Kids Empire Gresham — Attraction in Gresham

I wish I could say I love this place as it has some aspects going for it, but has far too many problems. Our first visit, my 2 year old son was riding one of their very small light-weight plastic “motor cycles” (which they have just floating around where everyone walks and could get ran into or the kids could get hurt if someone doesn’t see them)….I literally went to pick up my receipt that fell when he unexpectedly flew over the handle bars and crashed to the hard “hard-wood” flooring hitting his head extremely hard. I was about 25 feet away and heard the wack of him hitting the ground. I knew it was bad, it took him a second to respond and then he was crying so hard that he couldn’t breath. The two girls at the desk saw it happen and I looked up after he cried for me in pain, asking them 1) did he hit his head?, 2) where did he hit his head? They oddly turned away quickly…as if not wanting to be a part of it, but also the looks on their faces said “I saw it happen” so I asked what happened so that I could process if he needed to go the ER and one vaguely said “He fell. We saw, I saw the whole thing”. That was it. No details, no look or vibe of care or concern. I asked if it was his head and they said “oh yeah!” but no details. My son hit his head so hard that he got a huge knot. See pics. The girls didn’t offer to help me or ask if I needed anything. I kindly pushed and asked if they could get me an ice pack so they did, but they wanted no part of it. It’s odd to me. If anyone, especially a poor little child gets hurt these places may not be held responsible, I get it, but common decency is still to provide compassion and any help one can. Their waiver even mentions they can assist, they can provide first-aid, call 911 for you, but will take no responsibility. Its disturbing! They literally turned a blind- eye. :( No joke! I got lucky that he was okay and shockingly didn’t seem to have a bad concussion. Purchased an ice cream for him to allow him to calm and focus so I could evaluate him.

That first time we came staff was young, unkind, disinterested, no smiles, etc. commented to me that this place is a great price (it’s $19.99 - this is expensive when all other places are $15 or less for a 2 year old which I still feel is expensive. They only have very few snacks as options. No real food at all.

Next visit - staff was very unprofessional and one was FaceTiming while working. Also they were impersonable.

1 week later this time with my husband, we were shocked to see the toddler ball pit has a pole in the center of it. It’s barely padded so beware of your child jumping in this ball-pit. My son was so excited about the layer of balls that he almost went head-on, into the barely padded pool. You can’t tell, I went to feel it and it’s hard. The ball pit didn’t need to be placed there, they could have chosen another open space.

I also hurt my knee on the toddler “soft blocks” because it turns out some of the “soft blocks” appear soft but are actually what feels like hard wood. Unpleasant! I jumped up to the top one and hit landed on the hard block with my patella. Toddlers should not play on this.

During the second visit - remember this place is pretty darn new - there was already a ton of dust bunnies and hair everywhere inside the structure that wasn’t there the previous week. The floors were disgusting from a party a few days prior over the weekend. Pics included. The worse part was the carpet has lots of junk on it and the “hard wood floor” had massive sticky stains. Even let over chocolate cake icing remained on the floor. Two girls working and none clean the trash off the floors, tables, vacuum, mop, or sanitize. To me it’s lazy and gross!

The slides do not fit and match exactly where they should so you get hit or bumped by the edges where the seems meet. No longer a place we will be attending. It is sadly, a dirty and dangerous kids play space. I don’t think this place will last. My child’s safety is #1 so I will count myself lucky and...

My husband and I came here tonight with our two youngest children, 10 yrs and 4 yrs old. Our 4 yr old wanted to go down the big purple slide so we walked up with her and once we got to the top, counted 123, slid down, she decided it was too high and didn’t end up sliding down with us. I went to go get her and by the time I reached the top of the slide, she was gone. I started yelling her name looking for her. My husband did as well. We walked around the ground level and the entire play structure for a solid 5 minutes and then I went to the front desk and told the boy “I can’t find my little girl. Is this the only exit?” And he said yes. I asked him the the emergency door in the back “really alarms if opened” and he said “I don’t know I think so probably ya.” I said “do you have a protocol for a missing kid? I don’t know what else to do. My husband and son are looking for her and I have been and we can’t find her” and he SHRUGGED HIS SHOULDERS AND SAID I DONT KNOW. So I walked away and continued looking for my baby … at this point there were parents who heard my fear and began helping us look for her. My husband went up front and asked the boy to help us and he said “ya there’s nothing I can do.” FAST FWD 5-7 MINUTES… I went back up to the counter and asked him “can you turn the music off so I can yell her name or is there an overhead pager where you can say something” and he said “no there’s literally nothing I can do and I’m not allowed to do anything with the music I don’t even know how” ITS NOW BEEN ALMOST 15 MINUTES AND IM IN TEARS SEARCHING FOR HER. My husband yelled “where tf is my daughter” and in that moment one of the moms who was helping us ran up saying I FOUND HER I FOUND HER. She tells my husband to go in the play structure and head to the far back right side and directed me to follow her on ground level on the side (by the emergency exit door in the back)… My daughter was able to somehow get under the play structure and was HIDING. She was safe and unharmed. BUT THIS PLAY PLACE IS IN NEED OF EXTREME TRAINING. I understand it’s the parents responsibility to watch their child, but let me be clear when I say this… my husband and I were the ONLY parents even involved and playing with their kids while everyone else was sitting around at tables on their phones — so please understand I’m THERE… The structure of the playground is beyond chaotic. BUT THE MOST HORRIFIC THING ABOUT THE SCARIEST MOMENT OF MY LIFE AS A MOM, IS THAT THE EMPLOYEE UP FRONT HAD ZERO CARE IN THE WORLD. NO DESIRE HELP. NOT EVEN IN THE SLIGHTEST. AND ON OUR WAY OUT, HE WAS ON THE COUNTER JUST ON HIS CELL PHONE. I took a photo of him on my way out (on the phone) so if the managers/owners would like to see who it is. I’m hoping this place has internal cameras to verify everything I am saying.

You guys need serious help, seriously fast!! Thank god my daughter was safe but someone else’s might not end the same way and their employees...

I had my child's birthday party at Kids Empire Gresham on October 5th, and I regret booking their "hassle-free" package. They completely failed to keep their promises and left me to deal with everything last minute.

The problems started with the invitations. Their website wasn’t working for downloads, and after several emails with them promising to fix it, they suggested I drive to their location (more than 30 minutes away) to pick them up. Instead of simply emailing me the invitations, I had to waste my money and my time making my own.

A few days before the party, I received a call telling me they wouldn’t be providing the cake, despite booking a package that included both pizza and cake to avoid the stress of organizing those details myself. I had to scramble to find a cake last minute, and of course, there was no time to personalize it.

When I asked about decorations, I was told they would provide them. Their version of “decorations” was two balloons—seriously? On top of that, they didn’t even have tablecloths available. They are located next to stores like Five Below, Michaels, and Dollar Tree, but apparently couldn’t be bothered to get basic supplies like a tablecloth. So now I had to sort out the cake, decorations, and tablecloths myself.

The entire organization of the event was a complete disaster. If I could give zero stars, I would.

The only redeeming part of the day was the staff working on the day of the party. Elijah, in particular, was extremely helpful and made the experience bearable. The pizza was hot and served on time, thanks entirely to the young adults running things that day.

To make matters worse, they promised me a $30 credit for the missing cake, but when I went to pay the remaining balance in person (because they don’t have a way to pay online), the front desk said the credit was applied. Of course, when I checked the final receipt, it wasn’t. Now I’m out that money too.

Their slogan promises a “hassle-free package”—all I got was hassle. I expect a refund...