Magiquest

We went to Magiquest while in Tennessee. If you look at the website, it looks a lot like Wizard Quest that we did at the Dells last year, which was a huge disappointment for us. I was really hesitant to attempt this attraction because I didn't want to be disappointed again. After much persuasion, I relented to go and see what the deal was. I also commented that, worst case, this place just opened a few months ago so things shouldn't be broken yet. In addition to the "quest" aspect, they also had other things like black light pirate mini golf, a mirror maze and "The Vault". They offer several pricing options that include an "all you can play option" for $32.99 per person. It gets you 90 minutes of questing and one pass at each of the other attractions. You can also pay for each item individually or get just an upstairs pass for questing or just a downstairs pass for the other items.

Because of our bad experience with Wizard Quest, we chose not to quest but we did purchase a downstairs pass for all of us. We started by doing "The Vault" which is just a darkened room with laser beams requires no small amount of agility. Basically, like breaking into a bank vault, it requires you to climb over and under the beams without setting them off. MT, who was a little freaked at the idea of going into the dark room, totally rocked it. There is something to be said for being little and wily.

After "The Vault", we did the mirror maze. As we entered, they had everyone put on plastic gloves to keep finger prints off the mirrors and not ruin it for everyone else. It was a huge maze, with lots of flashing lights and loud music. There is one room that was just a big open room, with mirrors all the way around. It was outrageously funny to watch other people stand in the room and swing their arms to try and find the mirrors so they didn't run into them. The maze ends with a forest of mirrors. They are mirrors set in tree like frames and is by far the most difficult part of the maze to navigate. The kids and I and my brother made it through fine but my parents got lost and my brother had to go back and get them.

We then spent an hour playing mini golf. Generally, I'm not a fan of mini golf but I AM a fan of pirates and black lights are pretty cool too. They had plenty of selections of sizes of golf clubs, so everyone could get one that could fit them. The course was easy enough for the kids but still enjoyable for the adults. There were several screens in the room that played various videos as well so you had something to do while you waited for your turn.

Overall, I was pleasantly surprised with how much fun we had. I'm also glad that we didn't spend the time questing, even if I was a little curious about how it stacked up to Wizard Quest. This attraction gets 4 stars.

WonderWorks

While we were in Pigeon Forge, we saw many advertisements for WonderWorks. We spent a lot of time saying that we didn't want to go there because we had basically been there and done that in Wisconsin Dells at the Upside Down White House. My brother, who wasn't able to go to the Dells finally flat out insisted that we at least go in and check it out. Fortunately, we listened to him because WW turned out to be a LOT of fun.

The building is built upside and the lobby inside (the ticketing area) was also upside down. The building creaks and groans a little but looks pretty neat. After paying $19.95 for adults and $12.95 for kids, we entered the "inversion tunnel" which took us into the upside down part of the house. It is a dark spinning tunnel and causes some pretty severe disorientation. TB closed his eyes and held my hand and I basically drug him through. Apparently, my mom did the same thing and let my brother drag her :) WW is a cross between a children's museum and a simulator ride. In the first room, they have an earthquake simulator, where up to six people can take a seat at the Quake cafe and experience and earthquake. After we got all shook up, we took a turn in the hurricane simulator, dipped our hands in water that simulated the temperatures Titanic survivors endured and climbed the rock wall. TB really rocked, although MT and I sure tried our best. Beyond that is a space room with some shuttles to climb in and play with the buttons. In the next room is projectors and motion sensors and some of the coolest exhibits. There was an air hockey table, that didn't have a puck. It is a projection and you use your hands to block and push the shadow puck around. There were motion rooms, giant Simon games, steady hand wires, a bubble room and a bed of nails. Then we played "Mind Ball" where the player puts on a headband that measures alpha and theta brain waves and the person who has the calmest brain waves pushes the ball at the other person and eventually wins. Apparently my brain waves fires like monkey on crack because my brother beat me soundly in a matter of seconds.

The second floor is mainly optical illusions and other things like that. TB was much more interested in this floor than MT. She ran right one by, while he was willing to stop and look, at least for a few seconds. We did get to see a cool bathroom with clear glass while it was unlocked and smoked glass when it was locked. Beyond the exhibits was an arcade and laser tag. We chose to upgrade our ticket to include laser tag because the kids love it. We played a game and then headed out for lunch, with the ability to come back later that evening and play again for less per game.

