The bus was... well... kind of eh. Yes, it was brightly colored. Yes, there were songs. Yes, you could BYO. But really the whole thing was a little lackluster. It smelled like cat pee. It was sticky. It was dangerous. People flying around the bus every time we stopped. No microphone anywhere.
So really in the end, you choose songs from a karaoke like computer and sing whilst being driven around. All in all, it could be much better executed. Suggest a route, have microphones for each person, have more built in ice chests, have a red light that comes on inside whenever the brakes are pushed so people know to sit down.
In the future I'd probably prefer to rent a limo or similar but if you're trying to get down to Wurstfest or something, it's a safe fun bet that's cheaper than a DWI and has a better music selection.
I cannot recommend this business . We went out Friday night in a group and it wasn't a good experience.
1) Â Bus Smells Like BO (Body Odor)
2) Â Bus Driver did not know her way around Austin, so we spent a good hour lost. Â
3) Â AC is very loud and needs to be fixed, it also spews water all over the back seats so you have to sit in the front of the bus.
4) Â The Karaoke Machine was broken and the sound system was erratic, it would either be incredibly loud or super quiet, and it kept freezing up.
5) The bus driver was rude and gave us no assistance fixing said Karaoke machine or loading the bus. Â We had to have a person in our group dedicated to dealing with the driver.
Welcome...to the 70s? Â When I first entered the Rockin Ride for a bachelor party, cooler full of beer in hand, I thought I was stepping into the back of a conversion van on the set of a Richard Linklater movie. Â I was a bit hesitant to let loose, given that our driver looked very matronly. Â However, once you pop a beer or two and close the black curtain separating the driver and passengers, then all bets are off and let the party start!
The driver was very flexible on our plans, and accommodated the nutty idea that we had to take a chain restaurant pub crawl. Â She even let the bachelor back on the bus after he refunded the night's drinks in Buffalo Wild Wings. Â Fortunately, he didn't have any more to give on the bus, so we just did a little more riding (and drinking) before heading back to my buddy's house. Â
We rented the short bus (18 person max), and only had two negative comments about it:
1) Â The AC Unit poured water all over one of the guys on the bus when we took off. Â Seems to be a little design flaw in the way the unit was hung in that there's no external drain, causing all the condensation to build up in a tray that then dumps over whatever poor soul is sitting on the back seat when the bus takes off. Â
2) Â Couldn't play a DVD on the video unit. Â Sad, we had a 'political documentary' to show to my friend.
Would I rent the Rockin' Ride again for another special occasion? Â You betcha. Â It's tons safer than driving and better than cabs in that you can drink while it's rolling.
Two things I love most in life are Vegas and karaoke. When I went to their website and saw the Vegas bus that has karaoke, disco balls, flat screens with awful music videos and plush seating, I started scheming as to how I could use this bus to its utmost potential.
Halloween 2008 was born. With a four hour minimum we basically took it on a bar crawl throughout Austin except without the crawling part, much better if you ask me. They don't charge per mile and you can drink on the bus. It is basically a private karaoke bar on wheels but you get to bring in your own liquor. Splitting between 20 people or so, it ended up being somewhere around $25 a person.
SEE the yelp coupon above for 10% off!
A group of my friends decided to rent out rockin ride's old bus with shag carpet, karaoke, etc. to shuttle us down to a concert south of austin.
First off, they sent us the wrong bus, not the one that we reserved and paid for. Â When we called to tell them, they said that they were sorry but there was nothing they could do about it.
One of my friends incidentally forgot her purse on the bus, being that it was a little wild of an evening, and figured that she would be able to retrieve it the following Monday or so.
Besides being able to talk to the owner of the company, he made her send an email describing the purse. Â After recieving an email that they couldn't find it, the driver and owner were talked to and they did not help very much in looking for the purse.
Later that same day, my friend's debit card, which was in her purse, was used by a person trying to withdraw money at three various gas stations in the East MLK area. Â Therefore, there are thiefs and liars working for this company.
I hope that no one else will make the same mistakes we did when choosing Rockin Ride.
Rockin Ride, I'd heard good things....but you just didn't deliver!
So a friend of mine was getting married down in Dripping Springs. Â Which was great for her, but less than convenient for all of us, her alcoholically-inclined friends. It didn't take us long to decide that we would rent a party bus to take us down there.
So, we ended up renting the "regular minibus." Â Mistake #1. Â We had the bus for 6 hours, for a grand total of $650, which came out to about $32 a person. So, not cheap. Â But it's a rockin ride, right? Â Wrong. Â The "regular" minibus has no disco, no karaoke, no cupholders. Â It's just a shuttle bus. Â They do allow you to drink while you ride, but be warned--there's no bathroom on board.
All this woulda been...ok...maybe deserving of at least 3 stars, and the driver was nice, so that was something. Â Except that on the way back from the wedding, we broke down.
Attempting to explain this situation to us, the driver said that the bus was a diesel and therefore would need to "recharge" for 15 minutes on the side of the road, before he could attempt to start it again. Â Now, I'm not an auto-mechanic, and I don't drive a diesel, but I'm pretty sure that the only cars that require "recharging" would be solar and electric ones, which this was definitely not.
