What a Kids' Party Package Really Includes: LA, the Inland Empire and San Diego

The from-price on a kids' party package tells you what a venue charges, not what you get, so the first thing to ask is whether the space will be yours. After that, the differences worth checking are whether the price is per child or for the group, what you may bring and what you may not, and what lands on the bill once you have booked. The venues below show what each of those looks like in practice, and the questions at the end are the ones to ask before any money changes hands.

Every venue here has its own page on KidsVenues, a description we've written, and a party price we've read on the venue's own page or confirmed by phone, checked against what that price actually buys.

Do you get the place to yourselves?

Venues answer this in one of four ways, and the paragraph on each venue below says which. Some hand you the whole building, some include a private room in the price, some have a room but charge extra for it, and some have no room at all, so your table sits among everyone else's afternoon. A private room is not the same thing as a private play floor, and the difference decides whether your guests share the slides with strangers.

PlayLab Hollywood takes the first approach: for the length of a booking the play space is yours, with no open-play visitors let in.

Bluebird Play in San Diego says plainly that it closes to the public for every private party. One family who held a party there had shopped around, and says it was the one place they found that would shut its doors to everyone else at a price they were happy with.

Rise and Shine Play in San Diego is a small room, and one parent who held a party there says that having it to themselves was what made a full house of children and adults feel manageable.

At KidWonder Pacific Beach, a private party room comes with the package.

House of Play in Rancho Cucamonga shows the difference between a room and a floor. Its entry-level booking reserves dining space for your group, while reserved play time belongs to the bigger packages further up its list. Read its warmest party reviews with that in mind: the host who describes having the whole place to themselves, with the staff decorating everything, had booked the top tier.

At We Rock the Spectrum in Northridge, the private room is an extra on top of the entry package, so ask whether your slot runs alongside open play. One parent who booked the room credits the staff with helping to decorate it and with looking after every guest.

CreatedPlay in Rancho Cucamonga turns the usual arrangement around. Its cheapest booking gives you the play area privately but no access to the party room, and decorations and food are not allowed with it.

Then there are the venues with no room at all. Chuck E. Cheese in Northridge has no private party room, and its package is built around the games and the birthday show rather than a space of your own. One host who took the morning slot found the party well organized.

Slime Kitchen in Mission Valley keeps the store open to walk-in customers through mall hours unless it reaches capacity; for a full buyout, you email the store.

Ninja Factory in Rancho Cucamonga gives a party a reserved area on the floor rather than a room of its own. One host describes it as a long table for the food and big tables for the guests, and thought it was perfect.

Is that price per child or for the whole party?

A package price covers a set guest list and charges for each guest beyond it. A per-child price grows with every name you add, and can come with a minimum. The card shows the unit beside the price, and that small word matters more than the number next to it. Don't convert one into the other to compare two venues; do the sums for your own guest list instead, counting the adults wherever the venue counts them.

Slime Kitchen prices per child, and its own page adds a base fee on top of that rate, which rises with the size of the party.

Chuck E. Cheese in Northridge quotes in both units at once: its entry package is a flat price for a small group, and its bigger packages are priced per child with a minimum.

KidWonder Pacific Beach counts adults toward the guest total, so a package that sounds roomy for the children fills up quickly once the parents arrive.

CreatedPlay charges an extra adult guest the same as an extra child.

Bluebird Play's listed party prices are for Sundays, and its venue fee on other days varies, so ask for a quote for your own date before you budget.

Bring your own, or bring nothing?

The venues that let you bring everything give you the most control and the most to carry. The ones that supply the food and the decorating take work off your hands, but you eat what they serve. Neither is better; what matters is knowing which kind you have booked before you order a cake.

KidWonder Pacific Beach provides no food or drink at all, and welcomes whatever you bring, from a caterer to a taco bar.

Rise and Shine Play lets you bring your own food and decorations, and one host counted that freedom as the thing that set it apart from the other places they looked at. Glitter, confetti and face paint are not allowed.

PlayLab Hollywood leaves food, cake, decorations and balloons to you, provided nothing damages the space.

Ninja Factory also lets you bring your own food, cake, gifts and decorations, with a list of restrictions on its site worth reading before you shop.

We Rock the Spectrum bans gum, glitter and confetti from the building.

House of Play sits nearer the other end. It welcomes snack food from home, but no hot food or takeout at a private party.

What gets added once you've booked?

Budget for more than the from-price. Deposits, extra guests, socks and fees for outside food or entertainers can each add to the bill, and the time to find them is before you book, not at the counter on the day.

We Rock the Spectrum's party deposit is non-refundable, and adults have to wear socks on the floor as well as the children.

House of Play refunds its deposit only up to a cut-off well before the party, and takes a processing fee out of any refund.

Ninja Factory charges for each child beyond the package, and gives no discount or refund if fewer guests come than you booked for.

At CreatedPlay, bringing outside food to a full party carries a fee, though cakes, cupcakes and loot-bag treats are exempt, and an outside entertainer who is not on its approved list carries a fee as well.

Slime Kitchen charges extra if you bring your own food, and the charge also buys you a little more time.

On larger parties, Slime Kitchen also encourages a tip for its party hosts. Its page frames that as a suggestion, not a charge.

KidWonder Pacific Beach requires grip socks, which you can bring from home or buy at the gym.

Are you buying an activity, or a room to play in?

Some parties are an activity with a table attached. The venue runs something, the children do it together, and the party happens alongside other customers. Others hire a play space, where the play is unstructured and the room is the product. An activity party suits a child who wants a thing to do and guests who don't all know each other. A play space suits younger children, and parents who would rather talk than supervise a schedule.

At Slime Kitchen the party is the making: each child builds a slime of their own and takes it home in a jar.

Ninja Factory's party is the obstacle course, and a guest at a party there describes the staff checking in throughout to make sure everyone was having a good time.

Another Ninja Factory host says the staff offered to clear everything up afterwards.

KidWonder Pacific Beach mixes the two: its party is open-gym time with staff-led games, then food and cake in the party area.

We Rock the Spectrum's gym is designed so that children of all abilities can join in, so nobody is left out of their own birthday.

At the play-space end, Rise and Shine Play is built for the youngest children, and a parent who held a party there describes the little ones absorbed in the play area while the adults mingled.

Bluebird Play gives you time before the party to decorate the room yourself.

Is it worth the drive?

For a party, the drive is everybody's, not only yours. Pick the venue that suits most of the guest list rather than the one nearest your own front door, and on a weekend allow for the freeway, because a late arrival eats into time you have paid for. If the question has narrowed to which venue near you, the party pages for Los Angeles, Northridge, Rancho Cucamonga and San Diego carry the fuller lists.

Which questions settle it before you pay a deposit?

• Is the space ours? Ask whether you get the room, the play floor or the whole building, and whether the public is still coming and going.
• Per child or per party? Ask what the price covers, what each extra guest costs, and whether adults count toward the total.
• Is there a minimum? Ask too whether you pay for children who don't turn up.
• What can we bring? Ask about food, cake, decorations and balloons, and whether bringing them carries a fee.
• Is anything added at the end? Ask whether a gratuity or service charge is added, and whether it is optional.
• Is the deposit refundable, and until when?
• Socks for everyone? Ask whether adults need them on the floor too, and whether you can bring your own.
• Is the price the same on our date? Some venues price by the day of the week.