History Main / FoulBallPit

Ball pits can cause anywhere from comical harm, such as a character drowning in the balls, getting lost in the playground, or choking on the balls, to more serious harm such as characters getting a deadly disease from the germs, babies getting crushed by other characters while hiding under the balls, to sometimes even '''''death''''' taking place in these playgrounds. Not to mention UrbanLegends of people finding venomous snakes and, more recently, heroin needles in ball pits.

* Wiki/SCPFoundation:

One attraction that owners of fast food places and SuckECheeses have to attract small children to the restaurant is an indoor playground with tubes, slides, and ball pits. As you might expect, HilarityEnsues and the place quickly becomes filthy due to babies and kids spreading germs. That is why ball pits are generally seen as germ conventions.

* ''WesternAnimation/MrBean'': Played for drama in the episode "Ball Pit" in Season 4 where he keeps trying to get in the ball pit and thrown out by a security guard after a female assistant notices (probably because [[PaedoHunt of the unfortunate implications a grown man]] of VagueAge would have. Then he converts his flat into a ball pool, but it becomes a tourist trap, and then eventually, he does [[EarnYourHappyEnding earn his happy ending]] for that episode after the same assistant allows him to play in it, but she also considers him a huge {{Manchild}} as well, as a SilentSnarker. But then again, StatusQuoIsGod and NegativeContinuity is in full swing on this show, so the ball-pool thing was a temporary madness for Mr.Bean

* [[FanConvention DashCon 2014]]: After a disastrous weekend of having a low attendee count, outside trolls, scheduled guest panelists bailing out, and a last-minute fundraising campaign to keep the convention running, the organizers tried to reward the remaining attendees for all their troubles by an extra hour at a kiddie pool-sized ball pit. Then thanks to this trope, the ball pit became condemned after a rumor that someone urinated in it spread, and by the next day, the ball pit was gone, and the convention was closed. The ball pit was described as the culmination and the highlight of the disastrous convention.

Ball pits can cause anywhere from comical harm, such as a character drowning in the balls, getting lost in the playground, or choking on the balls, to more serious harm such as characters getting a deadly disease from the germs, babies getting crushed by other characters while hiding under the balls, to sometimes, even '''''death''''' taking place in these playgrounds. Not to mention UrbanLegends of people finding venomous snakes and, more recently, heroin needles, in ball pits.

[[folder: Film - Live Action]]

[[folder: Literature]]

[[folder: Live-Action TV]]

[[folder: Music]]

[[folder: Video Games]]

* ''VideoGame/NoDelivery'': The Playground area of the game takes place in the labyrinthine ball pit of a SuckECheeses. Like the rest of the restaurant, it's not only dirty, dingy, and poorly lit, but is infested with monsters. At the furthest part of the ball pit you discover [[spoiler: ''human remains''- the game leaves it ambiguous whether they're of an adult employee or of a child, and whether their death was caused by the supernatural dangers of the restaurant or just the management's extreme negligence.]]

[[folder: Webcomics]]

[[folder: Web Original]]

[[folder: Western Animation]]

* ''WesternAnimation/InfinityTrain'': PlayedForDrama in "The Ball Pit Car". What starts out as a lighthearted adventure in an indoor playground-themed train car for the heroes [[MoodWhiplash takes a turn]] when [[spoiler: the robotic Steward tracks them down and traps them. The menacing Conductor then appears, threatening Tulip before ''[[DarkestHour shooting her dog companion]]''. The gun turns out to be a TransformationRay, resulting in a DisneyDeath, but the [[BalefulPolymorph horrifying, mindless creature]] Atticus turns into, and the breakdown Tulip has over it, causes a major DownerEnding for the episode.]]

[[folder: Real Life]]

* [=DashCon=]. After a disastrous weekend of having a low attendee count, outside trolls, scheduled guest panelists bailing out, and a last-minute fundraising campaign to keep the convention running, the organizers tried to reward the remaining attendees for all their troubles by an extra hour at a kiddie pool-sized ball pit. Then thanks to this trope, the ball pit became condemned after a rumor that someone urinated in it spread, and by the next day, the ball pit was gone, and the convention was closed. The ball pit was described as the culmination and the highlight of the disastrous convention.

