Location http://www.hidenseekcalgary.com/hnscalgary/
Address: #18 49 Aero Drive NE
Gordie’s Review (7 years old) – “I liked all the slides!”
Nicky’s Review (4.5 years old)– “Let’s go there again!”.
Robbie’s Review (2 years old) – “monkey!”
Cost: Mon-Thurs 1-3 years $6.95, 4+ $12.95, Fri-Sat & Holidays 1-3 years $9.95, 4 years and older $14.95. Weekday multi passes available.
Age Range: 14 and under
Footwear: Socks. Available for purchase
Safety Features/Concerns: Families are stamped with matching numbers after check-in. Numbers are checked by staff at the gate on exit.
Play Area Features: Huge climber with tons of slides and features like trampolines, ball pit, bumpers, ball blaster and spider web. Two toddler areas. Several redemption games and token operated rides.
Additional Services: Birthday parties.
Food Services: Full service cafe with lots of options including sandwiches, wraps, pizza, hot dogs, wraps, paninis.
Overall Assessment:
On your first visit to Hide N Seek, you need to register yourself and your children at a computer at the front. My husband and I took our three kids (almost 2, 4 and 7 years) to check it out on a Saturday a couple weeks after they opened. It is pretty awesome and we all had a great time.
Toddler Areas
There are two toddler areas but we didn’t spent too much time in them as my bigger kids are too big and my youngest spent most of his time climbing through the big climber with his dad.
The Toddler Zone is set back a bit from the big climber making it a little quieter for little kids. It’s also attached to one of the party rooms.
The Block Room toddler area is nearby and right across from the large climbing structure.
Robbie enjoyed playing in the ball pit and going down the double slide all by himself.
The Block Room is a the back of the picture below. Because of the way they set up the space, I never saw any big kids wandering through the toddler areas.
The large climber is really big so if you have younger kids who don’t want to stay together or you aren’t interested in climbing around with them you might find it challenging.
My 4 and 7 year old first went around happily together. Towards the end of our visit they were both able to navigate the climber by themselves too.
The climber has some pretty cool features like this spider web where kids can slip down through the web.
And this neat slide.
There are lots of other kinds of tunnels and slides. It is also generally comfortable for adults to navigate too.
The ball pit was loved by all of my kids. They have some games you can play up high by throwing the balls as well as a tube that can suck balls up to a basket at the top – when you push the button they come crashing down.
Part of the climber runs over top of the seating. There you can find the ball blasters.
Zip-line balls.
And these trampolines.
The Cafe is across from the large climber and has a fair amount of space to sit in sight of the climber. There isn’t a ton of seats where you can have a great view of your kids playing, but they do have a closed circuit TV.
There is also some additional seating on the other side by the party rooms and redemption games.
We bought a few tokens at the end of our visit. My big kids enjoyed playing the games and my littlest really liked the rides. If you have older kids it will probably help keep them interested a bit longer but they aren’t super obtrusive if you don’t want to spent the money.
All in all, our whole family had a great time and I’m sure we will be back again.
We loved Hide and Seek. It should also be noted that they do have a great special needs discount of 20% off for the whole family if you bring a special needs child!
We visited this place today. It is pretty awesome! Although I would say that it’s almost too big. It offers lots to do, but my kids kept freaking out because they couldn’t find me (they would get lost a lot) and they are 6.5 and almost 5. I didn’t like the big climbing wall/slide, there were a few occasions my daughter was trying to climb it and another kid would be grabbing onto the rope which was causing her to slip in which case a few times I had to go rescue her (as she’s screaming, lol). I can’t see that part of the place being open for long, it seems super dangerous to me. But overall it’s a fun place. Just TOO big for us.
I can’t see that playground open for too long… They better shut it down! Serious accidents are yet to come!.. Remember my words….
I agree with you Amanda, it’s a fun big place. Older kids enjoy it though because they could be gone forever and not come looking for their parents.
We think the slides were cool!
Great place.
Who approved the opening of this place??? It’s a disaster!… The parking is on the cliff, had to walk miles after you park the car, as the parking itself is so small, the safety is SO poor, the kids run like crazy, some stumble and bump into each other, the toddler area is SO freaking small, the ball pit is always full of big kids, they don’t bother to check the ink number to make sure you are going out with YOUR child…
I was impressed with this centre (with a few reservations). My kids are 6 & 8 and absolutely LOVED Hide ‘n Seek. Our kids who are usually ready to leave a play centre after about an hour were still playing hard after a four hour visit. We were there with friends of the same age on an incredibly busy Sunday afternoon and the kids had a blast but we definitely noticed there was a lack of monitoring by staff and other parents of children. Many kids were running around without socks, signs with suggested ages on structures were largely ignored by parents and kids which left me with safety concerns which weren’t enforced by staff on-site even after we verbally requested help.
Getting into the facility was a nightmare. The one-time registration system seems great until they require everyone to fill it out on limited computers on a very busy day. Just getting into the facility took our family twenty minutes. I would definitely suggest that they make registrations available online as it would save a ton of time on busy days.
We sat in front of the steel slide and several times observed “big kids” finding great joy in shaking the little kids off of the ropes heading up to the tall steel slide, we were also concerned that the climbing ropes weren’t tethered to anything and several times my girlfriend and I worried that a tumbling child would get wrapped up in the rope and be unreachable by an adult for help and/or get trampled by other climbing children. We also found that the CCTV showed views of the seating areas (which we were in already) more often than any of the play structure and the play structure views were obscured most of the time.
No question, Hide ‘n Seek is fun and a great alternative for bigger kids. Once we understood the lay of the land we had a fabulous time. I still have a few safety concerns but overall we loved our visit and will definitely be back again.
