Aussie mum’s outrage over price meal at kids play centre

An Aussie mum has blasted a children’s play centre after she was slapped with a whopping bill and was “not impressed” by the price.

An Aussie mum has blasted a children’s play centre for its “insanely expensive” menu items amid the cost-of-living crisis.

The Northern Territory mum took to Facebook to reveal the whopping bill she was charged for a pack of nuggets, a chicken parmigiana, a bowl of chips, a side of gravy, and two small drinks at Adventure Land in Darwin.

She claimed the $63 total was “insanely expensive”.

However, the play centre has defended its prices, telling news.com.au it is a “small business just trying to cover costs of inflation”.

“The real story should be how businesses are meant to survive with price increases and then be subject to slander over it,” a spokeswoman for Adventure Land told news.com.au.

In her post, the mum asked Facebook users if “this normal for Adventureland [sic] food?”

“$63 for this, was not impressed,” she said.

“Will probably just be cooking from home from now on and taking it with us, it’s getting insanely expensive”.

An Aussie mum has blasted a children’s play centre over the cost of her food bill. Picture: Facebook

The mum ordered a bowl of chips, a chicken parmigiana, a bowl of nuggets, a side of gravy and two small drinks. Picture: Facebook

The post sparked outrage with many parents commenting that they choose not to eat at the venue because of the steep prices.

“I refuse to go there with those prices,” one user said.

“Yep, normal, we don’t eat there for obvious reasons,” another wrote.

“Wow! Go to the pub with a playground, hell of a lot cheaper,” a third person said.

“Shocking right, as if the entry fee isn’t expensive enough,” a fourth person wrote.

Others noted that the establishment was entitled to set prices of their food at their own discretion to pay for wages, maintenance and other business costs.

“Adventureland [sic] food is expensive, and playground food is expensive because their prices are what pays their staff and rent,” one parent wrote.

“I love supporting small businesses but holey moley, there is a line between wanting to and not being able to,” another said.

Adventure Land in Palmerston, Darwin. Picture: Facebook/Adventure Land

The spokeswoman for Adventure Land said the venue is not a franchise and does not have the same buying power for its stock.

“We are a small business just trying to cover costs of inflation,” the spokeswoman told news.com.au.

“This mum purchased a variety of products including large slushie, large 600ml coke, large water, large chips, 12 nuggets, gravy and a parmigiana meal.

“I would like to point out our parmigiana is cheaper than any other tavern/establishment around us by at least $8.”

They also noted their chips and gravy are “cheaper by $4” to an establishment in the same centre.

“Our drinks are the same price as the rest of the eatery and are monitored by Coke,” Ms Heath added.

“Our menu is at industry standard with kids meal options from $11 making it affordable for everyone.

“Our chips increased from $30 a carton in 2019 to $65 a carton and we have only increased our chip prices by $1 over four years.”