iFLY Indoor Skydiving- Paramus — Attraction in Paramus

I didn't really know what to expect, but I was impressed through and through by this place. Let me walk you through it. The parking lot is right at the exit so it's easy to get to from either side of the highway. The parking lot is huge. You walk in. Do a small front desk with some touch screen. Kiosks as well as a counter where people can help you. They check you in and make sure you filled out the waiver and then they weigh you. After that you go into the main room where it's very easy to watch other people flying. You may have to wait for a little bit and then you're instructor will come get you and guide you to the lockers where you put away any loose items. You can lock the locks with a code right there, and then they fit you with your jumpsuit. Then they do a little training with you in a separate room about the hand signals and what to expect. Training is just a video but they go over it afterwards. Then you go in a group into the waiting bench which is directly connected to the fly tunnel. In the whole room. I was impressed at how quiet the tunnel was. I guess I expected it to be overbearing, but they give you earplugs so even when you're in the tunnel it's not too bad. An instructor goes in with you and guides you through everything and there's another instructor who runs the wind part of things and can give you instructions from outside of the glass. Patrick was my instructor and the guy on the other side of the glass was also super helpful. Both of the guys were really encouraging and good at teaching. I was pretty chill about the whole thing going into it, but it was definitely an exhilarating experience. They encourage people to spend $20 extra to fly high which is where the instructor brings you up higher beyond what you're usually allowed to do on your first experience. They do add some time to the flight when you do that which is cool, but I didn't want to spend the extra money. After it's over they do a little debrief where you take your flight suit and your helmet off and your ear plugs out and they give you a certificate so you can come back next time to learn more moves. Then they guide you through the photo and video package. They take pictures and video of everyone and you can decide afterwards if you want to buy it. Their photo and video prices were very reasonable. $4 per photo and $8 per video and you get to look at them before deciding and you can even decide later since it's all done online. Again they try and get you in your moment of adrenaline to buy a multi-pack to come back but the deals are really good so it was tempting. When I got there I saw a guy who apparently comes in all the time and he was amazing. He had great control and was practicing specific moves unassisted of course which was fun to watch. I felt like I learned a lot in even my two short sessions and I definitely want to go back...

Would love to have given the experience a 5/5 because the staff is really nice and the overall concept is great but after taking a family member here for a birthday celebration - it's constant pleads/upselling from the start through the finish.

Having already paid for upgrades including photos and videos of the experience, I made sure to go all-out and from the moment of entering for the check-in - it was suggested to add more add-ons like more flights/elevations, etc.

The instructor is a really nice person but once again, the upselling really hurt my overall feeling for this outing. I had already paid the additional $20 each for the 'High Flight' feature - if you look at the pics I included, the one where you're just a few feet off the floor is standard - if you want to go higher, you're adding $20 each 55-second session. The instructor mentioned you could add more flights once the session started at a 'discounted/cheaper' rate and once the flights began, he simply said, 'Did you want to go up high again?'

Granted - I should have taken this as him upselling - but since we were the only ones there, it seemed like a nice gesture especially since my family member was celebrating a birthday - so we both did the 'high' extra flight instead of the paid regular flight - and both were fun (it's not worth the trip and effort without the high flight - otherwise you're just a few feet off the ground and you don't feel like you're doing anything special) - but as we were getting out of the jumpsuit and met the instructor in another room - there's a huge 'TIPS' can - so I felt inclined to hook him up - giving him $20 from both myself and my family member ($40 tip total)...

Thinking - all things considered, it was OK and fun - but then he said he'd meet us at the front - assuming it was to say have fun and a good birthday - but it was to remind me we added the two additional high flights and to have to pay $40.

Again - I understand it's all about upselling but felt this was done in pretty poor taste especially since it was a simple, 'Do you want to go up high again?'

I was already on the fence about returning but thought it could be fun and then just realizing everything was an upsell and realizing I paid $80 extra - $40 being the tip and the extra $40 for going up high again? Pretty gut-punching.

Also - considering I had already paid for the standard height/flight, I would have thought there could be a discounted. high rate - let's say $10/each extra instead of a full-fledged $20 each.

I really root for great, fun outings and this has the potential but will say personally - going to Dopamine after this outing ($17/each for tickets) and the Bergen Zoological Park ($10/each regular price and $6/each for Bergen County residents) - both were much more...

An overall great experience, however a few small kinks. I had a group of 10 flyers and had purchased the an exclusive birthday package, which was good for up to 12 people, and 24 shareable flights. This was stated on the website, and the woman who checked us in at the front desk also confirmed that we would have 24 shareable flights that we would be able to split amongst the group however we saw fit. However when we met our instructor he told us that each person would only be getting 2 flights each, which totaled 20 flights. I approached the instructor separately and informed him that we are supposed to be slotted 24 shareable flights, but he again told me that we were only getting 2 flights per person. In my opinion we should have then been compensated for the 4 flights we would not be getting since I did technically pay for them….also the previous day when I had called to inform them that 7 people would like to do a ‘high flight’ (an additional $20/person), I was charged $190 instead of $140. At first I thought maybe it could have been surcharges and taxes added on so I did not question it. But when we arrived the following day, another person from my group asked to do a ‘high flight’, and they were charged 19.99. So as far as pricing and information on the website, as well as information received from the workers helping to book these flights, I feel a bit deceived and mislead. Also they did not tell us that if you are over 260lbs that you would be unable to participate in the high flight, and I had one person in my group who ran into that issue, and he did pay for the high flight, which was not refunded, even though he couldn’t participate. Overall the experience was still fun for our whole group, and if we lived closer I’m sure a lot of us would come back again. However again I am a bit disappointed with the misinformation provided...