Santa Extravaganza – good times at the Funnery Play Park Newmarket this December!

12/16/2015

I had the privilege of attending a holiday event at the Funnery Play Park & Café in Newmarket last week – the “Santa Extravaganza”!   I have been to the Funnery many times with my kids and with Moms in my Mommy Connections classes.  Everyone loves it there and it’s a great place in the Newmarket/Aurora for kids from 1-10 years old.  Both my kids (5 and 2.5 yrs old) have so much fun there and I like going myself as I can sit in the café, enjoy a latte and a homemade treat while my kids go nuts playing in the play area.  They are at the age now where I don’t have to necessarily climb or be next to them at all times.. they are able to play and climb by themselves.  (So YAY- perfect time for Mom to get some downtime or chat with other adults!)

The Santa Extravaganza was a community event hosted by the Funnery on Tuesday December 8th from 5:30 to 7:30 pm.  Tickets for the event were $13.99 per child, adults free, and it was kind of exclusive since there were only 30 tickets available for this and they went pretty fast!  For the admission, kids received pizza, juice and a decorated sugar cookie, a yummy gourmet hot chocolate as well as a craft to take home, playtime in the awesome play structure, and the highlight of the night – the private photo opp and storytime with Santa!  My kids don’t generally like Santa or want to go anywhere near him… but because it was less intimidating than at a mall or other busy environment, they were willing to talk to Santa AND even sit on his lap which is a first for both my kids. So that made it all worth while just for that!

The Funnery did a great job of organizing the event by giving every child a nametag with a group number. There were four groups, and each group moved to a different activity through the night.  So there was the craft station, a reindeer game station, the playground station, and then Santa visit/photos was another station.  Each activity was about 15 minutes each which gave the kids variety, kept them busy and organized, and kept them entertained. 

One thing I think would’ve been good is to be able to have more playtime.  So perhaps for next year I’ll make sure that my kids have lots of time to play in the structure before the event starts and show up a little earlier.  We didn’t come until right at 5:30 so they really didn’t have much time to enjoy the play area before we were divided up and sent off to our activities.

Another issue was the space and the amount of people.. it was a GREAT problem to have for the Funnery.. BUT there were a lot of people there when you have 30 kids plus parents and it was quite crowded in there. I did manage to get a barstool chair to sit on to drink my coffee but it was pretty crazy in there for the parents especially when trying to keep tabs on their children amidst all the activity.  On a normal day at the Funnery, the café space and number of chairs/tables are fine, bathroom facilities are fine… but for a larger event there was a wait at times for the one bathroom available and of course tables/chairs were sparse for parents.

What I was impressed with was the menu options for coffee which I didn’t know even though I HAVE been there before and had coffee.  I asked for a latte and I was given a list of about 8 different latte flavours to choose from, which I wasn’t expecting!  The white chocolate one was delicious! I also ordered a gingerbread man – which again was a pleasant surprise – homemade and soft and chewy. (my favourite!) I made the mistake of giving my boys a bite and they ended up devouring it in no time flat.  So definitely two thumbs up for the bakery items and coffee!

The Funnery really did a great job of decorating the eating area for the kids at this event too, which was in the loft party room up on the second level.  They had pretty white Christmas lights up across the ceiling, and the tables all set nicely with Christmas themed plates, napkins and Christmas crackers for each child which I thought was a nice touch.  They didn’t eat though until about 6:50/7:00 which I thought might have been a bit late for some kids (younger ones).. so my suggestion for next year would be to do some playtime first for 20 minutes or so and then have them eat around 6:00 before the rest of the activities begin. 

All-in-all it was a great event! It was well organized and advertised, and the exclusivity of it I think was very appealing having only 30 tickets available.  Their marketing efforts definitely paid off as it was sold out and there was a good crowd!  Everyone seemed to be happy and in good spirits!  I know my kids had a great time and were really excited to have their time with Santa AND he even read a story to all the kids which was super special and an added bonus for sure!   I definitely will bring my kids next year to the Funnery‘s Santa Extravaganza and next year I’m sure they will need to add more dates just to accommodate the interest generated!

The Funnery is located in Newmarket at 611 Steven Court near Bayview and Mulock.  It’s definitely worth a day out this winter and the great thing is you can get a wristband for re-entry.  Take your kids home for lunch or a nap then come back later for more play fun!! Great value for your money! Check it out!