We like a good night out here at the Directory and thought that we would try something a bit different to our usual eating/drinking efforts! Although we had all been to Planet Laser to accompany our children, most of us hadn’t actually played ourselves since we were children!! So, kids in tow, we booked the arena for the evening along with some friends and their families. We were quite a big group in the end with about 30 of us ranging from 3 years old to….well….mid-forties!
We arrived and settled ourselves in with drinks and snacks from the Lunar Café whilst the kids went nuts on the arcades for a bit, giving us chance to catch up on everyone’s news! I’m not sure what it is about 2p machines that is so appealing to children but they certainly kept our lot happy whilst we waited for our turn in the arena!! Johnny, who looks after guests in the arena, took us through for our briefing! This involved us going in to a small room where we watched a short video on safety in the arena and how to use the guns and equipment. We were then split into teams which, as per the kids’ request, turned out to be ‘adults versus kids’! The challenge had been set and, secretly, us adults thought we had this one in the bag…how wrong we were!!
After getting our gun packs on and being given a briefing from Johnny we were ready to go!! The first game was ‘reds versus yellows’ aka ‘kids versus adults’. The arena was really big with 3 different floors and plenty of spaces to hide to ambush your 6 year old!! Johnny was on hand to ensure that everyone was ok. It was so much fun and I now understand why the kids come out so red faced and out of breath! My legs still hurt now! At this point I bailed as my 3 year old wasn’t quite big enough to play! Everyone else played 2 more games – ‘all versus all’ (which is every man/woman for himself/herself!) and ‘infection’ where you have 1 guy who is ‘it’ who then has to run round and ‘infect’ others who join him/her until there’s the only 1 left – the winner!
Although too young/small/nervous for laser my youngest did LOVE the mini bowling. Its only £2 per game and perfect for smaller bowling fans who might struggle with larger bowling. The balls are smaller and easier to handle and the lanes are slightly shorter than a full sized bowling alley. Fun for any age, this is certainly a highlight for those not wishing to run about in the laser arena.
Everyone had a really fun Friday evening – the only thing missing was possibly a cheeky beer or glass of vino but I hear that plans are in place to make this possible in the near future!! This is a great place for ALL ages so, if you fancy letting off some steam and re-living your youth, get on down one evening. We are already planning our next visit! Thank you very much, John, Johnny and staff for having us.
