Since my six and eight-year-old grandkids live near Pigeon Forge, we visit TopJump quite often. It's always been a favorite place for them to go but our visit this past weekend was disappointing. Except for the pleasant cashier
who checked us in, the friendly environment we had always enjoyed was gone. Incidentally, it was less busy than usual on this Saturday before the 4th of July holiday.
As usual, the kids started their two-hour session with the climbing walls, where the first step is to harness up. On previous visits, the employees did this for them but this time I assumed responsibility since the new introductory video instructs patrons on how to harness up and clip on. Right off the bat, I was shooed away by a very young employee working the floor who rushed over and informed me, "I'm
here now, ma'am," in a tone that let me know I had overstepped my bounds. Out of respect, I quietly stepped back. A bit later, the same kid spanked me again figuratively speaking, because I had walked into the small enclosed, single-climber "Dark Tower" wall to help my granddaughter with her harness. This was only after she hollered for help that she couldn't release it from the mat. The employee told me I needed to step out, as I couldn't be inside the tower with a "climber" (a six-year-old who wasn't actually climbing since she couldn't get loose from the mat.) Maybe in hindsight I should have asked for help but the patrons have always been tasked with clipping and unclipping themselves. The introductory video reinforced this procedure as well so it was only logical for me to take charge of my grandchild.
A third admonishment from the same employee went to my grandson, whose
infraction was climbing the "Ice" wall without using the stakes. The removable stakes act as grips when seated into the holds. My grandson had accidently dropped one of the stakes halfway up, so he finished the climb bare-handed. The same employee ran over to chastise him for climbing without the stakes. I spoke up and asked if the stakes were necessary, knowing that a stake had gone missing for weeks while the wall remained accessible for use. The employee told me that climbing without the stakes was strictly prohibited because it could break fingers. I didn't challenge him and simply explained to my grandson that rules were in place for everyone's protection.
After this last scolding, we moved on to the Ninja Course. I'm not sure if the rules were new for that attraction or had always been there and not enforced. Either way, I was made aware that the kids' velcro athletic shoes were no longer appropriate for the course, as only those with shoelaces were allowed. The jump park had some shoes on hand but unfortunately, the soles were slick with no traction. The long shoe strings had to be tied multiple times and tucked inside to prevent tripping. This unsafe alternative wasn't at all practical and didn't seem to be very well thought out.
After all we had endured, the kids ended up in the toddler section where they couldn't go wrong and I could relax from all the scrutiny. Had this been our first time at TopJump, I would have given a one-star review. Since I think TopJump is better than this, I still give it three stars. I would like to think that our recent experience was an isolated event. Perhaps the kid working the floor was over vigilant; a little common sense can go a long way. Maybe there's a logical reason for the Ninja shoelace requirement and switching to a better shoe could be a smart fix. I certainly hope this isn't a new normal for such a great place. I can't imagine managerial staff asking employees to walk such a tightrope or expecting patrons to rise to an impossible level of compliance. I fully understand insurance demands and liability but as a 60-year old professional who has worked in the public sector, the treatment my family tolerated was unacceptable. We may give TopJump another try in the future but if this is the new normal, we will take our business to the competitor about five miles down the road.