Let’s face it, I’m not the biggest fan of HyperKidz in Columbia, MD, which is about a 15-minute drive from our home in the north part of Anne Arundel County. It’s just too…well…hyper. And, every time I’ve been, it’s been way too crowded for my taste, the unsupervised, often male, elementary-school-aged kids, are pummeling over my petite daughter, and it’s insanely hard to keep track of your little ones in the ginormous abyss-like maze. In addition, though you are hand-stamped along with your kids on entry, there’s another door to exit out the front of the place, that no one is watching. And, that scares me as a parent.
Introduce Totsville, the Indoor Playground, in Glen Burnie, MD, about 15 minutes in the opposite direction from us. Open only about two months now, and located in the downtown portion of Glen Burnie, I was surprised to find parking plentiful and there was no line to wait in when I showed up minutes before its 9am opening on Saturday morning. We signed the paper waiver, placed our items in the provided cubbies, and were in the play area in about 5 minutes after the doors opened. The front “lobby” area also has rental lockers, food, drinks, candy, and I believe I remember seeing socks for sale too. Because, like most indoor play areas, socks are a requirement here.
Playtime is typically $13 for your first kid 12m and older and then $11 per kid after that. There’s a 2-hour time restriction on Fridays-Sundays, Holidays, but Mondays-Thursdays are all-day-play for the same price. Babies under 12m are free with a paid older sibling or are $7 otherwise. They tout the age range as 0-10 years old, but I personally wouldn’t see much benefit when a child is under crawling age.
Immediately I felt “safe” here. Not only were there easy-to-spot staff members dressed in bright orange polo shirts, present in all play areas, but you could see nearly the entire play area from anywhere you stood in the place. The staff members were incredibly friendly to the children, and Totsville felt very welcoming and accomodating to me, my husband, our 3-year-old girl, and our 1-year-old boy.
Previously booked birthday parties were getting the playground exclusive to partygoers, which meant the play area would be shutting down briefly on the Saturday we attended (in early January) from noon until 4pm. Luckily this has changed for future booked parties and playtime will be open to non-partygoers during party times too. As a result, I noticed that it never really got very crowded Saturday morning. I believe they posted to their Facebook page about the temporary afternoon closure. Even when it did peak around 50 or so adults and kids combined on Saturday morning, it never felt like you were on top of other people.
Once you enter the play space, you’ll find a toddler play area, designated for kids 44″ and under. This area included a ball pit with a short, tandem slide, swings, wall play things, building blocks, on a soft playmat surface.
Behind this toddler area, a larger climbing and maze-like area filled with obstacles, two ball launchers, two taller, fast, tandem slides. Everything you would need to help knock some energy out of your preschooler-plus-aged kids. And, all caregiver-accessible too.
At the back, a rather large sandbox that had maybe ten kids in it at the time. Again, it didn’t feel overcrowded. The sandbox is sock-free, and they have sock drawers to stash yours away, and brushes for exiting the sandbox. And, plenty of toys, shovels, buckets, etc. to play with in the sandbox.
Much of the play area outside of the toddler area and the sandbox was a carpeted, hard surface floor. Foam mats were at the bottom of all the slides.
There was also an area designated near the front, denoted by the linoleum-tiled floor and tables to set your belongings not far from the play space, for drinks, snacks, with a K-cup coffee maker, supplies, and a microwave. Totsville discourages outside food, and they provide quite the variety of for-sale snacks, including mac-n-cheese.
Not terribly far from here were two individual restrooms complete with toilet, urinal, changing table, diaper pail, and sink with a step stool for the littles.
Near the sandbox, were steps to a lower level featuring two separate party rooms accessed by hallways lined in candied, Dr. Seuss-like murals. The rooms are available for rental for birthday parties, baby showers, etc. Currently, the party room price includes two pizzas, drinks, an hour in the party room, and an hour of play for up to fifteen kids. There’s an additional charge per kid for more. They do allow outside food beyond the two provided pizzas and juice-box drinks.
We played with the kids for the maximum weekend time allowed for our entry, two hours, and it was plenty. The kids were exhausted at the end of that. And, they LOVED it. Both of them. The space was created with littles and their parents in mind. And, I’m so grateful we have another indoor play option around the corner, that’s more calm, more intimate, and feels much more safe and secure.
How to Get to Totsville
Totsville is located at 7497 Baltimore Annapolis Boulevard, Glen Burnie, MD 21061. Be sure to check out Irina’s Crepes Cafe right around the corner either before or after your Totsville visit. They have a 4.8 out of 5 star rating on Google and we’ve been there and can vouch for it being good, casual food and a family-friendly environment.
Check the Totsville web site for their hours and their Facebook page for any temporary closure information.
All photos contained in this post were taken by me. Please do not use my photos without my permission.
Disclaimer: I received complimentary admission to Totsville Indoor Playground in exchange for my honest, unbiased review. You can read my “Real Mom Review” at CertifiKid.
Note: Affiliate off-site links are used in order to help support this blog site.
Totsville Coupons
Currently, Totsville admission is available for purchase at a discount on two coupon sites. This is for a limited time only, so act before they’re gone!
- Two open play passes for $14 (47% savings)
- Can be used for one child on two separate visits or two children on the same visit
- Coupons expire on May 1, 2019
- All day admission for two for $16 (38% savings)
- All day admission for four for $30 (42% savings)
- Five-visit punch pass for $35 (36% savings)
These coupon prices are subject to change and sell out at any time.
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Y’all, check out my brand new Real Mom Review up on the blog tonight of #TotsvilleIndoorPlayground in #GlenBurnie, #Maryland. It’ll also be up on @Certifikid‘s site soon too! Have you been? Coupon links in my write-up. https://t.co/s82qJVXGua #wherekidsplay pic.twitter.com/H2ntdpZEkt
— Saving Amy (@savingamyblog) January 8, 2019
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