Total Ninja, Black River Park, Cape Town. Huge Disappointment - Booked Party

My son was incredibly excited to celebrate his 9th birthday at the Total Ninja party, which took place on Saturday (26 Aug 2023). However, the overall experience left much to be desired. While it was not a surprise that we had the party room for 45 minutes, as this was communicated during the booking process, the execution didn't meet our expectations, considering the amount they charged to have a party there.

Upon arrival, it was immediately noticeable that the venue was overcrowded with both adults and children, leading to a chaotic atmosphere. The inflatables were packed with kids, and collisions were frequent. I'm sure the inflatables were being used beyond their intended capacity. It would be advisable for the venue to implement restrictions on the number of people allowed in or on the inflatables to ensure a more enjoyable experience for everyone. Adding to the disappointment, one of the inflatables, the spinning obstacle that kids were looking forward to, was broken.

Our reserved table had a plastic container with various items like socks, tattoos, and stickers. Unfortunately, we were missing some blue ninja stickers, which we had to request repeatedly.

As part of our booked package, we were supposed to receive sweet jars, but they were forgotten until I inquired about them while the kids were transitioning to the party room. The waitress only remembered and brought them over just in time for us to fill the kids' party boxes. It was apparent that without my prompt, we wouldn't have received them at all. It took 45 minutes to bring the bottled water for the children which was meant to be included with the party kit. You observed that other booked parties had theirs stacked on their tables, but we had to repeatably request these.

I had also ordered a platter in advance for the adults. It took 50 minutes to arrive. Ideally, the platter should have been served while the parents were able to enjoy it during the children's playtime.

Upon entering the party room, there was a sense of haste and rush; it felt like we only had around 20 minutes for activities like singing, cake-cutting, and celebrating. We had to encourage the kids to eat quickly to maximise their playtime. This was because we were waiting for the host/waitress to bring us plates so that we can cut the cake, even though I requested this in my emails before the party date. The most distressing incident was when one of the boys from our party went missing in the overly crowded venue. Despite my efforts to locate him and my request for assistance from a staff member near the opening of the inflatable, the response lacked urgency, and I was simply told to ask my designated host. Unfortunately, the host was nowhere to be found. He was most likely looking for plates and sweets that were not given to us. Eventually, I received a message that the missing boy had returned to the party room, but the lack of support from the venue during this 10-minute situation was disappointing.

Overall the experience at Total Ninja was really stressful. We were all overwhelmed by the number of people, service was disorganised, orders took long, and it seemed their primary focus was maximising capacity without a genuine concern for the guest experience or addressing issues promptly.