Fun Slides Carpet Skatepark Review

As residents of Pennsylvania, we’re no stranger to indoor play. Whether we’re escaping the rain or hiding from snow, we always find somewhere to burn off a little energy. Pittsburgh offers some of the most amazing indoor fun, including awesome trampoline parks, bounce houses and our newest obsession… the carpet skate park! In addition to their Greensburg location, Fun Slides Carpet Park opened a second Carpet Skate Park in the North Hills area in May, 2014. We’ve been hearing great reviews so of course, we had to go see for ourselves.

Fun Slides

Move over Moon Shoes! There’s a new shoe toy in town! Fun Slides Carpet Skates came onto the toy market in 2004. Since then, children and adults from all over the world have been enjoying Fun Slides in the comfort of their own home. Fun Slides are a small, durable plastic disc that attaches to any shoes with elastic straps.

“Fun Slides were introduced to the public at the International Toy Fair in New York City in 2004. Although people were skeptical, Fun Slides soon became the hit of the show with tons of national TV coverage live from Toy Fair. Since that time, Fun Slides have been sold all over the country in specialty toy stores, major retailers and on TV networks like Nickelodeon and Disney XD…. Over the years we have done many live demo events in which children and adults have used FunSlides. FAO Schwartz toy store in New York City created demo areas for customers to try FunSlides, as a result FunSlides were the #1 selling item in the store for Christmas 2006. If you’re still wondering if Fun Slides are safe, (trust us, we’ve answered that question hundreds of times) just check out this list of awards:

• The National Parenting Center Seal of Approval 2004
• Dr. Toy 10 Best Active Products 2004
• Dr. Toy 100 Best Children’s Products 2004
• Creative Child Magazine Seal of Excellence 2004, 2008
• iParenting Media Award 2005
• The Toy Man Editor’s Choice Award”

- Fun Slides Carpet Park Website

Fun Slides Carpet Skate Park

As with most indoor play spaces that involve any kind of high energy movement, you’ll have to sign a waiver before participating. You can either print the waiver off their website or simply sign a copy once you arrive (they have plenty). We were the first ones to arrive that day and were warmly greeted in the lobby. Our tab came to about $20. Here’s a break down of our receipt: $12 for 2 hours of skate time, $2.50 for skate rental, $2.50 for spectator pass and $2.50 for helmet rental (children ages 8 and under have to have a helmet, you can either rent one or bring your own from home).

Once we were ready, an instructor took us inside the skate park area and helped my son put on his equipment. Next, she brought him over to a smaller ramp area and walked him through some basic carpet skating instructions. The entire introduction lasted about 10 minutes and then he was off, free to roam throughout the skate park as he desired.

If you’re a parent, you have a couple options. If you’re not going to skate with your child, you can either sit in the “Parent Seating” on the side OR purchase a spectator pass ($2.50/adult) that allows you to walk on the designates areas within the skate park. I would highly suggest purchasing a spectator pass if you have younger children, otherwise you will not have access to help them. Also, note that all parts of the park are viewable from the spectator area.

Additional Fun Slides are available free of charge including the small “butt slide” and “belly slide” in case visitors want to try to go down the slides on something other than their feet.

Pros

My son already wants to plan our next visit. If you can’t tell by the pictures, he absolutely loved it. The Fun Slides staff members were so helpful and had such high energy. Throughout our entire visit, the staff members were skating, dancing and assisting visitors in the skate park. The atmosphere was fun; black lights, good music and plenty of space. With dozens of slides, there was plenty of space for the kids who skating. Benches along the middle of the aisles allow spectators to sit and watch comfortably (or allow skaters to take a much break).

Next to the lobby area, there’s also a lounge area with ample space and seating. Fun Slides Carpet Parks offers a small variety of menu options including candy, popcorn, drinks and pizza.

Cons

As with most high energy play, there were a few bumps and bruises (not the fault of Fun Slides Skate Park, rather my rambunctious little boy). Half way through we learned tucking his shirt in would help prevent brush burn on his sides and belly when he fell down. The option of having “butt slides” and “belly slides” is great for little ones who can’t quite get the hang of the foot slides… which can prove to be a little tricky.

The cost was a little more than I excepted. While the price is right along with other indoor play spaces, I think the additional costs were a bit much. In addition to the spectator pass, skate rental, and helmet rental, I also allowed my son to participate in a 20 minute dodgeball session which was an extra $3. Overall, I spent $22.50 on our visit.

I’m excited to see what the next phase of development is for the indoor skate park because I couldn’t ignore the fact that there were large areas under construction on either side. On one side it looked as if they were finishing an indoor mini-golf course and on the other side… well, I’m not sure. Fingers crossed for maybe an arcade! 

For the most part, I have no complaints. In fact, I’m currently looking into Fun Slides as a possible birthday party location for my son this upcoming October. I definitely think it’s a unique experience that parents and children would both enjoy.

Fun Slides Carpet Park | Pines Plaza Shopping Center, 1130 Perry Highway, Pittsburgh, PA 15237