PlayNation

Was invited here for my kid’s friends birthday party. It’s kind of hard to find.
On the inside there is a big blow-​up slide, a trampoline, a pirate ship, and a rock climbing wall. There are a variety of slides.
At the end we broke a piñata, and the staff were very kind and threw some candy into the air for the other kids to get.
My wife and I were considering this place and this would be a five star review, except for one employee, an older man behind the concession stand who very loudly said towards the end, «the party is over.»
I understand it’s a business, and it makes sense to schedule parties back-​to-​back, but ours was the last group of the night, and I really can’t think of a more miserable thing to say. It just killed the experience, and the mom of the birthday boy overheard it (I don’t think she was meant to).
Just the way he walked around, grumpily cleaning and scowling, was enough to remind me that this is a business, we are cattle, and our allotted time was over.

Warning: This is lengthy. Short version — the owners son/​the manager is rude and it’s amazing that they have any returning business when he is on staff. It took posting something on facebook for them to respond after I had tried calling and emailing. I wanted to give them another try since my son and his friends had so much fun last year, however, a year later I am having these problems again. I have called twice with no response or call back, which is fine. I would prefer to not give Brett my business anyway.
More detailed version:
My son, had his birthday party at Play Nation last year. He had an AMAZING time and most of the staff was beyond amazing. Meredith and Haley were so sweet, fun and patient. I did not realize that they would be serving the food to the children which made our lives so much easier and allowed us to make sure no one tried sneaking back out to the play area. I was very grateful to have them oversee our party. Unfortunately, the manager on duty that day, Brett, did not share their enthusiasm and passion for the job. He was rude and very unprofessional.
Prior to my sons birthday party I visited Play Nation with a friend and my son to make sure it was something that is age appropriate and that he would enjoy. Brett was on staff that night — he barely looked up when he was talking to us and seemed like he was having a less than enjoyable day. We weren’t greeted when we walked in, we weren’t informed about needing to take off our shoes until after he snipped at us about it and we weren’t thanked for stopping by. My friend mentioned that she noticed this too and I wrote it off knowing that it was later in the day and everyone has bad days — it happens. I also did not know at the time that he was the manager.
The day of my son’s birthday party a few guests arrived before us and all of them said that they did not know what to do or where to go and when they tried to talk to Brett he just grumbled at them then kept going on with his own business. When I arrived I went up and talked to Meredith/​Haley and they informed me of where we were going to be having our party. I was very disappointed to see that small toddlers (2 and under) were going to have to sit at the bigger round tables, while there were 5 – 7 year olds crammed at the toddler picnic table. I will admit that I let my frustration get the best of me when I was told this and I apologized to Meredith and Haley afterwards because they were nothing but sweet.
Brett came over when he noticed there was a conflict, but only made it worse. I explained that I was frustrated, not only about the tables, but because of how difficult it was to even book the party and the lack of response via phone calls and message that I had left to inquire about a party. He told me that, and I quote, «I have better things to do than sit around and answer phone calls». I offered to help them clean the toddler area after that party left because I would feel better about my son and his friends sitting at a more age appropriate table. He said that isn’t how the rotation works. I understand this, and knew that it would be inconvenient which is why I offered to help clean up. Eventually he walked away while rolling his eyes while we were talking, and in front of multiple of our party guests. Immediately two groups of parents said that their friends were thinking about having their party at Play Nation but they had texted them during the interaction telling them to reconsider. I gave myself time to calm down and went to talk to Brett again once everyone was out and playing, I told him that he was very rude to walk away while we were talking and he told me that I was being rude, difficult and unaccommodating. I told him that regardless of how I was acting, he should act better than me and especially don’t roll his eyes while he’s walking away — he said, «I rolled my eyes because I’m too busy for this». I asked if I could speak to his manager, he said that he is the manager then I asked for the owners name and he informed me that his father owned the place so even if he gave me his fathers name, he would just defend Brett. I then understood how he had his job.
All of this was frustrating enough on its own, but I also had multiple people tell me later that they overheard him talking to staff about how rude and how much of a b**** I was being; even people that did not witness our interaction brought this to my attention. As I said, Meredith and Haley were amazing and the communication that I have had with you has always been professional, kind and responsive and I greatly appreciate that. We did end up in the toddler area, did not have to help them clean, although I was sincere with my offer and everything else was wonderful.

