Wiggleworks

As previously stated, the kids and I have been exploring some new kid-friendly activities.  There seems to be a flood of new things in the area.  Today after fueling up on some Starbucks, we headed over to Bellevue to Crossroads Mall to Wiggleworks.

While still pretty sad, Crossroads is not nearly as depressing as Factoria.  I read about Wiggleworks in some of the local parent magazines. Yelp had a lot of good reviews and also provided some insights that really informed my trip.

Wiggleworks is an indoor playspace for the under 48 inch set.  It is pretty at pricey at $10 for the first kid and $8 for siblings.   However, you pay for the whole day.  You can play, leave, and comeback.  This sounds like a great way to break up a shopping trip with kids.  The downside is that they get really busy and you can't make a reservation.  Yelp reviews talked about incredibly long waitlists on the weekend. 

A Friday morning seemed like a good time to check it out.  We got there close to opening so it wasn't too crowded, but quickly filled.  The place is set up nicely for the mom set.  There is stroller parking.  The outside of the play area is lined with counters and stools for supervising children/sipping lattes/looking at your phone.  From where I sat, I could easily see the kids at all times and they could find me. 

The color palette is obnoxious but otherwise it is a great space and I haven't seen anything like it before.  There are several slowly motorized structures as well as a small slide bouncy house (but one that is designed so the kids don't bounce out.  The kids LOVED it! They squealed with delight for the full hour and a half we were there.  I had to drag them out of there.

The balloon room was a favorite.

I met some lovely moms while I was there.  When we left the staff reminded me to call about the waiting list if we planned to return, which seemed like a bit of an ominous warning.  Linus would like to go back tomorrow.  The place exhausted him and he took a hearty nap this afternoon.  At $19 including tax, it's not going to be one of our regular destinations but we can definitely add it to the list of options.