Under the Sea Takes the Indoor Playground Concept to New Depths

Under the Sea Indoor Playground in Burbank, CA, offers boys and girls a marine-themed play experience.

It wouldn’t be a weekend unless we went to a kids’ birthday party, and last weekend was no exception, RMT’ers!

Last weekend’s party introduced us to a new (to us) local indoor playground called Under the Sea. This chain of play places takes the ocean theme to the extreme. Walls are painted floor-to-ceiling with various underwater murals. Riding toys are boats, fish, or other marine vehicles or animals. The moon bounce is anything but celestial given that the entrance is from the point of view of looking into a fish bowl or coral reef. Oh, and for special events, there’s a mermaid-for-hire to help augment that ocean theme, too!

T lines up on the edge of the "fish bowl" bouncer to get knocked down by balls at Under the Sea Indoor Playground (Burbank, CA).

The kids, led by a magical mermaid, make a few waves with a parachute at a birthday party at Under the Sea Indoor Playground (Burbank, CA).

We’ve been to our fair share of these indoor play places, and I’ve noticed they tend to lean toward one of two models: Either they are 100 percent gross-motor focused with VERY high and somewhat steep climbers and slides (read: no infants or young toddlers, please); or they offer loads of infant-safe toys or other manipulatives (train tables, blocks, etc.) filled out with small, uncomplicated climbers and inflatable bouncers that most kids tend to tire of by around three-years-old. However, Under the Sea takes the best of both extremes and does a great job integrating imagination with exercise and pretend play with “tag, you’re it,” which appeals to boys and girls of all ages (infant to age five). Also out of all of the indoor play places that we’ve visited, Under the Sea appears to be a business that’s much more in-tune with bringing in girl-specific groups (i.e., offering the mermaid-for-hire for birthday parties); if you like me have frequented indoor playgrounds on a regular basis, then you know that aspect alone should be celebrated.

T loved getting his face painted by the mermaid at Under the Sea Indoor Playground (Burbank, CA).

The mermaid enchanted party-goers at Under the Sea Indoor Playground (Burbank, CA) by getting them to sit down, listen, and follow directions on a scavenger hunt. Enchanting, indeed!

Sure, there are other off-themed climbers and toys interspersed in the approximately 3000-square-foot space, but the overall message is if you want to have any sort of ocean- or marine-themed kids’ party, Under the Sea is the destination for you.

A magical mermaid leads the kids through a marine-themed limbo game during a birthday party at Under the Sea Indoor Playground (Burbank, CA).

There are five locations of Under the Sea in the greater Los Angeles area to choose from, so why not dive in and give them a shot at hosting your next party or play date? Open play times and costs vary.