I had huge hopes for this place. Â I really wanted to fall in love with it. Â We were invited to Dino Rex for a friend's 5 year-old's birthday party. Â We had booked a party at their Arlington Heights location, but since we had never been there before, we thought that this was the perfect opportunity to do a dry run.
I had expected it to be jus like Chuckie E Cheese, only cooler because their website boasted of an indoor roller coaster, train, bumper cars, a spinning ride, etc. Â My friend that hosted the party had been their several times and her children loved it.
I was totally disappointed. Â First off, it's expensive there. Â It costs $10.99 to ride their rides all day, and their games cost anywhere from 1 token to $3.00. Â The day that we went, only 2 out of 4 of their major rides were operating. Â The roller coaster, and the train. Â My son was way too young to ride the roller coaster on his own, and he was bullied on the train by older kids. Â It was horrific. Â He is 2 but is so tall that he passes for 3 or 4 years old. Â The soft play area was extremely dark and uninviting. Â The majority of thier games were also in disrepair. Â We ahd to constantly find the service attendant to reimburse us for tickets won or tokens lost. Â I also found the place dirty and definitely not in the best shape for a toddler. Â Their is no carpetting, just cement floors, and the eating area reminds me of school lunch trips at the Field Museum. Â The older children didn't seem to notice and seemed to love it. Â I then found out from my friend that the Arlington Heights location was even worse than this one, so I immediately canceled our reservation. Â They had wanted $15.99 per child plus 12% gratuity added on top. Each child only receives 10 tokens. Â I advise every parent to go on dry runs before they pay a huge fee for any brithday parties!