Happy Feet Planet Clayton — Local services in Clayton

Had my son’s 3rd birthday party here, it wasn’t booked up this weekend so we were able to get the room right when we got there. From the start of getting there, don’t feel as if the workers are that professional when it comes to things. When it came to unloading my car, I was told someone would be helping me, I was not helped by amy employee. When it came to getting into the room the party host that was assigned to us help do the table cloth and setting up the plates and banner. She informed me of the time and how they normally do things, it was very pricey for the amount of time you get to play. I thought I would be relaxed and just enjoy not having to do much but it was rushed and just irritating. When the kids were playing the other ladies at the front desk, were gesturing and talking about my breast. Honestly Inappropriate, and made me feel very uncomfortable. The party host gave attitude to people in my party and was rude to some of the older kids, everyone and the party host kept clashing. She wasn’t professional when it came to addressing things, she got attitude when It came to the adults grabbing their own food. I had told her they could grab their own food just to handle the kids. That didn’t happen, she wanted to pass out everything to everyone. Honestly I feel like she was overtop of everybody and not really letting us eat in peace or anything. She walked out when it came time to pass the kids food because my sister went to grab herself some food, she was rolling her eyes and just all together not the best when it came to how she was carrying herself. I didn’t even get to eat and enjoy my sons party without having the party host and someone just clashing, so had to help keep them from starting something. Everyone just wanted to enjoy his party but she was just in the way and wouldn’t give us a chance to do anything. Some of my party guest waited till she walked out every now and then to do who knows what just to get drink or more food, so that the party host didn’t get attitude which is in my opinion crazy that they even had to do that. One hour in party room felt like 5 mins, one hour playing for the kids didn’t feel like it was worth the money. When it came to the gifts, I started helping my son open his gifts and another lady that worked there came in trying to get payment. I was told I could pay after so I continued helping him open gifts, she just stood there then got attitude and had the party host walk to my husband to get him to pay; he told her that I had the money to pay and so he couldn’t, mind you all while we are still doing presents. Which I think is just irritating that y’all said after the party is over and we are leaving I could pay but y’all interrupted the party to try and have me pay. I didn’t give them my attention till after I was done helping my son open gifts which in my opinion is how it should have been, then on the receipt they wrote tip information and because I’m not childish I tipped and honestly don’t felt like she even deserved it. Not even 10 kids and still paid 460 which is absolutely ridiculous. When it came time to clean up which was right after gift everyone in my party cleaned up the party host help here there but overall my family did everything. From setting up to clean up. Not much help what so ever. We started walking things out to the car and she didn’t help either, just stood there giving faces to everyone and being very ugly. She didn’t smile no one time the entire party, the only time she didn’t seem stuck up and rude was the time the other worker told her what I tipped. Not worth my money and most definitely will not be coming back ever, please get professional staff and ones that don’t speak about someone’s breast and move there hands up to there breast to gesture my breast movements. Wish I could give this place 0 stars, because one is just to nice. Would never...

I want to preface this review by stating that we’ve visited this place 3-4 times & booked our son’s 2nd birthday party here b/c he loves it. It’s clean & well designed with lots of fun things for kids of all ages & the staff are always friendly & polite. However, the pricing is RIDICULOUS - especially the party packages!

General admission costing $20 for just ONE solitary hour of play plus an additional $3 for grip socks is crazy in itself, but the party packages are the real reason I’m here. Last weekend we celebrated my son’s 2nd birthday at the Clayton location. We booked the Neptune party package for $400 which comes with 1 hour of play followed by 1 hour in the party room, 3 pizzas (from papa John’s) juice boxes & water with a cap of 23 adults & 15 children. Each additional child was $25 & adult $5.00. I believe they provide plates & utensils as well but we brought our own. Decorations, favors, cake, cupcakes, etc are up to you. There’s a designated spot to hang things up on ONE wall which I didn’t know so we only got to hang one banner. You don’t have early access to the party room until about 10-15 minutes before so everyone has to hold their things or put them in/on the shoe cubbies during that time.

After booking I called to ask how 3 pizzas were going to feed 38 people & they said that the pizzas are only for the children. We ended up adding an extra one. I asked if adults weren’t expected to eat or play then what why is there a cap & the man I was speaking with stated for capacity reasons which makes no sense if you have the option to add additional adults for $5 each. We ended up not having any extra people & cleaned up behind ourselves & the bill ended up being just shy of $550 in the end. That is an egregious amount of money for a 2 hour party where barely anything is provided.

At the very minimum, playtime needs to be extended in all of the packages by AT LEAST 30 minutes. Play time is when the children actually get to interact with one another & 1 hour to play with 10-25+ invited friends isn't close to enough time. There is an $800 (before fees & taxes) package & the playtime is still just ONE HOUR. In no reality should a parent be paying $400-$900 for the same amount of playtime that $20 general admission gets you.

Secondly, there needs to be something provided that makes the party experience standout & feel special such as take home memorabilia for the guest, a special chair for the guest of honor, a photographer to take, edit, then email a family pic, SOMETHING! Or allow people to pay general admission & book just the party room for an hour & bring their own food. I could’ve bought 4 papa John’s pizzas myself.

I also want to add that we attended a birthday party here the month before & ended up being late for reasons beyond my control & missed playtime. I was told that if I wanted my child to play after leaving the party room I’d have to go back up front & pay general admission + socks which makes really no sense to me b/c his hour of play + socks were technically paid for as an invited attendee of the party. I get that we were late & missed the designated time, but charging the parents for that spot which included an hr of play + socks, & still making me pay general admission + socks in order for my kid to play for an hour was bad business etiquette & borderline exploitative in my opinion.

The facility itself & the staff are great. My son always enjoys himself, so hopefully changes are made to justify the amount of money people are charged, especially for parties, or I don’t see myself returning. This experience has left a bad taste...

My 4 year old and I have been to both locations and both have their positives.

Apex location is more open and parent friendly for those who accompany their young children up. That location also has the sled slide which is a fun feature. If you don't accompany your child, you can still see them from the ground most anywhere they choose to go.

Clayton location is much more layered, so the kids will have more fun with the maze that is going on. It does a great job utilizing the space to make sure every corner is packed with something fun. The problem is, if you do have to accompany your kid, you're going to have to bend over or crawl in most spots of that maze. That's not a big issue. My issue comes from the majority of slides saying no adults. That would be okay if there were a way for me to easily get back down to meet my child at the bottom of the slide, but there's not. It really is a maze packed with kids. When you finally find a way down, you can bet your kid will already be gone. I've tried watching from below, but there are a number of blind spots which will without a doubt cause you to lose your kid for a time. I've seen it suggested to go watch from the second floor which I may try next time. It's just not as adult convenient as Apex for the ones you have to...