Monkey Joe’s

Kids love this place. Its a lot of exercise for them. Great for making friends. Wish they had better concessions. I like how fred sportsplex has starbucks coffee! I dont like how u can change the TV from advertisements. wheres the entertainment there? Their bathrooms seem clean but i swear it smells like a cat box. Bonus my daughtee doesnt seem to have caught any illness after being here. They have hand sanitizer everywhere too

While seeking out a meeting area for three families with toddlers in Hagerstown, MD, we came across an indoor playground called Monkey Joe’s. I had never been to a Monkey Joe’s before, but everyone we talked to said our daughter and the other two toddlers would «love it». So, based on their recommendations and the FAQ’s on the Monkey Joe’s website, we decided that this playground seemed very family oriented and interested in kids having fun. We decided to make a date of it.
Upon entering Monkey Joe’s we paid five dollars for our daughter, filled out the paperwork and had one of the referees check her height. She was tall enough for two of the play areas. The three of us were given matching wrist/​ankle bracelets so that no one else could come and try to take our daughter. Just beyond the check in counter, we met the other two families and headed over to play.
At the first play area our daughter was reluctant to go in. She kept reaching her hand out for mommy and daddy. I figured a little warming up was all she needed. Thankfully the inflatable zone had the following sign posted: «You are welcome to assist kids 4 years-​old and younger in the play areas, but you may not bounce or play.» Cool. My wife and I both climbed in with our daughter so that we could assist and take pictures. The other two mother’s we met up with also climbed in with their toddlers (one brought in her two month old as well). A couple seconds later, a father and his daughter joined the party. We sat there, not bouncing, taking pictures of the little ones playing. We had only been in the inflatable zone for about a minute when a young, pimply faced referee stopped by and said that the two month old was not permitted inside. No problem, she handed him off to his father, who was outside the play area, and went back in to join her daughter. A short time later, another referee came by and said we couldn’t be in there if we were just playing on our cell phones and not interacting with the kids. The one mother who had her cell phone out explained that she was snapping pictures. The referee responded with a snarky comment. The mother, not wanting to cause a scene, begrudgingly put her phone away. We settled in for few more seconds of toddler time before a third referee came over and said «All the adults need to leave the play area because it was over the weight limit.» We explained that there was no sign anywhere that said anything about a weight limit. He told us that «Only five toddlers were allowed in the area at once and since there are four toddlers and five adults that was way too much weight.» We explained again that there was no sign other than the one that said parents may assist kids who are 4 years old and younger, as long as they don’t bounce. Nowhere does it say anything about a weight limit. He reiterated that he needed us to get out.
Everyone in my party left (the other man remained with his daughter). We tried to have the kids play in the inflatable zone by themselves but each of them wanted us to join them in play. No matter how much we tried, they just wouldn’t go it alone. So within fifteen minutes of entering Monkey Joe’s, we were relocating to Marty Snook Park where the kids could swing, slide, climb and interact with one another and us.
As we left Monkey Joe’s I looked around for any signage that mentioned weight limits. I saw nothing. What I did notice was a lot of parents huddled together looking at their phones or IPADs or watching the televisions that were located in the parent area.
Seems that isolation and ignoring your kids in the name of technology is the family orientated atmosphere that Monkey Joe’s wishes to breed. If that’s not your thing, like it isn’t ours, skipping Monkey Joe’s for a trip to the park might better suit your family’s needs.

Fun for the kids. Not much for the adults obviously but prices at snack bar are very inflated. Eat b4 your go. Place is pretty clean for having a ton of kids running around. Equipment is starting to look a bit run down but that’s to be expected.

My daughter (16 mos) loves this place. It’s clean, cheap, and easy to get to. Only issue is that there’s no way of knowing that they’ve reached capacity and are denying entry until you actually go there and see the sign on the locked doors. A notification on the voicemail or website would be nice. But generally speaking, we’re big Monkey Joe’s fans!

My husband and I took our 18 month old son to the Monkey Joe’s in Hagerstown, Maryland for the first time yesterday. We were looking forward to having fun together. I checked the website before we went, and I saw several signs in the establishment advising that «You are welcome to assist kids 4 years-​old and younger in the play areas, but you may not bounce or play.» We arrived and discovered that our son did not meet the height requirement for the larger activities, so we went straight to the toddler area. My toddler excitedly climbed into the inflatable zone, and after again checking the sign on the inflatable which said that adults may assist children under four, my husband followed. My son excited explored his surroundings while my husband sat and held his hands to help him maintain his balance and to reassure him in new surroundings. I took pictures from the outside. We were having a great time for about five minutes until a staff member told my husband that he wasn’t allowed to be in there. After conferring with several other unhappy parents who had also been kicked out, I went to speak to a manager. The manager informed me that there was a 50 pound weight limit for that zone. I then inquired about how we would assist our child if we couldn’t reach them, and she responded that a staff member could retrieve our child if necessary. When I reminded her of the supposed 50 pound weight limit, she told me that it didn’t matter because they work here. We were extremely frustrated and disappointed, but decided to see if our son would continue to play by himself. We attempted several times, but each time we put him into the inflatable zone, he looked confused as to why we were not joining him, and even after encouraging him to play, he came right back out to us. We had high hopes for a fun facility where we could enjoy ourselves as a family, but perhaps it’s better suited for those parents that like to let their children run amok without any supervision or participation. We will not be returning to Monkey Joe’s and will support a more family-​friendly company in the future.

Monkey Joe’s is a huge inflatable play land for kids age 2 – 12. It costs between $ 8−10/kid depending on the day of the week. You can purchase 10 passes for $ 70, which is a good deal & can be used any time. There is no time limit (um Paradise of Fun, Frederick) — your kids can stay as long as they want. They have a snack bar & a small gift shop. They have FREE Wi-​Fi, a TV with a seating area for adults & several party rooms. There is a separate area for toddlers and security is pretty tight. There are numerous HUGE inflatable play areas, including a 2-​story slide. The best thing is it’s really CLEAN. My kids (age 5 & 7) LOVE this place.