Chicago Treehouse

This place was super busy and should have a bigger waiting area. No outside food or drink is allowed here. No system for entry or exiting the place. For example Chuck E. Cheese has the uv stamps on you’re hand before entering and leaving to ensure you don’t leave with someone else’s child, this place should have something similar since there’s so many young kids running around (despite parents needing to watch their children anyways.). It was an ok experience.

I thought this place was great. Kids have a blast and they have comfortable chairs and sofas to sit on. Only complaint is the price to throw a birthday party. I know most places can cost more but it’s all the extras that really start to add up fast.

ITS NOT THE STAFF! ITS THE PARENTS!
LOVE THIS PLACE!!! Staff is amazing and super informative! I read some reviews and was a little «iffy» but when I got there, I couldn’t be happier and my children loved it! I saw a lot of the parents on cell phones and laptops. Each parent signs a waiver stating they are responsible for their children.
Parents who bring outside food or beverages… You are all told at the door just like i am «NO OUTSIDE FOOD OR BEVERAGES» but for some reason, they still bring in the food. I saw the staff enforcing the rules but as soon as the staff walked away, the patrons would ignore them and pull the food back out. My child is allergic to nuts and dairy and to see parents not even care is super shameful.
This place has been open for 6 years and they don’t seem to be going anywhere and i hope they don’t!!!

Awful experience — untrained staff
We arrived with an hour left (btw they charge full price) why not give a next day only pass and still charge full price —? Probably would prevent patrons from turnin away as lossed business) after all the goal is to drive business not deter it… but don’t suggest that because they will look at you look you have 3 heads. So after unloading and committing and paying we get inside and notice how hot it is in there. We saw an older couple complaining but without any success. We saw the lady walk over to the thermostat and thought they might have turned it on. So we went to investigate and she turned it off !! It was off and the inside temp was 80 degrees! It was 95 outside! It got even hotter and we asked that they turn it on and they said «this is what we do in the last hour». What ??? Gets better … They start vacuuming –can even hear my kids we have a infant and 2 young boys under 3 scorched and mind you we are now only 15 min in!!! Asked for our money back and they refused … Asked for the manager and owners number. They said they didn’t have it… Twilight zone stuff here — disconnected owners untrained staff quite a shame and I’d be suprised if they last another year — stay away !! I saw another post that puts my complaint to shame regarding how the staff along with some nasty moms handled a child with autism — truly shameful —
NOT ACCEPTING OF CHILDREN WITH SPECIAL NEEDS
I have a five-​year-​old son with autism, and we had a terrible experience today at the TreeHouse. The facility was quite full today, and that meant that, as is typical with children, there is a lot of little pushing and jostling for position on the equipment. My son does not always understand the social intent of such contact, and he will usually push back. Not in a hurtful or forceful way, and certainly not hard enough to injure anyone, but he doesn’t understand why he is being jostled. Today a group of mothers decided to follow my son around and scream at him whenever he had such interactions with other children. When I apologized and informed them of his disability they said «we all have our excuses.» When I informed the manager of the mothers’ bullying behavior, I was offered a pair of socks so that I could take my son and leave. Not a word was said to the bullying mothers. The manager and these mothers were all aware of my son’s autism, and they showed no mercy or understanding. We will not be returning to this facility. I will be telling all of my friends in the autism community to avoid this business.

This was our first time visiting The Tree House and our last. I was extremely disappointed. My daughter is one and my son is 2 ½. The admission price is way too high. The very small area meant for kids under two was constantly taken over by bigger kids. There must not be a max capacity, it was packed and warm in there. Parents just let their kids run wild. My son (and I) were trampled trying to play in the bigger area. There is no employees in the actual «tree house climber» to watch, which would be nice since parents didn’t seem to. The food was just ok at best. It is also overpriced. You pay $ 3 for four tiny corn dogs (one can be eaten in a bite) with no side or drink. We waited for some time for our food, all of which came out at different times and mine was wrong. I would not recommend.

Great place to spend a day with the kids! Actually caters to the adults just as much, excellent coffee, no TV’s, great food and the staff is absolutely the BEST!

