Staggered by the negativity too! My only negative comment is the alert me email disappeared into the spam ether and I missed it on MR.
Still I've booked mine in for the iBooks one this year, we've been to the movie ones for the last two years and mine have had a great time. The stores first thing in the morning aren't too busy and you get let in before the store actually opens. Both times we've gone away with "homework" between day 1 & 2; last year involved the whole family in a spy movie... It gave them something to focus on and amazingly for siblings worked together on as they only had the afternoon to craft up what they were after. 90% of the afternoon was spent outside shooting scenes for the film. The GarageBand track was done in the store so very little sitting down...
The year before we all discovered stop motion and hilarity ensued with the few shoppers that were in early having to sidestep children "slithering" up and down the stairs between the levels.
It won't make them tech experts, but it engages them in a fun way they really enjoy. And it's free...