Planet Kid

Oh Planet Kid. I love it and I hate it at the same time. I love it when we go and it's not crowded and it's clean and the kids have fun and they don't get sick a few days later. I hate it when it's crowded and dirty and the girl is trying to get away from the boy and the boy is crying and the baby gets sick a few days later.

This last trip, however, was very fun. After frequenting Planet Kid for the past 6 years with the girl, I definitely have some advice about going there. If you don't know what Planet Kid is let me explain. Picture the Carl's Jr playground on Eagle Rd and multiply that by two minus the fries and the shake. Does that help?

My kids love this place. I love it because there's an area designated for kids under age 2 where I take the baby and give anybody above the age of 2 a dirty look until they leave. There's a ball pit, lots of things to climb, slides, and tunnels.

Price of admission is kind of steep. Ages 1-3 is $4.50 and ages 4-12 is $7.75. They have daily specials and hours of operation on their website. Planet Kid.

The trick about going when it's not busy is to get there after 5:00 on a weekday. Planet Kid is located in the Wings Center which is a day care facility among other things. They bring their classes into Planet Kid and let about 30 kids run wild while you're trying to figure out what just happened. If you go after 5 pm, you can avoid that. Also, PK is popular for birthday parties so avoid PK on Friday nights and weekends. During the school year you can go any time of the day without lots of older kids running around. However, make sure you check the school calendar (links for schools on the right) because sometimes it will be Teacher Inservice that day and you will be sorry. I'm speaking from personal experience.

The other thing you want to do is to make sure you're children have socks on their feet or they won't be allowed in. I also dress my kids in pants to avoid any scraped knees.

As your child's parent, you might just want to be cool and climb around with them. If you do, bring knee pads and you'll be a lot more comfortable. Don't be embarrassed. I've seen parents who do this. If you're not going to be playing, bring a magazine, book, or your laptop. They have free (I think it's free) wireless internet there.

Last of all, we always wash our hands right before we leave this place. Love that smell of soap on my hands. Makes me feel clean. Now if I could just get the boy not to touch anything right after he's washes his hands I'd be happy.

***Three out of Four. If they lowered the price of admission and vacuumed obsessively, it'd be a four.