Go Ape Zipline and Adventure Park — Attraction in Kansas City

I don’t have a similar experience to compare this to, but this was very fun! Be prepared for a LOT of WORK climbing up the narrow enclosures to get to the platforms in the trees. That is an athletic activity, for sure. Someone who is under 40 and is in reasonable athletic condition will find it a lot easier than what I did. Standing in the trees, looking around, walking across the challenging course between trees, and then zipping down to the next station was enough fun to make that hard work pay off.

In “Tree Top Adventure” there are five different courses, each one being more difficult than the one before. If you’re used to climbing lots of stairs regularly, you probably won’t have trouble with the climbing. Such is not the case for me, and it was even harder work than I anticipated. My legs were pretty wobbly after climbing up, and that made walking across from tree to tree even more challenging. For my 27-year old nephew, it was work, though fairly easy for him. His challenge was that he is over 6 feet tall, and the climbing spaces are pretty tight.

Our instructor, Dom, was friendly, helpful and encouraging whenever someone had difficulty with a particular challenge or with understanding the equipment. The instruction was good, though I felt that manipulating the trolley through some spots was a little more difficult than it needed to be; you have to work with moving it at various angles before it makes sense and the trolley will pass through to the next section. I felt safe the whole time, and I was surprised that I enjoyed the heights as much as I did.

It’s important to know your physical limits and to take your time between each of the courses. As I was concerned for an old injury of mine, and I was very tired, I finished after 3 of the 5 stations, and I felt perfectly fine about accomplishing that! I had fun watching the rest of the group work harder than what I wanted to. Watching them do the Tarzan swing was fun, and they seemed to love it. The very last zip line down to the ground was the longest, and it made me wish I hadn’t gotten so tired.

Important: Drink lots of water, because you will...

This is a ropes course for those who are physically fit. We head to the first section, a sign ominously reads “point of no return”…and I should have thought a little harder about that. Heart racing I cross each section like a geriatric ape on it’s last leg of life. As we head into the third section, it’s getting harder. Thank goodness my husband noticed that I was starting to get scared and waited for me….because things took a turn…I get halfway across and I can’t figure out how to transition to the next swinging plank of death…in my attempt I lose my grip and end up hanging. In the middle. Stuck. Panicking. My arms go limp. My hands go numb and there is nothing to put my feet on to push off of. It’s at this point that I notice the harness around my shoulders has loosened as I’ve navigated the course and if I lean back I REALLY lean back and could flip out of the harness. The guide is down below trying to coach me…but I have no grip or strength. Josh reaches out and pulls me across the rest of the way. The next section is where you pull yourself across with your arms. Excellent because mine no longer work. Panicky Setty. Commence hyperventilating. Once again, my sweet husband hauls me to the platform. Next section of swingy death planks- I wimper and panic my way across- yelling something about there should be an emergency exit ladder. (remember the sign that said “point of no return,”because that’s all I’m thinking about at this point) I get to the platform with husband’s help. Finally. We are at the ending zip line. I fly through the trees, drag derrière through the mulch dejectedly until I come to a stop. Josh brings me water, a lady comes and checks on me. This woman tells me “you know this was the hardest course right”…NO JANET I DID NOT KNOW. I DID NOT KNOW THERE WAS AN EASIER ONE. Just…pay attention to your harness and tighten it if it loosens. The guides were very nice and helpful, but you are accepting the risk when you do this. Anything short of a cherry picker there is no way out of those trees except through the course…so set expectations. I had fun...

I had a great time at Go Ape Zipline. Tbh, it's less a zipline but more a rope course. I took the adventure route which has 5 stages of which the first one was a short intro course. It is a self-guided tour (I didn't know this) so you do it by yourself, though there's always an instructor walking below so you can always get help if you need.

The courses are very challenging, walking on difficult ropes/bridge up in the air. There's also a tarzan part which you zipline into a rope net, bounce back, grab it and climb from there to the platform. At the end of each course there's a zipline. It's quite anticlimactic that the last zipline is not the longest.

The instructors are very helpful and nice. The course is fun, challenging, making it a good workout. However, I want to subtract one star cuz of an accident at I get at the intro course. I was clumsy and couldn't land on my feet so I threw my body at the green pad they have at the end of the zipline. This pad unfortunately is neither big nor thick enough to protect me from the pole behind it, it got thrown out to the side and I hit my head pretty hard. Looking back at another zipline course I played a long time back at a different location, they made sure every one wear a helmet. I think it should have been the same here, but it's not. I think GoApe should either ask customers to bring along a helmet or provide one for each customer. Right now IIRC there's only request for wearing gloves. Also, if you're bring gloves, I think it's better to wear the one fully covers your fingers. I got a pair of cut-out gloves and still got blisters on my fingers.

TLDR: Fun, challenging, self-guided rope course. Nice and helpful instructors. Please bring helmet, it could save you a hit on the head....