You know, we here at Mommy Poppins have a purpose: we want to help you find the activities that 1. Make your kids laugh and grow and adore/worship you for taking them 2. Go easy on your wallet, and 3. Make sure they are comatose by the time you leave. With the enormous amount of activities at the Funplex, you can pretty much rest assured that all three will be met.

So, what to do at this giant self-proclaimed house of fun… Hmmmm.. Grab a wand and go on an adventure at Magiquest? Pelt each other with foam balls and laugh like crazy at Foam Frenzy? Boys against the girls on the Go-Karts? Win candy or an iPod at the Arcade games? Bumper cars? Rides? Laser Runner? Obviously what we liked best about The Funplex was its adaptability; you can do as much or as little as you want. With free admission, and the options of pay-by-the-ride, or all-inclusive or part-inclusive admission wristbands like the Fun Band, Extreme Band or Mega Magic Band, you can tailor your day to your interests, amount of time and kids’ ages. The Funplex was kind enough to give me and my family a free day at their venue, but we liked it so much that we went back five days later and bought our own tickets for another full day! (Yes, we’re kind of crazy, but we really did have a blast.)

On our second day at the Funplex, we purchased the Mega-Magic bands, which includes all attractions plus Magiquest. We started our day at 11:30am and had to literally drag our kids (and my husband, who is now obsessed with Magiquest) out at 5:30pm, so what seemed slightly pricey at the beginning of the day came out to just a few dollars per person per hour. Nice deal.

I also have to commend the Funplex for design (light and airy with high vaulted ceilings), because six hours indoors with the constant sounds of arcade games and screaming children would be enough to drive any parent mad. It was also remarkably clean for the amount of traffic it was sustaining, and the staff was friendly and helpful. The lunch choices were fairly amusement-park-standard, (burgers, dogs, wings, etc.) but the portions were very generous and the quality was good (and I even had the option of a decent salad).

The Funplex has a myriad of “specials”—birthday parties, corporate events, teen lock-ins, project graduation parties, an educational spin on their Magiquest called “Eduquest”, and a very reasonably-priced summer camp with swimming lessons (“Kristie’s School of Fish”) and the on-site water park, Splashplex. Kim Kramm, manager of events and groups sales and a 15-year employee of the Funquest, says “we’re all about ‘above and beyond’ when it comes to service and value.” After two days at the Funplex, I would have to agree.

Visit The Funplex website for hours of operation and contact information. And tell them Mommy Poppins sent you.

Originally published 2012