Kids Empire Dayton — Attraction in Miami Township

Our visit to Kids Empire at the Dayton Mall was an incredibly disappointing and frustrating experience, marked by poor supervision, exclusionary behavior, and subpar facility maintenance. As a family with young children, including a child with autism, we expected a safe and inclusive environment, but what we encountered was far from that.

The atmosphere in the play area was unwelcoming and poorly managed. My son, who is autistic, faced repeated exclusion from other children. In the dance area, a girl from a private party gave my sister nasty looks for my son simply being present, mistakenly assuming the space was reserved. Later, a boy pushed my three-year-old down while he was trying to dance, and I was unable to locate the child’s parent to address the incident. In the block-building area, other kids refused to let my son join in, despite his eagerness to play with the Legos. Similarly, in the soccer area, children ganged up on him for holding the ball, physically trying to take it from him, which was completely unacceptable. No staff stepped in to mediate or promote inclusivity, leaving us to handle these distressing situations on our own.

Staff negligence extended beyond the lack of supervision. A worker promised my son a balloon but failed to secure it properly, and it floated away as she handed it to me. Instead of offering an apology or replacement, she simply walked away, showing a complete lack of care or accountability. The facility itself was poorly maintained. The bathrooms were disgustingly dirty for most of our visit until someone finally cleaned them, and the slides were so poorly maintained that they were difficult to use, undermining the fun of the play area.

The entry and exit process for the play area was chaotic, with staff struggling to manage the locked gates efficiently, causing unnecessary delays and frustration. The jungle gym is massive, but there’s no visibility or monitoring to ensure safety or address conflicts. There needs to be a dedicated worker actively monitoring the play area at all times to intervene in conflicts, ensure inclusivity, and maintain safety. Installing cameras throughout the play area would also be a basic step to improve oversight, but no such measures were evident.

The convenience of being able to come and go all day makes Kids Empire a practical choice for our family, and we’ll likely return for that reason. However, it’s incredibly frustrating that I have to constantly monitor my child myself due to the lack of staff supervision and oversight. This shouldn’t be the case in a facility designed for children. Management must address these serious issues—better staff training, improved maintenance, active monitoring, and basic oversight like cameras are desperately needed. I strongly urge other families, especially those with young or neurodivergent children, to be prepared to closely supervise their kids and consider these problems...

Wonderful first experience..extremely clean, employee was on the floor the entire time maintaining safety rules and also cleaning...he was very friendly and nice. They have locked entry doors to maintain safety so no kid can run out, also in tbe back of the building where an exit door probably is they have an alarm that goes off if anyone enters that area. So much for kids to do, reminded me of discovery zone at the mall when i was a kid. It was extremely clean, I liked that they enforced everyone to take off shoes before we entered the locked gate and gave us a plastic bin to keep our shoes and belongings in that we took to the seating area- some of these playplaces the adults don't take their shoes off so that is adding the germs spreading. It was really nice to be able to relax and not have to chase my child throughout the area to keep tabs on him- we visited the other new playplace Nova in kettering recently and while my child loved it, it is so big in there you can't really relax as a parent, Kids Empire has the best of both worlds- large enough structure to keep kids happy but parents don't have to walk around everywhere to keep track of them. 10/10 we will...

Five Stars!

We had an absolutely amazing time at Kids Empire at the Dayton Mall! From the moment we walked in, the entire experience was fun, clean, and welcoming. The play structures are huge, colorful, and safe — my kids didn’t want to leave! Everything was spotless, and you can really tell the staff takes pride in keeping the environment kid-friendly and family-focused.

I have to give a special shoutout to Kimberly for her outstanding customer service! She was so warm and attentive, making sure everything ran smoothly and that every family felt cared for. You can tell she genuinely loves what she does, and it made such a difference in our visit. Kimberly went above and beyond to make sure we had a great experience, and because of her, we’re already planning our next trip back!

If you’re looking for a fun, safe, and memorable place for your kids to burn off energy and have the time of their lives, look no further than Kids Empire at the Dayton Mall....