Recess is about to commence in Ankeny

[hawkfan]

I live in Ankeny and I am a part of Ankeny group of moms. We all have young children ages 1-5 and we all have gone to recess. I have to say that we spend $4.99 a child at recess and my kid can play on all the rides and inflatables while we sit any chat. This is cheap compared to the playground where you absolutely have to pay $7. My kids are tired after couple of hours anyways. I have also been to the playground and I think they are expensive for what they have to offer. At least at Recess they can ride all the rides as many times as they want without restriction. As far as restrictions, my child did not make the height requirements on alomost all of the rides and he was allowed to ride them without any issues. I am very impressed with Recess and would highly recommend to anyone that wants to try it. This is a GREAT place and I am thrilled to have them in Ankeny!

[Jenn]

It is unfortuanate that most people only speak up when service is bad and rarely do you hear the good things about a business. I'm sure there are good things about Recess. I have been to the Playground last winter which my kids and I loved, it was over xmas break and it was nuts!!!But alot of fun. No they didn't pay me to say that..ha..ha. I will go to Recess with an open mind this winter and check it out for myself. P.S. This is a blog about Recess so naturally people from Ankeny will talk more about the local businesses than Chucky Cheese, or Pump It Up. Take care all!

[Rachel]

I think if I called all my friends they all would have something bad to say about Recess and this blog would be pages long, many of them sent Recess emails from theor contact us form. My neighbor went a couple weeks ago and their rides were broke, there were many height restrictions which may be Iowa law so they shouldn't break them because they may get fines. So why would they plan a place like that for kids? Their prize assortment is a joke and when they have parties they turn off all the rides even if you are not in the party and you have to wait for their staff to get in costume and stand around for 15 minutes while they get into the costumes and sing happy birthday to the child, they get back in uniform and then there's 15 time off your 2 hours. My friends, family, and my childrens daycare rant and rave about The Playground and yes it is that good. My 2 year old always says she want to go to the "tree place" which is The Playground. I'm sure that Recess got alot of complaints when they openend and its hurting them. If you like restrictions and you like to spend $10 for 2 hours call ahead to make sure their rides are working.

[Ankenyres]

Finally made it to Recess and i have to say that i am impressed.. You have to see this place with your own eyes. This place is AMAZING!!! I took my 2 kids with me and they all had a blast. The staff was very friendly and the place was very CLEAN. One of the managers even babysat my infant while I rode the bumper car with my son. I am very proud to have a great place like this in Ankeny and do not have to go to WDM. Great job Recess and i will be back!

[altoonamom]

Recess is amazing! I just hard my child's 3rd Birthday party yesterday. I have to say that they are a one stop shop. Goody bags, cake, pizza, decorations and all. As a parent, observing my children having fun I could not ask for more and didn't have to work at a thing. It is very cheap compared to the playground for kids where you absolutely have to pay $200 no matter how many kids show up. Last night my bill was $129 for 7 kids. They gave us ice-cream cake , pizza, cotton candy. I honestly was amazed at the value I recieved for the money. The kids drove the bumper cars all night long and did not want to leave. Hey Recess, whatever you are doing keep it up... Don't worry about these blogs they are all incorrect beacuse I was told by my friend not to go in and I have to go back and tell her what she is missing if she does not go to Recess. Kudos Recess!!!!!!!!!!

[polkcitymom]

Recess is only amazing if you like time restraints on your kids. I didn't realize that I had to keep taking my kids shoes off and on the whole time. They had to wear shoes for the bumper cars, off for the blow ups..I was exhausted. At The Playground my kids are in socks the whole time and I don't have to worry about them sitting down to eat because there is no time limits there. At Recess I told them to wait to eat so they could get their 2 hours of play first. Recess is not a very thought out place for kids or parents. I recommend The Playground to everyone, its $7 for all day play and ages toddler through teens will all have fun. I've also had a party at The playground and it was only $110 for 15 kids and they supplied everthing and I brought my cake, which I make every year for my kids parties. I have been to a Recess party too and there is no way you can compare the two places The Playground is awesome, we had our own private party room for cake you don't get that at Recess, you share the room with other parties, it was very unorganized and I know the mom was not happy.

[hawkeye1]

$127 for 7 kids...are you nuts? That is $18 per kid for 2 hours of play! I called The Playground and you can have 15 kids for $119 that under $8 per kid and I can bring in my own cake which I make every year for my kids parties. You can't even compare. At Recess you can only play on certain things and the little kids have to stay in the baby area the whole time. I found myself carrying 3 pairs of shoes the whole time because the minute I set them down I had to put them on again..it is a pain and Recess is EXPENSIVE..unless you think $18 per kid is cheap!!! With 3 kids I don't have that much money to blow.

