Funville, located on the second floor of Ezdan Mall in Al Gharafa, opened in September 2013 and is a wonderful indoor activity centre for families and children of all ages.
There are two separate soft play areas: The Fun n’ Learn for babies and toddlers 108 cm and shorter and the Play Zone for kids ages 4-12 years old. Children younger than four are allowed in the Play Zone if they are accompanied by an adult.
Fun N’ Learn
The centrepiece of the Fun n’ Learn room is a beautiful wooden Haba Gemino activity structure with staircase, bridge and slide. The structure is solidly built and strong enough to support an adult escorting a child. There is also a wooden boat structure with padded climbing ramp and a second smaller plastic play structure, perfect for the littlest climber.
Little ones will love playing with the Step 2 Coupe Cars, bouncing balls, big soft building blocks, wall puzzles, fun mirrors, a dress-up wardrobe, an area for arts and crafts and a kitchen area with pretend food and dishes. Staff members clean the pretend
food every day with disinfectant and the entire space is cleaned and tidied multiple times a day.
Play Zone
The much larger Play Zone soft play area is a veritable cornucopia of activities sure to please your most energetic family members. This maze-like structure is clean and solidly built, so you feel safe climbing, twisting and wiggling through the obstacle course.
There is the requisite ball pit, a trampoline room, a fantastic Nerf-style battle room with air canons and soft foam balls, tunnels, slides, soft merry-go-rounds and a hovercraft-like bumper car that rocks up and down. Our favourite part was the rolling conveyor belt-like slide that my 20-month old son found absolutely addictive.
Basic Information
Hours: 8:30 to 21:30 weekdays, 8:30 to 23:30 weekends
Entrance fee: Fun n’ Learn Zone is QR 30 per child (must be accompanied by an adult, up to two adults permitted); Play Zone is QR 45 per child (children under 103 cm tall must be accompanied by an adult, up to two adults permitted).
Seating: There is seating near the Fun n’ Learn Zone shoe lockers.
Toilets: There are no toilets inside Funville. However, toilets and a diaper-changing station are down the hall next door to WHSmith.
Wheelchair accessible: No
Security guards: Yes
Fence/Walls: The Fun n’ Learn Zone is a walled off glass room and the Play Zone has a locked gate.
Rules: No food or drink allowed. No shoes allowed, socks are requested.
Doha Mums tips
- A word of warning: the plastic four-person slide in the Play Zone is very fast; you may want to hold a smaller child’s hand. I caught air on the bump halfway down!
- Funville gets very loud and crowded in the late afternoon and weekends. Weekdays and Friday mornings are best to avoid the noise.
- You can purchase a red Funville card with credits in denominations of QR 100, 150 and 250. Each amount comes with bonus credits on a blue card that can be used to play games with blue swipe pads.
Rides and games
In addition to the two soft play areas, Funville also has a plethora of amusement park rides, skill games and arcade games. Winners of skill games like skeeball, basketball hoops and water canons earn tickets that can be exchanged for prizes.
Also popular are the rides, including Bumper Cars, Happy Swing, Tour de Paris, Drop and Twist Tower, Beach Safari and the Mini Dance Party 360. The minimum height requirement is 108 cm for most rides, however, there are some rides for smaller children. Costs vary per ride and game (generally between QR 5 and 25 each), but you must use a Funville card that can be purchased and reloaded at the main desk.
Additional information
Food and beverages: There are multiple restaurants throughout Ezdan Mall and a Popcorn Girl snack shop located next door.
Nearby mosque: Prayer rooms for men and women can be found throughout the mall.
Theatre: No
Wi-fi: No