Been here twice and I think that will be it. Equipment is OK but it could be cleaned up a bit. On the top of one of the houses must be 3 years worth of dust. Worst part is the staff, never once see them from behind the desk texting. A little interaction would be nice. Or maybe just some dusting?

TERRIBLE birthday party experience here. I never write bad reviews, until now. For what you get they should be charging ¹⁄₃ of what they do. 3 big birthday parties going on at once — we did get the play area during our designated time but the kids from the other parties kept coming in and playing and their parents and the staff let them. You also couldn’t get back and forth to our birthday area because it was so crowded in the entrance area (which is right outside of all 3 rooms). Nothing was setup when we arrived — no tablecloths, utensils or anything. The teenage helper waited until I had set up all the drinks, cakes and favors to ask if we’d like tablecloths… Besides the mob in the entrance the worst part was that our party area was completely open and the rude people from the other parties kept coming and sitting in our area (apparently their rooms were too crowded). Little kids from other parties kept trying to grab our party favors (again, with the parents only halfheartedly trying to stop them) and one kid grabbed a box of our pizza, sat down at a table and opened it. And these are only the things I saw as I ran back and forth from the play area and our party area to watch our things since the party attendants weren’t trying to do that or anything else. Had to ask for forks, napkins, plates and drinks — all supposedly included and yet none provided when needed without being asked. I’m done playnation. I’ve always thought the service here was terrible but hey, the kids like it. For the most part you don’t need to interact with the owner — except when you drive 30 minutes to get here following their posted hours on facebook and they decide to close right when you arrive — 30 minutes BEFORE their posted closing time and all you get is a shrug. Please don’t have a birthday party here. We went to a party at UBounce in Apex a couple weeks before our party and they did an AMAZING job. It is a little more expensive but the staff was incredible from start to finish. I’m sure they set the bar high for me but it wouldn’t have mattered, the party experience here still would have been a ridiculous disappointment. And they had two management and two teenagers there, just not doing anything most of the time. This is a serious tip, although I’m sure it will come off as me being a four letter word after this rant: Playnation management, go to UBounce for a party and see how people should be getting their money’s worth in terms of organization and service.

I’ve been taking my daughter here for playdates and parties for many years, and it’s always a fun time for parents and kids alike. Guests are permitted to bring their own outside food and drinks. Socks are required for anyone who wants to play. The giant, inflatable slide is great fun. Whee!

Just had a birthday party for my 7-​year old in the new XL space (adjacent to the main entrance.) It’s geared towards kids 5 and up. All of the kids had a wonderful time, some even cried because they didn’t want to leave. They took care of everything for us (drinks, pizza, paper goods), even a piñata was included in our package. It’s a really fun space for older kids (5 and up.) I would recommend the XL space for a birthday party. The kids had a blast and that’s all that matters.

Surprised there aren’t more injuries at this place
Went here for the first time for a birthday party and its a great idea, it’s geared more for 3+ kids rather than 3 or younger.
They have several structures, a bounce house, trampoline, slide, etc. The issue I have is many of the structures the ladders, ramps, etc are extremely steep and slippery. My two year old had issues with many of the structures for that reason. The ladders had very large gaps and surprised didn’t see kids falling through.
The slides are extremely fast and saw kids bumping there heads on the slides as they came off.
Extremely clean which was nice. The décor is very blah… For a place catering to kids especially the birthday rooms they could do a much better job with the décor of the place.

Having a toddler makes me a sucker for any kind of indoor playground when the weather outside isn’t great for running off all of that energy! I was glad to find this spot when it seemed a bit too cold out to try to play at an outdoor park.
The pricing here is very reasonable and there is enough to do for many children to run around; it was crowded when we went, but parents were doing a great job supervising their children and reminding them to look out for smaller kids (like mine!).
There are several structures inside including a bounce house, large inflatable slide, wooden play structures to climb with very fast slides (the warning the staff gives is correct: those slides are FAST!), and a few smaller structures with play kitchens amd pretend fruit amd vegetables. Lots to explore!
There are a few «party rooms» too and their website mentions parties are available for reservation here. It also recommends calling to make sure open play is an option because if there are parties scheduled, open play can be cancelled.
Overall, this is a really good place to take a child who needs to burn some energy especially on days when playing outside isn’t really an option. Hopefully parents are always as vigilant as they were on our first visit here as some children are much bigger than others all in the same play space.
We definitely had a good time here and hope to again!

