I have been putting off visiting The Adventure Zone for a few years until I felt okay leaving Mason in a play structure where I had limited visibility. Not to mention that Granville Island is not the greatest place to visit during the weekend. Parking was non existent (3 hrs free) and I refuse to pay for parking. I think I spent about $10.00 in gas before I found a free 20 min spot so I can could return a product I bought at Camelot Kids. First off, I need to give huge kudo's to this store for having a very very flexible return policy. I bought a head rest for Mason back in July for our trip to Edmonton, and it wasn't what I needed. So I contacted them via FB and told them I was out of town for a while and wasn't able to rush back to do the return. They said, no problem. Just keep the original packaging and receipt. Finally 2 months later we head to GI and no hassle. They have some great items. Check them out. http://www.camelotkids.com/
So now that the return was done, I headed back to the car to leave and what luck, we found a parking spot on the way out. So back into GI we went. First stop to the Market to get some food. We splurged on a cheese pizza at Pizza Pzazz ($4.50 for a slice but it was amazing, pizza dough was so fluffy). I opted for a curry wrap at Curry2U which was about $7.50. There is limited seating so we sat outside and were amused by the seagulls, pigeons and unrecognizable birds waiting for us to drop a scrap. All of a sudden we heard a commotion, I guess someone stepped away from their plate of fish & chips and about 15 birds attacked it. As we left the area, a guy watching the water called us back to watch an otter near the boats. Pretty cool! For dessert, I opted to use a gift card I had for Terra Breads. I chose a ginger cookie (super moist) and a gluten free chocolate c0c0nut macaroon which was utterly delicious and also moist. For being GF, I was uber impressed. Good thing I had that card because both combined were over $4.00
Now it was time for Mason to play so we headed over to the Market, Mason went through the kids door and we headed up the stairs. I've lived in Vancouver since 2002 and I had no idea there were stores on the second floor lol.
We headed over to the Adventure Zone as I asked a zillion questions.
1) How much does it cost? $10.49 including tax for 'all day play' Which really means up to 3 hrs (as parking will allow)
2) Is there an exit on the bottom floor. No, the entrance and exit are on the second floor
3) How do I register my kid? (Mason's shoes go into a #'d bucket. A numbered ticket is attached to your receipt which you need to pick up your child)
4) If there is an emergency do I leave my name or cell #. (Nope)
Once Mason went through the gate, I followed the structure and there was quite a bit of visibility. There is a ball pit on the lower floor which has a mesh net wall so I could talk to Mason when I needed to. His favorite parts were the ball pit and one of those projector bug smack the floor games. I felt a bit weird leaving him in the space and me wandering around but I guess it's not much different than Smal land at Ikea although there isn't as much supervision. There was one guy at the front desk and another going through the adventure zone with disinfectant wiping down the surfaces (love that!). At one point I saw Mason and a little dude going in the same direction and smacked into one another. I raced upstairs to check on him but by the time I got to the main gate he had already informed the staff he had an owie and was back playing.
I wandered a bit checking out the stores. I bought a Hatley jacket for Mason at Little Treasures:
Then sat down to enjoy a highly overpriced large (only one size) Bubble Tea ($5.49). I brought our tablet but was dismayed to find that there was no unlocked wifi despite two of the vendors having wifi through their business. I asked Adventure Zone for the code and he said they didn't know it.
The Cafe had quite a range of food and had I known it was there, I would have settled for a veggie dog for Mason which was a bit cheaper at $3.50.
Mason was done running around by about 45 mins (surprising he wanted to leave) but it's not as big as Go Banana's or the other commercial play areas.
Overall I think it's a great idea for parents who need a bit of a break, know their kids are safe and can wander the inside building and check out the toy stores.
For pictures and more info:
http://www.theadventurezone.ca/