Kids Empire Linden — Attraction in Linden

My family and I have visited Kids Empire Linden many times, and we usually enjoy ourselves. Especially when we come earlier in the day when it’s less overwhelming for our autistic son. Unfortunately, our recent visit on Saturday, September 20th, 2025, at around 6:30 PM was extremely disappointing. I ended up leaving with my son within 30 minutes because of how poorly the situation was handled, after we had already spent nearly $80 to be there. It felt like our hard-earned money was completely wasted.

When we arrived, the entry area was so overcrowded that there was nowhere to sit down right away. My husband was holding our son, and we needed a seat to help him with his socks (something that takes patience because of his sensory sensitivities). A woman in a purple shirt, who I assume was a manager or supervisor, immediately told us “you need to put his socks on.” I explained we were going to, but we just needed to sit first. She then said, “Well, you need to sit right there and put them on,” while standing and watching us.

Instead of showing empathy or patience, she singled us out in a way that drew attention from others in the waiting area. Her tone and constant staring instantly made us feel embarrassed like we were being made into a mockery in front of other customers who began watching us too. My son wasn’t even walking around; we were holding him to sit calmly so he could get his socks on. The way it was handled lacked compassion and only added stress.

Later, when my son suddenly eloped and dragged my husband to the concession stand gesturing to the chips he wanted. Since he is nonverbal, my husband rushed over with him. In the process, he forgot to remove his shoes. Instead of politely reminding him of the policy, a male supervisor made a snarky comment: “I can’t reach to get the bag until you take your shoes off.” That was already disrespectful, but then he went further and claimed that “customers were complaining.”

This was completely untrue. We had been sitting quietly at a table the entire time while our other children played, and no one had said a word to us. Suddenly, the moment my husband went to get chips for our son, this “customer complaint” supposedly appeared out of thin air. It felt like an excuse made up to cover the supervisor’s rude remark, and it was both insulting and unnecessary. A simple, respectful reminder—“Sir, I just need to remind you shoes aren’t allowed”—would have been enough, and my husband would have complied without issue.

To make matters worse, that same male supervisor later came and just hovered over me as I spoke to another (very kind) employee about the situation. He didn’t say a single word—no apology, no effort to smooth things over—just stood there listening in a way that felt intimidating. That is not effective supervisory behavior. A true supervisor should step in to de-escalate a situation, acknowledge the customer’s concerns, and try to make things right—not stand silently in a way that only adds to the discomfort.

What should have been a fun outing turned into an upsetting experience. As parents, we shouldn’t have to explain or disclose our son’s diagnosis to receive basic respect. The lack of empathy, patience, and professionalism from both supervisors was very...

Just coming out of this place after throwing party and I am kind of disappointed. If you are planning to host your party than I would suggest going to Kids empire at Watchung if you want value and respect for your money. I will list down all of the problems we had to face today

They will ask you to pay upfront and if any of your additional guest on top of 10 doesn’t show up than they won’t refund. They will ask you to send email to HR , when I asked for a written confirmation from the manager about how many kids checked in and give me in writing than they handed me a picture which I added to my review below. Basically, no matter what they say don’t pay upfront and pay at the end of your party if you have more than 10 guest. I paid for 3 hours from 10:30 to 1:30 but the helpers started cleaning up our table at 1:00 , you don’t get your space for 3 hours. They initially offered us 3 option for drinks coke , apple juice and water . When I asked for water and juice, they came back saying they don’t have water. Now I have to run to Walmart and grab water with Guest checking in and host is missing lol We were told that they will decorate the tables with balloons but when we went in the morning there were no balloons so we had to purchase the balloons at last minute.look at the picture The helpers were nice but overall staff wasn’t welcoming, it could be a training issue with the franchise overall. If you don’t want to waste your money dont book birthday party instead buy individual tickets and buy good return gifts with the money you saved. They will give you card to play the bikes but do check how many credits is added to the card before you take the card. You would swipe the card on the bike but it wouldn’t start and than you swipe again than you realize that bike is not functioning and now you have to go back to counter and explain the staff that this has happened. The manager Tommy at this place was missing all the time and did not show up asking if everything is ok, now you can imagine Hope the management take this reviews seriously and improve on their service.

The good part of the birthday party was that the kids had fun which I am not denying but there is lot of room for improvement for the franchise with respect to customer...

Had my child’s birthday party here yesterday and it was the worst experience of our lives. From the moment you walk in, you could immediately see how unorganized this place is. Literally a free-for-all. Just a huge crowd of people standing around trying to get through the gate and no instructions nor updates from staff. They act like you’re bothering them when trying to ask questions.

One of the worst parts that I personally witnessed was one of the staff members (white male with tattoos on both arms) stepped outside and smoked an entire blunt of marijuana. He came back in and reeked of it, and nobody said anything about it. It’s like this was normal behavior and it was perfectly fine. Somebody who can’t control their drug habit during work hours is supposed to be trusted supervising large groups of children? Absolutely ridiculous! I kept my eye on him for the most part as did multiple other parents who noticed he was under the influence. He kept rocking back and forth very strangely and displayed very awkward behavior, as someone under the influence would.

I don’t even want to get started on how rude the majority of the staff was. Just imagine whatever you would expect terrible customer service to be, but worse.

This place was extremely overcrowded and there was no control whatsoever. Older teenagers being in the way of the younger children and acting reckless. I witnessed toddlers being pushed around from the bigger kids playing around too rough, and not a single staff member said anything or did anything about it. It was up to random parents telling these kids to be careful with the smaller children.

I’ve heard tons of complaints from other guests and we can all agree on one thing based on yesterday. We are all never coming back again.

I know for a fact that I am missing numerous other complaints not just from myself but others in attendance. Let’s just leave it as “if you don’t have to come...