Imagination City — Attraction in San Mateo

ABSOLUTELY DISAPPOINTING Birthday Party Experience - Save Yourself the Headache!

If you're considering hosting a birthday party here, DON'T. I'm giving this place 2 stars solely because the kids had fun, but the service was abysmal, and the mandatory 18% service fee on a $950 package felt like highway robbery!!

The staff? Practically nonexistent. The two people "working" the event spent most of their time glued to their phones, offering zero help and not once proactively checking if we needed assistance. For the amount we paid, their attitude and effort were downright INSULTING!!

What They Managed to Do (Bare Minimum): Set up the tables with the items I dropped off ahead of time (kids' plates, tablecloths, goodie bags, snacks, etc.). Herded kids from the play area to the tables and eventually out the door. Cut the cake and plated it. Helped pack up at the end and loaded items into our cars.

What They DID NOT Do (Despite Charging an 18% Service Fee): Juices and water bottles: I dropped them off ahead of time, but when I arrived, they were still sitting in their packaging. I had to unpack and arrange everything myself--my guests had to step in to help. Arrival setup: I arrived with a wagon full of items: cake, 6 pizzas, napkins, etc. Again, I was left to set it all up myself while the staff barely looked up. My guests helped me again. Cake prep: They didn't even bother to put candles on the cake. They handed me a broken lighter and left me to deal with it. Luckily, I brought my own. Party flow: Be prepared to shout at your own guests and corral the kids yourself. They didn't help organize anything! Did not give a little prompt or a few words to help organize the kids to sing the happy birthday song, or take a group photo, tasks that many other venues (even less expensive ones) do as part of their package. Food service: I handed out all the pizza and cake myself while the staff were glued to their phone. My guests helped me again.

Bottom Line: If you hate your job, at least don't make it so painfully obvious to paying customers. This was supposed to be a joyous occasion, and instead, it was a stressful mess. I've already warned my guests not to book events here, and I'll continue spreading the word. Do yourself a favor and take your celebration somewhere that values...

This was one of the most frustrating and upsetting experiences we’ve ever had as a family. We arrived at this so-called kid-friendly establishment just three minutes before our scheduled time. The door was locked, so naturally, our 2-year-old daughter, being curious and excited, started knocking. That’s when everything spiraled out of control.

The woman working there, instead of showing even a shred of patience or understanding, completely lost her composure. She opened the door visibly annoyed, rude, and disrespectful, as if we had just ruined her entire day. She didn’t try to explain anything calmly—instead, she immediately demanded that we apologize for arriving early. Apparently, those three minutes were enough to throw her off, and she justified her reaction by saying she ‘needed a break.’

Here’s where it gets even more absurd: she told us she had the ‘right’ to deny us entry altogether. Meanwhile, our 2-year-old daughter was crying, confused by the situation, and the woman’s response was cold and dismissive. Instead of offering any comfort or making an effort to smooth things over, she flat-out told us to leave and find another place.

To top it all off, she forced my girlfriend to apologize for arriving early and for our daughter knocking on the door. Imagine that—bullying a family with a crying toddler because she was inconvenienced by a harmless knock on the door. It was one of the most humiliating and infuriating experiences we’ve had.

Now, I’ll give credit where it’s due: once we got inside, the place itself was clean and well-maintained. It seemed like a decent spot for kids to play, but that hardly mattered at this point. The entire experience was tainted by this woman’s awful attitude and complete lack of professionalism.

What’s supposed to be a fun, safe environment for families turned into a nightmare, all because of a power-tripping employee who clearly doesn’t belong in a role that involves working with kids or their parents. This kind of behavior is unacceptable, and I wouldn’t recommend this place to anyone until they seriously reevaluate their...

FUN 10/10 We love everything about Imagination City. It's quite literally a magical little city inside of Tanforan Mall. My kids get to pretend to be firefighters, go grocery shopping, pop into the diner, take their pets to the vet.. the list goes on! My kids are currently 5 and 3 and they keep asking to go back!

BIRTHDAY PARTY 10/10 We recently hosted our daughter's 3rd birthday party at Imagination City. The entire process was super easy and smooth. I dropped off our party decor 2 days prior and when we arrived on the day of our party everything was set up for us perfectly! The kids loved playing in the play area while adults were mingling and chatting in the party area. The layout is really great because we could keep an eye on the all kids without having to go inside the play area. All of our guests went out of their way to tell us they had a blast at the party.

CLEANLINESS 10/10 I'm constantly impressed by how clean everything is! They do a REALLY great job of disinfecting everything, wiping things down, and vacuuming the floors. I consider myself a clean freak and many play places can be pretty gross.. but Imagination City is unbelievably clean!

STAFF 10/10 Imagination City is owned by local parents, Janine and John. They are both so nice and it really shows that they've poured their heart and soul into creating this wonderful space for kids.

I'd highly recommend Imagination City for both drop-in play and...