We have been to this place a dozen times since it opened and there’s some consistencies. One is that the kids have a great time, no matter the age. The second is that security is almost non-existent. I have literally walked out TWICE, children in tow, without staff even noticing- an experience I have never had at any of the other indoor playgrounds. Smililariy, staff is rarely anywhere but behind the counter so rules or cleanliness is not really looked after. The last time we were there, there was more bathroom stalls out of order than working, the garbage was overflowing and the floor was flooding (and we’re all wearing socks- yuck). Third is that the food is not good and very expensive.
So- is this place fun? Absolutely. Is it very poorly managed? Definitely. Dangerous? Indeed. If you go with those expectations and treat it like you would an unstaffed outdoor playground, with horrible parking, then you’re good to go.
Hide n Seek lives up to its name: because once your kids run off to play good luck keeping an eye on them. The place would be good for older kids who you don’t mind disappearing or getting trampled, but for my younger ones there are far too many areas with fully obstructed views and multiple exit points. There is no vantage point where it is possible to keep an eye on your kids without follwing them the entire time.
They also need to replenish their balls. When I was there today the shooting gallery had maybe a dozen balls total in it, and the ball pits were lucky to have enough to form a single layer on the floor.
For older kids it would be perfect as there is a lot of room to run and work out their energy, and won’t get upset when they cant find you, but under 7 I feel there are better playgrounds elsewhere in Calgary.
All of the above comments about Hide n Seek being an inappropriate playground for children under the age of 10 or so (ours are 2 and 8) are exactly correct (I wish I would have read those comments posted here before deciding to try out this playground). Hide n Seek is a very dangerous indoor playground as the facility is not designed with the safety of younger kids in mind. Combined with a lack of proper or frequent supervision by staff makes the risk level even higher. As most parents do not try to supervise their own children, all play area are mostly out of control with a lot of kids running full speed and screaming in all directions. This alone creates accidents looking for a place to happen. Both of our children were hurt within an hour by other kids running, pushing, punching, grabbing and bullying other kids. I don’t think it is right for fair play, safety conscious parents to have to try to supervise other people’s kids who are acting dangerously or completely out of control with no regard or respect for other kids or rules…and with parents who don’t really care. It always amazes me when these so called parents bring their children to these playgrounds and just let them loose and totally ignore their behavior and disregard for any rules. As a result, most kids at these facilities have no idea how to play or interact with others. At Hide n Seek, toddler areas are separate from the main high energy zones which should be a good thing however big kids play in these toddler areas too due to a total lack of any supervision therefore they are dangerous areas for little ones to play in as well. By far, Hide n Seek was the worst designed and managed indoor playground I have visited if the safety and well being of your children are important to you. As commented by others, it is almost impossible to keep track of where your older children are playing and difficult for an adult to climb through the structures to find them if necessary. There are no observation areas and no closed TV monitors to watch what is going on in hidden areas within higher play structures. The playground is big and varied which should make the facility attractive and fun for longer periods but the safety, supervision and design issues totally negate the size factor. The cost of entry and for food and drink is typical of most indoor playgrounds meaning it’s cheaper to take your kids to other fast food outlets after you leave the facility. I would not recommend Hide n Seek at all to spend your hard earned money at. It might be ok if you go on a very quiet time of day and week when the place is very empty and possibly a better chance for younger kids to play safely.Good luck if you do decide to go…you will need it.
Dissapointed with the cafeteria. All the candy is on display for easy access for the children. And all the healthy food is behind glass.
Isn’t it common sense to teach children to eat healthy rather than junk food? Kid friendly places like this should know this rule. Please hide all your candy and junk food behind the counter so the parents can have access to it, NOT the children’s free hand.
Also I have asked today for a decaf latte. A male was serving me and gave me a caffeinated latte.
Please remind your employees to listen to customers request.
Other than that. I absolutely LOVE this place, it’s size, and what it offers the children play wise. It’s my 4 and 2 years olds favourite indoor playground in Calgary. They’ve never gotten bored of it.
Yes, I strognly agree! Hide the food behind
the glass counter.
Their cafeteria has easy access for kids, candies, chips and ice cream are on display which is BAD because it tempts the kids!!!
This is a place where the kids come to play NOT eat candy ! Hide all the junk food so parents can decide what their kids eat.
A little more recent review –
-The parking is fine. Limited out front, ample out back but you’ll be walking a bit. No worse than any of the malls around. I’ll definitely live with it for the location rather than going deep into the urban jungle!!
-The computers to sign up at are indeed a bit of a nightmare. We usually just ended up waiting at the counter then having a staff member walk us through – though that’s SUPER fun with kids dying to get inside to play.
-The arcade is now done with cards, similar to Xcape at Cineplex – load ‘tokens’ on to swipe the card to play the games, swipe the card to collect your ‘tickets’ and redeem later for cheap plastic trash. I dislike arcades but they do have an assortment of age ranges they appeal to.
-The toddler area had the basic equipment but nothing else. The wall pictured here with gears, is just a plain wall that looks like it’s missing toys. The ‘block room’ was more of just an additional toddler area, with its own ball pit so smaller ones can have their play without being trampled by bigger kids.
-Balls have been replenished, upstairs and downstairs.
-A lot of the unique little additions I see pictured are gone, but the large structure remains pretty much the same, save for the big circus tent looking climber and slide. The ropes were secure, the slide mated to the ‘tent’ so no one can run under it.
-Staff is still nonexistent except at the counters, though I’m honestly surprised at the other commenters, I never expect them to be supervising inside the structures.
-Food is still the same. Some nice offerings to have more of a meal than just junk, but the candy is all in reach of little hands.
Forgot to add to previous comment – the entrance IS gated and locked, and staff has checked numbers for each parent and child that I’ve gone with each time prior to opening the gate for us to leave.