Frederick Maryland Online Forum - Latest Comments

Re: Universal Kids Exploration Center

amf2706 — Mon, 08 Dec 2008 11:28:41 -0000

I must agree with the above completely. I have been to the center several times with my children during times when the center was not busy and a different manager was on duty. My children (both under 5 years of age) love the concept and continue to ask me to play at "the kids store". However, based on my experience this past weekend at a birthday party, this will not be a play center of choice for us in the near future.

Upon entering the center, I was "barked" at by the manager for my youngest to stop and listen to the rules. Are you kidding me? (a 2 year old)

The manager on duty during this exerience was extremely rude to the person having the party infront of her guests. This was a large party of people. The manager barked at her to start cleaning up 1:20 minutes into the party and told her there would be another party coming in in 40 minutes and that she was only to have the "Party room" for 30 minutes. This was never explained to the host prior to the party time. She thought she was paying for 2 hours and having the room for that length of time. She served pizza and cake for these guests and there is no other place for people to sit in the center. Chidren can barely eat a snack in 20-30 minutes, so that is most definitely not enough time for a large party group to have pizza and cake. Also I did not see accomodations for younger or older people who are disabled and can not stand for long periods of time unless they were going to sit in the party room on a chair.

Another thing that bothered me was that they knew they were having a party for let's say 30 people and it is winter time. There was only a flimsy plastic coat rack that held about 5 coats. No place for coats, Hats, Boots, etc. and much of the outerwear ended up on the floor. They do have a consignment shop where they could clear one of the racks as you enter the store and use it as a coat room of sorts for people to hang up their clothes and the like so that they are not all over the play area or the lunch room. It is little details like this that are completely missed by not having a coordinator or a service based business backround. Having a party coorinator would be a great idea and is highly recommended by this reviewer!

Now for the fee. I know this is phychological, but I would rather pay a little more for my children and not pay for me when I have to clean up after them . I don't mind cleaning up after them and for the most part they are great to do it themselves there, but to charge me to watch my kids and clean up after them just does not go over well with me even if it is only 3 dollars an hour.

All in all, the concept of this new business is a good one and your kids will love it. As a parent, I was extremely embarrased for my friend and angered to some degree by the poor business sense, horrible customer service. I have 18 years experience in Business Management and Customer Service and I can assure you they need some lessons in this area. This is a new business so hopefully changes will come and I will be pleasantly surprised by someone elses review.

Re: Universal Kids Exploration Center

nst21710 — Sun, 07 Dec 2008 19:59:36 -0000

I have to say, I was sorely disappointed with Universal Kids. I went there for a birthday party and was really excited to try this place out. Not only was the employee in charge rude to quite a few parents (so much so, that other parents complained to the host), but they have many, many rules and not many benefits. Sure, the kids can go into different themed rooms, but the parents are not only expected to pay to enter, but they are expected to stay with the kids in every room and clean up after them. Please don't get me wrong; I have no problem cleaning up after my kids, but why make me pay for being there? I am not playing with the toys and I have to be in the rooms at all times and clean. I can do that at home. :)

Most places like My Gym give the kids free reign to roam while the parents watch them from a centralized location. They are typically more relaxed when you have a birthday party and have the whole place to yourselves. It's not like we were dealing with strangers; everyone knew the host.

The other problem with the birthday party was that they say you get two hours, but that's not really the case, If there is a party after yours, they will tell you to make sure that everything is clean before your two hours are up. They told the host of this party 40 minutes before the end of her party that her time was going to be up promptly at the end of the hour and to clean the party room (right before cake was even served). I think that's poor planning. They should stagger parties by 30 minutes so that you can use your full 2 hours.

Also, there is no designated party person. CEC, My Gym, etc all have party coordinators that help round everyone up for food, and cake, and clean up the party room. Universal Kids does not have that. Parents are required to do it all and you only get the party room for 30 mins, which is typically not enough time for toddlers to eat pizza and cake without scarfing it all down.

Sorry for the mini rant. I usually don't post negative comments on websites, but I wanted to make sure others don't have the same experience.

Re: hi-5

Guy — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 12:25:44 -0000

Sorry FMO readers! This was meant for my other blog - http://guy.tumblr.com. My bad!

Re: hi-5

Bryan Jones — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 00:30:51 -0000

Man, I'm glad he didn't yell "Chest Bump", 'cause you would have thrown that little dude across the house.

Re: Brunch options downtown?

BabyDoe — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 00:19:35 -0000

I was in Nola's this evening for the first time...what a GREAT place! I noticed that they serve brunch. I hope to try it sometime soon! Does everyone know that they are now serving dinner every night? Great menu....reasonable prices. I didn't know they served dinner, so I didn't have dinner there tonight, but I did have some of their wonderful pumpkin soup and a terrific iced gingerbread latte. The bill was about half what I expected...have of what a "chain" place would charge! The employees are extremely helpful...and patient. The only thing I didn't like there was the background noise (music??? not my idea of music).

Re: Brunch options downtown?

Liz — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 08:04:43 -0000

Funny, I was thinking of doing a post on FMO on brunch because I had a friend come into town a few weeks ago and she asked me where she and her relative should go to brunch. They ended up going to Cafe Nola on E. Patrick St. and enjoyed it very much.

Re: Brunch options downtown?

Kaliduurga — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 11:50:57 -0000

Sorry for the double post, not used to this forum format... : /

Re: Universal Kids Exploration Center

Lori — Wed, 26 Nov 2008 06:47:45 -0000

Starting December 1st
Universal Kids will be open for play on Sundays too!!!

