Zap Zone XL — Attraction in Delta Charter Township

I booked my 6 year old’s birthday party here and overall, the experience was good. I chose the $400 unlimited attractions package for 10 kids, which I purchased online. I followed up with Zap Zone to gather some details about the party, etc. and I spoke with a manager. I explained that this was a party for a group of kids 6 and under, so there would be parents at the party. He asked me how many “people” and I told him the party was for 10 kids and 1-2 adults per child. He then told me that the price per person after 10 would be $40. I made it clear that if the adults wanted to participate in the attractions, they could purchase their own pass. I also put this on our party invitations. I told him that we wanted to make sure the adults got pizza and He told me that I could order extra pizzas, which was perfect. I told him again that we wanted to purchase the package for 10 guests. Fast forward to the day of the party. My partner and son get to Zap Zone and the hostess hands him a stack of cards and a stack of wristbands, without any explanation of what they were for. When I got there, I assumed the cards were for guests to load arcade credits on, if they wanted and the wristbands were for the attractions. It’s busy in there, loud, and when you pay for a party you just assume things will be set up the way you ordered. For the most part, it was great. The room was awesome, decorations were cool, it was clean, our hostess was super friendly and attentive, and the energy and amount of things to do inside Zap Zone is pretty incredible. The only annoying part is the timing. You get the room for 2 hours and the attraction pass for 2 hours. The way the time is split up is the first hour in the room is meant for pizza and cake and then you have 2 hours to use your passes. The awkward part is you have to interrupt your guests half way through their play time to gather their stuff up. It’s kind of rude, and really it would make more sense to just have the room and passes good for 3 hours start to finish. During the party, our hostess gave us a variety of jump socks to choose from, but she kept coming back and like asking for the ones back that we weren’t going to use. I thought this was weird. Then, I noticed that we had this stack of cards and wristbands but there was more than 10 . Honestly, this is just pure stupidity on my part, but I figured they just thew in extra for the parents of kids that were not old enough to participate in attractions without a parent/guardian present. Again, this is a party for kids 6 and under. So basically, at the end of the party I asked the hostess to clarify which package we selected and she told me that the manager I spoke weeks prior listed our party as a party for 20 people. It made for a super stressful situation, because that isn’t what I ordered. In fact, I specifically stated to this manager that it’s a party for 10 kids and there will be parents there. Thankfully, we still had 10 cards left sitting on the table. Only 9 kids attended. Our hostess told me that unless I was able to give her 10 of the cards (passes back,) I would be charged for the additional “guests.” I didn’t even know what these cards were for…it was literally never explained and I think as people tried to access the attractions they were told to get a card so they came back into the room and grabbed them. Thankfully, we were able to correct the issue and we were charged for the correct party package. The whole situation felt extremely misleading and like Zap Zone is trying to take advantage. I was also asked to tip on the party package total (not just food). I tipped 20% out of guilt. The hostess was nice but it was a pizza party, and I had already ordered a package. Zap Zone should be taking care of their hostesses instead of making it the customer’s responsibility. I’ve never been prompted to tip for a party package, including one at the old Zap Zone. ANYWAYS…it’s flashy, fun, and a day to remember but be wary that the package price is not set, it’s an...

We visited this location on 12/14/2024, due to our kids' snow day. We had avoided this place for a year because of the fights that would break out at night time. Not to mention a report of someone doing cocaine in the bathroom at one point (this was mentioned to us a year ago from a friend of ours) We figured after a year of avoiding this place, it would change. My family and I arrived to this location. A handful of various games would not work properly or take the game cards. In addition, the mini golf was acting up to the point we had to skip holes. I had stopped up at the bar for a drink. I waited over 15 mins for someone to acknowledge me at the bar. The bartender indicated that she was the only person manning the floor and bar. The bar/restaurant was completely empty except for myself and one other person. The game floor was not overly busy. When I got my drink (Coors Light) on draft, it was a warm beer. Our kids had gotten Auntie Ann's pretzels from the mall, and were sitting at the bar eating their food. The same bartender came up, and indicated that we would need to dispose our kid's food because the manager doesn't want it in the restaurant. These are KIDS with pretzel bites, not to mention under the age of 10. Granted the sign outside the bar said "no outside food or drinks". Which we explained that we did not see it, but still. The bartender however put them in a Pepsi cup and allowed them to continue eating their food, which we appreciated. Also, based on previous Google reviews we read in terms of food, some reported issues with the food tasting bad. We did not try the food.

