Inside Playground

This is an Ok place. I had a membership but did not renew it. After a few visits the kids just get bored of the toys. It can get really crowded sometimes and they do close earlier a lot! I never had issues with the staff, they were really nice.

I’ve been going to Inside Playground with my daughter for over a year and we both love it. She has plenty of space to run around and a variety of toys and structures to play on. Recently, they just replaced the majority of the toys/​puzzles in the toddler area and moved the storage cubbies to the opposite wall so that they could build a sitting area for adults that faces the area where kids play on structures. I like that this provides a sturdier barrier between the play area and the food area. Considering the volume of kids that can sometimes be present, I think they make a reasonable effort at keeping things clean. And I think that they are definitely trying to keep making improvements. Yay Inside Playground!

If you are a parent feeling like you’re on the brink of losing it, head over to Inside Playground to guarantee your marbles are lost entirely as Alvin and the Chipmunk’s rendition of Destiny’s Child «I’m a Survivor» plays overhead. Kidding aside, the place is okay. Just okay. If your desperate to get out of the house and burn off some energy on a frigid New England day, it’ll do the trick. But the toys are kinda worn and beat, and the place doesn’t strike me as particularly clean. So you might leave with tired kids, along with some bacteria, but hey that’s the price you pay. Speaking of prices, $ 12 per kid (babies under 8 mo are free as is one adult) gets you in for the day, not that anyone could survive a full day in a place like this. There are some picnic tables inside where you can break for a snack (pack your own, but they do have a vending machine), and the play area offers a few inflatable climbing/​bounce house type things, ride on toys, etc.

I have mixed feelings about this place. The positives are the free parking, the price ($ 12 for one child unlimited time), the ability to play indoors during cold days and bad weather days, and overall it’s got a decent amount of things to do and play. The kindergartener I nanny loved it — she loved the pirate ship, bouncy slides, and play pretend food.
The negatives. Well it’s sort of sketchy. It’s basically a back alley to get to, but I get it– big spaces, old warehouse. No big deal. It’s a little grimy. Like I will disinfect both of us when we leave because I’d prefer not to bring any of these germs home with us. I will be burning my socks as well. The front part where you can eat has a couple tables but needs more. There are only 5. Being here on a weekday afternoon i can only imagine trying to sit down and have a snack or lunch on a weekend or holiday. The worst part of our visit was partially my fault. I forgot the «no food and drink past this point sign» and I grabbed my water bottle out of my purse to take a drink of water while in the toddler play area. The owner (presumably) made a beeline for me, pointed her finger in my face and very rudely pointed out that what I was doing wasn’t allowed. I apologized, as it was my fault for not remembering the rule, but really? «Miss i just want to remind you that food and beverages, even water, shouldn’t be consumed in the play area» would have been a polite and professional way to approach me, but I digress.
Don’t let your expectations get too high and you’ll have a good time. It’s a reasonably priced place and the kiddo seemed to enjoy it.

This place was the most horrible establishment I have ever been too… The place was dirty and trash was hidden behind a huge figure of a ice cream truck. The staff was very unprofessional and rude to say the least. There were sanitary issues! and a sign the that stated for the children to «PLAY AT OWN RISK» REALLY!!! This place is a joke!!! DON’T HAVE A PARTY HERE!!!

This place is so not worth the visit. The staff are rude and the place is filthy. So not worth the money for the price of admission; especially if you are planning a birthday party. They charge $ 15 per child, but they provide nothing but a separate room. You provide your own pizza, cake and will have to be your own party planner. You are pretty much responsible for everything on your own; you even have to do your own decorating! So honestly, what are you paying for? The only time the «party attendant» will show up, is when its time to clean up for the next group of unknowing party goers.
Trash is visible throughout the facility… I mean even before you come in there are bags of trash everywhere. Paint cans and cleaning supplies in the same area where public guest eat, and the children play. Don’t get me started on the terrible customer service. Everyone in this place needs customer service training.
If you are seriously looking for a place to take your children to have a fun safe and clean place to play. Don’t go to the Inside Playground.

I came here for a birthday party & was not impressed. Most of the toys look like they came from a garage sale with broken/​missing pieces. There was some duct tape. Cleanliness left a lot to be desired. There are a lot better indoor playgrounds in the area. Keep looking!

This place is awesome especially on a rainy day. Adults can play for free and the price for the kids is about $ 10. I did wish that there was some staff supervision for the kids with parents who like to sit on the side. Other than that super fun and lots to play with. Go on the moon tiger slide… weeeee!

This place is insanity… but does the trick for a rainy day or to blow off kid’s steam. The downfalls… not the cleanest, it is play at your own risk so parents who come just to let their kids run free are not usually watching kids do things they shouldn’t be, like climbing up the slides backwards, not sharing, or rough housing… and you see a lot of parents who pass out or pay no attention to the kids.
The place is huge and has so many fun toys and you don’t have to worry about the messes here or dealing with/​caring what the kids do with the toys.
The place doesn’t feel super clean, and kids put things in the mouth, etc… i would say it isn’t a really clean feeling place, but again… great amount of blow up toys and other toys… kids love it and it is cheap to get into.

