Days Out In the North West ·
Indoor Play Centres ·
Out and About ·
Play Factore
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Visiting Play Factore, Manchester
Disclosure - We were gifted tickets for the purpose of this post. All thoughts, opinions and photographs are our own.
Last week we were invited to Play Factore to try out their Virtual Reality attraction. Play Factore is located right underneath Chill Factore by the Trafford Centre and is part of the Beyond entertainment complex.
Play Factore is the UK's largest family entertainment centre, and boasts Europe's tallest standing indoor slide. The first thing I really noticed about Play Factore was how they have used the space so well, with each activity in its own zone, and lots of seating for those not taking part right in the middle of the centre. The activities are big enough for all ages to attempt, with most areas aimed at 5-16. Adults will have no problems accompanying little ones and there is also a specific toddler zone too.
We headed firstly for the giant red slide. This involved finding our way up the climbing structure to reach the top corner, which was lots of fun with obstacles to climb over, slide under and dodge as you go higher and higher. You can see down below over the rest of the centre from the structure and Little J couldn't believe how high he had climbed.
The slide had a staff member at the top for safety instructions and we needed to fold our arms across out chest and head down. Big J went first and literally flew down the slide. It didn't look too fast so I took Little J down next to me. We discovered that looks can be deceiving! We bounced over the bumps and Little J found it hard to keep his arms crossed with the speed we moved at! The slide really is so fast and lots of fun, but not for the faint hearted.
Next it was onto the football area. This is a short climb up the structure and is a great area with two goals and netting all around so the balls can't go missing. Football is always a hit with us and we spent a good amount of time playing.
Big J and I tried out the Virtual Reality game next. You are in a small arena with two staff manning the area from the outside. You wear a backpack containing the tech needed to run the game, a headset and hold on to two handheld devices that act as your guns. The staff set you up and two play at a time. Finally your headphones go on and the screen loads up. You have a short training exercise to complete which is really useful as it gets you used to the controls and how to move around quickly and then its onto the main game.
If you haven't tried VR before then you are in for a surprise. Even if you have just tried the VR headsets that you can put your phone in, this is a different class. It's amazing too look all around you and be in another environment, and actually feel as though you need to be careful when walking across platforms in case you fall. The game consists of three main sections, involving shooting down drones, moving up and down a hangar bay, and the final battle to destroy a reactor. The game lasts around 7 minutes or so in total, however feels longer, and you do become immersed in the game as there are no distractions or anything else in your vision or hearing. We both really enjoyed the experience and will be looking to try it out again on out next visit.
Little J wanted to go on the Go Kart area whilst we used the VR and this was fun as he could drive the kart himself around the track. It isn't fast and perfect for the littler ones. Big J also got to sit on the back of the kart on his next go around.
We then took a short break for some food from the restaurant. Play Factore employ 5 chefs as they prepare and cook every single dish on site using the best locally sources ingredients. The pizza is cooked in a traditional stone bake oven, and this is impressive for a play area! We really enjoyed out food and the selection of drinks is really good too, with a range of coffees, tea, soft drinks and Tango Ice Blast machines.
Finally for us it was more football and then onto Laser Tag. we had been having a great time on the other activities and had forgotten about laser tag until the end of our visit. The Laser Tag was great fun, with just a gun each needed. The guns are the weapons and also the part you need to hit on your opponent to score points. The area to play in is perfect for the game as there are plenty of places to hide, duck down, and higher areas too to get some high ground. The game lasts around 5 minutes.
There are other activities to do in Play Factore that we didn't check out this time such as the Arcade area, with a selection of arcade games to play and also the huge children's Zip Wire which sends children from one end of the building to the other, flying over the heads of people sat below in the centre! This is available for ages of 6 -16 and is manned by a qualified team of zip line experts to ensure everyone is kept safe.
We really enjoyed out visit to Play Factore and its another centre that we will be certain to head back to in the future.
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