Kids Empire Pensacola — Attraction in Pensacola

I would give Kid's Empire a 5-star rating, but all things have to be considered and in my opinion cost/affordability is one of the biggest items to consider for a childrens activity. My issues are primarily with affordability, so I'll start with what went well for anyone who isn't worried about that.

The staff were extremely friendly and kind. They explained everything well and made it clear how the areas all tied in together.

The place was well kept, very clean and organized. There was ample space for families to sit. The company also mentioned they provided storage lockers at no cost, which was relieving considering the price of entry.

While I did not go inside the equipment, parents are allowed to, as much as I could observe from the outside, the equipment was in great shape and appeared to be maintained well. Nothing looked to be shaking or loose/unsafe. Part of this might be that the cost of entry is so high the business see's less foot traffic and has less cost to maintain. Which leads me to the only downside.

The price is quite high, prohibitively so.

With tax, it is roughly $25 per visit/child for a one-day visit. If you want a 10-visit pass it is roughly $180 with tax (or $18 per visit/child, which allows you to visit a total of 10 times, so 2 children could visit 5 times total, or 3 children could visit 3 times total with one visit leftover for example). You are permitted to leave and re-enter during this time, but I cannot imagine very many parents are willing, or have the sanity, to spend 1-2 hours while their children play and then come back later in the day for another session or two.

So effectively you are paying $25 for an hour or two of fun per child.

We are new to the area and brought our 8 year and 10 year old children to check it out. It was a weekday late afternoon/early evening that we went. There were not many other kids there at that time, and outside of the time I have to consider cost being a much larger factor in that. By having the cost so high, this is extremely prohibitive of families who must be cost conscious and it certainly affects the number of children present which further affects the enjoyment of the children.

My 10 year old is a social butterfly while my 8 year old couldn't be bothered. As would make sense, my 10 year old had far less fun than my 8 year old and I have to imagine the number of children presently certainly affected that.

I'm not sure if we will be back any time soon even with how well kept and great everything else was, the high cost of admission just feels rather exorbitant.

In a day and age where everything is becoming unreasonably expensive, it's unfortunate that cutting costs in families also means limiting their children's involvement with enjoyable...

Lots of fun for the kids, definitely a 1000000x better than the old Disney play place that was here before. It’s honestly kind of hard to describe the place. Basically, if you took a few select elements from SkyZone, the Bounce House, the GB Funplex & Fast Eddie’s, and then mixed & combined all those elements into one thing - you’d get Kids Empire. Rather than specializing and trying to be good at only one or two things - instead Kids Empire has a little bit of everything. For the kids, that is. If the name itself didn’t tip you off, then yeah you should know that this place is mostly not designed for adult participation. They do however have a ton of tables & chairs for parents to sit at while waiting for their young’ns to burn off more of their seemingly limitless supply of energy. As a single parent who cherishes every few minutes of uninterrupted alone time i can get - this set up works great for me, as I can get some work done while keeping the kiddo entertained at the same time. The place is basically brand new, as of writing this it’s been open for less than 2 months. So it’s super clean and everything is still in pretty immaculate shape, as far as I know everything is working perfectly and there’s literally nothing “out of order” or “under repair”. Which, for a kid-oriented place like this, is pretty much unheard of. Only time will tell if the staff are able to keep this place as spic-n-span and in perfect working condition as it is right now. Speaking of the staff - they seem to be very professional, well-trained and genuinely care about their jobs and keeping this place looking great. No complaints or bad experiences thus far whatsoever. The only complaint about this place I have is their lack of food. While they do have a few snacks, sodas, candies & other pre-packaged snack items for sale - they don’t have an actual kitchen, and therefore are seriously lacking when it comes to food. In contrast, their local competitors all have at least a small kitchen in the back and serve a few hot food items (like pizza) at a minimum. That being said, having an actual kitchen and serving hot foods and other more substantial food choices likely opens up a small business regulatory rabbit hole that I’m sure a lot of owners don’t want to go down, so I can’t say I blame them for not wanting to serve anything besides a few snack items. Regardless, this place is a ton of fun for the kids, from toddlers to tweens....

We have been to Kids Empire twice now, and both times were excellent. Anyia was there both times we went and was immensely helpful! We didn’t do birthday packages but we did have multiple friends come both times we visited, and she made everyone feel welcomed. She was great answering questions and accommodating our needs. She also made my birthday girls feel so special for each visit! Should out to Laura too, who was also helpful!

Best parts: Being able to climb, slide, and play around with the kids is incredible. Exhausting, but incredible. It is a fantastic way to get exercise in an attentions environment for the whole family!!! The facility is so beautiful and clean. I hope people don’t become complacent and destroy it. We saw employees cleaning while we were there, but visitors also need to do their part to keep this place nice. PLEASE. Being able to leave and come back. They do have snacks and uncrustables for kids, but I love that you pay admission and can come and go as you please. We left to get lunch and then icecream and then came back for a few more hours of fun. I feel some places similar to this would charge by the hour, but being able to come and go really took the pressure off of getting our money’s worth. It also helped with being able to take breaks from all the fun.

Tips for visitors: Fill out the waiver online before you arrive so you don’t have to make the lobby congested and you can start the fun right away. Wear. Pants. The first time I came, I wore shorts and had burns all over my legs from the slides. This time, I wore lightweight capris and didn’t get hurt at all!! Plus, no getting stuck on the slide. They offer a punchcard that is slightly cheaper if you’re paying for several kids or you’re return visitors. I think it was $159 but you get 10 kid admissions. We didn’t want to do the birthday party package, so we just invited a bunch of kids and used the punchcard to get them all in. It worked out about $5 cheaper per child doing it this way instead of paying for ten separate tickets. All visitors regardless of age or playing vs. watching MUST have socks!!! Unless you want to pay $3 for Kids...