Kids suiting up for their first game.
I’d always thought that laser tag was an amusing holdover from decades past and was surprised that anyone ever set foot in LaserCity Fun Centre on View St. Last fall, however, Kiddo was invited to a birthday party there so, in we went. We weren’t surprised to find that the arcade games were all older than any kid at the party and that the place looked a little bombed-out but Kiddo had a great time and when it came time to decide on her party, she chose laser tag, in part because “I can’t really invite boys to a spa party…” (yeah, she’s a tween now).
So, Mike and I booked a party date and hoped that she would get enough RSVPs to make it all work (minimum is 6 for a party). By mid-week this week we breathed a sigh of relief with 7 RSVPs plus the birthday girl so that even if one or two didn’t make it, we’d be OK.
We arrived today to find that they were in a bit of chaos — their fridge was no longer working as a fridge so the manager was calling all the parents in case they were planning on bringing ice-cream cakes (luckily, we hadn’t). But, huge kudos to the staff because it still ran like clockwork — really efficient, and he was still cheery and straightforward, explaining the rules and suiting everyone up. The parties are staggered by the hour so that the laser arena can be shared and the clockwork efficiency of the routine continued with the addition of another staff member. Really, despite the number of things that had to be juggled, plus troubleshooting things like a jammed change machine, printers running out of ink, and the broken fridge, I was impressed.
Based on today’s experience, I’d definitely recommend it for similar aged children (Kiddo turns 12 this week) — they had a blast, and from a parent’s point of view, it was almost painless to manage — the only issue was kids not arriving on time, since the games are carefully timed to be shared, they do have to keep to a schedule so any more than 10 minutes late gets to be a problem. Otherwise, my only hint to parents (either hosting or whose kids attend): make sure kids have plenty of quarters to play games with before & after the laser tag.