When I was living in the Merrimack Valley, Imajine That, 354 Merrimack Street , Lawrence MA was one of my most favorites places to go. When I only had Patrick and Cecilia (as a baby) it was pretty easy. With three, it's obviously a bit more difficult, but I do love it here! We had a 6 month membership to get us through the winter months. Now that I am no longer local, it's not worth the membership. Fortunately, we have some close friends who still have memberships and we can use their guest passes. Also, some of the libraries in area have passes, and I know that the Haverhill Family Network has passes as well. The 2011 Entertainment book has coupons for discounted entrance fees as well.
Imajine That is a tad tricky to find. Its just below Salvatore's Restaurant, on the second floor. A tricky part, particularly in the summer: NO SHOES, that is for everyone! Everyone must have socks, so throw them in your bag!
We went this past Wednesday to meet up with a couple friends. I had started this blog entry, since I'd been there so many times, and sure enough when we got there I was surprised. They had a renovation! How did I not know this?? Anyways, the basic layout is still the same, but they 'de-cluttered' the place, and replaced the old beat up bouncy house. They also repainted the entire interior. It used to be full of all kinds of bright colors. Now it's more along the lines of coffee house colors, but I think in some ways its good. Much less overstimulating than it was, but I find it a bit blah.
Anyways, that's just my opinion. I still love Imajine That! It's very easily accessible with my oversized stroller. There's push-button handicap doors and other than making sure Patrick doesn't push the alarm button in the elevator it's a piece of cake. When you get upstairs there's a lobby area where you can hang jackets, shoes, stroller parking and restrooms. (Not the nicest ones I've seen, but they have changing tables and do just fine.) When you enter the playspace there's a little boutique, and the check in desk. Then it's just wide open areas of fun. Here's some photos. There used to be a great map on the website but that's not there anymore. So I'll do my best to recreate it.
This place really has a lot of things for the under 5 age group! What makes it really unique in my mind is the arts and crafts area and the cafe. The Arts and Crafts area has a chalkboard wall, and lots of supplies such as crayons, glue, feathers, sequins, stamps, etc. You can also purchase paint for $0.25 from the cafe. And speaking of cafe, this place is pretty good for playspace food. They serve Sal's Pizza, yogurt, snacks, fruit cups, and Patrick's favorite Nutella and Jelly Sandwich! It is peanut free, but they do have soy nut butter.
The Maze is small, but pretty nice. I like it because I can fairly easily go through most of it with the kids, including the baby. It's only two levels. To use the slide, you don't have to struggle through everything. You just climb up the stairs and slide down, so it's great for small ones. There is a dress up box near the stage, and also a puppet theater! I think the rest of it is pretty self-explanatory - toddler area, music house, bouncy house, playstore. :)
They offer a bunch of different programs and activities. Some of them are included with admission, some have an extra charge. When I heard about this one program, my initial thought was "I can't believe no one's thought of that before"! It's a program called Date Night. You can get more detailed info at the link, but here's the short version..... Salvatore's Restaurant and Imajine That have teamed up. You 'book' your date night, either Friday or Sat with Imajine That between 5 and 8. You're given a two hour window and Imajine That makes a dinner reservation for you at Salvatores. The staff will take your (walking) children and watch them for that time block. They feed them pizza and juice, and you can enjoy a quiet dinner!! The kids are in the building and staff will get you if need be. Can you say AWESOME! We've done this before, but always had a non-walking baby. I'm looking forward to enjoying this as soon as the little one is on the go!
If you're nearby it is definitely worth checking out! I do find it a little hard to keep track of the kids, but really no more so than any large place. The area's all have half-walls which I think is great. The jury is still out on this one. I love this place for multiple kids, and I have friends who don't like it because it's hard to keep track of them. They however like some other places that I'd rather avoid for the same reason. For us and for now, we love it here. We'll see what happens when the baby is on the move!
Details:
354 Merrimack Street , Lawrence MA
Hours:
Cost:
Imajine That is a tad tricky to find. Its just below Salvatore's Restaurant, on the second floor. A tricky part, particularly in the summer: NO SHOES, that is for everyone! Everyone must have socks, so throw them in your bag!
We went this past Wednesday to meet up with a couple friends. I had started this blog entry, since I'd been there so many times, and sure enough when we got there I was surprised. They had a renovation! How did I not know this?? Anyways, the basic layout is still the same, but they 'de-cluttered' the place, and replaced the old beat up bouncy house. They also repainted the entire interior. It used to be full of all kinds of bright colors. Now it's more along the lines of coffee house colors, but I think in some ways its good. Much less overstimulating than it was, but I find it a bit blah.
Anyways, that's just my opinion. I still love Imajine That! It's very easily accessible with my oversized stroller. There's push-button handicap doors and other than making sure Patrick doesn't push the alarm button in the elevator it's a piece of cake. When you get upstairs there's a lobby area where you can hang jackets, shoes, stroller parking and restrooms. (Not the nicest ones I've seen, but they have changing tables and do just fine.) When you enter the playspace there's a little boutique, and the check in desk. Then it's just wide open areas of fun. Here's some photos. There used to be a great map on the website but that's not there anymore. So I'll do my best to recreate it.
The Maze is small, but pretty nice. I like it because I can fairly easily go through most of it with the kids, including the baby. It's only two levels. To use the slide, you don't have to struggle through everything. You just climb up the stairs and slide down, so it's great for small ones. There is a dress up box near the stage, and also a puppet theater! I think the rest of it is pretty self-explanatory - toddler area, music house, bouncy house, playstore. :)
They offer a bunch of different programs and activities. Some of them are included with admission, some have an extra charge. When I heard about this one program, my initial thought was "I can't believe no one's thought of that before"! It's a program called Date Night. You can get more detailed info at the link, but here's the short version..... Salvatore's Restaurant and Imajine That have teamed up. You 'book' your date night, either Friday or Sat with Imajine That between 5 and 8. You're given a two hour window and Imajine That makes a dinner reservation for you at Salvatores. The staff will take your (walking) children and watch them for that time block. They feed them pizza and juice, and you can enjoy a quiet dinner!! The kids are in the building and staff will get you if need be. Can you say AWESOME! We've done this before, but always had a non-walking baby. I'm looking forward to enjoying this as soon as the little one is on the go!
If you're nearby it is definitely worth checking out! I do find it a little hard to keep track of the kids, but really no more so than any large place. The area's all have half-walls which I think is great. The jury is still out on this one. I love this place for multiple kids, and I have friends who don't like it because it's hard to keep track of them. They however like some other places that I'd rather avoid for the same reason. For us and for now, we love it here. We'll see what happens when the baby is on the move!
Details:
354 Merrimack Street , Lawrence MA
Hours:
| Monday - Thursday | 9 - 5 |
| Friday and Saturday | 9 - 8 |
| Sunday | 9 - 5 |
Cost:
| Children 1 & up | $8.95 |
| Babies under 1 | $2.95 |
| Adults | $1.00 Next stop: Canton's Totplex that we went to yesterday. Discovery Museums in Acton we're heading to now! Can't Wait! |
Kristen!
ReplyDeleteThanks so much for taking the time to visit and play with the Imajine That family, and for sharing your experience with your fans! Enjoy your adventures & we look forward to seeing you again!
Cheers,
Jen Silver - Director of Imajine That