughter and politely ask the lady that was at the desk “do I have to pay for an armband to be in the jump area just to watch my kids?” The lady replied, “no honey you do not have to have an armband, you only have to have the jump socks.” I said I get that and that makes sense but the thrive worker said I had to have an armband to sit up there to watch my children all while these 3 moms have no armband. After that I wasn’t spending any more money on socks just to go up to the jump area. THEN all three of my kids and their dad was playing basketball and 4 other people joined in to play. A thrive worker came in and said there was to many people in there some of them had to come off the court because 7 was only allowed at a time. I did not see that rule posted anywhere. Also, an arcade game took 24 credits from our arcade card to and couldn’t even play the game! The toddler section is also the same price as the adult section $17. It’s a small area that you still have to pay full price for. There should be a discounted price for toddlers. The toddler section is age 4 and under. All thrive employees need to get on the same page for their rules. Rude workers and everyone not on the same page with the rules done it for my family and I. I Will not recommend to anyone anymore. My kids were so excited when they went inside and seen all the updates and I was to but then all of the above happened and made the trip bad....