I appreciate the staff members responding receptively to my review, as well as another suggestion I made at a different instance. I think the planned extended hours will ease congestion and help toddlers who nap have some evening fun as well.
I wanted to write a quick update at the end of my one year membership there. I chose not to renew since it was too much of a drive for us from South Chandler, given my son still naps a good portion of their current open hours. I think they had a tremendous response to their groupon promotion, and they graciously honored the price for those of us who renewed as well.
The groupon however brought more crowds than they could handle. The first couple of months of the groupon redemption were terrible, long lines with 30-40 minutes wait just to be checked in. I made a suggestion to check in current members separately from the groupon holders who had to fill out long forms on their first visit. I never went back for a while after the first time I waited for 30 mins with an irate toddler though. When I did eventually go back, the crowds had significantly increased in the artville area, and the place was a mess. The volunteers had almost given up on putting things back in place. No instrument, puzzle block or food toy was where it should be.
Thankfully, by then we'd discovered the more spacious HUB area and my 2 year old toddler began exploring that with interest, so we still enjoyed their exhibits and craft areas. I didn't see a benefit for us to buy a membership given the long drive and the lack of new stations while we were there.