Pick iPlay America for an Action-Packed Birthday Party

My daughter’s birthday was last month, and we celebrated her special day at iPlay America in Freehold, NJ.  We’re already frequent visitors of the indoor entertainment venue because my kids can’t get enough of the rides, games, and character shows, but this was our first time experiencing a birthday party there.  When I told my daughter that we were having her birthday party there, she actually squealed with delight.  She couldn’t wait to visit one of her favorite places with all of her friends.

iPlay offers four different party packages, and we went with the iParty Plus for our group of mostly 6 and 7 year olds.  Included is a 2.5 hour party full of all kinds of fun things, like:

In addition to all of that, each guest gets a $5 game card, and the birthday child gets a $25 game card and 100 tickets.  And did I mention that the birthday child is free?  That’s right.  No extra charge for the guest of honor.

Our own personal party host guided the kiddies from attraction to attraction, and I have to say she did a fantastic job wrangling 17 rambunctious children.  We hit the Go Karts first; I should mention that this particular attraction takes up a lot of time.  It could actually interfere with the rest of your party depending on the size of your party and how long it takes you all to have a turn, so if that bothers you, you might want to select the package that doesn’t include it.  We’re big fans of the ride though, and it wasn’t crowded that day, so we too a chance.  We had to–racing against your friends is just too fun to pass up.  It did end up taking a long time for our group of 16 to get through, even though it wasn’t busy.  To be honest, the operators themselves were moving very slowly and didn’t make any effort to have things run efficiently.  Still, the kids didn’t notice, and most of them wanted to ride again once it was over.

The other rides were much quicker to get through since the wait times were relatively short.  The kids spun through Dizzy Dragons, flew like Superman on the Kite Flyer, and bumped into/bounced off of each other with the Spin Zone Bumper Cars.

While we waited for members of our group to finish with the Bumper Cars, some of us headed over to the iPlay Boardwalk.  Here, you can play some of your favorite boardwalk games year round, including my personal favorite, Whac-a-Mole.

After we’d whacked the last mole, it was time for Laser Tag.  This was the highlight of the party, and even I got to play.  You divide up into two teams and then blast away at your opponents.  Ramps and platforms form different levels, which adds some excitement to an already fun game.  At the end, you can check the scoreboard to see which team won.  Win or lose, it’s a great time for everyone who participates.

All that running around can sure work up an appetite, so we were all happy that food was next on the schedule.  We headed over to the Brownstone Suite for pizza and cupcakes.  Pizza is commonly served at these types of events, and it’s commonly not fabulous.  I was pleasantly surprised to find that what they serve at iPlay tastes like real pizza–because it is real pizza.  The cupcakes were also yummy, easy to serve, and loved by the kiddies.

Unfortunately, we didn’t have time to do the 4D Theater because we did the Go Karts.  I know that we chose to do the Go Karts after being warned that it might take up a lot of the party time, but my daughter really wanted that as part of her birthday.  I think that if they’re going to let you pay for a package that includes Go Karts, then the length of the party should accommodate both that and the rest of the attractions that are included.  We were told that we could do the Theater after the party or come back and do it another time as it should be on our game cards.  I haven’t had a chance to test that yet, but I’m hoping it works out because it’s the one thing we haven’t yet done at iPlay.  Also, I wouldn’t mind if the staff throughout the venue were a little more enthusiastic, and if maybe they could offer some extra recognition to the members of the party or at least to the birthday child.  It is a special (and expensive) occasion after all.

Other than that, it really was a fantastic time for the kids and even for the adults.  There is a lot to do, it wasn’t too crowded, and it’s not weather dependent, which is especially nice when you happen to have a winter birthday.  My daughter is still talking about the amazing time she had at her party, and my son has been begging to have his birthday there ever since.  If you’re local to the area and looking for a place to have your child’s next birthday party, definitely consider iPlay.  Anyone who likes to have fun will love it!