Huge and with a good variety of inflatables, the Let's Play indoor playground at D'Marquee at Downtown East Singapore is great fun for kids.
My girls' mid-year exams are finally over and there was no better way to start off our post-exam activities than with a visit to the Let's Play indoor playground at D'Marquee at Downtown East Singapore!
The playground filled with inflatables or bouncy castles has started operations on 7 May and we visited a week later on a Friday early afternoon when it was marking day at my daughters' school. So it was very quiet - just us and another family - and it felt like we had the whole place to ourselves! That, definitely added to our enjoyment of the playground! All in all, we had a whale of a time and here's our review of Let's Play and 10 things to know if you're planning to take your kids there!
1) What's at Let's Play?
The huge Let's Play indoor playground has a total of 11 stations - 8 inflatables/bouncy castles, 1 ball pit, 1 bouncy challenge and 1 sandpit.
Slides are a must at an inflatable playground and there are two here. This....
and this below. The slides were definitely our favourites and we spent quite a bit of time climbing up and sliding down these.
We had good fun, too, at this inflatable (there are 2 of them) with arches, trees and cacti where we just did some good old bouncing!
Here's one with big bouncy balls in it.
The ball pit is huge by the way as you can see from my cover photo. Here's a camera trick shot we took there.
This is the bouncy challenge, where you don a bubble-like suit (staff are there to help) and you can go at it with another "challenger". The kids look really cute and funny in this activity but Little E, my 9-year-old, said the suit felt rather rather heavy, so they didn't play this for long. But it's definitely still worth a try!
Here's another one where you can do a bit of climbing...
and there's a maze too.
Here's one where you can dive through tyre-like holes!
But just a word of caution, Little E said she felt like she almost hurt her back when she leapt through it and her back was overarched when she landed on her chest. The "depth" of the hole is actually long so kids might misjudge their ability to leap through it. Big E, my 11-year-old, also said the base of the hole is quite hard, so she didn't want to jump through it as she might land hard on the base of the hole. So just take note if you have very enthusiastic kids raring to go on these!
And there is the sandpit! It's not really sand but beads that look like beans, so you don't have to worry about getting sand in your pants and socks!
It's located at the end of the venue and is on the stage. We almost gave it a miss because we thought it was real sand and it'd get messy. But luckily we went to have a look and the girls actually enjoyed playing in it as it felt quite therapeutic to dig your hands and feet in the beads!
2) I heard there are fringe activities. What are they?
Yes, your ticket includes access to 3 fringe activities which include a dino ride, a robot ride and a VR game. These are located right next to the playground. You get 5 minutes on each of these and you can only go for them during the 100 minute playtime you're booked for under your ticket.
I don't have photos of these as we didn't go for them. My girls thought the rides were too kiddish for them and they were afraid the VR game would have scary zombies 😅
3) 100 minutes. Is that enough time for everything?
Though we used all our 100 minutes in the playground and skipped the fringe activities, my girls couldn't bear to leave the playground at the end of it! So I'm kind of glad that we skipped the fringe activities as we had so much fun in the playground. If you have older kids and they are not into kiddy rides, you might want to skip the dino and robot rides. But I read some reviews that the VR game is pretty good though not so suitable for the younger kids as the VR equipment is heavy for them.
The staff had advised we go for the fringe activities first as they are only in operation the first hour of our booked slot (the equipment need to be charged thereafter for the next session). So take note of this if you want to go for the fringe activities.
4) What age group is this suitable for?
I would say from pre-schoolers (5-6 years old) till tweens at 12 years old. Actually as an adult, I had fun too. Some inflatable playgrounds are more suitable for younger kids like Jumptopia at Gardens by the Bay where there is less height (for the slides at least) but Let's Play is definitely good fun for older kids and at the same time, generally not too daunting for the younger ones.
5) Was it crowded?
We were there on a weekday afternoon at 12pm on a school-specific holiday so it was just us and another family. I think if it was crowded, we might not have enjoyed it as much. So if you can, try going on a weekday before the June school holiday starts.
6) How much does it cost?
It's $28 per visitor on weekdays at 12pm-930pm and $31 per visitor on weekends/public holidays/eve of public holidays/school holidays at 10am-930pm (prices include booking fees). Not exactly the cheapest compared to Jumptopia at Gardens by the Bay but it was money well spent for us given that the girls had so much fun, and the venue and inflatables were huge!
7) Where to book?
Tickets are sold through KKday. BTW I spotted a promo code from KKday's IG ad: code "KKDAY4U" which gives 8% off all products at its website! You're welcome.
8) Do you need to pre-book a time slot?
When you book your tickets at KKday, you'll be asked to choose your 1hour 40 minute slot. You can be late on that day but you will not be given extra time outside your allotted 100 minutes. So do try to go a little earlier especially if you're not familiar with Downtown East and think you might need time to locate D' Marquee.
9) Where is it located and till when is it in operation?
The playground is at D'Marquee at Downtown East at 1 Pasir Ris Close. D'Marquee is Downtown East's open plaza and nearer to the E!Avenue side (not E!Hub side). You can exit E!Avenue through the door opposite Bossini at #01-316 and you would find D'Marquee right outside. The Let's Play playground operates from 7 May till 26 June 2022.
10) What to bring?
Socks are required so remember to bring your own! And bring water (lots!) please - my girls finished 3 water bottles of water between themselves from all the climbing and bouncing!
The June school holidays are coming soon! Let us know in the comment box below some of the places you'll be taking your kids to? :)
Disclaimer: We paid for our tickets, and my opinions and reviews here are strictly my and my family’s own.
©Vivian Teo. All content and photos are copyrighted to Vivian Teo unless otherwise specified.
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