Area 53 - Adventure Park — Attraction in New York

I see what they are trying to do with Area 53, and I love the concept. The execution however, is primarily bad. Parking already sets off your nerves, trying to navigate double parked streets with giant tourism buses lining the curbs. Good luck finding a spot you won't get towed in. The pandemonium when you walk in was to be expected. But there is literally no clear way-finding, no directions, no signage. Just what looks like it might be a couple different lines of 100 screaming people. Make your way into the actual arena and it leaves a lot to be desired. It's clearly a warehouse that they've thrown a bunch of adventure equipment in. I'm not mad at that. Good idea. But it's very much, not clean. And the lighting is headache inducing between the bright DMV fluorescents and the cheap colored strobe lights that never turn off. The rock wall looks like it came back from Vietnam with war stories and PTSD. The skating rink is just a concrete floor with a barrier around it. The aerial course was probably the highlight, but let's talk about the lines to get on it. We entered the arena at 8pm. We got in line at roughly 820pm to get our harnesses. The first member of our party didn't step on the course until 9:40pm. The lines are so poorly managed and painfully understaffed. I felt for the employees. A great deal of the arcade games were out of order. And for the price we pay, I feel like some game play should be included. We had a birthday girl that they did give a single $10 credit to. Out of a party of 12. The food was actually decent. But good luck getting it. We waited over a half hour to get a single Truly hard seltzer. Management: separate your food and beverage lines. Your kitchen shut down for 15 minutes and your staff told everyone waiting in line that they had to wait behind people waiting for food, even if they just wanted a drink. I need you to make that make sense. We had a party package. The food that was supposed to arrive to our private room arrived almost two hours late. The room was decent. Please turn off the seizure strobes though. They don't need to be on 24/7 even in the private rooms. Or let the party have customizable control. That would be great. Your rule of 1 drink per person is wild. When the wait times in line range from a half hour to an hour for a drink, I would like to get drinks for my whole party as I'm taking one for the team and standing in line while they try to enjoy something in the arena (if their line is any less long). Or better consideration, offer drink service to the private rooms. Other offerings in the room would be cool as well. We bought the largest room in the establishment, which did come with a pool table. But how about board games, or a giant connect 4/jenga, or other avenues of entertainment, especially when a great deal of the arena amenities are broken/out of order or have lines that make it impossible. The ability to control music in the room would also be great. I get that a bunch of mid to late 30-somethings is not your typical demographic. But we are also the demographic with the most disposable income to drop at your establishment. We're going to hit your highest price points and revenue streams. Your alcohol margins alone from a group like ours makes up for several family admissions. Our hostess was lovely and really trying, as was the majority of the staff, as you could tell they were nearly at their wits end and just trying to hold it together. They have failing resources, and not enough tools to do their job efficiently. This place could be so cool, but the owners need to truly invest in the proper materials, staffing levels, and services. I hope they do. But I definitely wouldn't recommend this place in...

I wanted to like this place, but it’s a hard no. I have been eyeing this location area 53 for almost 2 years now. And coming from South Jersey and driving all the way to Brooklyn, New York, and seeing what I saw and experiencing what I experience was extremely disappointing. My family and I spent $174 for tickets an additional $70 in tolls $50 in gas and another $80 to eat and the highlight of our trip was eating at empanada city. When we first walked in there was a crowd of kids outside parking doesn’t exist. We had to stay parked near, empanada city and walk to the location. That’s not the biggest issue. The biggest issue is once you enter into area 53. There’s no organization other than the lime there’s no proper security. There are no metal detectors and I’ll touch on that later on in this paragraph. The wait wasn’t as bad except for the lack of organization and children and people not knowing what to do. Front Dess service needs to be tightened up, especially when checking guest in. There were no manners in terms of another asking, the young lady that was checking me, and if I could wait a moment so she can get assistance from her. After doing that signing waivers and being told what we could do and what we couldn’t do my expectation before walking in with that extremely too high. You’re met with the smell of a pure locker room. You can literally smell the bathroom because it’s over the door that you have to walk through in order to get inside. That mix with the smell of greasy food is disgusting to say the least. There is no proper security. The one security guard I saw walking around, seems to be lost himself and didn’t look like he could secure any possible chaos that could’ve broken out. The employees at the Rockwall and to go down. The zip line had no proper communication with anyone and I understand why they don’t because there’s nothing to protect them if anything were to happen if they had to correct someone’s children or correct an adult. I saw two separate grown men what concealed weapons in a place filled with children, and they were about five birthday parties going on. I can go on and on and on about the lack of security, which was deplorable. I was saying for my family, and I ate before we walked around the corner to even come into the adventure Park. I would’ve never eaten any food there we didn’t even get anything to drink from there. We waited until we got out of there and went to a bodega. Also to buy a game card for $51 and have limited games was absurd. The games are archaic to say the most. Overall, this place was unsanitary and unorganized, unsafe and I would never recommend this place for anyone. The images/reels on Instagram are very deceiving. This is a honest review. This was my first time going there and it was a complete waste of my money. My family use the restrooms and they were disgusting. I waited until we got home, which was over a 2 Hour drive to use the restroom. I have proof of purchase. I was there this past Saturday 03/22/2025 and I’m just disappointing. Do better. The price was not worth it.

