Why We Chose Fun Works

Fun Works, which is a branch off of the Fun City chain, is Khalifa’s favorite play area! When I was thinking about where to have his 3rd birthday party, that was the very first choice, and I’m so glad that we ended up having it there.

It’s located in the beautiful Yas Mall, and its ginormous! Its much larger than most of the play areas in Abu Dhabi or Dubai. There are so many rides, games, a huge soft play area and a special area that holds several different workshops for kids. These workshops include activities like arts and crafts, baking, theater, learning about recycling, energy, grocery shopping, etc. Its so engaging and kids love it!

Customizing Our Party Options

Once our party reservation was all booked, I was put in touch with Anjala, our Party Host. She was amazing from the get-go. I had so many questions and she was patient and great at planning the party with all of my specifications. I decided it was best to go meet her at Yas Mall, and we finalized all of the details.

There are three party packages at Fun Works that we could choose from:

• Rides Party, which includes: Powercard with 1 hour play in all the rides and attractions (except the redemption and novelty machines)
• The Wizz Party, which includes:  Powercard with 1 hours play in all the rides and attractions (except the redemption and novelty machines) AND Wizz Works Soft Play access
• The My Works Party, which includes: Selective workshops in My Works AND Wizz Works Soft Play access

We ended up going with the My Works package because it was the most attractive one for us. I wanted all of the kids to do group activities together instead of playing on their own, so the workshops were perfect for that! Out of all of the workshops, we were allowed to choose 3. We ended up going for Arts, Show, and Grocery Shopping. Most of Khalifa’s friends are around his age, so those three workshops were the best ones for their age group. Even the one that were a few years older had fun too!

Now that we had our party package locked down, Anjala gave us the option to do a themed party. We decided to keep it a regular birthday theme, which includes colorful balloon arrangements and many other festive decorations.

All parties include a party host, Fun Works invitation cards, goodie bags, kids meals, 20% voucher for My Works, tea and coffee for adults, standard decoration and the cake cutting celebration.

Planning for the Party

Now, Khalifa’s birthday was actually in the middle of Ramadan this year, and its a bit tricky when your planning a birthday party in Ramadan. I decided to make it around iftar time (7pm) so that I could also do a nice iftar for the parents. Anjala helped me sort out the schedule so that we could work all of the activities around iftar time.

We decided to start the party at 6pm, so that the kids would get an hour of play before it was time to eat. I had an outside catering company do the catering for adults ( if you’re curious, it was Shakespeare and Co., and they were phenomenal), but for the kids catering, Fun Works let us choose whether we wanted catering from Carluccio’s, Jamba Juice or Burger King. I decided to go with Jamba Juice, which by the way is conveniently located inside Fun Works.

Honestly, one of the best things about hosting your kid’s party at Fun Works (or any Fun City chain) is that they do everything for you. All you need to do is bring the cake and the kids.

Day of the Party

I arrived only half an hour before my guests, just for my own perfectionist-self. I could have come just 10 minutes before 6pm and still have been just fine! The room was beautifully decorated, and the Fun Works team did a great job of setting everything up. They were incredibly helpful in receiving the Shakespeare and Co. catering team, who were also setting up the buffet and adult seating area. I was very happy with how everything looked!

Anjala was ready and waiting for us and our guests. There was a sign in the front of Fun Works directing the guests to Khalifa’s Birthday Party, as well as a sign in front of the Party Room door.

As usual, most of the people came fashionably late (thank God it was just by a few minutes!), and we headed down to the first activity of the party.

The Workshops

We decided to do the workshop part of the party first. Our very first workshop was the Arts one. The kids all sat around the table, while Anjala and another Fun Works helper gave them supplies to decorate hats with. The kids had fun doing it, and the party hosts helped them along the way. Even the younger ones ( around 3 years old) had a blast sticking on fun decorations on to their hats!

There’s plenty of other arts and crafts things to do in the Arts Workshop, but this is the craft activity for party bookings.

The second workshop that we chose was the one where kids are given a list to go shopping and they have to race to get all of times before the other kids. The set up is so cute! They had a blast running around trying to find the items on their list, and Anjala made sure to pair the younger kids with older ones so that they could easily find the items.

The third workshop was actually the Show Shop, which is where they sing and dance, but since it was almost 10 minutes to iftar time, we decided to keep all of that for after iftar.

Food & Fun

Since it was only 10 minutes until iftar time, Anjala led us upstairs to the party room so that we could settle in and she arranged some party games for the kids while we waited for iftar time. Some kids sang, and then they played a fun game of Musical Chairs.

They had such a blast and the adults had fun watching the little ones! Here are a few videos of them that you can check out:

Khalifa’s Friend Singing ‘Happy Birthday’

Playing Musical Chairs

Iftar time had finally come, and while the hungry parents enjoyed an absolute feast, the kids also enjoyed delicious (and very kid-friendly) chicken nuggets and healthy fresh juices of their choice from Jamba Juice.

Since Anjala knew just how hungry the adults were from fasting all day, she and other Fun Works team members took the kids down to the Show Works area while we ate.

After Show Works, they came back up and it was time to cut the cake!

Cake Cutting Celebration

I think Khalifa’s absolute favorite thing about his birthday party was the cake cutting. He still talks about it (2 weeks later)! I ordered the cake from a bakery in Abu Dhabi, Arlequin and they did a flawless job of decorating it with all of Khalifa’s favorite characters.

The Fun Works team placed it in the front of the room, and when it was time to cut the cake they gathered all of the children, dimmed the lights, lit the candles and sang happy birthday. It was such a beautiful moment and something that I’ll remember forever! Cheesy– I know– but so, so true!

Watch Khalifa trying to blow out his candles here. After he (finally) blew the candles, we cut the cake and they passed it out to all of the guests. Once the children were done eating (and the parents were done eating as well) it was time for them to head to the soft play area.

Wizz Works Soft Play Area

The Wizz Works Soft Play area is huge! One of the biggest soft play areas in the country, with several floors of fun. We go there all the time to let Khalifa play around, and he could stay in there for hours! Our My Works Party package allows kids 1 hour of play in there and they were so excited about it!

Its mandatory that at least one parent goes in with their children since its such a large play area, so each couple took turns going in with their little ones. Some parents were still hanging out in the party room, while some were in the play area.

Unfortunately for Khalifa, he couldn’t play in there because a couple of weeks prior to the birthday party, he fractured a bone from a trampoline accident and had his leg in a cast. That didn’t keep him from having fun though!

Gift Bags

After the kids were done playing in the Wizz Works area, they had one more treat ready for them– gift bags!

Fun Works prepared separate gift bags for boys and girls, and they had Khalifa pass them out to his guests. So cute!

Thoughts

Honestly, I cannot be more happy that I ended up going with Fun Works to have this party. Its the perfect set up for kids, they have so many things to keep them entertained and it was a truly fun birthday! If your planning your kid’s next party–this is definitely the place!

Contact Information

To find out more information on Fun Works parties, check out this link: Fun Works. Although Fun Works is located in Yas Mall, Fun City has locations all over the UAE and they also have party packages. You can check them out here.