I reluctantly let my children play on McDonalds play structures, but as of yesterday it is no longer an option.
Dh had to climb in the tubes to get dd because she refused to come out on her own ( she loves to act helpless- typical girl drama). When he came out he told me that he saw brown stuff smeared on the walls. He said that he was unsure if it was dried up ketchup or feces:hurl:. Either was that is NOT an enviroment that I want my children to be in.

If I could get enough parents to sign a petition I would go to headquarters and ask that they just remove all of the structures period.

How do you all feel about these play areas??

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Boo to you from our crew!

I like our brand new indoors play area but I would complain to the manager. I know they can't monitor every move in the tubes but they should do something to make sure that kind of stuff doesn't happen.

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~ Jessica

IMO, having all play structures removed is a little extreme. My kids have rarely played in them (because some of them have really disgusted me) but honestly, I think that they should just make sure their staff is more diligent about cleaning them. Maybe if they spot checked/cleaned them several times a day, and then did at least one big cleaning daily, they wouldn't be so yucky.

Eeew. I certainly hope it was just dried ketchup your dh saw up there! Seems like dried feces would still have a horrible smell to it.:hurl:

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~Vicki~
Mama to Hailey, 4 and Ella, 2

I love them!! I take the little ones there in the winter. Just buy lunch and they can play for hours! You should have told the manager about the mess. I am sure they would have cleaned it up.

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~Happiness is a large family~

Oh...I call places like that the Germ factories...we all know that they don't clean those things but we just don't want to face the truth!

I swear every time I bring the kids to a place like that...those indoor play areas...which is hardly ever....I always end up with a sick child.

I know that there are germs everywhere...nasty bugs all around...but I also try to do my best to prevent exposure as much as possible. Germ X is always with us!

I guess I can't say that I am totally against them but there needs to be some cleaning regulations...I mean...McDonalds is not the place to have those regulations......they don't even regulate the food they serve.

Heather

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Heather
Mom to three dd 14, ds 8, dd 5

That is gross!! Tho I wuol dtell the store and Maybe send a letter to the HQ to let them know!! they could instill a policy to have them more cleaned out!!
I know in the winter here in MN It can be nice to have a Cheap pla ce to go and let the children run off some of the energy!!

I agree with Happymom. Without them in the winter I would be sunk on some days. I would have told the manager and asked about their cleaning schedule.

Granted these are indoors at an eating establishment and should be monitored more closely, but most parents don't inspect the play equipment at on outside park and I bet most of them aren't monitored at all. Just think how many animals crawl over those things in the middle of the night spreading germs.

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Personally, I think they should just do a better job of cleaning them. In fact, I have often thought about starting a business to offer to do just that. My kids love them and I would hate to see them gone forever.

I hate McDonald's, but it was one of the only places for the kids to play this winter, since they are so young and I didn't want them to play all the time in the snow. I don't get too worried about the play area, but I do make sure to wash hands and put disinfectant on their hands afterward.

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www.myspace.com/vioburn

Frugal is being wise with your money and resources and cheap is forcing everyone else to.

Check out my blog, I'm starting to add more to it, as I can...vioburn.blogspot.com

Exactly and they are so BIG that I don't know if they COULD be cleaned good enough. I have even seen children climb out of there with wet pants (pee) who knows how many different tubes they were climbing through with urine dripping down their pants. How can they have the workers keep up on that without losing site of what's really important to McDonalds (the food)?

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Boo to you from our crew!