Quoted post unavailable.
When was the last time you were at a playground? You're sounding like a facebook parody post.
How Urban Legend Destroyed the Ball Pit
41–50 of 100 posts
Re: How Urban Legend Destroyed the Ball Pit
#42Earlier quoted context omitted.
laughs in German Go through the pics here: https://www.google.com/maps/place/Spielplatz+mit+Kletterspin...
This looks like every new playground I've been to in the US
Yeah, it seems that a lot of folks haven't seen a new playground in the last 25 years.
Re: How Urban Legend Destroyed the Ball Pit
#43Earlier quoted context omitted.
No, ball pits are ubiquitous at most indoor play parks here too, the author is extrapolating their disappearance from fast food restaurants, and correlating it to the 90s rumor mill. These rumors were definitely a thing, but more than just ball pits have been removed; most McDonald’s locations have had their entire PlayPlaces removed, due to the fact that people don’t sit down in fast food restaurants anymore, and al…
They're still common in Chick-Fil-A, and they complement the playgrounds with family night activities for kids on certain days of the week. Chick-fil-A prob doing better than ever too.
I did not even know chick fil a had play areas (between west coast and north east). I thought all the play areas in McDonalds and Burger King had closed down due to liability reasons.
Re: How Urban Legend Destroyed the Ball Pit
#44I’ve forgotten what it’s like to be in ball pits. Are they even swimmable or do you just sink straight down? What if there was a very deep ball pit, think 12 feet or so. Could it be escaped by swimming back up?
I don't know for sure, but I don't think so. The balls are very light, so there's almost no buoyancy. The only way to support yourself is if the balls are locked in place from the force of your foot stepping on it, which might work for a stack 2~3 balls in height at the most before it becomes unstable and slips out from underneath you.
Re: How Urban Legend Destroyed the Ball Pit
#45The article describes the lack of sanitation as a baseless part of the negative mythology, but a dearth of scientific studies (and questions of generalizability of the existing studies) does not mean that their reputation is without merit. When your kid finds turds in the ball pit you don't need a study to know there's a sanitation problem.
Anecdotally, as a child I had a near 100% rate of coming down with an infection after visiting the local ball pit and witnessed the discovery of fecal matter by another child, which, combined with the repeated illness, led to a ban on further visits.
Re: How Urban Legend Destroyed the Ball Pit
#46The article describes the lack of sanitation as a baseless part of the negative mythology, but a dearth of scientific studies (and questions of generalizability of the existing studies) does not mean that their reputation is without merit. When your kid finds turds in the ball pit you don't need a study to know there's a sanitation problem. Anecdotally, as a child I had a near 100% rate of coming down with an infecti…
SAME. We learned fast that other parents gambled with diapers in public/shared places.
Re: How Urban Legend Destroyed the Ball Pit
#47Hi! This is the author of this piece, and since a lot of you seem to be interested in rise and fall of the ball pit, I wanted to add that there are two exceptions where the ball pit seems to live on (at least in the US):
- Here and there, you'll find ball pits that seem to exist for the sole purpose of providing Instagram photo ops and seem to be more for adults than children (The Color Factory chain of museums is a notable example)
- There also seems to be a growing demand for private ball pit rentals in the same vein of the rental bouncy houses you'll find sometimes at children's parties
I couldn't find a ton of up-to-date information concerning ball pits outside of North America, so it's interesting to hear that they're still alive and well in Europe! I suspected they might be thriving elsewhere based on this sort of silly article about a woman getting stuck in a ball pit in Singapore
https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/world-news/desperate-mum-drown...
Anyway, thanks for reading!
Re: How Urban Legend Destroyed the Ball Pit
#48Earlier quoted context omitted.
No, ball pits are ubiquitous at most indoor play parks here too, the author is extrapolating their disappearance from fast food restaurants, and correlating it to the 90s rumor mill. These rumors were definitely a thing, but more than just ball pits have been removed; most McDonald’s locations have had their entire PlayPlaces removed, due to the fact that people don’t sit down in fast food restaurants anymore, and al…
They're still common in Chick-Fil-A, and they complement the playgrounds with family night activities for kids on certain days of the week. Chick-fil-A prob doing better than ever too.
Chick-Fil-A's core demographic is somewhat wealthier than McDonalds (the food is somewhat more expensive), and I think that helps keep the play areas clean and organized.
(fewer parents trying to use it as free daycare...)
Re: How Urban Legend Destroyed the Ball Pit
#49I guess this is limited to the US? Ball pits are going strong here in Europe, they're a staple of every indoor playpark. There's a special machine for cleaning them, it looks a bit like the robot from teletubbies
I'm glad you have a machine for cleaning them. One thing I noticed in the US, even as a child, was that ball pits were filthy and musty. I don't think they were ever cleaned.
Video of the "Ball Washing Machine" (this is actually from the US):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PrHvFiePokI
This is UK:
Re: How Urban Legend Destroyed the Ball Pit
#50Earlier quoted context omitted.
They're still common in Chick-Fil-A, and they complement the playgrounds with family night activities for kids on certain days of the week. Chick-fil-A prob doing better than ever too.
I did not even know chick fil a had play areas (between west coast and north east). I thought all the play areas in McDonalds and Burger King had closed down due to liability reasons.
I haven't seen a new play area in years, but some of the older franchise locations continue to run the ones they have.