Cowabunga's Indoor Kids Play & Party Center - North Reading — Attraction in North Reading

This was my first visit and I will never come back. I came with my children, a friend, and her child. All under 4 years old. Concept is great, has potential for excellence. Can definitelybe a fun environment. However, there was only 1 person working all by herself. She did an excellent job considering she was doing everything alone and people were lined up at the door at 10am just to get in and it only got more full. Huge disappointment in regards to the kitchen. No food could be served at all, and we left at 1pm. Only drinks and bagged snacks. Even though we purchased the pass with kids meal. Unfortunately I was a parent looking for my small child who took off in me. There was no system in place for this scenario. I had other small children as well. The single employee and 2 adult bystanders including my friend helped look for my child. In that moment I saw all the flaws of this establishment. I freely walked in the back of the kitchen, bathroom, hallways, storage areas, and sadly the front door. With only 1 employee how can she be expected to man the entrance, check in, run the kitchen or cook, cash out parents making purchases, and help if an emergency should happen. This was not ok, or safe. There needs to be a system for check out as well to ensure no one leaves that shouldn't. It was much too easy to walk in and out for any age. There is the push button upon exit which is clever but it's much too low. Same way there is check in there should be a check out. Some barriers or swinging doors at the minimum. Scary how chaotic it could be and any one child can make it to the front door and easily exit or worse. Too many electrical exposures as well. Overall place isn't bad but need some thought put in. As well as care. And more support for the staff. Considering the size and what the place offers there should be 3 people working at a MINIMUM. 1 on the floors, 1 check in check out, 1 at the kitchen. At the very least. Employee did her very very best. Just because an employee CAN work alone doesn't mean they should. It was not 100% safe and again the kitchen having no staff was horrible. Everyone was hungry. Inflatables need to be cleaned in the cracks as well. Lots of candy wrappers and dirt early in...

We went today and didn’t know it had been remodeled so it was a nice surprise walking in. We immediately noticed the counter with hot food being served such as pizza, hot dogs and other snacks. The set up was rather disappointing. Before there were many more inflatables in close proximity covering most of the floor ground and seating where parents could view there children. Now there are about 4 inflatables next to one another taking less than half of the floor and the other half with seating (further from the inflatables) and arcade games for an additional fee. The Lego station was a mess. I didn’t see any staff cleaning up, advising kids to clean up or checking in the inflatables. Several families were seated in the enormous seating area which could be used for more inflatables. There were ride on little cars which were cute but you needed to pay 50 cents for each turn which should have been free. There should be a line for the kids to enter to ride the cars, it was basically first come first serve but kids are running in and out of all four sides of the squared section. These are preschool/kindergarten kids, learning about waiting in line and this should be enforced. There are also many more arcade games than there were previously for $1 each. It’s not fair to have all of these extra things that cost money and less of what you actually paid to used. Since they added more arcade games it would be nice for them to give at least 5 free games to use along with entrance fee. Or at least have games that dispense tickets so the kids can get a prize such as the stuffed animals or toys sourrounding the place and at the exit that are for additional fees. Or they could take away some of the arcade games and seating and put a few huge bouncy slides or hula hoops, ride on toys, basketball hoops or other fun things for the kids to use. I get that updating was needed but cater to the kids! I feel as though this place is catered to parents wallets instead of kids fun. We will not be...

How was the Planning Process?

Good! I really appreciated the online booking process and the staff calling me the week of the party to make final decisions. I would have appreciated an emailed or online accessible reference page with all the food/add-on options and prices listed out. I spent too long on the phone with a staff member simply asking those questions that would have been easier if I already had them. It would also have made the decision process much easier to have them in advance so I could discuss with my partner and make financial choices best for our family without the time pressure of "make the choice during the week of the party". Also, the phone quality with the staff during the week-of confirmation call was very poor - it's loud in the facility and the sound quality for those kinds of phone calls should be managed somehow.

Tell us about your party!

The movement through 3 party rooms system was a great idea! It was wonderful to have my party guests contained to one room with staff available to assist, and then move to another room with different play structures to keep things interesting. I really liked the idea of having staff follow you through the rooms, keep track of time, manage the welcoming of guests and their belongings, and help coordinate transitions. I had a better experience with some staff than others. The girls setting up our food room were unfortunately not on time and I had to step in a set up many things, request missing items, and delegate specific tasks that were not accomplished before our arrival. The staff offered to help frequently and their willingness was appreciated, I had just been expecting more initiative and efficiency.

What did you like best about your party with us?

The structure and flow process of moving the party group through three private rooms - my guests and my son had a wonderful time and really enjoyed the experience! We will...