If you live a 30 minute drive away, call ahead to ...

If you live a 30 minute drive away, call ahead to see if the place is at full capacity, and check to see if there is parking available. Make sure your drive to the place isn't in vain.

The last two or three times I have taken my daughter here, the place truly has been "manic". The tables, if you can even get one, are often sticky, and the chairs have food smudged on them.

Today the place was full to the brim with people, and hordes of parents and children continued to swarm in. Not enough tables and seating.

And of course there's the non surprising rule about only consuming food that's purchased on the premise. I ordered a sandwich and chips, and it arrived 30 minutes later. Huge queue of customers and one young woman taking orders and working the till. No wonder I usually stash snacks in my bag for my ravenous child when going there.

The benefit to visiting Manic Monsters is it seems to have a larger capacity than Crawley's Treasure Chest. And I like the way toddlers and 5-year-olds have different areas in which to play (unlike Treasure Chest). And it's cheaper, minus the pretty drive in the countryside to get there.

Manic Monsters always seems understaffed. It look us 5 minutes to be able to leave, since the poor woman booking people in seemed inundated and couldn't turn around to let us out.

I've made a decision not to go back, ever. Life is just too short.