[Randa]

I was just at the Playground and it was okay. The tree hurt my knees some because I had to crawl. It was kinda espensive and after this, I don't know if Recess would be fun or not

[MommyX2]

I have been to both recess as well as the playground. I like the playground better then recess. I don't understand one poster's comment about the playground being dirty though. I have never been in there when the staff wasn't cleaning something. I thought it was amazingly clean actually! I thought recess was clean too, so I'm not saying they're dirty. I feel like recess is way too expensive. I have a 3 & a 6 year old - 3 yr old was $5 and 6 yr old was $10. I pay $7 for each at the playground - so they are comparable for "entry" fees, even though at recess you CAN go & not pay an entry fee, but you can not play on the rides or inflatables & your only option is to pay the tokens for the video games. Recess is $15 for my family & the playground is $14 for my family. However, the reason I feel recess is more expensive is because once you pay at the playground, unless you're going to eat, you're done. At recess you've got the extra cost of the video games if you chose, which there are a lot of and 99% of the time they're broken or just take your money & you can't read the instructions because they're all written in oriental writing! I have never purchased food at recess so I can't compare the food prices, but that is additional at recess as well. I like that at the playground the kids take their shoes off ONCE, at recess you are CONSTANTLY putting shoes on & then taking them off again. At recess you'd be best to carry them around with you rather then trying to keep going to find them each time. I did notice height restrictions at recess, but the only time the staff abided to them was ONCE when my son wanted to ride the bumper cars. Every other time he was able to ride them - with a parent, except the ONE time they wouldn't let him ride & wouldn't let me ride with him either? Very inconsistant. My kids get bored quickly at recess - it's like towards the end of the 2 hours you are searching for things to do just to use up your time. At the playground you can go, play a while, eat lunch if you want for a break period, then play more if you'd like. Break it up so they won't get bored. With NO time restrictions at the playground! As far as the tree hurting another posters knees....the playground is geared for KIDS, not adults - so of course an adult is going to have to crawl through there....on their knees. I have been to birthday party's at both recess & the playground as a guest. I was more impressed with the playground & not recess for birthday parties as well.

I AM NOT A PAID POSTER BY THE PLAYGROUND. What a ridiculous claim by Ankenyres, maybe they were paid by recess?? Ridiculous!

[mom2girlies]

I thought Recess was expensive when they opened and I can't believe they raised their prices to $12.99 per kids that is CRAZY..I wouldn't even pay that if the games were free after the admission fee. This place cannot be doing well, I drive by it everyday and there is never anyone there. I love The Playground, they had the right idea from the start..no arcade games and one flat fee to get in.

[Bankermom]

I always think its funny when people think staff should watch THEIR kids, when you go to Chucky Cheese do you expect their staff to keep track of your kids? As a mom I have been to all Des Moines play places through parties and visits and I find it rediculous that you have to pay to get into this Recess place and then pay for arcade games on top of that, we went when they opened and haven't been back, my kids say its for babies. Pump it Up is only private parties or very limited play and my kids only like their slide, so they get bored fast, Tokens is dark and dirty, unless they changed it in the last year. I have to say The Playground is great for parents who don't want to spend $10 on tokens (in the first 10 minutes!) and leave with their kids not getting any exercise, at the Playground (which I do frequent) during breaks my kids leave sweaty, and although I have to have them take showers they are worn out and ready for bed all for 7 bucks!! At any rate The Playground not only has inflatables the big hit with my kids is the huge tree climber..it is huge like 20 feet high and they kids take a break from jumping and hang out in the cluhouse on top of the tree. I think their parties are cheap if you compare what you get for the money. My party was $130 for 15 kids, all the plates, napkins and utensils , a drink for each kid, a private party room for my daughter to open presents and I got to bring in a Hannah Montana cake, oh and she got to sit in the big throne chair. I have told all my friends about The Playground in Ankeny it is such a wonderful, CLEAN place! www.theplaygroundforkids.com

ankenyres wrote:

Playground for kids is not supervised and above all it is very dirty. I have been to the playground about 3 times and each time I have been dissapointed with their lack of supervision. I have been watching the blogs and i sincerely feel that playground for kids is paying people to brag about them since the new place opened up in Ankeny. I think it is a very cheap stunt and irresponsible on the the owners of Playground to use blogging as a way to promote themselves. after reading all the comments i am going to go to recess with an open mind. I have not been there yet but i believe it cannot be that bad as it has been potrayed on this site and I will update you upon my visit. My kids and I have been frequent at Jumping Jacks and Pump it up and they both are great places for kids. So, folks keep an open mind like i do and do not believe everything you read on this blog. If you ever google there has been more praises about playground for kids than any other place in Des Moines. you will not find comments on Chuck e cheese, jumping jacks, pump it up, tokens and a few more. It is hard for me to believe that the playground for kids is the only place in des Moines that is local and does such a great job. Go figure!

