Smiley's Ocean Themed Adventure Park — Attraction in Indianapolis

We had a birthday party for one of our children here last weekend. We had another birthday party about 3 years ago and had a great experience. Because of our great experience a few years ago, we returned. Unfortunately, there have been some dramatic changes to this business and we had an awful experience. I never leave reviews and feel like other parents looking for a fun experience for their children should know that I can not in good conscience recommend this place to anyone for a party...and I would think twice about whether to bring your child here to play. The play place aspect was fine, but there are quite a few spots that cannot be seen from the observation areas. It is impossible to monitor the children while you are there and staff monitors are non existent. I had one of my daughters get pushed around by some older boys while I was busy trying to watch the party attendees. The rest of the facility is cluttered with junk, employee take out containers, random jackets, cleaning supplies, etc. There was a woman sweeping the floor, but overall the place was dirty and smelled like w. The worst part were the employees. We had registered for this party online 2 months in advance. Starting at 2 weeks prior to the party, I tried to call to confirm numbers and other arrival details. I called no less than 2 dozen times to the two numbers listed on their website and finally received a call back the day of the party. We had one neutral interaction upon check-in, but then every other interaction was substandard or downright rude. The party attendants were overly casual and used the small tables outside of our room as their break room. We had half a dozen employees sitting, chatting, eating, and watching videos/social media loudly on their phones right outside of our party room. It was uncomfortable for us to walk back and forth from our room. Not to mention several of them smelled like w. We also asked for refills on some drinks, asked questions about our pizza order, and had to ask for a bandaid for a child who stubbed her toe and each time we were met with the most unprofessional and annoyed attitude from the woman who seemed to be in charge. Finally, we had the room booked for 2 hours, but about 10 minutes prior to the end of the party while our parents were coming to pick up and kids were getting their shoes on, this woman and another attendant started tearing things down and sweeping. When I made it clear that our party wasn't over and I would like them to wait until our kids had left, they rudely responded that they could not do that and continued anyway. To be clear, we were cleaning up and were on track to vacate the room by the scheduled time and yet they made us feel completely uncomfortable. After we packed our things into the car, I walked back in to speak with management about my concerns. I was pointed to a man who was blatantly looking at social media and when I began to talk to him, he couldn't even look me in the eye. He literally said nothing. It was the most bizarre interaction and obviously he could care less. It is not cheap to host a party here and for the lack of service, lack of cleanliness, and lack of safety for your children... I would NOT consider this business for your children's party or...

Not what it used to be… I used to take my son here before Covid and I went back last Saturday for the first time since and WOW. The place must be under new management/ownership. On the surface everything still looks pretty legit to the eye but that’s where it ends. I think I might be entering Karen levels of annoyance but this place used to be the best for younger kids who aren’t ready for places like Urban Air but without boring the older kids either.

Let me start by mentioning cleanliness. I understand Covid is over now but there have obviously been some… policy changes. You used to be able to literally smell and see how clean it was there. Or they were good at making it seem that way! You would always see staff cleaning. Anyway, it smells funky now and as we left I wondered how long it would be before we got sick. Needless to say my entire family is down with god knows what germs we picked up from that Petri dish.

Now I want to move onto safety. I’m not saying they weren’t there, but they are not uniformed well or something nor are they effective because I didn’t see a single staff member inside the play areas. My step daughter has a mysterious black eye she got that day, I found her crying, drowning and getting trampled basically in the ball pit. I know it’s the parent’s responsibility for their own kids but like, shouldn’t there be a lifeguard type situation going on? Idk. They have also installed this insane spinning cage thing very close to the toddler area, actually not sure if it’s part of the toddler area but it shouldn’t be. It spins super, super fast (lit I get it) but my 3 year old was literally thrown out of it while crying and begging the person spinning it to stop.

They also DO NOT have VR anymore. They just have a big arcade instead, and most of the “interactive” games in the back for the littler kids weren’t working or were jankity in general.

It was just chaos from the moment we stepped in that place. The check in area/process was disorganized and a super stressful start… that price tag doesn’t help lubricate the situation either.

Dang this is probably the worst review I have ever written but somehow the reviews on this place are still pretty good and I want others to avoid my fate! Not worth it. Save your money and save yourself the cough and cold. The pizza was pretty good though. Also there’s a claw machine in the arcade where you can get squishies (not sure if they are squishmallows but pretty close if not and my kids love them) so make sure to hit that if...

I was here 05/11/2019 My family will NEVER COME BACK!

I want to first add that, this is a heartbreaking review because my wife, kids and I loved this place. We took our kids here four times since this place opened. The kids loved it and it was staff with nice people. Friendly and Smileying so you understood the title! But after last night we won't EVER be coming back! We are about to double adventure date today. To celebrate our mother's day ( LGBTQ couple). Going over how much was spent. NO WAY! So Yes, I will pause to do something I do not do and that's write a review! Last night was a dissatisfied, disaster! We went through HELL! 1st.-The ball pit was an unsupervised mess- big kids was over powering, being ruff and aggressive with smaller kids and no attended around to report this to! 2nd- It was my stepson birthday so we paid a great amount so he could do virtual reality- "WE PAID" Meanwhile... some new person that is now over this area, allowed people to go long and some, I know for sure DID NOT PAY enjoy a service I paid hard ern money for. BUT What really blows me... when we went to complain we were told the managers was off! WHAT scratching my head? All managers?????? On your busiest day of the week???

3- The bathrooms was a NASTY MESS!!! No order at all ,nowhere!

4- They have new people and no one knows what the hell they are doing just looking lost! Now in all fairness they do still have one or two old faces but they are so super busy picking up slack the slack for the new ones who don't know what is going on, you can't get their attention long enough to help. Employees smiles are now GONE!!! POOR MANAGEMENT is what they are dealing with. This could never be my kid working like that! It is SO ovious they got rid of their stuff ( which is very ODD) They had friendly, warm and polite staff members who was replaced by ones who are, clueless, rude and standing around not working BUT who is allowing people to rip them off and their PAYING CUSTOMERS!!! I don't understand that lodgic at all! This ALL happened in one weeks time imangine two or three. I don't work to waste my money so I will never go here again. Good luck all who do!!! Happy Mother's Day

PS will add my pics when I...