* ''WesternAnimation/InfinityTrain'': PlayedForDrama in "The Ball Pit Car". What starts out as a lighthearted adventure in a ball pit-themed train car for the heroes [[MoodWhiplash takes a turn]] when [[spoiler: the robotic Steward tracks them down and traps them. The menacing Conductor then appears, threatening Tulip before ''[[DarkestHour shooting her dog companion]]''. The gun turns out to be a TransformationRay, resulting in a DisneyDeath, but the [[BalefulPolymorph horrifying, mindless creature]] Atticus turns into, and the breakdown Tulip has over it, causes a major DownerEnding for the episode.]]

* ''WesternAnimation/InfinityTrain'': PlayedForDrama in "The Ball Pit Car". What starts out as a lighthearted adventure in a ball pit-themed train car for the heroes [[MoodWhiplash takes a turn]] when [[spoiler: the robotic Steward tracks them down and traps them. The menacing Conductor then appears, threatening Tulip before ''[[DarkestHour shooting her dog companion]]''. The gun turns out to be a TransformationRay rather than a kill, but the [[BalefulPolymorph horrifying, mindless creature]] Atticus turns into isn't much better than a death sentence itself.]]

* ''WesternAnimation/InfinityTrain'': PlayedForDrama in "The Ball Pit Car". What starts out as a lighthearted adventure in a ball pit-themed car of the train [[MoodWhiplash takes a turn]] when [[spoiler: the robotic Steward tracks them down and traps them. The menacing Conductor then appears, threatening Tulip before ''[[DarkestHour shooting her dog companion]]''. The gun turns out to be a TransformationRay rather than a kill, but the [[BalefulPolymorph horrifying, mindless creature]] Atticus turns into isn't much better than a death sentence itself.]]

-->'''Kevin''': These were a mix of tubes, slides, ball pits, nets, stairs with steps taller than your body, socks, socks with holes in them, vomit, disinfectant, vomit, disinfectant, those net bridges that your feet would get stuck in, a kind of terrifying helicopter thing where the mean kids would jump up and down and it would shake a lot, the ''open'' slides with only like ''one hill'', which is just a waste; I mean, I climbed all the way up there, I'm gonna take the tube slide; and rug burns, ''so many rug burns''.

* In ''Film/ThePacifier'', the toddler Navy SEAL Shane is looking after loses his diaper in the ballet at Woody Woodchuck's, so he has to dive in and find it.

* Subverted in the ''WesternAnimation/DuckTales2017'' episode "Daytrip of Doom!" where the incredibly sheltered Webby mistakes the ball pit at [[SuckECheeses Funso's]] for a trap. [[spoiler:DoubleSubverted much later in the series when it turns out that there's actually an entrance to F.O.W.L.'s secret lair hidden at the bottom.]]

* [=DashCon=]. After a disastrous weekend of having a low attendee count, outside trolls, scheduled guest panelists bailing out, and a last-minute fundraising campaign to keep the convention running, the organizers tried to reward the remaining attendees for all their troubles by an extra hour at a kiddie pool-sized ball pit. Then someone urinated on it and the inflatable pool started to deflate, and by the next day, the ball pit was gone, and the convention was closed. The ball pit was described as the culmination and the highlight of the disastrous convention.

* ''Series/ICarly'': In the B-plot of "[=iBust=] a Thief", Spencer goes to Funk E. Fester's to try to win Murray the Magic Dolphin, which he's wanted since he was a kid. However, since Funk E.'s doesn't allow single adults without children, Spencer takes Gibby's little brother Guppy with him. When they arrive, Guppy tells Spencer [[PottyEmergency that he has to pee]]. Spencer tells him "You can pee in the ball pit!", which Guppy proceeds to do.

* ''Literature/DiaryOfAWimpyKidTheThirdWheel'': The family-style restaurant Corny's has a play area with a large ball-pit and a plastic tube area with slides. Manny got stuck in the tube area and was too scared to come out, so Greg had to rescue him since he was the only person in the family that could fit inside the tubes. It was difficult for him to find his way around there, and when he got inside, a kid had vomited and all the other children were running away. The tubes smelled like dirty socks so heavily that Greg had to throw out his favorite pair of jeans because he couldn't wash out the smell no matter how hard he tried.

