Category: Pittsburgh

**I received free admission to Fun Slides Carpet Skate Park as a member of the US Family Guide, PittsburghKidsGuide.com.  No other compensation has been received.**

The minute I heard about Fun Slides Carpet Skate Park in Greensburg, PA I knew I had to take my boys.  I thought “This will be awesome for the holiday breaks or a weekend over the winter when there’s not much to do”  When they start getting cabin fever this will be a good change of scenery and a place to let them exert some energy safely.

I had never been to Fun Slides Carpet Skate Park prior to this visit.  I didn’t know exactly what to expect but I knew my boys would like it.  My boys are 11, 9, and 4 years old. I definitely recommend checking the Fun Slides website before you go: http://www.funslidespark.com/.  The website let’s you know when they’re open, the address for your gps, birthday party info and more. They have 2 hours time slots reserved for skating.  You don’t have to be there on the dot, we actually were 20 minutes late in getting to the 4-6 pm time slot.  They set you up with one of the staff if you’ve never been there before and they fit you with the fun slide skates (which I’ll explain in a minute) give the little ones helmets, and they give you an explanation of what to do and how to start off.  It was very helpful.  They were patient with the 4 of us including my 4 year old who kinda just wanted to do his own thing.

Now back to the “skates” I was talking about.  They’re actually slides.  I had the chance to talk, to one of the managers, Candy.  We talked for a while.  Her dad was the one that actually invented those little slide things you put under your sofa or whatever to move it around.  She said the kids would take them and use them to skate around on the carpets and he thought, if he could find a way to strap those to the kids’ feet safely they might be on to something.  So he created the fun slides that are available nationwide in stores like Target and more.  You can also buy them at the Fun Slides Carpet Skate Park.

The atmosphere was really fun with black lights and other party lights, glow in the dark necklaces, and all ramps and floors carpeted in the skating area.  Oh speaking of skating areas, one of the reasons the Fun Slides Carpet Skate Park came about was because they were invited to participate in the Gravity games with Fun Slides.  They were asked to set up a little area for the kids to skate around.  Again Candy’s father didn’t think it would be much fun to just skate around in a circle the whole time so that’s when the first carpet ramp was built.  She told me the kids kept lining up to come back.  So the idea of the carpet skate park was born.  As of right now, the one in Greensburg, PA is the only one in existence.  BUT they’re in the process of starting another one in the North Hills area of Pittsburgh.  Wouldn’t it be nice to see more of theses around the country?

All my kids and myself had such a good time.  They even had these little ones called butt slides you can sit on and slide down and longer ones called body slides you can lay on, kind of reminded me of sleds in a way.  My 4 yr old just loved used the body slides and butt slides.

There were two connected sides.  The first side was the tamer side with small and medium ramps and an area to just skate around.  This is where I stayed when I skated.  The other side was more advanced with a sort of quarter pipe and bigger hills and jumps.  My older boys worked up to that.  To answer any questions, yes you’ll most likely fall at some point.  The bottom picture above is my oldest son taking a spill.  This picture is me taking a spill lol

The nice part is it’s carpeted so it cushions the blow.  You still get bumped around a bit but it’s not so bad.  I would suggest however wearing a thin long sleeve shirt and pants.  My oldest son did get a carpet burn on his one arm from his spill.

They also have a party room that overlooks the skate park.  I tried to take a picture, it’s not real clear but it’s windowed so people can watch those in the park.  There are lots of tables and chairs and rooms can be sectioned off.  Candy told me they even do Christmas parties, award dinners, and more.

My recommendations for your Fun Slides Carpet Skate Park trip:

–Visit the site and get the address for your GPS or for mapping your trip if you don’t know where it is.  If you see the Family Dollar plaza that helps you find exactly where it is

–Wear a long sleeve t-shirt and pants to prevent carpet burn

–Check the website to see what the time slots are before heading out.  You don’t want to get there at 5:30 for a 4-6 time slot.  Otherwise you’ll either only get a half hour or have to wait for the next session.

–They do have lockers you can use for belongings like purses, wallets, etc if you like.

Also definitely follow them on facebook for updates as well: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Fun-Slides-Park/163376563727108

Check out this fun video to see Fun Slides in Action:

If you’d like to visit Fun Slides Carpet Skate Park in Greensburg, PA here’s a coupon for buy one get one half off admission: http://www.pennsylvaniakidsguide.com/coupon.php?bid=11337&lid=14670&dealid=1492&regionid=208

***I was provided a free pre-sale pass and luncheon for this post as well as a gift certificate as part of the US Family Guide blogger program***

I had the opportunity to shop the pre-sale today at Just Between Friends Spring/Summer Children’s and Maternity consignment sale at the RME Island Sports Center in the Gold Dome on Neville Island in Pittsburgh.  I had never been to a Just Between Friends Consignment Sale before but you can bet I’ll go again.