I am hesitant to take the boys into unfamiliar play areas all by myself, as the elder one, A, is usually clingy and scared to go wander off by himself. I usually have to spend my entire time exploring the tunnels and crawling over the various obstacles with him. As a result, the younger one, P, has to be left alone, as I can be with only one of them at a time. I usually have my husband or my mother join us on our play trips. Lately, as P is growing up, he is getting curious and wants to come into the tunnels and obstacle areas too. He is more of an explorer and wants to wander off into the difficult zones all by himself.
As a sudden change of venue for a playdate, we landed at Extreme Fun in the Al Wasl Union Coop, behind Shangri-la on Sheikh Zayed Road, Dubai. Parking was ample in the compound and getting there was fairly easy. We got in the play zone with the special Winter promotional price of AED40/child for 2 hours of play.
I was hesitant as this was my first with the boys just by myself. I was quite amazed at how huge this place is. The trampoline section has 6-8 different trampolines for the kids to exert some highly vent-up energy (so useful for a toddler-mom!). Luckily for us, the place wasn’t too crowded so there was no pushing or bullying involved.
They have 2 soft-play sections, one for older kids, which is huge and has two kinds of slides and lots of obstacles and tunnels and levels to go up and down. The other soft-play area is for younger kids with smaller slides and tunnels. This area also has a pretend-play section and lots of toddler toys like lego, quoits, xylophone, etc.
A race car track with a couple of racing cars is cleverly hidden under the soft-play area – perfect for the boys who want to fulfil their dreams of driving a racing car.
There is a section of arcade and ticket games, which are paid for seperately and not included in the soft-play package. There are a few tables and chairs for mums to sit and relax while the young ones are at play. The café serves hot food like pizza and pasta, along with popcorn and hot and cold beverages.
The kids had a great time and I got them to leave only with the promise that we will be back soon. Overall, a very good experience with a variety of play options for various age groups and place for mothers to relax, while keeping an eye out for the kids. Looks like we will be frequenting here in 2017!