* Subverted in the ''WesternAnimation/DuckTales2017'' episode "Daytrip of Doom!" where the incredibly sheltered Webby mistakes the ball pit at [[SuckECheeses Funso's]] for a trap. [[spoiler:[[Double Subverted much later in the series when it turns out that there's actually an entrance to F.O.W.L.'s secret lair hidden at the bottom.]]

* ''Literature/DiaryOfAWimpyKidTheThirdWheel'': The family-style restaurant Corny's has a play area with a large ball-pit and a plastic tube area with slides. Manny got stuck in the tube area and was too scared to come out, so Greg had to rescue him since he was the only person in the family that could fit inside the tubes. It was difficult for him to find his way around there, and when he got inside, a kid had vomited and all the other children were running away. The tubes smelled like dirty socks so heavily that Greg had to throw out his favorite pair of jeans, because he couldn't wash out the smell no matter how hard he tried.

* "Vomit in the Ballpit" by Music/RedVox is about ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin. The song was inspired by an experience [[WebVideo/{{Vinesauce}} Vinny]] had when he was a kid where he actually did find vomit in a ballpit.

* ''VideoGame/NoDelivery'': The Playground area of the game takes place in the labyrinthine ballpit of a SuckECheeses. Like the rest of the restaurant, it's not only dirty, dingy, and poorly lit, but is infested with monsters. At the furthest part of the ballpit you discover [[spoiler: ''human remains''- the game leaves it ambiguous whether they're of an adult employee or of a child, and whether their death was caused by the supernatural dangers of the restaurant or just the management's extreme negligence.]]

** SCP-1904 is a tube playground located at an unnamed fast food restaurant. It will periodically bleed, release amniotic fluids, and expel beings resembling human embryos with congenital deformities. Humans who enter the tubes are also [[WasOnceAMan transformed into these creatures.]] The [[Website/{{Bogleech}} author]] based the SCP on his own childhood experience with unpleasantly sticky playground tubes.
** [[https://scp-wiki.wikidot.com/scp-6059 SCP-6059]] is a an entity discovered at a Chuck E. Cheese ball pit, identifying itself as "Botulae, [[OddJobGods God of the Pit]]". It has an amorphous body composed of "plastic, vomit, pizza sauce, and trace amounts of feces and urine."

--->'''Assistant:''' The babies look unhappy.
--->'''Director:''' Add more balls.
* ''WesternAnimation/TotalDrama'': In "Million Dollars, Baby!" From ''Action'', one of the challenges involves Courtney and Duncan wrestling in a ball pit. Duncan is distracted by a a dirty diaper which he mistakes for a shark fin and a baby boy who cries for his mama, which makes him lose.

* [=DashCon=]. After a disastrous weekend of having a low attendee count, outside trolls, scheduled guest panelists bailing out, and a last minute fundraising campaign to keep the convention running, the organizers tried to reward the remaining attendees for all their troubles by an extra hour at a kiddie pool sized ball pit. Then someone urinated on it and inflatable pool started to deflate, and by next day, the ball pit was gone, and the convention was closed. The ball pit was described as the culmination and the highlight of the disastrous convention.

-->-- ''Music/RedVox'', "Vomit in the Ball Pit"

* "Vomit in the Ballpit" by ''Music/RedVox'' is about ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin. The song was inspired by an experience [[WebVideo/{{Vinesauce}} Vinny]] had when he was a kid where he actually did find vomit in a ballpit.

* Mocked by this [[SignsOfDisrepair vandalized]] [=McDonalds=] [[https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Ebxd9UAWkAEAzWu?format=jpg&name=small sign]] reads "This toilet is currently out of order. Please use the children's ball pit."

* Mocked by [[SignsOfDisrepair vandalized]] [=McDonalds=] [[https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Ebxd9UAWkAEAzWu?format=jpg&name=small sign]] reads "This toilet is currently out of order. Please use the children's ball pit."

* In ''VideoGame/FreddyFazbearsPizzeriaSimulator '', the ball pit consists of nothing more than a cardboard box full of ball pit balls.