New kids play centre at hotel site

A huge children’s indoor play centre will be part of a major $50 million development being built in the Moreton Bay region.

Area 51 will open a 6000sqm play area in the Comiskey Group’s new Country Club Hotel complex on Gympie Rd, Strathpine, opposite Pine Rivers Park.

It will include climbing walls, a trampoline park, high ropes course, ninja park, multi-storey playgrounds, giant inflatables, mega slides and sports courts.

Area 51 at Strathpine will join the company’s sister centre in Underwood and a smaller venue set to open on Anzac Ave, Redcliffe in February next year.

There are also plans to open an Area 51 at Mt Gravatt in January and at a new venue, currently being built, in Bundamba next November.

Michael Affleck, Operations Manager for Area 51, said the company was delighted to team-up with The Comiskey Group at Strathpine.

“We are thrilled to partner with such a reputable organisation and are confident that this collaboration will seamlessly align with Area 51’s vision for an extraordinary and innovative future,” he said.

“The lack of options in the Morten Bay region was screaming for more variety, which we cannot wait to provide."

Area 51's Moreton Bay venues join a growing number of children’s indoor play centres, with cafes, being planned and now opening in City of Moreton Bay.

“It’s a growth area and we are absolutely going to see more of these,” Simon Kuestenmacher, co-founder and director of research at The Demographics Group, said.

“Parents are not expected to play with kids in the centre. They can sit in the café, open up a laptop, work remotely, buy the kids something to eat … or just stop if needed.”

Mr Kuestenmacher said the rise of indoor entertainment centres can be, in part, be attributed to urban planning.

Historically, children played in backyards, on streets and parks or went out on their bikes, coming home when streetlights came on.

But with smaller residential blocks, smaller back yards, fewer play areas and parental concern over their safety the search is on for new places for children to play.

Jungle Adventure Play has also invested in this region adding a new $20 million centre at North Lakes to its Tingalpa venue.

Bounce Morayfield opened an “adrenaline playground” off Morayfield Rd in June 2023, following its Bounce centre, also in Tingalpa.

We also have Chipmonks Indoor Playground at North Lakes and Morayfield, Lollipops Adventure Playground, Strathpine and Revolution Sports Park, North Lakes.