The Athletic Edge Adventure Park — Local services in Salem

My family and I visited the Adventure Park June 26th. We planned the visit for after the scheduled cleaning but they must’ve been behind because as soon as my kids hit the playground, they were booted out. I have to wonder what was being cleaned because I went through the big play structure area with my son and noticed piles of dust balls and filth everywhere. The air just had a really gross, stale smell. There are visible mouse traps near the arcade games. Speaking of arcade games, half of them were broken. The pin ball was stuck in the machine and I didn’t notice until swiping my game card twice. My kids and I attempted air hockey but the puck was missing the first two times we tried. I spoke with a manager and got refunded for 3/4 games. I didn’t bother to get a refund for the 4th because the manager acted annoyed with me. Maybe she was just annoyed with the situation but the vibes were not good. I ordered the kids some food, which they were out of half the kids menu. My son wouldn’t eat his chicken nugget meal. My daughter said the fries were gross. My other daughter had the teeniest quesadilla I’ve seen. If she wanted fries, I would have had to pay more. The portions were small and my kids didn’t want to eat any of it. I didn’t want it to go to waste, so I ate what they didn’t. Three out of four of us felt sick on the way home. The one that didn’t feel sick had refused his food. Also, don’t forget you’re charged 50 cents for each sauce with your small crappy meal too! For as much as they charge for food and drinks, the place should be clean. There are layers of dust on the light fixtures over the bar. Layers of dust on the top of the slides. The water container had buckets of water to catch its leaks. Dirty cups and trash everywhere. When I went to dump our food tray, the trash bin was so full that I couldn’t empty my tray. This place is really depressing for adults. The kids mostly had fun, so there’s that. I won’t ever bring them back though. Pretty sure the food made us sick. I’m guessing they don’t change their fryer oil very often by the looks...

I really enjoy this place. I especially like when the workers in the play structure are attentive and helpful to the children and watching out for them. The ball pit could definitely use a re-fill and some of the stuff is out of order frequently, but that doesn't stop us from having a good time everything we go. I did a birthday party there in March and it was great. The only issue was I had a 5 to 7 slot and ended up needing to upgrade from 10 to 15 kids attending. They told me I could keep my original time slot or go to the 5:30 to 7:30. I asked to keep 5 to 7 and they told me they would make a note of that and it would be totally fine. The day of the party I called to wrap up some final details and the lady told me it was booked 5:30 to 7:30. I explained about what the other lady had said and she just said no sorry 5:30 to 7:30 and she didnt see any note indicating anything different.. (it was a week day and there wasn't a party booked before or after me in that room) I just said okay then I better get to contacting everyone and letting them know of the time change. Anywho we went and had a great time.. our party planner came over and let us know we had 5 minutes left in the party space. It seemed really fast, but I hurried and packed up everything and moved everyone to the other area.. when I looked at the time it was barely 7:00. I went and informed them the party was scheduled til 7:30 and she said, oh we had a note it was 5 to 7. I had to explain that the lady I spoke with that day said it had to be 5:30 to 7:30. They said oh, communication issue.. but at that point we had already rushed and been moved out of the area while we were still opening presents and enjoying our food. It was a little frustrating and there was nothing done about it. I would totally do a birthday party here again, don't get me wrong, but yeah the communication was not great between workers and reading the notes ect.

EDITED TO SAY: my review was quickly responded to and the customer service was excellent and my issue was addressed and...

This place is awesome. We need one of these in Eugene! I had SO much fun with my 4 year old today.

I may have been one of only a few parents playing with their kid in the play area (she’s shy so I am modeling how to engage and start games with other kids) while many parents sat on the sidelines in the restaurant on their phones, which is more of a criticism of some of the other parents than Athletic Edge. Then again, their kids may come regularly and are old enough to leave parents on the sideline, so I am sure it’s a mixture of both.

I noticed that once I would start a game with my daughter, many kids would join in. I also noticed many kids freely running around doing their own thing, but some NEEDED/CRAVED guided and structured games. A few of the 8-9 year old boys would approach a male staff member to entice him into a game/competition, to which he obliged 😊 Maybe the staff could organize some sort of fun-spirited game every 15 minutes for different age levels. Some staff seemed like they were bored so this was just some feedback.

Also, some of the 9-10 year olds can be a little rough to the 4-5 year olds, so I would encourage parents and staff to keep an eye on that (more so for the parents). Most of the staff are teenagers and early 20’s and I saw a few engaging with the kids. Some were sitting around just monitoring.

It was well air-conditioned, had many foods/drinks available for the kids. I was surprised to see a FULL bar and adults drinking while some of their kids were playing. To me, young children + 3-level play structure + some adults drinking = a liability issue. But, that aside, to each their own.

Being said, I am still giving this place 5 stars because I’m just so happy it exists. ☺️

The play structure, ball pit, toddler area, and “town” are a perfect setup for a 4-8 year old. And they break every few hours to sanitize it! Amazing. The older kids have access to mini golf, pool, and I saw many also enjoying the...