[Jessie]

It’s too often that people use these blogs to wreck the reputation of a great place. I cannot believe that you are knocking a place, which has been a blessing for Ankeny. I have a daughter that works for Recess. Ankeny needs more businesses like this. They provide jobs!! Do you know that Recess employs over 40 of our sons and daughters? In an economy like this, do you really want to knock a place like this down? There are hardly any jobs available in Ankeny for 14-19 year olds and Recess is helping with this. Playground on the other hand is only a husband -wife run operation with 1-2 employees and they are not even from Ankeny. Recess contributes to the Ankeny economy. Ankeny needs to support this!! This is a great place for our kids and also a great benefit to our community.

[Sandy Annett]

I want to say that I had my granddaughter Birthday party at Recess, their was over 50 people at her party. The party was a great, the kids were happy, and the pizza was wonderful. I want to say we have been their serveral times since her party, and think Recess is a great place to take kids for all ages. I own a business in Ankeny, and we really do need to support or local business to keep them in Ankeny.

[Bob]

My grand daughter fell inside one of the climbing gyms at the facility. She was inside one of the tubes screaming and crying and we could not reach her. When we finally found her she was covered with blood pouring from her nose and mouth and to scared to climb out of the gym. My son tried to reach her (his daughter) and when he did get to her he was to big to get her back out without dragging her. They were next to one of the nets attached to a pole by zip-lock ties. I reached up and broker to of the ties opened the net and he handed her down to me. We took her to the restroom to clean her up and were in the process of making sure she was ok when we were approached by the general manager and told we were being ejected because we damaged his gym. He never once asked about the condition of the child, he didn't care. When I told him what happened and that all I did was break two of the fifty cent zip-lock ties he replied "you have to leave. I told him I wanted a claim form he said we do not have them because it is our responsibility to keep our children safe - wow! He refused to refund our money because "your money will be used to fix the ride" - it was already repaired before we could put on our coats and leave.

[Nicole]

An aquaintance of mine had planned her son's 2 year party there, but when they drove by a few days before it was closed! No one even called to tell her that it wouldn't be open even though they had reserved it! Imagine if all the kids had just shown up and it was closed?

[Melissa]

I took my 2 year old daughter and my friend's 2 year old son to Recess a few months ago. It cost $7 and there weren't any restrictions for them except for the caterpillar thing and the bumper cars. The rest of the rides and inflatables and gyms were included in the price. There were no time limits either, so I don't know if it was different when they first opened or what. We were there for 4 hours. There were two young girls who were operating the rides and they were very sweet and made sure my daughter got to ride on everything for as long as she wanted. She loved it and didn't want to leave. My only complaint was that it took an hour to get our food since they were having 2 large birthday parties at the same time. My husband drove over there the other day to take my daughter again, and saw that it was closed, which is unfortunate because The Playground seems to never have open play available on Saturdays (at least whenever I call they are always booked with parties only) and we can't make the times during the week due to my work schedule.

[alicia75]

Playground for kids in Ankeny has no open play times. I have visited there twice now and they are dirty. They need to do a better job cleaning their inflatables. My kids got sick the last time I took them there. Beware!!

[Candace]

The Playground For Kids is open Monday through Fridays. They have 2 for Tuesdays which is really busy but great for my kids who are 7 & 9yrs. They do have some open Saturday mornings you have to call their message machine because its not every Saturday but about 2 a month. They don't have the expensive arcade games so for $8 my kids have a blast..thats cheaper than my car wash! This place is spotless, they look the same as whe they first opened 4 years ago. It is my #1 choice to take my children and their friends and they have parties for 15 kids for like $130 all I did was bring the cake and they supplied evrything else. If you haven't tried them do it's a great place! By the way Recess changes every time I would takemy kids so Igave up like so many others..one day it was $9.99 then $13 then you could go on everything, then everything was seperate priced and yes the shoe thing was a nightmare,on and off, on and off. The Playground is just a well thought out place.