I may have come here on a bad day when every person who bought a groupon decided to go on the same day. I had heard this place was amazing where parents can relax a bit instead of chasing children around (making sure they are okay) or are engaged enough. I found it to be the exact opposite.
A few things of note:
–got there 10 min after opening (there was a LINE) coming out of the door and partially into the parking lot. I figure this was because of the Groupon so its not something the owners could control.
–The place is pretty large with a smaller enclosed section for babies/​crawlers/​toddlers. I have a 20 month and smaller 4 year old. My 20 month old could only be in the toddler area (or in the seating area with me) while my 4 year old climbed the main structures. My 4 year old got stuck a few times, not being able to climb from a lower platform to a higher one or get down from a higher platform to a lower one. So if you have two kiddies in these age ranges… might be difficult to keep an eye on both of them unless you have help.
–There were many older kids who were running and zipping around so it was more a place for 4+ year olds. On a quiet, middle of the week kind of day, i’d say it would be a great place to take younger kids. On a Saturday, it was madness. Chaos.
–Get in the food line early. I ordered early (food took a decent time to come out). My kids were pretty hungry and starting to get irritable. After I ordered, I saw a tremendous line waiting to order. Although staff looked like they were trying hard to keep up, it wasn’t cutting it. Again, perhaps Saturdays or known busier times would benefit from a few extra staff members.
–The last thing I mention was something that put me off completely. I was sitting at a table with a few other parents. We had all purchased multiple food items for ourselves and our kids. There were 3 «number» signs on our tables denoting we were waiting for our food to come out. While grabbing my diaper bag and trying to get wipes to clean my children’s hands, I had a bag of goldfish and offered it to my friends as we were waiting. Nobody was interested but the closed bag was on the table while I was getting some other things when an older lady came by and said loudly «NO OUTSIDE FOOD» and walked away. I found this to be extremely rude in her delivery. I understand if there was a policy in place but to speak to a patron who has already purchased food from their establishment… I just think she could have been a bit nicer about it.
Great potential for this place. But i won’t be back. It was too chaotic with either rude or indifferent staff.

My kids are 2 and 3.5. We got there at opening and that was a great idea. Even though it was a week day there seemed to be a bunch of school aged children running around as well. I would love to see some «life guard» type workers monitoring the playground a little more. Its a fun place to run and play but its hard for 1 mom to chase 1 this way and another that way. After a while it got too busy with bigger kids and we left.

This place is about the only option for suburbanites to take their wee ones during the wintertime. They have pretty ample seating and a decent menu.
Two things though:
It might be a good idea to turn one of the party areas into a play space for 2 – 3 yr. olds, since they are strictly forbidden from the baby area and the rest of the play area is a bit too challenging for that age group. They can’t make it up platforms and the slide is brutal, it seems the angle is poorly designed and every time a kid comes out they seem to be rubbing their heard from where they smacked it on a turn. Plus, the older kids barrel right into the 2 – 3 yr. olds! That age group has little to no luck with this place.
Also, while the staff are constantly wiping down the tables, etc., I’ve never seen anyone actually checking the treehouse structure for messes, let alone cleaning/​sanitizing it. Kids are asked to use hand sanitizer upon entering the facility, but once they’re in, air-​borne germs are let loose in abundance. I’d say 4 out of the last 5 times we’ve been there, both of my children have gotten sick. I’d really like to see more of an effort in cleaning the inside of the play area. It becomes quite a Petri dish just in a single 2 hour visit.

They are the only place that I can take my child that doesn’t have weird hours or far away.
They are a bit over priced for admission and their food is poor quality. I like that they serve only healthy foods but, it’s poorly prepared. And the staff is ok they could be friendlier.

