Imagination Island (Plymouth, MA)

We ended up going to Plymouth's Imagination Island because our son had SUCH an awesome day yesterday.  Our one year old daughter pulled all of dad's blue rays off of the shelf, and our son said, "Let me clean that for you because you are a baby."  He was just amazing us moment after moment, so I said, "Sweetie.  You are SUCH a good boy that I want to give you a prize.  What do you want to do tomorrow on mommy's day off?  We can do whatever YOU want!"  How could this go wrong?

So he shouts, "Yay Yay Yay!  I want to go to our vacation house and go to the Fun Zone!"  Clearly, I can't deliver.  So, I explain to him that the vacation house is in Vermont and Smuggler's Notch is just too many hours in the car to go for a visit that isn't a sleepover, BUT I promised to take him somewhere just like the Fun Zone.

Imagination Island is a VERY easy drive off route 44.  It's in a brick warehouse building, so it's kind of hard to find upon your first visit.  If you see the Boys & Girls club on your left, you have gone too far.  The parking is tight and the signs are labeled for specific businesses' customers.  Most of the Imagination Island parking is to the right of the building if you are facing it.  Also, you CAN park ON the rocks.  We did.

Overall, this place had several "imagination stations" including a calypso music room, a kitchen room, a fancy princess room, a pirate room, a fire house room, a school house room, and more.  There is a large climbing contraption that has a huge slide.  Our three year old LOVED it.  There is also the token bouncy house.  This bouncy house was great because the entrance was clearly small enough only for toddler to small elementary school sized kids, so that limited the chance of trampling, which we loved.  Immediately to the left is a baby play area with soft climbing shapes and little people, but really the entire place is baby & toddler friendly.

There are quite a few benefits to this place. It is inexpensive, and ALL adults are free and kids under 1.  The place is VERY clean, and the owners (parents) pride themselves on that.  The general admission is $9.50 per child on weekdays and $11 on weekends and holidays.  We wish we would have known about the "Frequent Island Hopper Pass" during last year's rainy spring and summer.  It's a pack of 12 weekday admissions ($6.50 per visit), and you can add $1.50 to include weekends.  There is NO expiration, you can bring a friend because it IS transferable, and grown ups get free gourmet coffee. 

The crowd was interesting.  There were way to many women with make-up and Vera Bradley backpacks for my general enjoyment, so I was thrilled that I had my black "rooted in rock and roll" shirt on for this event.  I looked like the "bad girl mommy" and got to watch mean yuppie moms glare at me if their "doesn't realize he's past his prime" husbands spoke to me when our kids were near each other.  So that added a layer of hilarity that really entertained my husband and me.  If you are concerned with appearance, I recommend that men wear a polo shirt and khaki shorts.  Women should wear something that looks brand new with matching jewelry, and if she has a newborn, the baby should match and have some sort of bow like the kind that Fairy Tale Tutus makes (love those tutus and bows).  For what it's worth, I was in sweat shorts, and it did not limit my enjoyment or my kids' enjoyment at all, and we were quite comfortable.

It was a HOT day today, and the air conditioning was blasting in there.  They also have some sort of food available, but we didn't try it because we were too busy playing, so I can't comment on that. 

The most important thing to remember about Imagination Island is BRING SOCKS, they will not let you in with shoes or with bare feet.  To avoid a stinky entrance, we all wore sandals and put on the fresh socks when we arrived.  When you pay, they take your shoes and put them into a wall that reminds me of a wall of bowling alley shoes.  Clearly, not all families decided to go with the "fresh sock" plan.  I highly discourage kids (or adults) wearing the same stinky sneaker socks that they've had on all day to play in an indoor play place.  Although our socks were fresh, mine were bright yellow sparkly butterfly socks (clearly not coordinated with my "outfit") that the Vera Bradley white boring socks girls didn't seem to appreciate, but the kids sure did!  We would definitely go here again on a day that isn't the best to play outside.  We will most likely purchase an Island Hopper pass in the near future.

(tutu photograph courtesy of Pure Style Photography - www.purestylephotography.com )