I’ve been here a couple of times with my two year old. He absolutely loves it — no question about it. I would not leave him unsupervised or even turn around for a second because of some safety issues as mentioned in the other reviews. However, for the low admission price, I can’t complain THAT much. It’s a nice change of scenery for a rainy day, and the moms that I have met there were very nice. Staff could definitely work on being friendlier. And maybe the Christmas ornaments /​banner could be taken down since it is July?

It is a nice size, good parking, good selection of toys. Good for 5 and under. The bouncy house and obstacle course are great ideas but should involve some supervision. The woman and man employees that were here when we arrived were attentive, cleaning, and observing the goings on in their environment. The man who took the next shift (2pm)has yet to turn around, has been on Facebook and snacking the whole time. Not one thing was cleaned, or picked up. And yes as someone else said parents please watch your child, leave your laptop, iPad, newspaper, magazine at home! 4 stars for selection, parking, and my kid enjoys it. –1 for employees! –1 because they close early A LOT, so call before you go. They seem to decide they are bored because it got slow, and go home.

Great playspace to let the kids run around and get out of the house on a cold winter day. When I went they had one giant inflatable slide and an inflatable obstacle course. A big interactive screen that projects onto the floor for the kids to dance on. A giant wooden ship that kept my 2 year old busy for an hour. They also have lunch tables set up so you can stay and eat and there are snacks and drinks available for purchase. Tons of cars, climbers, toys, dolls, and different playing stations set up so that your kids can easily spend 3 hours here having fun. You definitely get you moneys worth. Check it out.

Spacious … so many games for toddlers and +3-​year old children with a very reasonable price. You could sit and eat out of the play area as well.

Love this place especially my daughter. Went there for the first time and found this place clean, spacious and lots of things for the kids to play with. There are 2 areas, 1 for bigger kids and 1 for infants/​toddlers. The foam matt on the ground was soft and cushioned. Lots of seating for parents inside the play area. Bathrooms were clean. Definitely a place to go during winter time.
*The young guy at the front can be a little bit nicer and welcoming.
MAKE SURE YOU CALL AHEAD OF TIME TO MAKE SURE THEY ARE OPEN BECAUSE ON THEIR WEBSITE, THEY STATED THAT THEY CAN OR WILL BE CLOSED WITHOUT ANY REASONS OR NOTICE.

I will never set a foot in this place again. I had an awful experience with my son’s birthday party and no one cared to bring the cake in. We had to do everything ourselves, despite that we paid for a party’s entertainer. They never apologized for messing it up and were so arrogant about it. I don’t recommend this place to anyone.

As I was there earlier today I decide to read some of the Unilocal reviews. As I was doing so the 4 year old I nanny for ran up to me yelling «Look what I found!» I thought it was a wad of stringy pink chewed bubble gum. Wrong, it was a popped balloon. I just kinda laughed and threw it out. Call me crazy but I’m pretty sure balloons like that can be dangerous to young kids. However I am not crazy or over protective or idealistic. Things happen, stuff gets looked over. Is this place immaculately clean? No, I wouldn’t expect it to be. Is it filthy? Certainly not.
But, could they afford (for what they’re charging) to have some toys there that don’t look like they came straight from the Goodwill? I’m sure.
It’s a decent sized open space with bouncy houses (always a hit) and a random assortment of toys with very little rhyme or reason to the placement of anything. Yes the floor is mostly concrete and yes your kids will be in close contact with plenty of other kids who may be rowdier than yours. Those are things you just need to be willing to accept if you go to a place like this.
I don’t LOVE going there but I don’t hate it. The girls I take care of have a blast (which is the most important thing, doesn’t matter if I enjoy it or not) and it’s a nice option to have when the weather isn’t great and it eventually tires them out enough for a good nap afterwards.

Sad to say, a very disgusting place. Don’t believe me? Check out the restrooms before you let your kids wander into there BAREFOOT or in SOCKS.
I’d honestly let my son lick lead paint and drink from the Charles River before I’d bring him back to this place.
I was actually there the same time Brian A. (a March 2014 reviewer) was there and witnessed him taking his photos. He is 100% accurate in his depiction.
I hate to give such a poor review, my first 1-​star on Unilocal.But it’s actually warranted in this case.