For the most part — we like this place. The price is a little high, but in 2014 they ran a GroupOn that totally made it worth it. I love that the tree-​house is big enough and sturdy enough for parents to go up into, since my lil guy (18 months) is too small to navigate the areas himself. I also think the «lounge» area and the cafeteria set up are pretty nicely done. They have comfy chairs you can sit in (if you’re lucky enough to have a child who does not need constant monitoring) and tables/​chairs for dining at. They have a decent snack selection for parents and kids, alike.
My two biggest complaints are:
1) Every time I’ve been there, there’s only been 1 person working the snack bar. This usually ends up meaning extremely LONG and slow moving lines (with a hungry toddler) during the normal lunch hours.
2) The lack of adult supervision for a majority of the kids running around in this place. As another reviewer mentioned, many of the parents simply get comfy in their lounge chairs with either their laptop, phone, or chatting with another parent and let their children run around wild. Every time we’ve been here (3 and counting) my toddler has been pushed down, knocked down or otherwise ran over by an older child. (one time resulting in a busted and bloody lip.) Kids will be kids. I get this. They are there to run around. I get that, too. But, I don’t think it’s fair to say that just because they’re older and faster they can bull-​doze over the smaller kids. And if accidents happen, that’s fine — but in all 3 cases no child has ever apologized to me or my son for knocking him over, nor have their parent acknowledged the accident or bothered to ask if my son is ok. The sheer disrespect for other patrons is bothersome.
Otherwise, like I said — we like the place.

Our 2 ½ year old daughter had a great time here. A word of caution though, my husband hurt himself badly while taking her down the fast tunnel slide. The girl at the front didn’t seem the slightest bit concerned about the safety of the slide and just made him an icepack. His foot got caught during the turn and he is still having trouble walking on it after over a week and two trips to the doctor. Needless to say, as much as our daughter loved this place, I don’t think we will be coming back due to their lack of regard to investigate the matter or safety of the slide. I’m just glad that our daughter didn’t get hurt. Food was great and before the accident, we had a lot of fun.

This place gets a thumbs up from me.
The cost is $ 10.50 a child, which may deter some but I think it’s fair for hours of play.
I arrived on a Friday (over Holiday break when the schools are closed) at around noon. It’s a work day for me, but my wife is ill so this was the best bet to keep my 4hr old entertained while I sit in a corner working. Thankfully I did’t need to be on the phone as that would be impossible considering this place can be loud. That place was so busy we had about a 15 minute wait to get in.
What I like about the Treehouse is they have a fair selection of food, plus comfortable seating for the parents. I also think they keep it pretty clean. There is a local trampoline place right next to our house, but they have virtually no food and the only seating is plastic chairs and tables which doesn’t promote my wanting to spend a lot of time there. Probably good as that place charges by the hour.
With a 30 minute drive I had planned on being here a while. We are closing in on 3 hours and will probably leave by the 4hr mark. I spent about $ 12 on food (Grilled Cheese plus Hotdog and fruit/​cheese/​snack platter for my indecisive little one) which will put me at under $ 25 for the day which I think is reasonable.
As of 3pm the place is clearing out a bit, with around 30 – 40 kids remaining. My 4hr old has had several hours of fun and I was able to get some work done.

Beware — this place is 10.50 a child and about 4x the size of a McDonald’s play place… Not worth it for our family. At least it was clean. I would hit up enchanted castle or chuckecheese.

This place is great for stay at home moms/​dads who need to take a break from the housework. I came here on a Wednesday afternoon and there were a lot of kids here. This place opens late on Wednesday. Its not that far from home. Price of admission is pretty pricey. I like that they have leather couches for the parents. They have an affordable expresso bar where they serve gourmet sandwiches, salads and of course drinks and coffee.
I found our new place where my kids can run around and tire themselves out. Kids ages 1 – 16 are allowed here. I love it. I just wish they were opened longer than 5 and 7:30pm. Everyone has to wear socks in the play area including parents. I will be having my next birthday party here for my kids!!!

