Monkey Joe’s Party Play

My friend and I drove an hour to Monkey Joe’s today to take our daughters there to play and after 45 minutes we were dying to get out of there. Don’t get me wrong, it wasn’t all bad, but I have DEFINITELY been to nicer, cleaner bounce facilities. We only used the 2 toddler bouncers so I can’t speak for the bigger ones, but they were pretty ratty and dirty, one of them needed more air or something because we could barely stand in it, it felt like we were trying to stand on a raft in the water (adults can get in to help and monitor but they can’t jump). The place is FILTHY, everything felt greasy and nasty, my daughters socks were disgusting after just 30 minutes and the women’s bathroom smelled SO bad I thought I was going to gag. On a positive note, the employees seemed friendly, they were monitoring the bounce houses and they were telling the older kids that kept getting in the toddler bouncers that they had to get out (as the mother of a small 2 year old, thank you for that). In my opinion, this place isn’t meant for toddlers at all. For us, it wasn’t worth the drive or the money, we won’t be returning.

We had a private after hours Birthday party for our kids over the summer at the Midlothian Monkey Joe’s. We had the place to ourselves for about 100 guests including parents. Monkey Joe’s was the perfect place to have it. They were very helpful with the planning process and communicated in a timely manner. The owner was very hands on.
You are always worried leading up to the event but I was blown away. They exceeded my expectations and most of this is because the staff was SO HELPFUL. Each one of the staff members is well trained — hats off to the owner for that! We have had parties before at another inflatable place that went out of business and have been to some at Chuck E. Cheese. At these places the staff is more reactionary and going through the steps. At Monkey Joe’s the staff before hand briefed us and asked us questions.
Throughout the party they communicated and asked open ended questions regarding how we would like things done or if something was needed. They had carts to bring out gifts so I went to get them and they insisted they would take care of it and loaded up our entire mini van with presents. One girl climbed in the back of the van as the other one handed her the gifts. They wrapped up the extra cake and made the post party process as pleasant as the party. It was a great event and the staff gave 110%. All the kids had fun! There were about 70 kids 3 — 6 yo that needed pizza and lemonade — not an easy task dealing with so many needy kids. The staff handled it like champs. They also distributed the cake to everyone. We weren’t sure how many pizzas were needed and I was happy that the staff communicated with me so we were able to cut pizza production. I had over estimated by like 8 pizzas.
All in all is was a great event and it was one of those times where it felt good to give the staff a generous tip. Once again I applaud the owner for doing such a good job at training teens and young adults. Those are valuable life skills he’s instilling in them!

My 4 year old loved it. We recently transferred from NJ where we would go to places like this to release energy on those long weekends. My daughter ran around this place like a monkey! I was able to sit down and do some much needed work while she burned energy and had a great time. No need to worry about her leaving the facility without anyone noticing.

My 8 and 11 year old girls LOVE this place!
There is a parent seating area with comfy chairs, t. v, wifi, whatever you want.
You can sit there and read and still have a good view of your child.
The prices are very reasonable. Two kids was 16 dollars, for as long as they want to play.
Most of the staff are teenagers or young 20’s. some LOVE working there, while others have a bit of an attitude.
Luckily my only interaction with them is with paying to come in, then I can avoid them all.
Great kid place!

We took our 2 kids to Monkey Joe’s today, and it will be the last time as far as I am concerned. No one told us that they have a no re-​entry policy. We spent $ 19 for 2 kids to go in to play. After 40 minutes of play my 10 year old son with Autism was not feeling well… very red-​faced, hot, and out of breath. Furthermore, his leg had BLOOD running all down it badly where he had been scratching a bug bite. This scared him, and he was getting impatient to leave. Since I had never been to Monkey Joe’s before, I asked the front desk what we needed to do to come back later if the kids wanted to and we were told that they have a zero re-​entry policy. I explained that my son has Autism, that he was getting worked up and needing a break, and most importantly that he was BLEEDING BADLY. We were not even offered a band aid and simply told sorry, once you go out the door you cannot return. I let them know how ridiculous their policy was and how we will definitely not be returning. We had on wrist bands and a paid receipt so it isn’t like we were going to sneak someone else back in our place. I should add that I know of no similar place that has such a policy. For example, Pump It Up is extremely customer friendly and very gracious. Better pricing too. Convenient that both of Monkey Joe’s water fountains were taped up and not working properly since they require concessions to be purchased on site. I am going to be letting all families with special needs children know how we were treated, and I may well dispute this charge with my credit card company. I would encourage parents to patronize more customer, family friendly places where adults are allowed and encouraged to play on the equipment with their children and where re-​entry the same day is no problem at all.

This place makes me want to scream. There is never an employee monitoring any of the bouncers, there are always older kids running amok in the toddler area and it is not safe. The best part is if there is an employee around (usually an apathetic teenager) the don’t say anything to the devil children that are inevitably there doing something wrong. I am done with this place.

took my daughter here for a Birthday Party on a very busy Saturday.
I was on edge the entire time the kids were playing. A good parent is always watching their child, and I understand these places do their best not to assume any liability for safety, but in this case I had to be especially vigilant.
In the main room for the big kids there are 6 big bouncers. During the entire two hours of the party I only spotted 4 employees in that section. I don’t consider that enough to maintain a safe environment — especially when one of those employees needed to stay inside the «pirate ship» inflatable to keep the kids moving.
I saw kids running around, overloaded inflatables, and general malaise from the employees. Two of them were much more interested in conversation than kids or safety.
The under-​3 area was better controlled, but mostly this was because of the vigilant parents of the little ones.
The party seemed to be well taken care of, and «Monkey Joe» did stop by for a visit. The arcade area seemed fine, and there was a small section in the middle of everything with TVs and recliners for the adults. (I’d recommend you watch out for your kids’ safety instead of the TV…) They had a snack bar and the prices didn’t seem out of control.
I would guess that this place is better when it isn’t super busy on a weekend. I’d say they either need more employees for the busy times, or limit the number of kids allowed in at one time. There are 5 party rooms, plus the general public, so that can add up to LOTS of kids.
I will probably choose to visit elsewhere in the future due to the safety concerns. I’m holding my daughter’s party at another similar establishment which has private adequately-​staffed bounce rooms for each party.

This place is a nightmare and dangerous for toddlers. I took my niece who is 3 ½ on 2÷8÷13. It was insanely crowded to the point I questioned whether it would be over-​capacity in the fire marshall’s eyes. The toddler area is not blocked off and much older kids were in and out of the area knocking over the toddlers and were very wild. The attendants were barely paying attention and not doing much about it. Older kids were running full force all throughout the place, banging into adults, other children and being outright disrespectful. The majority of the parents were too busy on their smart phones or watching the TVs to keep an eye on their kids. I will never take a child here again. Go to Pump it Up, they are on top of everything, watch the kids carefully and enforce the no rough-​housing, running or pushing rules.

There are many bounce houses in Richmond, and all of the ones I have been to are delightful. Monkey Joes stands out as a fantastic experience for kids. My children are just thrilled every time we go there, and cannot get enough.
The adult area is slightly cramped and extremely noisy – the constant introductions of «Monkey Joe» are especially disruptive. On the other hand, my daughter *loves* it, and runs over to give Monkey Joe a hug everytime they come out.
In short, if you’re looking for a bounce house your kids will love, and don’t mind being slightly uncomfortable yourself, nothing I’ve seen beats Monkey Joes.