Why is every kid related activity absolutely packed every weekend/holiday

[Anonymous]

This is the third area I’ve lived with kids and I’ve never seen anything like it. The first couple of times I thought it just must have been an especially busy day but it’s every time/every place. My kids spend so much time waiting in lines that’s it’s not even worth it to go anywhere anymore.
Places we have tried:
Aquarium
Port discovery
Climbzone
Urban air
Meland
Zavazone
All these places have been so full so we just wanted to leave.

Also why is there no roller rink in Montgomery county? I have never lived in a place that didn’t at least have one roller rink?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This is the third area I’ve lived with kids and I’ve never seen anything like it. The first couple of times I thought it just must have been an especially busy day but it’s every time/every place. My kids spend so much time waiting in lines that’s it’s not even worth it to go anywhere anymore.
Places we have tried:
Aquarium
Port discovery
Climbzone
Urban air
Meland
Zavazone
All these places have been so full so we just wanted to leave.

Also why is there no roller rink in Montgomery county? I have never lived in a place that didn’t at least have one roller rink?

People go to those places on the weekends and the holidays because they are not available during the other times. Are you available during those times? The aquarium on a week day is very nice, and the membership is worth it as long as you go like 4x a year.

I feel you on the roller rink, though. What I appreciated about DC was the large number of outdoor rinks that are open in various parts of the DMV for most of the winter. I personally felt that was an okay substitute based on my own skating ability. That said, I think this is generational and that rollerskating is not as common as it was when you were a kid. For me as a teenager, bowling alley, movie theater, and mall were what we did when our roller rink closed in like 1993.

[Anonymous]

There’s just a lot of families in this area. Add in some tourists for some places, and you get crowds.

It’s hard to make money with the high cost of real estate in many places. So even though they are packed during the weekends/holidays, during the week it’s dead.

[Anonymous]

OP, why don’t you take the kids on a Tuesday? I’m assuming it’s because they are in school, you work, or both.

Same with all the other families.

[Anonymous]

OP I totally get your venting. It sucks and it does make these places unpleasant. We rarely do that stuff unless it's a bday party or something.

This whole area is just too packed with people. You see it with traffic, house prices, school sizes and class sizes, and even playspaces.

[Anonymous]

Because this area is high density and there are not as many kid friendly activity places as there are in some other areas. Add that to better educated parents with more money and you have constantly packed activities.

I tend to avoid as much as possible on the weekends if we have any other time during the week.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP I totally get your venting. It sucks and it does make these places unpleasant. We rarely do that stuff unless it's a bday party or something.

This whole area is just too packed with people. You see it with traffic, house prices, school sizes and class sizes, and even playspaces.

Oh and I will add Smithsonians to this list. We go to more museums in smaller cities when we travel and they are way less packed, even on weekends.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP, why don’t you take the kids on a Tuesday? I’m assuming it’s because they are in school, you work, or both.

Same with all the other families.

I guess you missed the point? This seems to be a specific problem to this area. I have lived in other places with my kids. As well as gone on vacation to other places and they weren’t like this on weekends. They have people-but not like this. This is crazy. And for the places that you pay for like a specific period (60 minutes, 90 minutes, 2 hours etc…) you are spending so much of that time waiting. It just doesn’t seem worth it. So what does everyone do? Just take their kids out of school when they went to go to one of these places? Or simply not go to any places with your kids?

[Anonymous]

I’ve lived in many places and what you see here is probably because of the high number of two-income families here. They don’t have time during the weekday so those places are packed on the weekend. That’s why the playgrounds here tend to be empty except the big ones on warmer weekends. Most babies and toddlers here are in daycare. I’ve lived in higher COL areas and have not seen so many double income families compared to here.

I also agree with you about the roller rink—we have to drive at least 40 minutes to get to one.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP I totally get your venting. It sucks and it does make these places unpleasant. We rarely do that stuff unless it's a bday party or something.

This whole area is just too packed with people. You see it with traffic, house prices, school sizes and class sizes, and even playspaces.

Oh and I will add Smithsonians to this list. We go to more museums in smaller cities when we travel and they are way less packed, even on weekends.

Op here. Yup! I won’t even try the museums here anymore. Also the zoo. Forget it. Way more hassle than it’s worth. We now make sure to go to the zoo every time we are out of this area because they are always more pleasant.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I’ve lived in many places and what you see here is probably because of the high number of two-income families here. They don’t have time during the weekday so those places are packed on the weekend. That’s why the playgrounds here tend to be empty except the big ones on warmer weekends. Most babies and toddlers here are in daycare. I’ve lived in higher COL areas and have not seen so many double income families compared to here.

I also agree with you about the roller rink—we have to drive at least 40 minutes to get to one.

Should’ve proofed before posting—excessive number of “here”s

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP I totally get your venting. It sucks and it does make these places unpleasant. We rarely do that stuff unless it's a bday party or something.

This whole area is just too packed with people. You see it with traffic, house prices, school sizes and class sizes, and even playspaces.

this is what the urbanist want for all of us by the way. They think sparsely populated places are evil (yes evil).

[Anonymous]

There are a lot of people here with a lot of $ but not that much time. Not enough kid places as rents and salaries for staff are high and wouldnt make a profit. But also a lot od the families re very A type and go to these things to expose kids to museums etc. many go every other weekend and not like once a year.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, why don’t you take the kids on a Tuesday? I’m assuming it’s because they are in school, you work, or both.

Same with all the other families.

I guess you missed the point? This seems to be a specific problem to this area. I have lived in other places with my kids. As well as gone on vacation to other places and they weren’t like this on weekends. They have people-but not like this. This is crazy. And for the places that you pay for like a specific period (60 minutes, 90 minutes, 2 hours etc…) you are spending so much of that time waiting. It just doesn’t seem worth it. So what does everyone do? Just take their kids out of school when they went to go to one of these places? Or simply not go to any places with your kids?

In other highly-populated areas?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP I totally get your venting. It sucks and it does make these places unpleasant. We rarely do that stuff unless it's a bday party or something.

This whole area is just too packed with people. You see it with traffic, house prices, school sizes and class sizes, and even playspaces.

Oh and I will add Smithsonians to this list. We go to more museums in smaller cities when we travel and they are way less packed, even on weekends.

Bingo