Wild Katz - Children's Adventure Playground — Attraction in Tucson

Edit: The manager called me after I had posted this review to ask specific questions about my experience and the areas in question. It was greatly appreciated, and she assured me that they take concerns seriously and have worked on repairs. They do regular checks and walk-throughs, and she let me know that they do repair overhauls on occasion. Thank you for taking safety concerns seriously and caring for the wellbeing of little ones! (Changed from 2 stars to 4, keeping original up for posterity.)

My 2.5 year old and I have been coming to Wild Katz for about a year and a half. My son always has such a great time, and it's a one of a kind place in Tucson for toddlers. However, over the past few months, there has been a noticeable decline in the quality and safety of the climbing structures and equipment. It always used to be very well maintained, but now I notice significant amounts of needed repairs that have not been addressed or that have been hastily addressed. Today, I sat in one spot on the uppermost level and counted 12 rips, tears, and damages that had not been fixed or not fixed well enough within eyesight. I counted nearly 30 while rambling through following my son. Some of these damages appear quite dangerous and hazardous: side netting with large un-mended holes, tears in the floor netting that seem like they're about to buckle, safety padding that is falling off and exposing hard metal braces, rips on the straps that hold obstacles up, holes and gaps in the flooring that you could trip on and are big enough for my own adult sized foot/leg to fit through, etc. Additionally, the toddler play area has maybe 1/4 of the number of toys available for babies and toddlers to play with. The pizza kitchen area has zero toys. Where'd they all go?!

These maintenance issues are a big deal to me. They remove a lot of my confidence in the safety of the climbing structures. They are not merely cosmetic damages. If a small child fell out of the netting on the top level, they would be seriously injured or killed. The holes in the netting are so dangerous. A child could get stuck and choke to death if their neck was caught in a hole and their feet couldn't reach the ground. They could plummet to a lower level quite easily. I saw one such hole that my toddler could become ensnared in, and I no longer allow him to roam without being in arms reach. I don't trust the structures as much as when we first started coming. I felt safe, and that is no longer the case.

The liability waiver that is signed to participate becomes invalid if the owners are not maintaining equipment up to safe levels. A judge would toss out that waiver like trash if the conditions of a major injury were due to a negligent lack of structural maintenance and unsafe equipment. The lack of toys is very disappointing, as well.

My question to the (newish) owners: When will you be repairing the damages, wear and tear, and hazards in your climbing structures? How can I be confident that my child can play there without a serious injury due to the many weak points and dangers of your ill repaired and deteriorating structures?

Next time I go, I will update this review with photos detailing the damage. Other parents deserve to know that this may not be a safe place for their little ones. And, we certainly will not be coming as frequently if these serious issues are not addressed.

When we first started coming, I hardly noticed a single thing that seemed to need a repair. Now, there are several hazardous damages that have gone without repair or have been bandaged together haphazardly. It's becoming concerning and...

What a joke. I’m from out of town and haven’t been to Tucson in two years. I decided to do something fun with my niece and nephews to burn off some energy, so I chose this place based on positive reviews and the fact that it looked like an XL version of Jungle Jam.

Right away, the parking was a mess (no surprise in a city). The front entrance was poorly maintained, with an overflowing trash can. The line was long, which was fine since I had already completed my waiver before arriving. However, people were cutting in line, and instead of properly staffing the front desk, there was only one person who lacked the communication skills to explain that people weren’t cutting in front of others, but were just being handled as membership priority. That’s unprofessional.

If you're going to offer memberships, you either need to implement a digital check-in or properly staff your front desk so that members feel prioritized, while still making sure non-members are treated with the same respect. It’s ridiculous to stand in line for 10 minutes, only to have to wait another 3-5 minutes because a member gets to skip ahead. The front desk staff acted like I should just know about the priority system, which was frustrating. When the second staff member finally appeared, I asked why certain people were allowed to skip the line and cut in front of those who had been waiting. Her response was, “I don’t know what happened, I just got up here.” Really? If managing members first is standard policy, shouldn’t they be trained to handle these situations with professionalism instead of gaslighting the customer? That girl clearly can’t be a leader, and I wouldn’t promote her.

Then her coworker, who had been there the whole time, decided to chime in with, “She’s a member, stepped out, signed the waiver, and then came up here, so I’m handling her.” All I asked was why certain people were allowed to cut in line. Your staff is the sole reason why I won’t come back.

The front desk staff needs serious training in professionalism and customer service—actual customer service, not the “tolerate” kind they seem to have been taught. If they’re that disgruntled with their jobs, maybe you should find someone willing to do the job and at least show some basic decency toward others.

To top it off, the employees were trying to talk about promotions while on the floor, which is completely unprofessional. And the lack of a kitchen at a "venue" like this is ridiculous. For a place that’s supposed to be a family-friendly destination, not having food options available based on anticipated guests is a huge oversight. All of these issues combined made for a completely...

I was happy to discover an indoor play space for children to enjoy during our Tucson summers. Accompanied our grandchild ( 2 yr old) and 2 nieces (3 &5) at 9:00 on a recent Tuesday morning. After a 15 minute check in process involving purchases of wildcat socks for each of us, we were in the play area. Located our age appropriate play space and did a pre check before letting children use equipment. What a disappointment to find an unknown liquid puddled at bottom of slide designated for youngest children!?! As I climbed up through the slide to upper platform I met a long legged spider trying to wiggle its way free of roping on inside railing. Eek.

At the front of the slide on the main floor was a plastic play kitchen missing various parts and knobs leaving sharp protrusions that could cause injury to young children. Ouch. Additionally, 2 wood, “vehicle” dash boards, with loose and wobbly attached metal steering wheels, caused an unrelated, small group of toddlers to pull steering wheels forward enough off wood structures to injure their heads. Some walked away crying to find their caregivers. Not enough pretend groceries in dramatic play area to give more than one child at a time a chance to “cook” or “shop”. I do wish we’d had a chance to try the food but we spent our time running and crawling after our charges hoping not to discover more unsafe equipment in need of attention.

The equipment we used looked dusted and sprayed w/disinfectant as indicated by front desk service person. However, play surfaces did not look like they were actually cleaned/wiped down on any type of schedule. We used our own hand sanitizer when we were leaving as we could not find any available to use. We did not feel crowded during our early morning playtime at Wildcats. So that’s a plus. But the very tiny space for 2 and under is uninspiring, dark and tiny…it should be available for “one and under” with larger soft areas for climbing and crawling. Sadly, we cannot recommend this business to other parents/caregivers at this time. Once the children’s play equipment is in good repair, clean and safe for all children to use we will give it another try. This place is a good idea to support children’s growth. It just needs TLC, and a commitment to give...