Overall, WonderWorks wasn't your average children's museum. It had some standard exhibits, like the bubble room but it had a lot more stuff that you wouldn't expect, like the simulators and rock climbing. This attraction earns a full 4 stars for being super fun for all of us as well as educational.

I would recommend this as an attraction for 5 and up or kids that are used to going to children's museums and understand that some things require explaining. MT really enjoyed it, but I could see this being too much for some younger kids. It was awfully crowded and very young children or people with sensory issues might get overwhelmed quickly.

Kick's in Springfield

Yesterday, we went to Kick's in Springfield. I was fully prepared to hate it because it is one of those places where you have to pay, individually, for everything you do and I hate that crap. I was pleasantly suprised once we got there. For startes they offer several package deals, including $10, $20 and $30 dollars, at a discount or you can buy an hour of unlimited play. For us, the by the hour deal was the best deal at $16.99 per kid for an hour of everything they wanted to do. Instead of hauling around handfuls of tokens, they give you a swipe card, that you swipe in the reader at each thing and it deducts your money or activates the game if you have the unlimited. Then, when you win tickets, you feed them into the counter and swipe your card, which records your tickets right there. The major drawback to the swipe card system is that you can only swipe once every 60 seconds. This is designed to prevent sharing of the card but causes problem with quicky games. MT likes the games of chance, where you put money in, the light goes around and you hit the button to stop it. It takes all of 10 seconds for her to play, then she had to sit and wait for the card to reactivate.

In addition to the video games, they also have bumper cars for older kids (TB did great at them but MT was a little too small to be able to drive them), go carts that kids as small as 42 inches can be passengers in (they have to be 54 inches to drive but as long as there is an adult driving, they can ride along), laser tag and mini-bowling. While we were there, the mini bowling was down so that was disappointing.

The games were your standard ticket games for the most part. They had some "drop the token" games which MT loves and took me a while to figure out how to use with the swipe card. There are a couple of token machines that you swipe the card and they dispense tokens for those games. Very handy! I was really impessed with the amount of tickets the games paid out, as well. Skee ball at somewhere like Chuck E Cheese will pay out 3 tickets for 150,000 points where these paid out 20 for 20,000. MT won 150 tickets on one drop on the ball game! The other part of the games were heavy on shooting games and racing games. MT couldn't manage those (although she tried) but TB loved them.

In addition to all the games and attractions, they have an all you eat buffet. The food is "fine". Nothing spectacular and kind of expensive. It is 10.99 for adults and 9.99 for kids. The thing about the kid's meals is that with the purchase of their meal, you get a free $5 of game play. The food was fairly kid friendly, with fried chicken, pizza, chicken fingers, and ice cream. However, it wasn't that good. We all got full but I wouldn't get the buffet again.

All in all, I would give 3.5 out of 5 stars and we will be going back again.

Update to the orignal post: The second and third times we went, the food was much better. The fried chicken was tender and juicy and quite tasty and with the food being better, I would bump this up to 4 full stars

Wisconsin Dells - Knuckleheads

Next was Knucklesheads. It is an indoor family entertainment and gaming center. It had a few carnival style rides and a lot of video games. They also have bowling, food and a play structure for the younger kids. Again, pricey (2 or 3 dollars for each ride) but fun. If you go, plan to spend quite a bit of time (we spent 2 hours before we had to head for home but we could have spent a fair amount more time) and even more money. It was a good activity for a rainy yucky day where the kids could run and play. I give it 4 stars

Wisconsin Dells - Tommy Bartlett Exploratory

Next was the Tommy Bartlett Exploratory. It was basically a small children's museum/science center. The kids really enjoyed it and we spent over 2 hours working our way through the whole place. It was small and was a little pricey (nearly the same price as the Indy Children's Museum which is the pinnacle of children's museums), but we had a coupon that saved some money, plus I think it was worth it to have something that the kids really liked. There were small exhibits but there was enough stuff that Ms Thang could do and TB was entertained as well. It is truely a rare event when we find something that keeps both kids entertained for any length of time.

If you go to the Dells with young children, take some time and visit the Exploratory (especially if the weather is yucky and you need to do something indoors for a few hours).

This attraction ranks 4 stars