How much is too much?
My son Grady has braces. We live about 45 miles away from the resort. When he has to go to the orthodontist, I usually bring him to work with me and he plays in the parks on the day of his appointment. We've been doing this for a while. He had an appointment recently, and in true fashion, we got up early and on the road by 7 am. A couple of neighborhood kids came with. They were all super pumped about the day. I love these days because the kids get to have fun and give me a rundown of how their day went. It's a good perspective for me.
They ate breakfast in the Pub. A breakfast wrap is always a favorite! Then, off they went. I gave him my credit card like I always do. Generally, he'll get an unlimited play pass and put a few dollars on a play card so he can play Wizard of Oz, VR Rabbids, and Injustice. He'll grab a pizza for lunch and a Gatorade. No big deal.
HUGE MISTAKE!
$264 later they came back with candy, toys, and a bunch of stuff I probably didn't see. I could not believe it was possible to spend so much money in one day! My co-worker Billy explained that he saw them getting massages in the chairs, eating candy, drinking soda...pretty much living their best lives!
When I told him how much he spent, he was really sweet and said that he'll mow the lawn until it's all paid for. Of course, I didn't make him pay me back because it was my fault; I should have known better than to give him the run of the place with my card. Lesson learned.
When I told my boss Tom Hahn this story, he laughed so hard and said, "Good boy, Grady." He'd like me to give Grady my credit card every day! I call it a parenting fail, Grady still calls it a kid win!
In the aftermath of this fiasco, I'm going to share ways to save money when coming to Action City.
DO NOT GIVE YOUR KID YOUR CREDIT CARD, for the obvious reasons (at least obvious to everyone but me).
Buy unlimited play. Your kids can ride the zipline, drive the go-karts and bumper cars, play laser tag, the laser maze, the flash pads, mini-golf, mini-bowling, and as many non-ticketed arcade games as they want in the time frame that you purchase. It's great because if they start something and they don't really like it, you don't feel like you wasted money. I would recommend the 5-hour pass because it doesn't cost much more than the 3-hour, and your kids won't feel rushed at all.
Get the Combo Pass. This includes everything I just talked about, PLUS the trampoline park. Start in the trampoline park, and when the kids get tired, go play games before going back to jump more. No one can jump for 5 hours straight, but going back and forth is super fun!
If you want to play the ticket arcade games that you can win prizes, buy the Bonus Play Specials. You get free money. You can split the money up on different cards as well.
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Get some pizza. Our pizza is awesome. Pepperoni and green olive is my favorite! Be sure to leave room for Dairy Queen on your way out the door. My family tradition is to get DQ and eat it on the way home. Sometimes it's hard to get them out the door, so the ice cream bribery helps!
