Empire Adventure Park — Attraction in Town of Hempstead

I read multiple reviews about the parties being disorganized. I spoke to an Empire party staff over the phone and was assured the poor reviews were when they first opened and that they had gained much more experience since. I was easily swayed as this is a new park and looks fun. The lady told me the first hour is unstructured play so the kids go do whatever they want, then come back to the party room for 45 minutes to eat and cut cake, and the last 15 minutes would be a group activity of either laser tag or dodgeball while I take care of the bill. Cool.

I then booked an 11AM party on the website, 4 weeks ahead. I got a confirmation email shortly. I had questions but they always responded within the next business day which I appreciated. I asked what "fountain drinks" consists of and was told Coca-Cola brand products. I ordered a few extra pizza pies for the adults and asked that all pies be cut into 16 slices (I also asked the party host the day of in-person). Each room supposedly comes with 12 balloons, but we were only given 6 balloons. Another issue was the party host. I was under the impression we were going to have two party hosts. In an email exchange, Empire stated "for every ten kids you add to a party package, we add a party host." I even stated in my email that we had 20 children, so would appreciate the extra host. No response so I thought all is well. If I had to pay, I would've. Either way this can't be true because my party host told me she hosted 30 kids on her own the day before! She never went over the agenda but I thought its fine since it was just free play until food right? She acted very confident so I just went with it.

Well, as soon as the kids arrived she lined them up and brought them to an area of the park which is like a jungle gym. I was a surprised as I thought it was supposed to be unstructured as I was told when I called 4 weeks earlier. She proceeds to disappear for 25 minutes. I had to find her after wondering what's going on in which she then takes them to the trampolines. The kids bounces around and she disappears again. 20 minutes later, another party arrives and kicked my group out so their group can go in. Again, no signs of the party host. I had to ask someone to find her. She takes them to another jumping area and again, leaves. Around 12:05 -12:08 she rounds the kids up to go eat. Plates, forks, and napkins were out constantly and guests had to tell us. We were served only water and fruit punch (I was never given an option of what fountain drinks I wanted). Everyone was done eating their nasty pizza (which by the way was NOT cut into 16 slices) and no host to be seen. I looked at the time and saw it was 12:38, I had to find her and say we have to sing because it was getting late and I was secretly fearful we were going to be kicked out like the previous reviewers had said! Lo and behold as the kids were eating cake, this charge-like person comes in and says to me that we have to vacate. Embarrassing! I expressed we were brought into the room late so need a few more minutes. in which my host says its because our outside purchased food came late which I know is not true because I walked into the room around 11:58 to get water for my sons and it was all there. At that point the hosts announced that when everyone was done eating they can go out and play. What? What happened to the group laser tag? I asked them and they looked at me like I had 10 heads.

I asked for the manager at this point. I was told they had our group down to play laser tag during the first hour but yet the party host never took us there. When asked why the host rambled something about there not being enough kids interested and that our group of kids are too young (they're all school-aged!). She never even gave us the option!

Crazy part was that as I was leaving I realized our party host is the same one that another reviewer took a picture of and posted online for having poor time management! Guess who suffers? Us. She never gave me a name but it might be Kenesha?

There's more but I've...

Hosted a five year old birthday party with about 37 kids on a Sunday afternoon. The worst party experience ever. I tried calling and speaking with the manager about all of this and was literally HUNG UP on after 5 minutes and her telling me “I’m sorry you had such a bad experience.” Literally that was it.

More specifics about our terrible party hosting experience here. Honestly I’m embarrassed at how poorly it went.

