I received a complimentary birthday party package for my son Henry in exchange for my honest review of ZavaZone’s party offerings.
I had heard of ZavaZone, but had never been there. Our nieces and nephews rave about it, though, so for Henry’s birthday this year, we thought it could make a fun family party spot.
Our party ranged from parents in their 40s and 50s all the way down to my two year old daughter, Vivian. I was really curious to see how everyone would enjoy ZavaZone. I was also really excited to experience their party packages. My criteria for selecting a party place include: 1) the activity/fun factor; 2) the suitability of the party room accommodations; 3) convenience of the overall party package, and 4) cost.
Activity/Fun Factor! Holy Cannoli! This place is AMAZING!!!! The facility boasts 3,000 ft of activity and 15 different attractions, ranging from trampolines and foam pits, to a Battle Beam over a foam pit, to low and high ropes courses and all sorts of other neat athletic feats and challenges. ZavaZone uses the tagline “Fun in Motion” and they often refer to their activities as “challenge by choice.” There really is something for everyone! While they do not ID children to check their age, ZavaZone does recommend that children under age 5 not participate. Our party took place on a relatively quiet Sunday morning at 10:00am. My 2 year old loved the trampoline rooms and jumping in the foam pit. There were other well supervised little kids there as well, also enjoying themselves. Nevertheless, as the time passed and more people filled the facility it was easy to see how all of the attractions could get a bit too busy or rambunctious for very young children. Plus, of course, the littles were too small to participate in most of the activities that ZavaZone has to offer.
Henry was awestruck by the whole place and wanted to try it all. Having just turned 5, he still wasn’t big enough to meet the 52 inch height requirement for participating in the high ropes course or the zip lines. A few of the other attractions he tried and loved, although it was clear that he wasn’t quite big enough for them either. For instance, with the Pole Walk, Henry got harnessed in and the attraction attendants helped him climb on to the first three sequentially higher poles, but at that point he didn’t have enough body weight to counter the harness and would float off course! He thought that was pretty cool, too, though. A few of us tried the Drop Slide, which requires you to hold onto a t-bar over head while a mechanized pulley hoists you up to great heights until you let go and drop at a 90 degree angle. This not only tried my physical strength but required me to stretch well out of my comfort zone mentally as well! What a thrill!
Party packages are for two hours, including 30 minutes in the party room. The facility is huge, with lots of room for adventure. There were times when our family group was all spread out in different areas of the facility challenging ourselves with different attractions. While it was amazing that everyone could seek out their own adventure, it did create less of a cohesive group activity than enjoying a single shared activity together. Our party package addressed this factor beautifully, providing for a 30 minute private session on one activity - either a private trampoline dodgeball court or a private session on the Battle Beam. If it is important to you to ensure your group all spends quality time interacting as a group at a ZavaZone party (apart from the 30 minutes in the party room), this is a great option! For our varied ages, interests and activity levels, it worked out best to let everyone choose their own adventure, and meet up in the party room when the time came!
I am in LOVE with ZavaZone. I love the idea of such a motion and fitness oriented fun zone, and pushing myself to conquer the challenges of ZavaZone’s attractions. Everyone in our group loved ZavaZone (it’s even fun to say!) and talks about it all the time. For a kids’ party, though, I’d recommend ZavaZone for ages 7 and older. By that age many kids have the size and strength to participate in most activities. They may not be daredevils or brave enough for some of the attractions, but the facility has a variety of activities. The other reason I’d recommend age 7 and older is that while every attraction is staffed by very professional attendants that help with equipment and harnesses and the like, I found the staff to be rather hands off. They were beyond helpful if you asked how to approach an attraction or where to step next, or the like, but generally, participants were figuring things out for themselves. I love that about ZavaZone, but it is tough for 5 year olds, for instance, who are less familiar with activities like this and lack the communication skills often to ask for instructions and follow them without more hands on assistance.
Party Room Accommodations. ZavaZone assigned our group a party host, who was terrific. She helped to check us in and ensure everyone had signed the appropriate waiver paperwork, provided us with the special ZavaZone socks, provided a bin for presents and personal items like jackets and showed us the location of our party room. Our party host also took the time to tell us the schedule of our time during the party, and served us pizza, water and a veggie and dip tray during the party. We were permitted to bring our own cake, and she helped to serve that as well. Our party package permitted 15 participants, and we had only 12. The party room was clean and bright yet very simple, with a table and chairs for eating, a small fridge, and a few extra chairs along the wall for extra seating. The facility has 4 party rooms, all of comparable size. Large parties may struggle with space at ZavaZone, but for groups around 15, the party room is suitable. Everyone in our group had such an amazing time in the facility on all of the attractions that they entered the party room sharing adrenaline charged stories of their adventures in the facility, hydrated and re-energized with food and birthday cake. Thirty minutes in the party room went fast but maximizes facility play time for party guests. I would say the party rooms are not a selling point of a ZavaZone party but they are clean, bright, functional and serve their purpose well as a way to meet up, share some cake, and end the party.
Convenience. ZavaZone’s party packages are certainly easy. There are two packages to choose from. The Explorer package includes 1.5 hours of free play in the facility and 30 minutes in the party room with the party host. Guests are each given special socks required for the facility and a bottle of water and the birthday child gets a ZavaZone t-shirt. The only outside food permitted is a birthday cake or cupcakes. The second package, the Expedition package, includes everything in the Explorer package, plus pizza and your choice of either a veggie tray or fruit tray. Additionally, with the Expedition package, your group gets 30 minutes of exclusive play on either the Extreme Dodgeball court, Battle Beam or Jump Dunk courts and a dedicated party host to organize games during the exclusive play period. Parties can be booked for any day of the week. I understand from the staff that Saturday and Sunday afternoons can be quite busy at ZavaZone. Our Sunday at 10am slot was fairly quiet, which meant that we didn’t have to wait to try any of the attractions.
Cost. Finally, one can’t plan a birthday party without looking the cost of the party and what you get for your money. Many factors go into assessing the cost and value of a birthday party package. One important factor is knowing how many kids will you have, and especially with the young kids, how many parents will be in attendance. The ZavaZone facility is amazing - no doubt. The attractions are impressive and challenging for a variety of ages and activity levels. Both of ZavaZone’s party packages include 15 participants. There is then a $25 per head charge for additional participants in the $395 Explorer package, and a $35 per head charge for additional participants in the $525 Expedition package. As kids get older I find there are less organized activities that they really want to do with their friends. More often the tween and teenagers we know have had friends over or forgone a party and instead taken a friend or two to a sporting event or other outing. ZavaZone is different! It’s like a big gym, not cheesy or childish at all, and the clientele is a mix of children and adults at all times! They even host special adult nights at ZavaZone! While certainly not inexpensive, the cost of a party at ZavaZone feels reasonable to me in light of the sophistication of the facility and the experience it provides.
Everyone in our family group had a blast at ZavaZone. No one wanted to leave, and my kids are constantly asking me when we are going to go back. I share in their enthusiasm! There are so many attractions I didn’t get to try while I was in “mom” mode with little Vivian at the party. I’m dying to go back myself, and could see us going back on a fairly regular basis, maybe monthly, as a family. I love to expose my children to activities that teach them to try their best and compete against themselves to be their best! ZavaZone does that brilliantly. I’d also highly recommend ZavaZone for a date night, or a moms’ or dads’ night out for an activity that’s totally different and physically active.
Information on parties, special events and reservations can be found here!
