D&R PLAYLAND — Local services in Sheffield

Took my God kids here for the first time and here’s my honest opinion. The experience was definitely 3 stars but I believe with a better structure and system it could be a way better experience for families. As a nanny and Guardian always taking little kids out in the community some factors are important so I’ll list the pros and cons in my opinion. If you have a child with a disability and behaviors especially on the autism spectrum this may be extremely overstimulating for them.

Pros: looks just like the pictures, plenty or cool varieties for the kids to do. Trampoline area, jungle maze that parents can actually go into as well to monitor there children which was a huge plus in my book, ball pit with a projector game the kids can throw the balls at, neon light slide, tube sliding and an area for little babies.

Cons: Only 1 woman’s restroom and men’s restroom with only one toilet in each. Very inconvenient for such a busy place and little kids that wait the last minute to say they need to go. There is no way to monitor which children belong to which family and the front door is entirely too close to the play area. Kids could literally walk out or someone could easily walk inside because it’s so crowded and take a child even with keeping a close eye on them. So major safety concern . Maybe incorporate hand stamps like chucky cheese. There were definitely children over the age of 10 knocking over the little ones. There should be maybe color coded bracelets for age ranges/and they definitely should not be allowed in the ball pit. There also needs to be a max on how many kids are allowed in the ball pit at once. Then they should have to rotate. The tube slide was fun but there are only about 4 or 5 tubes. Some kids hog them not allowing others to get a chance to slide. There should be a monitor standing in that area because some kids were walking up the slide and getting hurt. Another inconvenience with the tubes is that the kids stand at the top hoping for a turn when in reality you need to walk down these stairs to grab a tube then carry it up the stairs. Some kids were struggling to carry those big tubes. Maybe create a rope or some sort where staff bring the tubes to the top and monitor the kids using them properly. The facility is not big at all. The check in area is super tiny and it’s hard to find a cubby to put shoes and coats in. Maybe have families reserve a time slot with how many will be in there group and ages to decrease the confusion of people walking in and out. The flow of the play area is narrow. With that being said they have these yellow nice size metal bikes kids can ride. Issue is they are running over little ones, and leave them near exits of the jungle maze so while the kids are playing they run into these metal bikes. There should be a designated space for the bikes.

I know this is a lot to take in but if they consider these factors, create a better system I think the experience can be great for kids, less stressful for parents and receive long term success...

Here is my honest opinion as a career nanny & mom! I am always trying to find fun safe places to take children! We tried this place out after seeing a TikTok about it, it was a 50 minute drive. We arrived on a Saturday morning 30 minutes after opening and it was already completely packed, which is expected! The front desk lady was super happy and nice and there were three staff members on the playroom floor the ENTIRE duration we were there. We only stayed about an hour, it got way too busy and overstimulating. If you have a child with autism this is probably not the best place to go as it’s super loud, on the smaller side and just over all, overwhelming and overstimulating. For the kids I brought- they absolutely LOVED the ball pit. This facility was extremely clean and had tons of swinging spinning riding climbing sliding things to do. I loved the padded floors throughout the entire place, it was very safe. Women’s bathroom was huge and clean which is amazing for an indoor playroom. I brought a 1,3, and 6 year old. In my opinion I knock a star down to 4 because I do not think this is geared for children under 3. They say they cater 1-10 year olds. They have a super small baby/young toddler area but it’s just too overwhelming with big kids in and out for my 1 year old to play. I definitely want to bring him back when he’s closer to 3 so he can actually enjoy all of the things this place offers. Halfway during our playtime I noticed a line packed to the door. They definitely didn’t give their “cafe area” enough room. They have a huge round tables by all the shoe cubbies and it makes it really hard to get in and out to your stuff. In my opinion, lose the round tables and that forces people to interact with their kids and not sit in the cafe. Let’s be real, you don’t really come to these places to sit & eat. Rock the spectrum doesn’t even offer seating and I like it because it forces parents to be off of their phone and engage the whole time with there kids. I would find a better system on the busy weekends to keep a comfortable amount of people playing. Maybe a morning play and an afternoon play? Only sell so many spots? I’m sure we would of had a different experience on a weekday! But overall it was an extremely clean FUN facility and I can’t wait to return when my son is older...

Stay very far away.... I read about this Playland online opening just recently - looks like they took over the space where Wittle Town used to be. I was a little weary when I saw the allowed ages included 1-12 years old. The actual space itself is long but very narrow - the equipment/toys are very nice but should be located in a space twice the size of the current one. It is very cramped. Price of admission is a bit over priced as well. There is one tiny area designated for 3yo and under (with an opening that any child can easily get in/out). There is no cap for maximum persons/children allowed to play at any one time. Would you allow your 2 year old to have recess outside with multiple 12 year olds sprinting as if his life depended on it? (in a very narrow, cramped area with too many children running around, not paying attention)? Not to mention the majority of the children were not being supervised by their parents (whom were all either socializing or eyes glued to their phones). I promptly had to leave after a 12 year old accidentally kicked my 2 year old in the face! (while the 2 year old was trying to access/get into the "toddler/3 year old and under area")

For such a wide age range, one would expect or hope there would be gated/very specific and spacious areas for 1-6 year olds and 7-12 year olds at the very least.

Come here if you want to overspend and let your 12 year old safely run around without supervision and knock/injure other/smaller children down.

I'll...