Check in process: so disorganized. Our party start time was 1 pm. At 1:10 pm we were still at the entrance with our goodie bags and cake and desserts and everything waiting for our room. It’s chaos at the entrance with a million kids and trying to check in and get kids socks and wristbands. We booked a private room and were ensured we would have the biggest room because we had a very large group. The room was a disaster. It was SO tiny. Advertised for 50 kids but barely 30 fit in there. The parents could not fit in the room because it was literally claustrophobic. Also there were no windows or fan or ventilation. We also provided decor to set up and they only hung two banners and blew up a few balloons. And that’s probably because they literally have no time to set up because they book parties back to back and clearly the party before ours was still going on at 1 pm. When I brought up the size of the room to one of the managers she told me that it could fit 50 kids and that they don’t cater to adults. Where the heck are the parents of these 2-5 year olds supposed to go? Leave their kids in the room and stand outside? Also, the outside area is also booked for parties…. So half the tables there were taken for birthday parties too. Clearly they only care about booking parties and do not think thru SAFETY or logistics or comfort of anyone. Food - make sure you count how many pizza pies are served because I am almost certain we did not get all of the pies we paid for. There is absolutely no organization or system for serving. I and some other parents put on gloves and started serving ourselves. Also each pie is 20$ which is kinda ridiculous. On top of that the slices are cut terribly - the slices were not evenly cut at all or half cut and I was literally ripping slices apart. Drinks - I was told there would be unlimited fountain drinks when booking. The host at the beginning of the party asked which 4 pitchers I wanted and I told her I wanted 2 fruit punch and 2 sprite and water for everyone. They come back with 2 pitchers of water and 2 pitchers of fruit punch. I ask abt the sprite and the girl is like you only get four. And I was like seriously, you’re counting water? And another kid host heard me and told me he was going to go get my two sprite as the main host rolls her eyes. 35 kids and parents and ur telling me we only get 4 pitchers of drinks in this OVERLY HOT unventilated room? I also had to CONSTANTLY harass the party hosts who were lil high school kids with no training or guidance abt getting more cups, plates, forks, drinks … it was so terrible. So stressful and unnecessary. We were literally searching for water at points. I don’t blame the lil kid party hosts at this place because what more do they know. The management clearly overworks them with no training. They overbook parties and no one knows what the hell they are doing. The saddest part was that there was no announcement made about cutting my son’s birthday cake so half the party was not even there for that - probably because they couldn’t fit in the room. And also probably didn’t make an announcement because there were like 10 other parties going on so how in the world are you going to get your party together among so many people….

All in all, this place only cares about one thing - your money. They are running, albeit very poorly, a factory for birthday parties with no order or organization. Sure, they have cool things for the kids to enjoy, but it was a terrible birthday party hosting experience and I 100% do...

I'd been wanting to check out this new children's indoor amusement center since they opened inside Samanea Mall and finally had the opportunity on Labor Day. I was actually surprised they were open and it wasn't very crowded either!

There was plenty of free parking on the 2nd level right by the walkway that leads to Empire Adventure Park. There is a roof above everything so if it's raining, no worries!

Check in (I did walk in) was smooth and quick. You do have to sign a waiver but it's just scanning the QR code and filling it out which takes a minute. Children 4 and under cost $15.99 and Empire Adventure Socks are required ($3.50). Not sure if they accept cash as I paid via credit card. General admission for 5 years old+ start at $30.99. You book according to how much time you want (ie 60 minutes, 90 minutes, 120 minutes).

The child gets a rubber-like wristband with a light on it that stays lit blue. I'm assuming once your time is up, the light turns red? When I went, they had a promotion going on for unlimited time so the light remained blue the whole time. For the unlimited promotion days, once you leave the facility, you have to return the bracelet and would have to pay again if you wanted to re-enter.

Adults don't need to purchase admission/socks unless you plan on participating with the child. If you do need to go into the play area though, you have to be wearing socks and can leave your shoes right outside the play area.

Lockers are also available for rent for $8/day with unlimited access until you "End Rental". They're pretty spacious in my opinion and can fit maybe 2 small bags and a pair or two of shoes (depending on shoe size).

There was a good amount of seating for the adults throughout the venue although I felt they could have put a bench or 2 outside the toddler/interactive screen area. Play areas include a dodgeball trampoline area, individual trampolines, toddler soft play area for children 4 and under, laser tag, glide rail, Augmented Reality trampoline games, a giant inflatable bounce house, Ninja Obstacle Course, Adventure Maze, Valomotion climbing wall, interactive screen games (multiball Valomotion), some spinning poles/arms area (I think you have to be a certain height for this), VR Hyperdeck (extra cost) and Esports (extra cost).

The food court was just okay in my opinion. I was disappointed and surprised that they did not sell individual pizza slices, which is what my child wanted. I wasn't going to buy a whole pizza pie of 8 slices for the two of us. We settled for a small tray of Cheese Fries ($5) which tasted okay.

There's bathrooms for women, men and even a family bathroom. In the women's bathroom, there is a changing table in the handicapped stall. It would be nice to maybe have a step stool at the sink for the younger kids so they can reach.

I think it would be helpful to have a staff member supervising the spiral slide in Adventure Maze as you cannot see when the child before you gets out of the slide or if someone is climbing up the slide so collisions can happen. Also, maybe a staff member at the Augmented Reality trampoline game area. When we were there, one kid stayed playing games on the trampoline for a really long time while other kids just stood at the sideline waiting. If kids were there for the timed open play, I'm sure they wouldn't want to spend too much time waiting in line.

Overall, though a little pricey if you're not there for a promotion, I think there is a lot for children to do! My toddler was there 5 hours (yes, you read that right...where do they get all their energy??) and refused to leave. The facility is the perfect size with comfortable A/C and a fan going. Majority of the staff were young but I had no issues with them. I think Empire is working on having toddler hours which I think would be great for the...