We had our son's bday party at Monkey Joe's. The play areas are fun for the children but birthday parties are way overpriced for the services that are provided. I requested a party host that could serve the cake, pizza, and assist with opening gifts since I would be too busy holding our new baby to help with this. I was told that this was not a problem. Our assigned hostess looked like she was about 16, which would not have been a problem if she were remotely interested in the birthday party she was supposed to be hosting. We were told that the kids would be having pizza at 3. 3:00- no pizza and hostess hiding in area in back of the prize counter. Not sure what is behind that door or what they do back there because they do not cook anything back there. They order the pizza from Hungry Howies and mark it up. 3:00- 15 hungry children are waiting, waiting... 3:10 pizza arrives and Slow Mo Hostess leisurely strolls it to the party room. Takes her even longer to serve the pizza. i then discover I forgot the birthday candle. I asked Slow mo the party hostess if she had any bday candles that I could purchase. i received a confused look. Hmm. If I was a birthday party hostess I might keep some of those around. That's how a birthday hostess would make very good tips for being helpful to forgetful parents like me. But ,no mind, we forge ahead with the birthday song. We have to move immediately into the gifts right after that because there is only 15 minutes left. She proceeds to mix up all the gifts and cards. We dropped almost $400 on a birthday party at this place for two hours. For that I expected an experienced hostess and better service. When we left, another employee that was handling our bill and payment (do not know who it was; no identifying nametag) asked how the hostess was and I replied that she was slow and didn't seem to know what to do. I received another confused look (very common among the staff at this place) and the employee asked if I wanted to leave a tip for Slow Mo. I left a small amount that I considered to be an insult but a confused 16 year old probably considers a good tip so my message was probably lost. The funniest part was the handwritten card that we received a few days later. She had actually drawn our son's name on a notecard in big puffy letters with a blue ink pen. (You could see where she started a few times but messed up and had to start over.) In handwriting befitting a 16 yr old she had thanked our son for coming to play on his bday and signed her name with several hearts and smilies. If we went back to Monkey Joe's for another birthday we would probably take the kids there to play and then leave to go to another place for food or cake. It looked like several other families were doing the same thing while we were there. I would not purchase the birthday party services at Monkey Joe's again.
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