Kids Club Fun & Fitness — Local services in Vancouver

Possibly a bit out-of-line to review somewhere I haven't visited for about... 15 years? haha, but the recent positive reviews seem to reflect my own experiences, and the place certainly doesn't look to have changed much. I thought it might be useful, or at least interesting, to give the retroactive perspective of someone who grew up visiting frequently.

Everything was always clean! This is quite the feat, given the size of the jungle gym and the volume of traffic it sees.

Visiting over a span of 7 years or so, things that "weren't working" in the jungle gym- which is to say, either weren't of interest to most kids, caused "traffic jams" within the structure, or led to disputes among older and younger kids- were consistently either removed entirely, or moved to other locations within the structure in a way that resolved the issue.

The few times I managed to injure myself, all of which were entirely my own fault, the staff were immediately very helpful.

There is a dedicated area for small children to play, but the jungle itself is very cleverly-designed to naturally separate smaller and larger kids, who might otherwise run into each other and injure themselves. Some obstacles require a certain size, height, or level of physical strength to navigate. Things like slides vary in intensity; larger kids will gravitate away from things that are more exciting when experienced at a smaller size. High-traffic routes between objects of interest are designed not to intersect with areas where kids are likely to want to stop and play more quietly.

I attended a good few summer camps in the area, and recall the camp staff at Kids Club consistently being very nice.

It's the sort of thing kids take completely for granted, but reflecting on this place as an adult: it's already an immensely difficult thing to keep JUST a preschool, gymnastics studio, swimming pool, jungle gym, etc. well-run. The fact that Kids Club exists at all is extremely impressive- I'm sure the owners have some great stories about the whole thing. (The story behind the disappearance of the old ball pit still crosses my mind and gives me a laugh every once in a while.)

If there are parents reading this: entertaining little kids is a LOT of work, but the things you do with them, and the places you take them, really do leave lasting impressions! Taking your kids interesting places, or showing them interesting things, has weird, unexpected benefits in the long-term. I've grown up into someone who works in game development, does a lot of programming, art, and 3D modelling work, and totally nerds out over location/environment design and structure... and I end up thinking about routes through the Kids Club jungle gym pretty frequently when I'm trying to design a digital place! Art is always a product of influences accumulated over your whole life, so don't underestimate even little kids; a lot of "design lessons" have stuck with me in meaningful ways from places like playgrounds and children's museums. (Kids Club staff, if you happen to read this, I would love a floor plan of the jungle gym layout...)

and if anyone has actually read this far, hopefully it wasn't too weird to read an adult retroactively reviewing a goofy playground, LOL- I've just been trying to think of local businesses where I've had good experiences, and leave them nice reviews, and I've got enough fun memories of this place that a meaningful reflection seemed warranted. Constantly dealing with small children and stressed parents seems like it could get very tiresome, so if staff are reading this, hopefully it's something to know you've left a strong enough impression on the "target audience" to prompt a review this many years...

This review has nothing to with the costumer service and is directed at management / owners. There is a machine in the ball pit that causes so much noise, it is unsafe for any human to be around, let alone children without ear protection. The amount of decibels it produces would be considered unsafe or harmful by many different governmental and oversight organizations. If it were in a different environment, there would be laws that require everyone within a perimeter to wear ear protection. It is a multi-ball launcher powered by pressured air which can be triggered by anyone including toddlers who are allowed in that area by pressing a big green button. 2/3’s of the children I witnessed around that area are walking around with their hands on their ears I assume because of the natural instinct to protect your ear drums. Around 1/4 within an even much wider perimeter are doing the same. Where the sound directly comes from is not enclosed whatsoever and it is positioned right next to the edge of the entire “jungle ”. Which is protected by a thin wired string net. Absolutely no noise cancellation. Newborns could potentially be feet away being pushed in a stroller in the table/eating/parent area. The decibel levels are without a doubt directly negatively affecting anyone and especially children under 2. Children’s ear drums are more vulnerable and I’m greatly surprised this issue has not been addressed yet. Not even a warning. Loud noise exposure can damage not only your hearing, but also be harmful to your physical and physiological health, I am concerned about other children being exposed to this - especially newborns and this is a hotspot for exactly that. I will attempt to email the decibel readings along with the maximum recommended by a pediatrician. My only goal is to protect other children that don’t know better or parents that are not informed. I do not have any financial gain intentions. This review will be removed once the issue is addressed. Other than this very specific issue, the place is very nice and actually better than it’s competition, also very well taken care of. But parents beware. This children place is unsafe for children...

Took my 2.5 year old there this morning. I was so upset when we left. They have this room full of ball machines which includes some toy guns on the upper levels where kids can go and shoot balls down below to the kids in the ball room. There are multiple large machines that kids can put balls in to get them to the upper levels. Well there is also this one, completely pointless machine in which the kids put in balls and push this button and it uses a high powered burst of air to simply throw the balls into the air. Well this machine in particular is exceptionally loud. And there is no limit as to how often a kid can push the button. And when I mean loud, I mean you can hear it throughout the building loud.

My kid loves balls. Of course he was drawn to that room to play. Well when the older kids pushed the button, he fell to the floor, shaking and in tears. It took us quite a while to calm him, and when we had finally distracted him enough to get him to play in another section, it took just moments to ruin that as well with another burst of sound. This happened repeatedly for the duration of our stay (which lasted all of 25 minutes). I understand that the kids are just having fun, but it seems to me that a machine that is so devastatingly loud (loud enough to injury ears if done repeatedly Im sure) should be on some sort of a timer, so that regardless of how many times a kid pushes the button, it will only go off every 10 minutes, or something of the sort. I even had kids coming up to me in the play area telling me how scary that sound was. It was honestly sad.

I wanted to leave with a happy, tired child. Instead I had to carry out my screaming, terrified child. I was heartbroken, but also extremely pissed off. What could have and should have been a fun family experience turned into something so scary for my son. I am upset I wasted money, time, and my sons good mood on this disappointing facility. I will not...