Family Land, originally uploaded by okinawa hai.

(Click on the photo above for more pictures of Family Land.)

CONTRIBUTED BY JULIA

Julie and I recently checked out this indoor play place thanks to a tip from our friend Anna.  The kids absolutely loved it!  It’s hard not to love a place that has ball pits, slides, bouncy areas, and plenty of space to run around…well, at least if you’re a 2-year-old.   OK, well we loved it too.

Here’s what downtownjuliebrown had to say about it:

They have billiards on the first floor for adults and a batting cage on the roof. Kiddos get a play place on the roof (not air-conditioned) and the whole 2nd floor which is air conditioned. There is a bouncy area with all sorts of ball pits, climbing things, etc for the kids. Also they have tons of video games like the taiko drum game and driving and motorcycle games which are FREE! And ping pong. so while the kids climbed on stuff Julia and I played shoot the zombie video games which were cool except apparently I can’t shoot to save my life (literally). The kids were entertained by the games as well. They charged us each a one time membership fee of 315 yen and then 105 yen per 15 min per adult. Our kids were free but we weren’t sure about what age they start charging.  So, I think its a great rainy day location for the kiddos to run around. The one drawback is not opening till 11:00 but they do serve lunch for pretty cheap prices (soba, hot dogs, onigiri, etc).

OK, so a couple of other drawbacks that I have to mention is that while the kids were playing at the rooftop play area it was REALLY hot and we could also hear rap music with explicit lyrics over the speaker system.  Hopefully the kids were too busy having fun to pick up any curse words.

There are other payment options instead of the 105 yen per 15 minutes.  If you plan on staying a while you can pay 1000 yen up front that will allow you to stay as long as you like Monday-Friday from 11:00 AM – 8:00 PM.  After 5 PM on weekdays you can pay 1500 yen to stay up to closing time.  On the weekends 1000 yen buys you 3 hours. Keep in mind that all payment options are in addition to the initial membership fee of 315 yen.

Overall, Family Land is a great alternative to being outdoors in this crazy heat if you’re getting tired of the beaches and water parks.

Hours:
11:00 AM – 2:00 AM Weekdays
10:00 AM – 2:00 AM on Saturday and Sundays
Phone No.: 098-939-5777

Directions from Kadena Gate 2:

    • Head straight out KAB Gate 2 onto Route 20.

 

  • Take a LEFT onto 330.

 

 

  • Take a RIGHT onto 329 and proceed about half a block.  Family Land will be on the right side.  It is a big black building with a sphinx in front of it.  Park in their indoor garage.

 

 

17 COMMENTS

  1. HI!
    Does anyone know of the current hours of Wago? We would like to meet for a playdate and want to be sure it is still 1100 (vs 10am or we will plan to be there before 1100 if so)?
    Thanks for your input!

  2. Hi Shannan,

    Most of the guests that were coming already had membership cards. We requested that the membership fee be waived for the few that did not. To simplify things we also paid the 1000 yen per person instead of trying to figure out how long everyone stayed. It can add up quickly though.

    Another good alternative is Monakids Jungle although there is a fee of about 1500-2000 yen for their event room depending on the size of the room. Not sure when you are planning your party but on the weekends Monakids can be quite crowded and the admission fee is higher. I think they’ll lower it for groups of 10 or more though.

    Good luck!

  3. We had a birthday party there two years ago. I’m not sure if their policies have changed since then but here is a little bit about my experience. At the time they allowed us to bring in food and a cake but no drinks since they preferred that you purchase drinks from their vending machine. Perhaps it depends on who you talk to; I attended another party there last spring and they were allowed to bring drinks.

    There was no separate fee for using their room which is next to the snack bar. If you’re having a small party I believe you can also use one of their karaoke rooms. We provided Family Land with a guest list and then covered admission for our guests. There was no group discount.

    I set up everything with the help of a Japanese friend. hope that helps.

    Just another tip…make sure they don’t have another party scheduled too close to yours because the last time we were there for an event we got shooed out of the event room and into a karaoke room after about half an hour to make room for another group.

  4. Khenndoe, were you referring to the fish market in Awase?
    If so, head straight out KAB Gate 2. Continue on this road past the intersections for 330 & 329 and then a KFC on your right. About one or two lights after KFC you will see a MOS Burger on your far left. Take a LEFT at this intersection. Turn RIGHT at the next traffic signal. Take a RIGHT just before the big parking lot and marina. The fish market is on your right hand side.

    There are more detailed directions in this discussion from the Hai Society that I’ve linked.
    http://okinawahai.ning.com/forum/topic/show?id=2057706%3ATopic%3A6968
    If you are not already a member you will need to join to view them though.

  5. We are taking the boys this weekend.My 12 yr. old is very excited that he can go to a place similiar to an arcade with his 2 yr. old brother.
    Oh yes, I am trying to find directions to the fish market out of gate 2?

  6. Just went here on Jan 1 and had an AWESOME time. Because of the Japanese holiday, I’m sure, the place was virtually empty, so we had the whole area to ourselves–which was like totally awesome. Thanks for sharing the info and I highly recommend this as a place to go when the weather outside is not inviting (in our case, it’s been too collllllllllldddddddddddddddd!).

    • We lived here previously and went here often. It looked exactly as pictured. We were very disappointed this time around. It is run down and dirty. A lot of the games no longer work. They have replaced previous bounce houses with trampolines which are “stretched” out. Needless to say we were excited to take our kids back here to what we remembered but will not be returning ever again.