We first visited PlayNation for a 3-​year old birthday party, and have been fans ever since. It is a great indoor play area, particularly for younger children and toddlers. For parents, it is reassuring to be able to keep an eye on your children at all times, since it is a fairly small space (basically, one large room).
Both my kids love the tall inflatable slide and the bouncy house. The play structure shaped like a ship was very popular, too, although the loud clanging bell got annoying pretty fast. All in all, a nice indoor play option for toddlers.

I recently went here for a birthday party and was very pleased with everything. Both of my children (ages 4 and 9) had a blast. I did appreciate that the party was able to have the play area to themselves, it’s always a plus to not have so many kids running around all at once. The staff was excellent at serving the kids as well as the adults. They were very polite and friendly. Since it’s not that far from home I’m defiantly taking my kids back.

Unfortunately, this morning I witnessed a truck, with a trailer attached that had the Playnation logo driving in an irresponsible and dangerous way. On the Durham Freeway, merging onto I-​40, the road narrows to one lane. Playnation driver chose to drive in the middle of both lanes, in order to block the ending lane (people are frustrated that people zoom by in the ending lane).This appeared to be extremely dangerous, as the trailer and truck extended into a lane where drivers were legally allowed to drive, and at high speed.
I believe that since Playnation was plastered on the vehicle, they must approve of this driving behavior. I cannot in good conscience not note this dangerous condition and make others aware.
Edit: to make it clear this was a commercial vehicle owned by the company.

Awesome place! Clean, very sturdy play area. Parents are welcome in all items, good variety, nice people and great price! Well worth it :)

Great place. Great employees. Really made my little boys birthday party a lot of fun. Thanks.

This is a terrific indoor play space for children, especially when the weather doesn’t allow for outdoor play. There’s a moon bounce, a huge blow up slide, several swing sets, with slides and other climbing features and a small toddler section. There are a couple of rooms for birthday parties as well. I was a bit irritated because we waited outside in the cold when we got there, because they opened 15 minutes late. They did give us a free admission coupon for next time though, which was a nice gesture.
Our son is 2 years old and had a blast! I would say the age range when we were there was 18 months to maybe 5 years old.

If you have a preschool child you’ll want to visit Playnation. We go occasionally just to play on very hot/​cold/​rainy days. Sometimes it gets really crowded! If you can, go in the afternoon when there are less kids! My 5 year-​old had his birthday party here and had a great time. There were two teenage girls (on staff) helping at the party. One of them played with the kids the entire time to make sure everyone was having a good time and not left out. A great birthday party location and place to play.

Had our 3 year old’s birthday party here last month. Hands down the best experience we’ve had compared to other party & play joints. The staff was on top of things & kept everything on track for a smooth, enjoyable & memorable time. Nice variety of play equipment & a couple of TV/​Wii rooms to hangout in. Fun for the whole family!

This is a wonderful place to take kids of multiple ages. I regularly take my 2 and 5 year old and BOTH love it. They have a toddler area that keeps my youngest busy and a jumphouse and inflatable slide, in addition to all of the awesome wooden play structures, that both kids love. The staff is super nice and helpful. They also allow you to bring your own snack and drinks, which is a big plus. However, they do offer snacks and drinks for very reasonable prices. Great place, great staff!!!

We go here all the time for open play during the week. Very reasonably priced, great staff, and lots of different things to do. On the weekends, it’s pretty much birthday parties only.

We just kind of discovered this place today when looking for something to do through Google with our kids on a cold day. It was a genuinely fun indoor playground. Instead of the really popular bounce houses, they had actual playground equipment with ladders and slides and stuff. They even had two fun playhouses for our one year old with a kitchen, fake food, etc. We had a good time and it was reasonably priced. It’s kind of difficult to find, which was probably why it wasn’t very crowded (I think it’s also pretty new), but I would definitely recommend it to other parents with small kids that want an activity to add to their rotation.