New play option for families of young kids opening at Dartmouth Mall this fall

The Qumseya family that owns the new Hyper Zone indoor playground opening soon at the Dartmouth Mall understands that it’s not always easy for children to find a clean, safe place to play.

At 25 months old, their son, Jason, knows that it’s fun to play with his toys, and by starting their new business, they want to give other children the opportunity to play there when it opens in early August.

Owners Sam and Daliah Qumseya, who are from Bethlehem and moved to the United States eight years ago, chose a design for the new indoor playground for children ages 1 to 8 after searching for but not finding a suitable indoor play area that is year-round and escapes the cold weather.

“I think this will be a good business for the area,” he said. “There’s no indoor playground at all.”

He said the safety and the cleanliness of the facility are most important to them. The children must be supervised by a parent or guardian, and a gate will be installed at the entrance to prevent any children from leaving the site, and they will be buzzed in by the cashier.

Featuring the new play areas

The play areas include an obstacle course, crawling tubes and multiple slides. They decided against installing a trampoline for safety’s sake.

They will also have a separate area for toddlers with interactive games they can play.

He said it took some time for a family-owned business like theirs to find a location because they were usually asked about how many locations they have, and it was going to be their first. He said Dartmouth is the right choice for them. They are not yet ready to open and are waiting on the new equipment.

When he approached the leasing agent for the Dartmouth Mall, there was interest in moving them into the former Discovery Zone location that closed 20 years ago because they weren’t the only ones interested in having a place like it for children to play.

“I’m a dad, and I don’t want my son to go somewhere he will be hurt,” he said.

Party room will be open

While they will serve food, they won’t have a kitchen at the Hyper Zone location. Instead, they have a partnership with a local restaurant that will bring the food to them. People will be able to order the food on a screen.

In the back room, there will be space for birthday parties, and the parents hosting the parties will be allowed to bring food in from the outside.

He said interest in the business has been strong since word has gotten out about a place where children at a young age can play and they are already getting calls for reservations at 959-247-1227.

Hyper Zone is near the Burlington store entrance. The business will be open during mall hours from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m.

Standard-Times staff writer Kathryn Gallerani can be reached at kgallerani@gannett.com .

This article originally appeared on Standard-Times: New play option for families of young kids opening at Dartmouth Mall this fall