Recess is about to commence in Ankeny

Recess is SO much more than an arcade. There are three huge inflatables for kids to run through and two different soft play areas, one geared for younger and one geared for older kids. They even have a stage and a dance area. This is a great place to take your kids to get them exercise and wear them out. This place also has a zoo in it with animal education and it is less expensive than going to the playground. I think once you see how well put together this place is you will agree that it blows Jumpin Jacks, The Playground, Pump it up, Chuck E Cheese and all the other local play areas out of the water. I can't believe that we have a place this cool in Ankeny!! It is amazing and unlike anything around, they even have a limo to take kids to the restaurant for their birthday!! I can't wait for this place to open!!

We just spent three hours at Recess and spent almost fifty dollars. To spend two hours playing on the inflatables and riding their two rides costs $10 per child. Plus if you have a child who could play in the toddler area and the regular area, you have to pay to be in both areas separately, which would be $15+. Most of the games they have don't even have lettering that is American, it is Asian. While we were there half of the games broke and ate our money. We ate lunch there which cost $20 for three people. They don't even have fruit or something remotely healthy as an option. (even McDonalds has that). It was fun for the kids those three hours, but definitely not worth the $50 I spent to keep them entertained.

I just went to Recess and it was so horrible. I would much rather go to Pump It Up where they have six huge inflatables compared to their three dinky ones. The Pump It Up staff is so helpfull, caring and all around a great group of people. My kids didn't have the huge grin on their faces like they did when they first saw Pump It Up, when they first walked in they said it is not going to be fun, boy were they right. Compared to Pump It Up, Recess is just another Jumpin' Jacks.

I tried Recess, it's funny the commercial did not show the arcade games and they kept flashing NO ADMISSION FEE..they obviously get people by false advertising, its a big arcade with games from China..thats funny! It is so expensive you pay for 2 places for $9.99, tons of age height restrictions. I take my kids to The Playground for Kids in Ankeny and it is $7 for ALL DAY, the kids can run around like kids and spend 5 minutes on one inflatable, go through their awesome tree structure and do what they like and not be held to minutes here and there for set time limits. If this Recess place lasts it will not be from me or any of my friends, we all agreed we will nto frequent this place. Believe me Jumping Jacks is much better than this place which doesn't say much. Pump it Up is only open 1 day a week and I can't take me kids there at the same time because they are 4 and 9. Playground For Kids has the best open play times, and the most for the kids to do and it is very clean, they also offer kids favorite foods.

Recess is a joke, the kids were telling me and the other moms they were bored after 30 minutes and after they asked for another $5.00 for games I thought this is crazy, I'd rather go to The Playground for kids and pay one all day price than force my kids to play on 2 different things for so many minutes. Not only did they have crazy height and other restrictions but all of our kids ages 3 to 9 were not able to play together, which normally they do. They were all in different areas because of age. And the food was so expensive that we went to Palmers deli to eat and if Palmers deli is cheaper you know it's expensive. Not very highly recomeded by me or my moms group.

I was just checking to see what Recess was all about and was considering it for my son's birthday party, but after reading all these negative comments about it, I am not willing to risk my child's special day! Thanks to all who commented, you made my decision a lot easier. I am glad I didn't have to learn the hard way!!

Wow. Doesn't even sound like worth a try. I can't even find a website for Recess and now don't think I want to. Thanks to all for the heads up and saving my family the time and money! Does anyone know of other places working families can go during the evening and weekends? Just looking to try something new.

Thanks for all the inputs, I to was looking to have my daughters 5th b-day party there but since I've read these comments, I'm not going to even call to find anything out

We went on the very first day and i haven't been back since. They were very strickt. My girls thought it was fun. They have lots of blow ups! There was a catipilar blow up but they only 1 person in at a time. Over-all i thought it was fun though!!

Wow, I have been researching places to take my daughter for indoor fun when it's either to hot or to cold outside. I think we'll skip Recess. The great thing was when I typed in to look it up this comments page came up, therefore, saving me a lot of hard earned time and money that would have probably been wasted if I would have taken her to Recess. Not to worry however, any place that is that bad will not stick around long so hopefully something better will open up.

I just saw that if you type in recessgobananas.com you can get to their web page. The prices are listed there but are not nearly as expensive as some of the people stated because they are careful not to list all of the restrictions! It's definitely a BUYER BEWARE sort of deal.

If you guys have days/weekday evenings available to take your kids out for a great time go to the Playground For Kids in Ankeny, they are open late on Mondays , Wednesdays and Fridays from 10-8 pm. They do private parties on the weekends but do occassionally open some Saturday mornings in the winter months. I'm on their email list so I get coupons and notification if they have extra open times. I've had my daughters party there and at age 11 she said it was the best party she ever had and several of her friends booked after our party. I tell everyone about this incredible place. Not only can the kids play on all the inflatables and their huge tree structure..(soo cool) for one all day price of $7 the staff there is alot of fun..they have tatoo tuesday, wacky sock Wed and other fun daily events..oh and they have no arcade games. It's very relaxing for the parents or you can join in with the little ones if they need help getting through for free. Here is the websiteI can't emagine anything bad being said about this place it is my family and friends favorite place www.theplaygroundforkids.com
From my family to yours..HAVE FUN!!!! You'll love it!!