If I could give this place no stars, I would. I had multiple negative experiences here which led me to discontinue my membership. I was excited that it was less than 5 minutes from my house, but honestly, I should have done more research.
Firstly, I was told that my first purchase/​entrance into the play space would be used toward my membership. So, after spending about an hour playing with my daughter, I decided to join. However, after I registered for membership, I was told that I would be given an extra free month of membership upon the end of my first year of membership. I don’t know how that actually goes toward the membership that I just purchased?!!
As a daughter of a small business owner, I decided not to hold it against them. But, a series of other negative things happened which made me an angry customer at the end.
On a weeknight in September or October, around 6:30PM, I arrived to find the place closed with no sign or any notice on the door. I was very disappointed and was glad that I live relatively close by. Later on when I addressed this issue with one of the owners, she told me that I signed the contract which says they can close for any reason at any time. Firstly, I don’t recall reading anything about that, and the lady who signed me up did NOT mention this to me. If they close often, they should definitely make it a point at registration to let their customers know. What kind of business is this? Are we supposed to call ahead every time we want to come to check in if the place is open?
During the 1^st week of December, I brought my daughter again. I really regret going this day b/​c my daughter fell onto a broken toy and cut the bottom of her chin. It was a deep cut and blood was coming from it. I ran to the cashier, and she did not know where the first aid kit was. All that she could offer me was a baby wipe and a band aid. No Neosporin or hydrogen peroxide was offered to me. I was so upset and worried about infection b/​c, honestly, the Inside Playground is filthy. It didn’t bother me that the place is germ infested until my daughter got hurt. I prayed that the cut didn’t become infected. Luckily, the cut didn’t become infected, but it looked terrible. I got an earful from my husband and in-​laws. It took months to heal, but the worst part of all this is that my daughter now has a small scar/​raised tissue at the point of impact. It’s been very upsetting.
Since the accident, I haven’t gone back b/​c I was worried about her getting hurt there again. When the scar become noticeable, I decided to call the owner to see if I could be released from the membership considering the situation. I just didn’t want to go back there again and didn’t feel it right to be continually charged a monthly membership fee.
I explained to one of the owners what happened, along with various other disappointments that I’ve had with the place, and the owner Bella didn’t treat me like a valued customer at all. Instead of taking the feedback as a important lesson for her business, Bella just blamed me for not watching my daughter. I could have just stopped going there and not informed them about any of this. I felt like I was helping her business by talking to her. Bella said that my daughter could have gotten hurt at an outside playground. However, I told her that we don’t pay money to go to outside playgrounds. Bella talked to me in a very blaming tone. Her staff were not trained properly and didn’t know what to do. A customer is very unhappy. Good honest business people are concerned about people and not every last dollar, but no, Bella would not release me from the membership.
I was persistent b/​c I really didn’t feel that it was right what was happening to me. Over a course of two weeks, I was on the phone back and forth with Bella and her partner about cancelling my membership. I was continually put on the defensive about not watching my daughter. The accident happened right in front of me. I didn’t know the toy was broken. There was a crack in the toy, and my daughter fell on the toy. One of the edges from the crack dug into her flesh. That’s what happened. I wasn’t asking for a full refund. I was just asking to be released from the membership. I only went once in December and did not go at all during the months of January and February.
Finally, Bella said that they would «help me out» by only charging me $ 50 to be released from the membership. They said it was either $ 50 or the original $ 100 as stated on the contract. I was talked to like a child. I just can’t believe how money focused these women were considering how dissatisfied I was as a customer. They said they had to charge me the $ 50 b/​c someone has to actually put in the work time to cancel me from the membership. Just un_​_​_​_​en-​believable!
It wasn’t ideal, but I didn’t want to see the charge anymore on my credit card statements. I just wanted nothing to do with the place.

We went here for the first time today. At first we thought it was pretty cool, but the more we looked the worse it seemed.
Big problem areas for me:
— the cubbies where you store your shoes are stand alone shelves that form one wall of the play area. One good impact and it would topple.
— one of the big climbing /​slide toys had a badly broken floor that had been patched with duct tape. One step in the wrong spot and a little foot would go right through.
— any time the bathroom doors opened I gagged a bit.
— this is my favorite. One of the overhead florescent lights was falling from the ceiling, apparently only supported by the electrical wiring.
— many of the toys had broken parts, rough edges and other damage that could pose safety hazards.
Overall I feel like it wasn’t a clean or safe place to play.

Our 21-​month-​old daughter enjoys this place and mostly keeps busy in the toddler area (it is a separate room from the main gym floor so that the older kids can run around without disturbing the babies and toddlers). It is stocked with two mini shopping carts that they can push around and fill with fake plastic food; a nice little kitchen with a pretend stove, fridge, and oven; a dining table with cute animal chairs they can sit in; a little wooden slide (my daughter’s favorite thing to do there); a lego table with larger plastic blocks; a little plastic house; a bunch of large foam shapes they can use to build or crawl on; and so much more. In the larger open space there is a painted race track where kids can ride on all sorts of plastic cars or scooters. There is a large jumpy thing, plenty of chairs and benches for parents/​caretakers to sit in, and even a massage chair you can use.
They don’t allow food or water in the play areas but there are plenty of cubby holes to store your stuff. Tables and chairs for eating snacks and lunch. There are two bathrooms equipped with changing tables.
The staff have been friendly. We just went today (9.11.13) and it was super quiet despite the 90+ degree day outside. It’s always air conditioned (or so it seems) and nice to go during the day with young ones while the others are in school. It might seem a little steep to pay $ 10 for an adult and one child but you can save your receipt and come back later in the day if you need to go home for lunch or a nap, etc.
Getting there is a little weird because you go down a residential street (Parker Street, which is right off Mt. Auburn Street) and then it’s kind of tucked into this industrial looking area that might seem sketchy to some folks. It’s a great place for rainy or super hot days though.