Big Don's Wild River — Attraction in Town of Cicero

The landscaping and course was nice and the employees were all very nice. The only issue we had was the other customers there. We went on a Friday night, not realizing how busy it would be. They do tournaments on Fridays 6-9 where you can do unlimited rounds of mini golf and get a free treat for $14 which we didn’t know about it before going, but we opted to just do the one round. When we started there were two groups ahead of us waiting on a group of 7 to finish. There’s a big sign right at the beginning of the course that says a group of 4 is the ideal max, a group of 5 is iffy, and a group of 6 is the absolute max and if you have more you should split up into groups of 2-4. These people obviously didn’t read the sign. They were also taking longer than they needed to and holding up the whole line. The other 2 groups in front of us were also annoyed and decided just to skip hole #1 and go around them. They had no regard for anyone else, they even stood on the course after they had finished and were on to the next hole, completely oblivious that we were waiting to go. We finally went around them and were able to go at a normal pace. Then, a women with 3 young boys came up behind us. The women was not paying attention to the kids at all and they we standing right behind me as I’m trying to swing. Then as soon as I swung they put their golf balls down and hit them instead of waiting for us to actually finish the hole. We decided to let them just go around us. One of the boys wasn’t paying attention and ran into a lady with his golf club and didn’t apologize. Meanwhile, we were watching the group of 7 as we were going and they were hitting tree branches with the golf clubs, walking all over the plants, climbing on the rocks, and putting their clubs in the water. They looked to be about 18, except for one younger one, and definitely old enough to know better. Overall all we will be going back because we have a gift card and it’s a nice course, but we will NOT be going on a Friday night next time. Also the we ended up taking almost an hour and a half to finish 1 round, so I’m glad we didn’t pay for the...

Squirt frenzy was so much fun BUT do not book as a birthday party it's not worth it. Just get a bunch of kids together and pay the indiviual price. We had to cut our own pizza. The kids had to come and get their own drinks and chips. There wasnt even a party host on time, so we had 12 kids waiting around for a half an hour for the party to start. There isn't a private pavillion so everyone is just around your stuff. I picked everything up. No one checked if we needed anything like water since it was so hot. The price you pay for the party, which was $249 was not worth it. I'd rather just do the party myself, since I pretty much did. 😕 I was really bummed as the staff seemed upbeat and friendly, but no one was around to actually host. Bottom line, I'd suggest this place for an outing, not a party.

Response to Big Dons: Yes, they also did the dig as part of the party. I am not putting down the activities themselves in anyway. I am only making it clear that the party package was not what we expected and we did feel "abandoned." She did offer ice cream, but we already had cake and candy and I was not about to try and keep track of 12 -- 7 years olds eating ice cream in that heat-- as I was already cleaning everything else up, so I respectfully declined on the ice cream. This is a place we would definitely visit with our kids and meet up with other kids, but would not recommend the party based on our visit only. We did read other reviews and were very excited, but I think compared to other places we have had parties at, it doesn't compare and I didn't feel like we got what we expected. Overall, the kids still had fun and we learned a lesson. Thanks for your response and we will...

If you're looking for the best mini golf place in the area you might find it here. This is one of my two favorites in Syracuse! The holes are all great quality and the whole area is very nice. The course incorporates 'Spinners' on some holes to further add mischief between rival mini golfers, which is a great idea and the only other one that uses these is Shipwreck in Cortland. A second time around on the same visit is really affordable too, so consider that for sure. We usually come here several times a season and have never had a bad experience.

The owner of this place REALLY enjoys what he does and you can easily see that just by playing the course, there are no other courses in the Syracuse area that are even close to the level of commitment to guests as Big Don's! This place really should be six stars...