P.s. - the smaller children should never be allowed to zip line with older children and adults. It is an absolute safety hazard, especially when doing a zip line and going through the ropes. My husband had to help a little girl that was petrified after they did the zip line and had to go through the ropes in order to get down. No one gave instructions. They simply clamp you on, and let it slide. Sometimes too small is too small and they should be accompanied by a guardian or their parent...

An honest review ! Went for a super deluxe room party. Room was big , there was a heater and a radio ( the entire area 53 is really cold inside, come dressed up warm ). Had pamela as a host. She was great, she provides her number and you can text her every time you need something for the room. Very attentive and kind. Never gave us a “no” as an answer in anything. As for the actual place this is why i cannot give it 5 stars. Pamela is the only reason i even added a second star. Its a huge space with barely no activities. Its not one of these places you walk in and say “woww” . Arcade is very small . I only saw like 5-6 arcade machines in second floor. I thought it would be a whole section of arcade games . Theres a few electronic games on the first floor but nothing too crazy. Kids liked the place at first but then after an hour to 1 in a half hour they were tired of doing the same thing back to back because as i said, theres not much to do. I feel like a smaller child would enjoy 8 or below . Over heard a few adults/ older teens saying the same thing and trying to find something different to do and sounded like they were over it. Ball pit is very dangerous . I saw bigger kids stepping over the little ones who were falling deep into the pit . You wouldnt even tell theres a child deep in the pit . I had to yell out to one kid who was literally stepping on a kid that was below all the balls sinking in. No ones really there watching them. Make sure you are there watching your child. Rock climbing is cool the first 2 times but then as you keep going back , you find it boring . Based on what the kids told me , the skyrail is pretty basic . Nothing special or different from any others. Zip line seems fun 1-2 times and then its not something you go back to often . I noticed the roller skating was where most of the time was enjoyed for the kids . But then again.. they got bored of it. Saw many kids sitting down after a while. The slides would be more fun for the younger kids and toddlers . Not for teens or older. Battle beam is fun for the moment . Keep in mind this is coming from most of the kids who attended . On the adult side its Not worth the money spent at all. Spent over $1000 and really felt it was a waste. Everyone told us that places was not worth spending that and looked at us crazy . (We are parents that dont care the amount spent as long as our child enjoys, and our child or friends were not happy at the end of the night) The bigger kids said they wouldnt want to come back. The toddlers liked it . Its more of a walk-in place , enjoy for an hour the most and leave. Not for big parties. You dont get your moneys worth. Pizza was 6/10 not bad but not the best. I saw a few workers on the floor level, nothing good or bad to say. They were just there… This places needs more things , less climbing activities . I saw a rock climbing wall and 2 short stand up fake rocks that i saw everyone do it easily , and 1 that were balls where you climb on . I came for the kids not for me , and the kids were unhappy at the end . Usually kids dont want to leave these “fun places”. But , in this place they asked plenty of times “when are we leaving”. Again it would be cool as a walk-in day for an hour - hour in a half . You can do all activities within an...