Today we’d like to introduce you to Garrett & Tamera Samuelson.
Hi Garrett & Tamera, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
We moved to Alpine 2.5 years ago and about 1 year after we had moved in to our new place we started to notice that there wasn’t anything to do for little kids on the East Side of the Freeway. Anyone that was from Alpine or Cedar Hills needed to travel 20-30min to get to a kids playground during the very hot or cold months. We would go to Artic Circle or McDonalds with our kids after school at times and noticed alot of moms with their kids filling up the whole place, They were all desperate for a playground to get their kids energy out & had settled for a tiny one that was closer. Over the next year we started researching all the playgrounds in Utah and pulling together all of the kids favorite things to do, as well as asking others in the community what they would want to see in an indoor playground. We decided to theme our kids dream playground as “Utah Fantasy” because of all the beauty that we see in Utah throughout all 4 seasons. We incorporated Utah in the design with 2 mini role play cities, a cave with a ball pit, rock wall and ball shooters to represent Timpanogos Cave, a Winter mezzanine with snow capped mountains build blocks, and a sports field that you can climb up to like a mountain to get to or slide down from like a waterfall, a Summer mezzanine with flowers, butterflies, a merry-go-round, trampoline and rockwall, Fall Trees showcased in our Treehouse, a Teepee with play for those aged 2 and under, and a beautiful spring tree in the center of it all. We also added a cereal bar for families to eat at since cereal is one of the food items parents dont have to fight their kids to eat. They absolutely love it! After a full year of research, construction, and relationship building our vision came to life and we opened on Nov 1st, 2025!
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
It definitely was not easy to get Funrise opened. We went through multiple playground companies to find the best fit and right after months of designing the playground the tariffs went up, there were alot of redesigning, and change orders needed for the construction project as we went along which delayed our project, and the city was new to having an indoor playground in their city so they made sure every checkbox was marked!
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
Garrett the CEO is mechanically & technolgy inclined he has had a background in customer service/communications and marketing and is a Realtor that has helped others buy & sell homes along with doing personal real estate investing. Tamera the COO has designing & organizational skills and comes from a background of customer service, leadership/management, and finances. Together we make the perfect puzzle to dream, problem solve and create!
So maybe we end on discussing what matters most to you and why?
Relationships! It is amazing what people can create when they put their different skills together and work as a team but we could never do it without building a good base of communication and understanding first.
Pricing:
- 2 Hr Play Admissions $6.99 (Ages 1-2) $12.99 (Ages 3-13). Each admission includes 1 Free Adult!
- Party Packages as low as $199
- Monthly Memberships starting at $19.99
- You can rent the whole facility for 2 hrs for only $850
- Active Play Classes (Drop Off Class for ages 3-5) – 2 Day: $200/mo, 3 Day: $300/mo
Contact Info:
- Website: https://Www.funriseutah.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/funriseutah?igsh=czhqcWx5aXZhMDJ6
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/share/1BHr1uAUtM/
