Soft Play Celebrates 40 Years of Pioneering Indoor Playground Equipment With Six-Story Thanksgiving Point Installation, Its Largest Project Ever
HUNTERSVILLE, N.C., Nov. 18, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Soft Play, a global leader in contained indoor playground equipment, today – in celebration of its 40th anniversary – announced its largest project ever: The “Mountain America Jurassic Jungle,” a multimillion-dollar, six-story, dinosaur-themed indoor play area at the Thanksgiving Point indoor and outdoor farm, garden and museum learning center in Lehi, Utah.
Expected to open in December, the highly interactive and immersive playground is a design collaboration between Soft Play and Thanksgiving Point that allows visitors to learn, play, and imagine what life would have been like in a prehistoric world of dinosaurs.
Assigned tasks throughout the climbing arena that are tracked through a digital wristband, kids will reach checkpoints by traversing lava chambers, solving puzzles, and climbing through the mountainous volcano structure – all while being made aware of the danger of the dinosaurs around them. Guests can blast food into a T-Rex’s mouth, slide down a giant Titanoboa snake, and find safe pathways to keep the other dinosaurs at a safe distance.
It’s the most audacious creation to date for Soft Play, which launched in September 1984 and has continually transformed the concept of indoor “soft” play ever since, setting new standards for safety, design, and customer engagement. Soft Play has crafted more than 40,000 playground installations worldwide, which it estimates have been enjoyed by over 2.6 billion children.
“The introduction of the Thanksgiving Point build, our largest single site project to date, is the perfect one to celebrate how far our company has come in the past four decades,” said Rich Albright, Soft Play’s vice president and general manager. “When completed, it will be among the most technologically advanced, creatively envisioned, daringly safe playgrounds ever constructed, becoming a must-visit destination for kids and families from around the region.”
The Soft Play Evolution
Founded in Charlotte, North Carolina, by entrepreneurs Grant Strawcutter and Neal Crites, Soft Play began as a visionary project to create indoor play spaces where children can access the features they love, such as slides, tunnels and climbers, but with padded surfaces that keep them safe.
Its early designs, which focused on minimizing falls and injuries, led to the development of unique "play-in" equipment – a revolutionary approach that has since become an industry standard. The success of early modular play units installed at locations including McDonald’s, Chuck E. Cheese and others helped establish Soft Play’s reputation for delivering safe and adventurous play experiences that build customer loyalty. The brand’s play equipment has since been installed at a diverse array of businesses, including Simon Properties, Merline Entertainment, SeaWorld and Chick-fil-A.
“I’m filled with pride knowing that the vision we had back in the early 1980s when we had a lot of ambition grew into something much larger and more sustainable than we ever imagined,” said Strawcutter. “I’m a kid at heart and love to play, so I had a lot of fun building and growing Soft Play. It’s an honor being part of the foundation that still influences play spaces around the globe where some of the best childhood memories are made."
In 1996, Soft Play was acquired by PlayPower, the world’s largest commercial playground and recreational equipment manufacturer. This move enabled the brand to scale its manufacturing and operational capabilities to meet growing global demand. The transition marked a new chapter for Soft Play, solidifying its position as a market leader known for executing clients' visions with precision and creativity.
Today, Soft Play-designed play environments – including many that are themselves paid-entry destinations – are recognized for combining excitement with safety, offering adventure-oriented, enclosed play spaces that thrill children while providing an alternative to screen time and peace of mind for parents.
“Soft Play has a remarkable origin story,” said Albright. “Two persistent founders with a great idea who refused to take no for an answer, eventually talking McDonald’s into giving them a shot. Now look where we are 40 years later, designing imaginative play experiences not just for restaurants and retail environments, but for major tourist destinations like the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex and – soon – The Mountain America Jurassic Jungle at Thanksgiving Point.”
The Next 40 Years
Soft Play is positioned to strongly support its core business while expanding to tap into growing and future trends such as healthcare, themed venues and single/multi-family developments.
It is developing innovative solutions to target applications using STEM and STEAM learning through play, and fully immersive ‘Phygital’ experiences that blend interactive technology with action based physical play providing multi-generational, dynamic new playscapes. It will also partner with other PlayPower brands to integrate Soft Play products into outdoor and water environments. Recognizing that space is a premium, Soft Play offers products to fit all shapes and sizes.
“The future is bright at Soft Play, where we’ve always been about more than just selling play equipment,” said Albright. “We truly believe in creating environments and experiences where families can come together, children can enjoy themselves and businesses can thrive. We plan to lead the way in the play business for the next 40 years and beyond.”
About Soft Play
Soft Play, a PlayPower brand, is a global leader in the creation of unique, adventurous towers and sculpted play structures, gamified and immersive entertainment environments for indoor, outdoor and waterplay locations. Serving shopping destinations, restaurants, family entertainment centers, museums, amusement parks and attractions, recreation facilities, child-watch areas and much more, we craft customized worlds of fun that stir imaginations and drive loyalty-building brand extensions. With a collaborative, turnkey design process, safety-first engineering and hassle-free installation, we ensure visitors won’t just see your brand; They will experience it. For more information, see SoftPlay.com.
Media Contact Jennifer Leckstrom RoseComm for Soft Play jleckstrom@rosecomm.com 215-681-0770
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