Star Park Indoor Playground – Franklin Mall

About

The draw is a three-story climbing structure of tunnels and bridges that fills most of the unit, big enough that an eight-year-old and a walking toddler can each find a level that suits them. That spread is the unusual part. Most rooms in this city top out around five, and this one is built to hold a mixed-age group in one place without splitting the adults between two rooms.

Admission buys a fixed two-hour session that starts when you check in, so it rewards arriving ready rather than drifting in. Socks are required for everyone, adults included, and outside food and drink are not allowed unless you have booked a party, which matters more here than elsewhere because the fallback is the mall food court rather than your own bag. There is a parent cafe with real coffee and wifi, and the reviewers who bring a laptop plainly know it.

Weekend afternoons are its busiest stretch by a distance and a weekday visit is a different proposition. The reviews are short and consistently warm rather than detailed, the same three words over and over, with one parent noting it worked well for an autistic child. It is one of three branches, and a pass bought here is good at the others.