I don’t know who was more excited about this place… me our my 9 ½ month old daughter!!! I came here with, as my hubby calls us, my «clique», aka: playgroup on a Monday late afternoon (11:30). Surprisingly there were quite a few kids there… and some older kids! I’m not sure if they didnt have school or what was going on, but I also believe there was a birthday party happening as well!
Children under 1 are free (woohoo! Two more months to take advantage of that!) and over 1 is $ 10…pricey? absolutely, so I we’ll talk after my baby girl turns 1! The play area is literally a treehouse! They have a nice sectioned off area to the side for 24 months and under… we’ve visited a lot of play places, and this by far is the best baby/​toddler area. They have a little slide and «log» plush climbing area, plenty of plush toys and just plushness all around! LOVED it!
There are plenty of tables and comfy couches for parents to sit and hang out while their kids play as well! You cannot bring food in, but they do have a nice selection of goodies for a good price (a bag of grapes for $ 1, etc).
I can imagine how crazy it gets in the afternoon or on the weekends, but I definitely suggest going during the week mid to late morning!!!
We will surely be putting this place into our playgroup rotation!!!

The price is right, the place is loud and there is ample seating for the audience of adults to countdown the minutes until his or her child is finally worn out (but it will never happen).
We explored the Treehouse as a possible birthday party option for our soon-​to-​be 3 year old.
He’s at an odd age where the infant section is too small for him and the tree house was too rowdy with bigger kids without manners or patience. He still found ways to enjoy himself, while doing everything he could to avoid the «scary slides.» Ha.
I wish that they would staff an adult IN the tree house to keep kids from pushing each other down, especially the little kids. Instead, at times it felt like a living scene from Lord of the Flies.
It’s not too expensive and there were a variety of tasty food options (there is a $ minimum to spend if you use a debit/​credit card, FYI).
We’ll go back but hopefully at a time that’s a little less chaotic.

This place is obviously joyous for the kiddies. With thy said, it’s pretty comfortable for the adults as well. Leather recliners. Leather sofas. Coffee tables and free wifi.
Place also comes with its own kitchen so food and beverages are also available. (No outside food and drinks allowed). Reasonable prices on food as well. Party packages available with party sections.
For those that have someone to wait while the kids play, there is a well known bar down the street that rhymes with «Shashers» Haha.

We love the treehouse, its a fantastic place to bring the kids and relax. There’s comfortable couches for the parents, lots and lots of table and chairs, and even a small book area with magazines and small children’s books.
There’s a large indoor jungle gym for the children and a small locked area for smaller children (nobody can enter without a parent to open the lock which is great).
We went on a Saturday and was able to score a couch. There were 2 birthday parties going on so it was a bit busy but we expected it to be since it was a weekend.
We ordered some food, so much better than what I expected. Everything we had was great! My friends’ had the BLT (one in a wrap and one with wheat bread) and both said it was good. I had the bacon, turkey, ham sandwich on sourdough and I was pleasantly surprised with how crusty the sandwich was, yum. The children’s hot dog was also made well and the kids’ loved their lunch.
Entrance is $ 10.50 per child but parent’s get in for free. It is a bit pricey but you get unlimited time at an awesome place that children will enjoy.

What a fun place. I seriously had just as much fun as the kids did (2 and 4). At first I figured this was going to be some kind of jungle gym only they were going to be messing around in, but the place is built so that adults can crawl around with their kids (in some areas you need to have good knees if you’re going to crawl through plastic tubes) but the point is that you CAN and it’s a reminder that you don’t have to be a grown up all the time.
Now there’s comfy chairs and sofas facing the treehouse, an espresso bar with snacks and wifi and even a book/​magazine rack for when the kids need time outside of the big gym or for adults. The bathrooms are very clean and the women’s bathroom has a very well done painting of a fairy and other girly magical things.
There are some tall slides next to each other that are fun for both the kids and adults and for the four year old I was with we were able to go down together the first couple times with her in my lap since she was a little nervous. Everything is pretty easy to navigate through and I can’t say I had a specific favorite area. Just listen to me it was like the trip was for myself!
I was a sweaty mess and joined the two year old in the toddler area which has a gate around it where there were balls, a smaller set of slides and lots of soft blocks to sit on or play with. Overall it was a blast and a great place to take pictures of the experience. The colors are engaging as well as the gym setup itself. I would love to go back with the kids and I believe there’s a groupon going on right now that’s worth taking advantage of for rainy days.
Even if you live in the city it’s worth the trip out here to spend time with your kids or let them have at it while you relax a bit.