In These Stilettos

Sandton City has launched its new family fun level and its made such a huge difference. My issue with Sandton was that it was never really “kid friendly”, Joburg still has a lot to learn in comparison to Cape Town with our Malls here. The shopping centre has launched a new area of the mall being dedicated to family fun, entertainment and food. With it comes a freshly revamped cinema complex, which boasts the second kids’ cinema in the country (the first being in East Rand Mall) additional luxurious Cine Prestige 3D cinemas with their own VIP Lounge area and exclusive catering offers.

We were invited to a movie at the newly revamped Ster-Kinekor Cinema in Sandton this past weekend. The new layout has an express counter as well as 15 self service terminals where you can not only book your ticket, but order your catering combo as well! This reduces queuing time hugely, perfect for parents not wanting to stand in long lines.

This was the boys very first movie and we were all excited to be a part of the experience. Aadam kept asking me today if we could “pulllleeeeease go to the movies again”. If you’re planning on watching a Kids Movie, there’s an entire “waiting area” to keep little ones busy, with tables filled with colouring pages,  PS4 gaming stations and its very own  snack kiosk section. We watched Sherlock Gnomes which releases in South African on May 11th – Sherlock Gnomes comes together with Garden gnomes, Gnomeo & Juliet, to investigate the mysterious disappearance of other garden ornaments across London.

While the movie  catered to mum and dads sense of humor a little more, the movie house itself is a kids playground, literally. With a slide going down one side of the mall ending with a ball pit, the kids got to slide down the length of the movie house before the show started. There were squeals of delight as they ran up the stairs and slid down the slide again and again, and again! I was a little shocked that they actually sat through the whole movie. The Cinema has Bean bag chairs up in the front for kids, and thankfully, normal comfy leather seats for mum and dad at the back.

We started off the day by sliding into Hamley’s World and then Slid into the movies as well. It was such fun! Almost makes up for the lack of play area that Sandton has always had. After the movies we headed to Hamley’s World (the first ever in Southern Africa), where the boys raced some remote bumper cars and took a trip in a Hot Wheels 3D experience.

The new “family friendly” level in Sandton comes complete with a Halaal Spur, finally one in Joburg with a decent sized play area for the kids. As much as I love Rosebank, the play area in the Spur is just far too small.

Thank you Ster Kinekor for a fun filled morning! I have a feeling this has started something and we will be back many many more times. The good news is, if your are on Discovery Vitality, your child can watch movies for free before 7pm at Ster-Kinekor Cinemas (under the age of 18). Find out more by visiting  www.sterkinekor.com or download the SK App on your smartphone.

Disclaimer – We received free movie tickets for this event, but all opinions are my own.