FUNBOX ST. LOUIS - St Clair Square
Overview
Expert Summary
Detailed Insights
This venue offers a large, multi-inflatable concept that children, particularly those aged 3.5 to 7, generally report having a 'blast' in, enjoying the bouncing activities.
Key Highlights
- ✓Children aged 3.5 and almost 7 had a great time, suggesting good engagement for young elementary school kids.
- ✓One staff member provided exceptional, attentive assistance and care following a child's injury, checking in repeatedly and offering water.
- ✓General staff were described as 'super nice' by one reviewer who also noted ice cold water was available for purchase.
Standout Features
- ⭐The core concept of a large inflatable park is appealing to children.
- ⭐An exceptional employee demonstrated excellent emergency response and care after a child's injury.
Perfect For
Ideal For
💡Pro Tips from Reviews
- →**Maintain extremely close supervision of your children at all times** due to significant safety hazards and observed lack of staff monitoring.
- →**Avoid hot, sunny days** as the bounce houses can become burning hot and uncomfortable; consider visiting on cooler or overcast days.
- →**Expect to get wet** from standing water and bubbling seams; bring extra socks or be prepared to purchase new ones.
- →**Do not purchase the VIP package** as reviews indicate it offers poor value and does not deliver on advertised benefits.
- →**Carefully inspect the play area** for disguised hazards like the hard astroturf area with speakers, and instruct children to avoid such zones.
- →Consider visiting during less popular times (e.g., weekdays) to potentially avoid extreme crowds and long lines.
- →Be prepared for limited food/drink options and potentially long lines for purchases like snowcones.
Things to Consider
- ⚠**Significant Safety Hazard:** A dangerously disguised area with orange walls, hard astroturf, speakers, and speaker stands, appearing as part of the bounce house but is not. This led to a child's concussion and ER visit.
- ⚠**Severe Lack of Staff Supervision:** Nearly all employees observed 'laying around' instead of monitoring. Staff were absent during a parent getting stuck in a water-filled crevice and when an older child physically attacked a younger one.
- ⚠**Poor Upkeep & Cleanliness:** Reports of dusty surfaces, standing water, bubbling water from patched seams, and leaves throughout the play area. This caused kids' socks to get wet and parents to get soaked.
- ⚠**Extreme Heat Conditions:** Bounce houses can become 'burning hot' on sunny days due to direct sun exposure and lack of covering, making the experience unbearable and forcing early departure.
- ⚠**Overcrowding:** 'Extreme amount of people' for one time slot, making it impossible to find seating and creating long lines for purchases.
- ⚠**Poor Value VIP Package:** The VIP package ($22 vs $18 standard) did not provide early entry, and sessions were cut short at 80 minutes for questionable sanitization, with the only perks being socks and a medium slushy.
- ⚠**No Refunds/Credits for Issues:** Despite an injury leading to an ER visit and extreme heat forcing early departure, no refunds or credits were offered.
- ⚠Limited food/drink options available.
Price & Value
Standard entry is $18 or $22. Reviewers stated it's 'not worth the $18 or $22' due to poor upkeep and dangerous conditions. The VIP package is explicitly stated as 'definitely not worth it,' as it didn't provide early entry, the session was cut short, and only included socks and a medium slushy. A cup of snowcone ice costs $3. No refunds or credits were offered for early departures due to injury or heat.
♿Accessibility & Special Needs
- •No specific accessibility accommodations were mentioned in the reviews.
🍎Food & Drink Policy
- •Limited food and drink options are available for purchase (e.g., snowcones, ice cold water).
- •A cup of snowcone ice costs $3.
- •No information provided regarding outside food or drinks.
🚗Parking Info
- •Located at St Clair Square, implying mall parking is available. No specific details about ease or cost were provided in the reviews.
👥Crowd Levels
- •Can be extremely crowded on peak days, such as 'Saturday at noon,' leading to difficulty finding seats and long lines for purchases.
🛡️Safety Features
- •**Observed Lacks:** Pervasive lack of staff supervision on bounce structures and general play areas. Existence of a dangerous, disguised hard-surface area within the bounce structure leading to injuries. Insufficient intervention by staff during rough play between children.
- •**Positive (isolated):** One staff member demonstrated excellent crisis response and care for an injured child, including follow-up from the ticket-taker.
⏰When to Avoid
- • Visiting on hot, sunny days due to dangerous heat levels on the inflatables.