This place is a excellent entertainment facility. However, they need to get their equipment working, employees trained better, drinks tasting colder, etc. For now, I would recommend using your best judgement with visiting this place in the future. Hopefully things get better as it is a great concept and fun for families, but for now, we will avoid this place in the future.

Thanks!

Update: We rolled the dice again and visited for our kids' birthday on 1/11/2025. Where do we start. Given that we were here a month prior, and thought maybe our review would be taken into consideration, here is what we had to deal with again:

The following list of arcade games of King Kong VR (Headset not working), Storm Game, Walking Dead (broken arrow gun), Air Hockey (score board not working), and Just Dance all had issues and were not working properly. The Lockers to store your valuables in were not working properly and doors were not closing securely. The Game Card machines would not print receipts. We had also brought with us some friends to partake in the birthday fun, but when they went to the ticket counter to claim their prizes, the balances of their game cards were told by the employees working the counter were different. One employee said it was 750, the other said it was 1200 and they were standing next to each other. Due to that, the kids that were with us were not able to cash out their tickets for their prizes and the MOD (Manager On Duty) gave the kids their prizes anyway due to the lack of service by the employees.

At this time, the 7 of us agreed we will not be back for the foreseeable future. This is a great place to have fun, ZapZone XL just needs to train their employees better, maintain their equipment and improve their processes. We will definitely share this review...

I spoke with a manager and he was really receptive!! Hoping to change my review if we visit again.

Place is not accessible-friendly and is not user friendly. I'm sure after you come several times, it's easier, but I'm more likely to spend more and come back if my first experience is pleasant.

It's a mess to buy anything or get answers and your clock probably starts ticking before you get all stuff done for little kids. (Honesty, I didn't bother asking since no one seemed to want to answer as it was.)

I can barely reach the touch screen, and the attendant didn't seemed to care that I couldn't reach the credit card reader, so my husband got frustrated and did it for me. (But he was so frustrated trying to understand what he was buying that he had to walk away for most of that).

I asked what the age requirements were for jumping, and was instructed to read the screen. That information is not available on the screen, it is only listed for the high speed racing. She then answered my question (but she could have just answered it in the first place). When I wasn't given socks, I asked, and she said I had to get them over there.

At the jumping area ("over there"), I was told to sign a waiver (I feel like the entry place should have told me about socks and waiver, even if only on the screen, then one adult could have started that). I won't mention that no one asked to see my proof of purchase.

The jumping area is not accessible, so I (a wheelchair user) was unable to be up with my kids (7 and 9 years) (6 steps up).

This is our 2nd time coming, 1st time doing the little kid side (as we were here for a teen birthday before), but honestly, I'm not sure we will come again.

The 1st time we did the high speed carting for our teenagers and the line to wait was so disorganized (everyone was let in, even tho only so many can ride per trip). And high speeders and family racers were all together, and some of us got passed up because people switched after they had swipped in. (Granted, it was probably a language barrier, but more reason to be more organized). We also were not told to remain seated once we parked and my poor 7 year old, still belted in, leaned out some and was jolted from all the people behind ramming us (but I realize some of this was from 2 aggressive players who didn't care about others and out of Zap Zones control). I guess they could have, but we couldn't hear any instructions, so, who knows.

We'll see how the rest of our two-hour unlimited...