Imagination Station — Local services in Vail

I was disappointed with our visit here with 2 small children (age 1 and 3.5 years). The space is small- just two small rooms and an art studio in back. The front room has activities geared towards older children- a water table, a coin whirlpool, large connect 4 set, magnetic table with nuts/bolts for stacking, magnetiles, etc. The other room is an old converted office geared towards younger kids with a play house, dolls, veterinarian set, and cushions blocks that make a little castle. This feels like a space designed by someone that has never worked with kids. It's hard to tell what age it is intended for. The front room wouldn't be that interesting for older kids and the facility was not equipped to for smaller kids. Main complaints: The space wasn't safe. There were uncovered outlets on the walls (including by the little climbing castle in the little kids room). The play house was rickety (I bumped into the play house and a plank fell off of the roof). The floor was strewn with choking hazards from activities in the front room (coins and metal nuts). Not designed with a child in mind. There is a water table but no place to dry your hands. The bathrooms only have extremely loud hand dryers that scare small children. Only large aprons available in the art area, so my arms of my children's clothes were covered in paint. Poor covid precautions. Masks required, but the employee working had a bandana barely covering her face. No hand sanitizer available. Old looking dolls and stuffed animals that would be hard to clean.

Overall, the space was underwhelming. The art studio looked interesting. The employee told us about some art projects available, but when we looked in the studio it was unclear how to go about any of those art projects. The staff member that manned the desk only offered to get us setup with some puffy paint. (And she seemed a bit puzzled when I asked for a towel to clean up messes or tape to make sure the paper wouldn't move around.)

Unless you're already in the area and desperate for something to do, skip the Imagination Station. Reservations are required and the $25 fee seems steep for what they offer.

Ps- If you are driving into Vail, this is on the 2nd floor of the Lionshead parking structure. It's convenient, unless the parking garage is already full...

This was a little difficult to find and seems to be in a strange location. Our kids (2.5 and 4) enjoyed it a lot. There were lots of activities for them to do. The art activity was a little underwhelming but that's ok as that wasn't our main reason for visiting. Staff member was a little curt as others have mentioned. Made a comment about how they open promptly at 9:30 when opening the door for us and the other family waiting. Then at 11:30 was like a little rude when she came out. Said "we're closed now" and took the bucket of coins away from my daughter. Seemed in a hurry for us to leave even though we did all of the pick up after ourselves so I'm not really sure why they have to be closed in between sessions? Shouldn't be for a staff lunch break. They didn't interact with us at all the entire time we were there so would have plenty of time to work on whatever else they needed and have staggered lunches since at least 3 people were working there. Overall an ok experience. Price was...

This might be one of the best places in vail for kids (and adults). They provide an amazing set of activities for kids to explore: water table, marble run, bean bag chairs, 2 player throw-balls-against-the-computer-light-up-wall game, a giant coin whirlpool thing, magnetiles, and that's just a few of the items in one of the 3 areas of the space. They have VR headsets and words, clay painting, and a craft area with rotating activities. As an adult I could spend hours on just 1 of the activities and my kids LOVE it. Some days they are open until 8pm, so you can come early in the day and then take a break and come back. They also offer some "parent's night out" type events periodically, so check...