Recently, our little one got a Thomas toy set from his uncle (very interesting toy so I have linked it here) which was very fun even for the adults. That sparked our interest in Thomas because oh well he isn't a toy from our time, LOL! My son is super obsessed with trains and would take every train ride in the malls (if any). So when he heard that Thomas was coming to town - Mattel Playhouse, we thought we should pay it a visit.
Just to set expectations, so that parents won't be disappointed, read on!
- Go during weekdays (non-peak). There is a slight discount (not much) but because it is the same price across adult and child, every dollar saved matters. Also there will be less people so your kid can get the maximum amount of playtime (no queues)! And you can get good photos too! <
- Each playtime slot is 1.5 hours. And my kid was 40 mins late to his. Admittedly, I was a bit stressed because I was afraid he won't get to enjoy all the stations. But the truth is, he only wanted specific stations and would stick to them. By the time he warmed up and wanted to play the 4th station, time's up!
- The place is rather small and seemingly underwhelming. To be honest, I had a "is this all" moment, but my kid felt otherwise. He was quite occupied by the trains (took it 5 times) and spent the remaining time on the exercise and arcade stations.
- You need to bring your own socks but some of the stations (which my son didn't go on anyway). Personally, I really wanted him to race on the Hot Wheels tracks cos it was so insta-worthy but he said no and I had to respect his choice.
- No food and Thomas merchandise on sale. Was more bummed about the latter because I was starting to grow some real love for this train after being on it 3 times myself.
- The tickets is quite pricey. 3 of us works up to be near $70 (Quoted "SUPERM10" for 10% discount), but since we (including the adults) took the train rides so many times. It is kinda of worth it because a train ride at the mall would cost us $6 per pax.
Special Mention: I have to say the staff there are extremely kids-oriented from all the indoor playgrounds we have been to. They made an exception to my boy upon knowing he was late to let him have 5 mins extra time on the ball pit slide so that he could leave having fun and with a smile. The lady at the exercise machine station was also very encouraging and engaged my son thoroughly during his play there. Even though at times he was playing the machines "his way", she would just gently tell him with a smile what would be the proper way.