The birthday of my six year old son is in October. I thought of breaking off the party in his honour not because he does not merit a bash, or because we can not afford one. I was simply feeling exhausted from all the hundreds of minuscule things that needed to be organized—arguing with other moms online about dietary requirements for the millionth time and confirming the order of a special cake we decided on three weeks ago.
Wondering if I’ll ever find the time to set up all the party decorations we ordered online weeks ago and stashed away in a bag at the end of the hall, etc., etc., etc.—and also a little apprehensive about the challenge of being responsible for harboring, nay, 16 raucous tiny human beings.
My husband reassures me continually that “everything will be OK,” which is not quite as helpful as you might imagine in this particular set of circumstances.
My friend had mentioned Fun Play World about 3 months ago. I’m not sure why I’m only mentioning it now, but it hadn’t really registered as an option. After doing a little research about it, 2 weeks before my son’s party I finally looked into booking it.
There were plenty of photos, and the reviews were positive, but what actually convinced me was a phrase on the page for kids’ birthday party options. They claim to “take care of everything”—including food, staff, setup, etc. I had to read it 2 times to make sure I was actually seeing it.
I booked it the same afternoon.
What “We Handle Everything” Actually Means in Practice?
I have been to the “party where we take care of everything,” meaning they have the space and a table. In reality they expect you to plan the party. You are the one waking up on the morning of the party and running around to the store to pick up ice and napkins and the particular juice the one child who is particular will drink.
You are the one during the party doing the circuses, juggling and refereeing, like making sure the kids are seated for the meal and whose turn it is to cut the cake, and deciding when it is time for the birthday boy to sit alone because 90 minutes is far too long to be surrounded by screaming children.
What Fun Play World means by it is a little different. The staff (as in, the adults who are actually responsible for your party, as opposed to the people who stand around doing nothing on the floor) are the people who will be acting as the emcees of your celebration.
They’ll be the adults who will be dealing with misbehaving children, serving food, determining when it is time to transition from play to time to eat, and facilitating that transition in a way that is as calming to the parents as it is to the little ones.
They’ll be the ones to cut and serve the cake and to help the birthday child in the act of lighting and then blowing out the candles of the cake with all of the pomp and circumstance that you’d like them to have for this very important milestone.
I watched the whole thing from a table at the side of the room. What struck me is that it was probably the first children’s birthday party I’ve been to in years where the parents of the child of the day have actually turned up rather than just organizing and coping and dealing with problems on the part of staff or other adults. They just stood there and enjoyed watching the kid having a good time.
The Space Itself Does a Lot of the Work
My son had a blast! Fun Play World has two locations in the LA area, this one on West Pico Blvd in Los Angeles and recently in Santa Monica on Pico Blvd. Having one closer to our side of the Westside is way less of a chore to take him to, whereas I used to always dread the drive across the city when he would beg to go to the LA location.
The play structures at both the Los Angeles and Santa Monica locations are not your typical “indoor playgrounds.” They are not simply a few pieces of padded flooring with a slide or two.
Here you will find multi-level climbing structures that require real work to climb, tunnels that connect areas in obscure ways so kids are not always sure where they will come out, and trampolines that my son found about 45 seconds after being allowed to run.
There is also a soft play area near the entrance designed for younger children that is low to the ground, padded, and easy for a 2 year old to explore while a parent can sit nearby and rest.
The kids spread out naturally. I didn’t see any huge lines at individual play areas like the gym, where you’d have to wait a half hour for your turn on something because it’s very popular and there’s only one of them.
We had kids from ages 4 to 9 in the play structure, and they all found something that matched their abilities and interests easily without being pushed or steered into an activity. The 9-year-olds were all climbing. The 4-year-olds were playing in the ball pit. The 6-year-olds, who were actually the ages of the birthday children, alternated between the trampolines and a maze that led around in circles.
What this actually means is that the unstructured play part of the event is self-contained, with adults not having to provide activities or intervene in tug-of-war over who’s next or keep a close eye on children as they wander. The space itself manages all of this.
The Thing Nobody Talks About Enough—Siblings
Birthday parties in LA are rarely a bunch of kids and no little siblings. The little siblings come when Mom or Dad isn’t able to get a sitter. The teenagers come when it’s not convenient for them to be dropped off at the mall. The actual age range of kids at a party almost always ends up being broader than the list of names on the invitation.
Most places mess this up. Either there just aren’t suitable activities/handling for the little ones, or the teens are just ridiculously bored with all of the activities within about twenty minutes. Fun Play World manages to have a very well-laid-out structure, and it actually carries across for almost all ages.
I did not bring my 2-year-old—though there was a toddler that was a guest of a different family (a brother/sister who always hangs out on the mom’s days when she’s scheduled afternoons at a different play space—she was supposed to do afternoons there on this Friday, but they weren’t open afternoons at that time, so he asked if he could bring her).
She went into the soft play structure immediately upon being led that direction by her big brother and had fun there pretty much the entire party except for during the cake part, about 20 minutes or so before the party was over. Her mom had a seat right there beside them the entire time as well. Not unimportant.
What Actually Comes With the Birthday Packages?
Our party packages range from the Fun Play Basic for $1,800 right up to our VIP for $5,700. Our Adventure and Ultimate Adventure packages will easily suffice for most private birthdays.
The Adventure package includes up to 20 children and 30 adults—including 5 large pizzas, organic juice boxes for kids, sodas and water for adults, non-slip socks for everyone ready for playtime, and 2 staff members to assist with your event.
The Ultimate Adventure extends the duration to 3 hours instead of 2, increases the number of children and adults to 25 and 35, respectively, and adds a 3rd staff member, with unlimited drinks as opposed to a limited amount.
The VIP option is for the parent that wants to show up and do literally nothing else. A two-tier custom-themed cake for up to 45 guests. Catering for up to 35 guests with 12 options. 3 types of desserts totaling 45 pieces. Themed balloon arrangement with the birthday child’s name. Gift bags for all of the kids.
One of the staff members actually read reviews about other parents choosing this option, and one of the parents came with a theme in mind, mentioned it to the staff, and then the parent didn’t have to do a thing; the staff took care of everything. Exactly what we envisioned with the VIP option.
All packages are subject to an 18% service fee. A 40% deposit is required to hold the date, with full payment due 5 days prior to the event. Please allow 30 days for cancellations or changes. Although it seems like a lot, we have to begin preparing for your private event 30, 60, or, in some cases, 90 days prior to your event date, and this policy helps to ensure that we have enough time.
The Part That Surprised Me Most
I wanted the party to be fun; I’d read enough reviews to have pretty high expectations. But it wasn’t so much what happened in the party itself that surprised me—as it did the parents of the little girl whose party it was—as what I felt when it was all over.
Because while you might expect to feel, as you do after pretty well every children’s party you organize, ‘Oh Thank Goodness That’s Over’ (OTGTOSO), this was not OTGTOSO; it was more like, ‘Really Glad I Came.’ Which is an unexpected, and pretty lovely, emotion.
My son ran outside in a tearing rush of heat and happiness: cake smudged on his shirt and indignation simmering just below the surface as he argued again and again which tunnel was the best tunnel ever and wanted to come back, just come back—no occasion necessary, no celebration in store.
What makes a playground a true asset for children is that its appeal doesn’t depend on the specialness of the occasion when they first used it. If you are looking for something similar, either for a birthday party or just a regular afternoon of open play, you can find both locations and all current details at funplayworld.com.
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