140 W. Patrick St, Frederick (by Weis, across from the old fashioned Burger King)
301-662-3310

The new days and hours open are as follows:

Exploration Center is open
Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday & Friday 10 am to 3pm an 4pm to 6pm (closed Thurdsays)
Saturday 10am to 1:30pm
Sunday 1pm to 5pm

Consignment Center will be open the same days and hours except
on weekdays open untl 7pm and Saturday from 10 am to 8pm

Birthday Parties have been a great hit and are booking up quickly.

Come visit Fredericks new place to play.

Re: A tailor

pryvit — Sun, 16 Nov 2008 10:44:21 -0000

:? Is that supposed to be cryptic?

Re: A tailor

TANNGUYEN — Sun, 16 Nov 2008 10:19:32 -0000

a good tailor can do just about anything with needle and thread

Re: A tailor

pryvit — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 20:20:59 -0000

I looked on Yelp and didn't see any reviews. So if anyone has recommendations here that would be great. :)

Re: need day trip ideas

pryvit — Tue, 28 Oct 2008 14:26:22 -0000

We love Annapolis!

Walk along the docks, eat crab cakes, tour the Naval academy, rent a boat and get out on the water.

Re: Police News

Lori — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 15:05:54 -0000

FYI MS 13 tagged Waverly Elementary School Tuesday night.
Pretty scary since my son goes there.

Re: need day trip ideas

sixgables — Sat, 27 Sep 2008 22:12:21 -0000

And of course you must check out DC. There are many days worth of visits. In addition to the museums we all hear about, check out The National Building Museum--they almost always have a fascinating exhibit.

and when you go to Baltimore, don't miss the Visionary Art Museum. My favorite museum ever, anywhere.

Re: All you students and bookworms, beware of Starbucks downtown

sixgables — Sat, 27 Sep 2008 22:09:16 -0000

In the Middletown area, WestSide Deli has free Wifi as does The Main Cup. Both are on Main St.

Re: need day trip ideas

Frog — Sat, 27 Sep 2008 19:06:20 -0000

Charlie,

St Micheal's is beautiful. It's about 45 minutes over the Bay Bridge, so under 2 hrs from Frederick. If you're worried about crowds, have no fears. There is no traffic to speak of once you get across the Bridge. Definitely not in town. There isn't a whole lot to do there except a Maritime Museum and a couple of nice restaurants. It's not over run with touristy crap, yet.

I was there for a conference a few years ago and really enjoyed fishing off the piers and watching the Crab boats come in at the crack of dawn.

I was meeting with a couple of business associates from Germany in Baltimore and they asked where they could go and that's where I told them to go. They loved it.

Re: Universal Kids Exploration Center

Lori — Mon, 22 Sep 2008 16:37:39 -0000

Just an update on Universal Kids.
The new fall hours are 10 am to 3 pm and 4 to 7pm on weekdays and 1 to 8 on Saturdays.
The consignment is open the same hours except it opens at 10 am on Saturdays.

If you have kids and are looking for something fun to do together, this is the place.
Frederick has needed a place like this for a long time.

Re: need day trip ideas

khighland — Sat, 20 Sep 2008 20:10:42 -0000

Harpers Ferry is a nice little town with little shops and food, and less than an hour.
Another nice place is Ellicott City, the historic district. Little shops and such, less than an hour the other direction.
45 minutes down US 15 is Leesburg. Check out the Lightfoot restaurant, really nice.
Harrisburg PA is an hour 10 minutes up 15 and is a nice daytrip. We packed a picnic lunch and ate at the city island park. The capital area is beautiful.

Re: All you students and bookworms, beware of Starbucks downtown

hardatworkeli — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 09:05:40 -0000

Frederick Coffee Company on the corner of Church and East St. in Shab Row and Eveready Square. GREAT Wifi (I pick it up from my apartment on 2nd street and Market), great drinks, and good selection of foods and juices.

Re: All you students and bookworms, beware of Starbucks downtown

BabyDoe — Tue, 16 Sep 2008 19:01:04 -0000

Thanks for the tip about Cafe Nola. I looked at their Web site (www.cafe-nola.com) and plan to go there the next time I am in Frederick. They are located at 4 East Patrick Street. The menu on their Web site looks inviting and very reasonably priced.

Does anyone else have any good places for free WiFi -- with yummy things to eat and good stuph to drink at resonable prices?

Re: Villages of Urbana?

bosshogg — Wed, 03 Sep 2008 11:10:25 -0000

I live in urbana, email me at matthewelenz@yahoo.com

Re: Villages of Urbana?

Liz — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 22:30:14 -0000

You might want to try posting on the urbana md website: http://www.urbanamaryland.com/

I can't promise anything as it doesn't seem to be a very active website, but maybe your post will get a rare comment or reply. Good luck!

Re: All you students and bookworms, beware of Starbucks downtown

cityside — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 10:32:52 -0000

Cafe Nola also features free wifi, and they have no problem if you nurse a cup of coffee for a couple hours while sitting with your laptop (although, if you do so, it is courteous to avoid peak lunchtime hours...)

The range of food offerings (both breakfast and lunch) is similar to Panera, but better. Locally owned, too (Dave also strives to use local and/eco-friendly suppliers whenever possible).

And the coffee is light-years better than Panera.

Re: need day trip ideas

TeamCharlie — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 08:01:05 -0000

What about St. Michael's? I've never been for fear that it is too far/crowded/too much traffic. I know these aren't good excuses but would love for someone to dispel them. Anyone been? How long does it take to get there from Frederick? Is it worth going?

Re: need day trip ideas

Frog — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 14:57:04 -0000

Shepardstown, WVa is a nice, quaint little college town. Not so many antique places, more arts & crafty places, little coffee shops, art displays and a couple nice places to eat. It's just an hour away, to boot.

You might also try Fredericksburg, VA. A bit more of the Civil War and Antique market theme, but a lot of nice little shops and eateries (about 1.5 hours, but take the scenic route down 15 to 17).