We must have been to the Southland Little Amigos a dozen times by now, so when I heard they were opening a second Melbourne location at Highpoint Shopping Centre, I wasn’t going to wait around for the school holidays to check it out. It officially opened on 5 September, and we went in that first week, about 20 minutes out from the CBD depending on traffic.
Tickets and Membership
The size is roughly the same as Southland, and the tickets and menu are set up the same way too, so if you’ve already got a Southland membership or gift card, don’t expect it to carry over automatically — worth double-checking with staff when you arrive.
The Jungle Theme
What’s different this time is the theming. Highpoint has gone full jungle, green everywhere, vines, that sort of thing, and it actually works really well against the play equipment. My son, who normally has zero patience for anything that looks “cute” or pastel, was into it from the second we walked in. It photographs nicely too, if that’s your thing.
Size and Layout
The floor space itself isn’t huge, and honestly that’s the bit I liked most. For a toddler and a five-year-old, a smaller, more contained centre means I’m not sprinting across the room every two minutes trying to keep both of them in sight. There’s a ball pit, slides, a climbing structure, a play kitchen, a dress-up corner, a little fishing area, and a mini train that does laps of the space. It hits everything a kid under five actually wants, without the sprawl of somewhere like Funtopia, where I’ve genuinely lost track of one of mine for a good five minutes before. Here I could actually sit down with a coffee and still see what was going on.
Food Options
They’ve got their own kitchen on site, so the food options are a step up from the usual indoor playground fare — handy when you don’t want to pack snacks or break up the visit to go searching for lunch. There’s also a food court right nearby if anyone in your group wants something else, which is one of the perks of a play centre being inside a shopping centre rather than a standalone warehouse somewhere.
Opening Promotions
If you’re going in the next while, it’s worth knowing the venue is still running its opening promotions — the first 500 visitors get a gift bag with socks, a colouring book, stickers, a keyring, plus the train ride and bowling tokens that come with a normal ticket, and the first 1,000 online pre-bookings get 10% off. Given how quickly these things tend to fill up once word gets around, I’d book ahead through their official Highpoint booking page rather than turning up and hoping.
Baby Change Facilities
One small thing worth flagging: when we visited, there was only one accessible toilet with baby change facilities inside the centre itself. It wasn’t a huge issue since the food court bathrooms are close by, but if you’re travelling with a pram and a nappy bag, it’s good to know before you’re mid-meltdown looking for somewhere to change a nappy.
Parking and Nearby Amenities
Highpoint itself has plenty of parking, so that’s one less thing to stress about, and because you’re inside a full shopping centre, there’s a supermarket and everything else you’d usually need for a weekend errand run right there too. For anyone with kids under five in Melbourne’s west, I think this one’s a genuinely easy add to the weekend rotation — you get the play centre, the shop, and the coffee all in one trip, which is about as close to a win as a parenting weekend gets.
More Options Nearby
If Little Amigos isn’t quite your scene, or you want to compare it against other options nearby, we’ve also reviewed Landing Playcentre Ravenhall, and put together a wider roundup of the best indoor play centres in Melbourne if you’re after more choices for a rainy weekend.
Location Details
Little Amigos Highpoint
Level 3, Highpoint Shopping Centre (near the Level 3 food court, above Toymate)
Parking: onsite shopping centre parking available