After reading your comments I tried to plan a birthday party for my daughter at The Playground. I found there party prices to be outrageous. They have a flat fee up to 22 kids. Hello, I don't want to be responcible for 22 kids. I just need a party for six. I called recess just to see how much more it would be and was suprised to find out that for the same price I could have the kids picked up in their limo. This also included 30 tokens for each child and a gift bag. I guess when comparing the two places you have to concider your personal needs. As for the advertising I agree it's misleading. As for the archade I do not have a problem telling my children NO!

I picked up a brochure on parties at The Playround for kids in Ankeny and they have parties for up to 15 kids for only $110, that's really cheap because they said it includes the invites, all the tableware, drinks for the kids and a private party room for cake and presents. They do have private parties which is cheap for having the whole place for yourself and it's cheaper than Pump It Up and they have more. I did attend a party at Recess and when you have 3 parties in one room you can't even hear the singing of the birthday song and the package was for two areas and of course the kid don't like to be told that they can't go here, and the younger brother of the birthday child had to stay in the toddler area..now at The Playground they all get to play together. When you compare the two 15 kids at $110 is cheap per child and saying no for video games is not an option at a party it's best when places don't have them at all.

I just went online to book my 2nd party at The Playground and forgot the website and this came up when I googled playground. I will tell you that when The Playground first opened my wife and I thought $7 for all day play was expensive but now that Recess has opened we are eating our words. We have a 2,6 and 9 year old and at The Playground they can all play together for $7 each which is so cheap, at Recess they can't play together and if your child wanted to play on even 2 areas you pay $10. The lettering on their arcade games is Japanese and their inflatables are more for little kids, my 9 year old was pretty bored. So anyway my wife and I are huge fans of The Playground, it is very relaxing for the parents because the kids aren't asking for tokens and you can see all your kids while they play on the blow ups and the Tree climbing structure, and they have really reasonable food, I really like their pizzas.

I went to recess and I must tell you...it is impossible to bring more than one child there unless they are the same height and age. They have ALOT of height restrictions and it is expensive! They were really slow and had staff all over the place, I don't know how they will make any money. I think had they opened before the Playground they would have done better to start. But The Playground is so much more child and parent friendly, the kids can play on EVERYTHING for one price..not $10 for 2 different areas. Not sure how they came out with the areas but they must not have kids themselves.

Alright I compared Recess to other birthday places and when it comes down to it, Pump It Up, Playground for Kids, and Jumping Jack are alot cheaper than Recess. If you want to compare any of them you have to look at what your getting. For a whopping $17.99 per child you can play in only 2 areas at Recess with pizza..ouch, thats not even private and you share the present, cake room with other parties. Recess is the only place you don't get a private room for cake and presents. At Pump It Up its $13.00 per child to have a "private" party with pizza and a drink and play on ALL 5 of their inflatables, you do get your own private party room. At Jumping Jacks which has the least amount of equipment three inflatables, you can't do private and you still pay almost $14.00 per child for pizza and a drink, they have arcade games which will cost even more. The Playground for Kids has parties with pizza and drinks for $10.50 per child, they have the most equipment for the kids, 5 inflatables and a big tree playhouse that the website shows in its photo section, a 45 feet long tree house structure that looks really cool, you get a private party room for cake and presents. So if you are comparing costs Pump It Up and the Playground for Kids give you the most for your money..actually The Playground is very cheap for all that they offer probably because they are not a franchise. Locally owned by parents which I think is really neat. I'd rather support them and they do have the most equipment for the best price. Just divide the number of kids they allow for the price and add their pizza per child, thats how I figured it out. Check it out yourselves.

Playground for kids is not supervised and above all it is very dirty. I have been to the playground about 3 times and each time I have been dissapointed with their lack of supervision. I have been watching the blogs and i sincerely feel that playground for kids is paying people to brag about them since the new place opened up in Ankeny. I think it is a very cheap stunt and irresponsible on the the owners of Playground to use blogging as a way to promote themselves. after reading all the comments i am going to go to recess with an open mind. I have not been there yet but i believe it cannot be that bad as it has been potrayed on this site and I will update you upon my visit. My kids and I have been frequent at Jumping Jacks and Pump it up and they both are great places for kids. So, folks keep an open mind like i do and do not believe everything you read on this blog. If you ever google there has been more praises about playground for kids than any other place in Des Moines. you will not find comments on Chuck e cheese, jumping jacks, pump it up, tokens and a few more. It is hard for me to believe that the playground for kids is the only place in des Moines that is local and does such a great job. Go figure!

I agree with Ankenyres. I have been to Recess and that place is great! I have 3 kids and they all had a blast. I have also been to playground for kids and i have to say that it is not bad but thay do not have a lot to offer. all they have is 5 inflatables. Recess has so much more stuff than just inflatables. I am so glad that someone brought such a greqat place to Ankeny.

So basically I read all of these and just because someone likes one place over the other it is their opinion, I never listen to what other people say about movies, I go to them and I see if I like them. The only bad comment is the one that says horrible. I have been to Recess and my opinion is that it is expensive and they have alot of restrictions, but that is my opinion. If this many people feel that one is better than the other is doesn't mean a business is "paying" for comments it means out of all of Des Moines only this many people commented. Have you read the blogs about Dahls, Hy-Vee and Fareway in the Des Moines Register, alot of peolpe have opinions about where they buy meat... more people care about their kids than meat and this blog about Fareway meat has alot of blogs too! Like myself I like to read blogs, but I make decide if I would like to comment or not.