- • Busy times like 'Saturday at noon' to avoid extreme crowds, long lines, and difficulty finding seating.
- • If you expect active staff supervision for safety and behavior enforcement.
- • If you prioritize cleanliness and well-maintained facilities.
- • If you are looking for good value in premium packages.
Pricing/Package/Events
Photos
What People Say
What's Great
- Friendly and helpful staff (mentioned in 5 reviews)
- Fun and entertaining activities (mentioned in 3 reviews)
- Spacious play areas (mentioned in 2 reviews)
Recent Reviews
Be J
7 months agoThe concept is brilliant, but the upkeep of this place is a joke. Its dusty, you can tell it doesn't get wiped down, ever. There's standing water all over the place so the kids' socks stayed wet. If the water isn't just sitting, it's bubbling up through the seams that they keep patching up. Not a lot of food/drink options. Even a cup of snowcone ice was $3. It's not worth the $18 or $22
Melanie Shedd
a year agoPARENTS PLEASE BEWARE there is an area across from this pyramid in the picture. It has orange walls around it so it looks like part of the bounce house but the inside is hard astroturf and they keep the speakers and speaker stands in there so if a kid jumps over the wall not knowing what’s in there they can easily end up with a concussion (like my son did) or worse. I could not tell it wasn’t part of the bounce house so I don’t know how a kid is supposed to know better. Nearly all of the employees were laying around in the back area and not keeping an eye on what is going around on. There was only one guy working paying attention who thankfully ran over and carried my kid out of the bounce house because he hit his head so hard he was staggering. He checked on us repeatedly and offered my son water and a snow cone. We decided to leave and go to urgent care and ultimately ended up in the ER. I was so stressed I didn’t get this employee’s name but I hope he will be recognized because he went above and beyond. The guy taking tickets took my phone number as we were leaving and later called to see how we were but when I text him my concerns about this dangerous area needing to be covered or blocked somehow I got no response. It would have been nice to have been at offered a refund or at least a credit since we only got to bounce about 10 minutes. I hope they will at least take action so that someone else doesn’t get hurt.
Carlee Caspari
a year agoFirst and foremost, my children (3.5 and almost 7) had a blast. The only complaint they had was that I didn’t buy them a snow cone, and I made them leave. So I consider that a win. Now for my thoughts….I do realize the liability I accepted by participating; and also the difficulty of maintaining and staffing this type of thing, but I was disappointed that we encountered a lot of water, leaves, deflated sections, and very limited staff supervision. I ended up in a precarious situation where I was wedged between the wall and a large inflatable and the crevice I was stuck in was completely filled with water. It was scary and stressful for me to try to figure out how to get out as there was no staff around to help, and I can’t imagine what would have happened if a kiddo had ended up in there accidentally. When I got out I was completely soaked, and I had to buy new socks to be able to continue supervising my children. There was also a situation where an older child tried to pick up and throw my 3.5 year old off the top of an obstacle and my husband had to intervene quickly so she didn’t get hurt. Again, would have appreciated a staff member monitoring. So essentially watch your kiddos very closely, expect to get wet even if it isn’t raining, and anticipate your kids having a great time!
Crystal Hytower
a year agoMy family and I went on Saturday at noon and it was entirely too hot. The bounce houses were burning our skin because the heat was beaming down on the bounce house. There was an extreme amount of people in for one time slot which made finding a seat almost impossible. They offered snow cones for purchase but the line to purchase was insanely long. I felt like I was going to pass out just waiting. There was little to no covering to keep the sun from baking you. In theory this concept is a great idea but not for super hot days. Anyone who has ever rented or owned a bounce house know they are not fun in scolding heat. We were slotted for a 90 minute slot but due to the heat we only stayed about 30 minutes. It was just too hot. I will say that the staff was amazing. Every one I encountered was super nice and they had ice cold water for sale. I will try to come again in October if it’s still open. To see if it’s better when it’s not so hot out.
Stacie P
11 months agoI think the $18 package would have been okay. The VIP is definitely not worth it. We didn't get in 10mins earlier AND they stopped us at 80mins for sanitizing even though the entire thing was still wet from rain, so I don't know what they would do to "sanitize" before the next session that I think wasn't for at least 15mins later. The VIP was most definitely not worth the socks and medium slushy only.
Contact Information
1276 St Louis Galleria St, Richmond Heights, MO 63117, USA
View on Google Maps