Kids Empire Watchung — Attraction in Watchung

*Message intended for management **Message to parents like myself that thought this would be a nice break from hosting at home- DO NOT DO IT!!!

Dear Kids Empire Team, I am writing to express my profound dissatisfaction with my son’s birthday party held on 11/16/24 at your Watchung facility. What should have been a joyous occasion turned into a horribly stressful, distasteful, unorganized, and unsettling experience for me, my family, and my guests.

Check-In Chaos and Early Frustrations

I arrived at 1:45 PM for our 2:00 PM party with all waivers pre-signed, hoping to streamline the check-in process. However, the situation was chaotic from the start. Despite the front desk not being particularly busy, your staff seemed overwhelmed. To make matters worse, I overheard secretive and unsettling comments such as “Good luck breaking that news,” which heightened my anxiety.

When I pressed for clarification, I was informed by the manager, Lee, that an earlier party had been mistakenly charged to my credit card instead of the correct account for my reservation. While Lee worked on addressing this issue, I was directed to set up at my assigned tables, only to discover that another family had already been seated there with their decorations in place. This led to an awkward and frustrating negotiation, resolved only because the other family graciously agreed to give up two of the tables they were using.

Overcrowding and Guest Delays

By 2:00 PM, I began receiving messages from my guests about an excessively long line outside the facility, which stretched down the strip mall. This caused significant delays, with most of my party arriving after 2:30 PM. Inside, the building was uncomfortably overcrowded, creating chaos that was far from the celebratory atmosphere I had expected. A firefighter in our group even remarked that the occupancy appeared to exceed safety limits.

Service and Organizational Failures

Throughout the party, the disorganization and lack of preparation were glaring:

The attendant assigned to our party was clearly overwhelmed and seemed unsure about the party timeline. I had to repeatedly ask about beverages and food service, which should have been pre-planned and executed seamlessly. The pizza, promised for 3:00 PM, did not arrive until after 3:30 PM, and even then, the order was wrong. I ordered seven pizzas (three plain included with the package, two additional plain, and two pepperoni). Initially, only three plain pizzas arrived, followed by a late correction of four more plain pizzas and, finally, one pepperoni pizza. By the time the food was served, it was cold. There was no trash can near our tables, leaving us to deal with a mess throughout the event. Only one play card was provided for 11 children, causing frustration and logistical challenges for both the kids and their parents. There was no system or assistance for transporting gifts, forcing me to request a trash bag for carrying them to my car. A Distasteful and Unsettling Experience

The event’s poor organization and lack of staffing left both your team and patrons visibly stressed. It was unsettling to see your staff running around, overwhelmed, and struggling to meet basic expectations. As the host, I felt the weight of this mismanagement deeply, as I had chosen your facility to reduce the effort of hosting a party at home. Instead, I was left scrambling to address issues that should have been handled by your team.

Positive Notes and Commendations

Despite the chaos, I want to commend Lou for his patience and professionalism in resolving the credit card issue and assisting where possible. Additionally, the attendant assigned to our party was kind and helpful during the cake service. The facility and restrooms were clean.

I hope this feedback will help you improve the experience for future patrons. Please let me know how you intend to address...

Update 10/4/2023 Went back for a play date (not my choice, but another mom friend of mine) and my initial review is still accurate. Very unorganized. I went on a rainy Sunday afternoon 9/24. There were about 2 birthday parties taking place on top or regular admission people like my group which were there for open play. A huge crowd was stuck at the entrance area inside, and the staff looked completely overwhelmed/unprepared. You could tell the parents waiting to enter with their kids were getting annoyed at the waiting. The staff did not seem to know how to get everyone checked in and move them along within a timely fashion. My own complaint, waiting in line to just buy a bottle of water for my daughter took about 20 minutes. The people waiting to get in we're still there even after my 20 minute wait! There is only 1 register and 1 employee doing the beverages and snack orders. He tried his best, but also looked overwhemed. I don't know what the problem with this place is. If they need more staff/registers, better training for employees, better managers, but something is off. Also the woman who appeared to be the manager, an African American woman, was very harsh in how she was talking to her staff and even the children that were playing. The bathrooms were still unkept and not clean at all. Someone should have been keeping up with cleaning them, especially if so many people are there and it's super busy. Next time if a friend suggests, I'll have to suggest a different place! This place gives me a headache and I scratch my head trying to understand how they are still in business with such BAD business practices.

Very dirty, useless establishment. They don’t clean the bathrooms well at all. No toilet paper, and clogged toilets. The food tastes horrible. The staff up front are classless, rude and don’t have good customer service skills. I saw an African American woman who wears a black shirt behind the counter YELLING at kids multiple times. Literally running over to them and YELLING. Myself and other mothers looked on in horror. Save your money and time and go to a better place with better well spoken staff who don’t roll their eyes at you, and huff and puff. If they don’t want to work without attitude, they should go to a job that does not require interaction with the public or children. Biggest waste of my money. They make you pay for kids that are not even playing. My 2 year old son slept in my arms the whole time, and I STILL had to pay. Didn’t give me the option that if he wakes up, I can then pay. Other business give you the option. Terrible place. I will never recommend anyone to come here and I will make sure I tell everyone I know to STAY AWAY. Terrible policies and horribly rude staff. Do better. Zero stars if I could....

The most awful customer service I have ever experienced! I arrived around 10:30 am on Sunday, the check in area was packed with families for 2 B-day parties (we were just to play not part of the parties). I waited in a long line only to find out that I have to fill out the waiver again, even though I have been there several times before. I asked if after the waiver I can come back without waiting in line again but Destiny told me: "No, you will go in a back of the line". The unwelcoming entry put a dumper on a visit, but that was not the end. Around 12:00 pm another rude employee came to the table and through a folded table cloth and bunch of cups on our table and told us to "move - this table is reserved for a B-day party". First of all I'm sure that she could have been more polite but I guess the goal was to intentionally be rude and upset customers. We did move but we did not leave until 3:00 pm and the table cloth was never set up, and no B-day party took place on that table. This I guess was another passive aggressive move from the employees that seem to be under the mistaken idea that their job is to upset the customers. Then came the tokens aggravation. The ride on cars used to operate on tokens. I guess they changed it to a swipe cards. When I asked if I can give them back the tokens and get the credit on the card I was told that I have to email corporate office and they will send me credit for it. This again makes little to no sense, as I will now have to write a request that somebody has to read, than somebody else have to approve the refund, somebody has to write a check and pay for the stamp. If I have to roughly estimate they will probably waist at least $13 to pay all employees to process the refund of $5. I guess the thought behind it is that you will not want to have to deal with the hustle and just let is go, but then you are left with the feeling of dishonesty and probably will not want to come back. Next came the token price and credit given. The electric car ride is 5 credit but $5 buys you 24 credit- one credit short to do 5 rides- another aggravation and feeling upset. Again not over a dollar but feeling like somebody is selling you something that you cannot fully use. Finally when we were leaving I waited probably for 5 minutes while asking the girls at the front desk to buzz the door so I can leave and they did whatever they could to pretend that they don't hear me and another 2 families that were waiting with me calling and asking to buzz the door. Overall, if you tried to gave worst customer service you probably couldn't and it is a shame because the place is so much fun...