Children’s Play Port — Attraction in Norfolk

Pros: -every square inch of the play area is padded. -the area is gated so you can give your little one room to play without fear of them running out of sight.

Cons: -the foam padding that covers every square inch is old and breaking down from years of skin oils. Every square inch is sticky and dirty. Not the kind of sticky you can wash off; the material is seeping some kind of chemical. -the sticky layer means slides dont work the way they should, kids studder and stall down slides especially when their skin touches the surface and sticks. -most parents are 100% glued to their phones and ignoring their kids. it's a safeish area for that but some non-verbal 8 year old kept trying to pickup and toss aside my 16 month toddler and her parents didnt care that she was bulldozing kids. the majority of the screeching older kids running around the place at full speed at least looked out for and avoided younger kids. -the custodian assigned to the area selectively enforced everything. No food or drink is allowed so my wife was told she couldnt have a plastic water bottle she just bought in the food court but there was a couple with a McDonalds bag sitting closest to the entrance and a man drinking soda from a can not much further down. -the AC unit over one of the play structures had a steady drip that made a moldy wet spot on the floor. -my 16 month toddler developed pink eye shorlty after being there. she was showing signs as early as the next afternoon.

all in all it was pretty on par for a...

Security is tight. They told me my 8yo couldn’t play with his 16mo brother once inside. There was literally no other children in the play area. The officer asked me to tell my 8yo to “sit down” after he crawled on the floor to play with my other son. Ridiculous. I understand bigger kids taking over a play area, but given that no other children were there and he was only trying to entertain his younger brother, I felt that was a bit extreme. Won’t be coming back. Plus, all their play equipment is...

This is a really nice area. There is a very nice Family bathroom in the food court between Sbarro and the Philly steaks. In regards to the "sticky" comment- it's the tow of rubber that was used to make the toys so the kids don't slide off easily when playing. They close the play area down every couple of hours to clean. This is the place to take the little ones. Even better because they limit the size of kids...