45 minutes later, they finally brought in another shuttle bus to get us home in, but by the way--that overtime they charged us before the first bus broke down? Â They're not gonna waive that or anything. Â Not a cent.
In short, Rockin' Ride, my ride with you did not rock. Â Not at all.
so my best guy in the world rented the rockin' ride for my birthday sunday night. Â i had the best time for being one that doesn't sing karaoke. Â i loved the layout of the bus. Â great places to set your drinks....nice, big silver sinks to set up your drinkies...plus lot's of dancing and sitting room. Â i couldn't of had a better time. Â our driver was super cool and wasn't annoyed by my rendition of "papa don't preach."
it did smell of cat pee when we first boarded. Â hmmm. Â but that smell went away or we got used to it.
I'm a little behind on writing this review, so keep in mind I am not "fresh off the bus". heh.
Anyway, I had a great time on the Rockin' Ride, definitely a fun and unique adventure for a group of friends wanting to have a silly time. Not  to mention, that JJ, our driver, was fab-u-lous! *snap*
A few things that keep me from giving it 5 stars:
. our bus was an hour late, luckily we had a flexible schedule and it didn't matter much
. holy crap, it smelled in there!
. not all disco lights worked
Despite the con's this was a great amount of fun and my girlfriends and I are considering renting a bus again for an upcoming bachelorette party. Also, if you are unsure how long to rent the bus, I found 4 hours to be PLENTY.
So here's the way to get you and 30+ of your closest friends around town form bar to bar in total style and relative safety: on a dank dank bus. Â Step aboard and enter a world that time forgot when disco ruled the world.
This deal is decked out with the following:
A driver who is sober and in a good mood with a great smile
padded Benches along either wall
Two tubs to hold all your drinks and ice
CUPHOLDERS CUPHOLDERS CUPHOLDERS GALORE!
Karaoke machine
Fog machine
vents
Air conditioning
A parking space (that is to say that the driver has some trick for parking that you need not worry yourself about)
Faker fur and psychedelic colors inside and out
All of the above items are user friendly even when you're fairly plastered. Â So why do I give only four stars to the best night on the town ever?
The bus smelled really rank. Â I mean after a few drinks you may not notice, but man it was really raunchy in there. Â Again air fresheners technology has improved a lot in the last few decades and you can bring you own air with you, but shouldn't they provide better smells?
Recommended to anyone, but bring some febreeze
Man, I can't believe no one has reviewed this service before. Â Rockin' Ride is completely over the top, totally hysterical, and frighteningly fun. Â I attended the yelp! Elite event on this bus, and I have to say I haven't had this much fun in months. Â The great big psychedelic bus picked us up in front of The Jackelope (an hour late, a scheduling error that they more than made up for) and drove us to dive bars all over the city. Â The bus is gutted on the interior, and redone in shag carpet, long benches, and silliness. Â They have Karaoke, which most know is not my favorite. Â However, on a bus full of fools drinking beer, where no one grabbed the mic but rather everyone sang drunkenly to every song, it was bearable. Â Plus, they had the full 12 minute version of Thriller, video and all, too much fun. Â Remember how cool Michael Jackson was before he went nuts? Â It only lasted like 4 hours (our trip, not Mike's period of cool, that lasted.....5 or 6 hours) Â but it was a great ride. Â They'll let you bring beer, J.J. the driver even helped us score free ice and ice it down, he was friendly and funny and a good guy to hang out with for an evening. Â I wouldn't make a habit of this, you understand, but as unique experiences go, it was a great one. Â Check the yelp! discussion threads for links to the photos from this little shin-dig, it was a riot. Â That is NOT me in Elvis glasses, by the way. Â Not ME.
Review Source:So a little friendly thought if, theoretically, you have what the kids today like to call "a web site." Â Especially one that, in theory, you can send communiques via. Â I'm but a man, but my take is that it'd be a tremendous idea to check your mail once in a while. Â Just once. Â In anticipation of the recent Rockin' Ride Yelp Elite goofiness, I emailed the Rockin' Ride to set things up. I don't know if there's a candle in there or what, but clearly they don't check it. Â So if you want to book the Rockin' Ride, do yourself a favor and call. Â It's night and day more reliable. Â I feel like this may have had a little to do with the time mixup that had the bus late to pick up our group.
That said, once they showed our experience was utterly and completely ridiculous / festive / fun. Â Our driver, JJ, set the tone by being more than accomodating, and the bus itself was great: Â in addition to the giant stash of tunes (disco and otherwise), the Rockin' Ride bus we were on featured hundreds of videos (apparently at one point the entire bus was doing the 'Michael Jackson' --I'm hoping from the Thriller video-- and things were kept fun, casual, and so safe that all we had to do was pile off and on at the right time and we were in business.
It's a terrific business idea, and from the velvet curtains to the giant side tubs for your cold ones to the fog machines, disco balls and well, your friends, you could do loads worse than a night out on the town on the Rockin' Ride. Â And while I'm sure they're all pretty great if you can get the booking settled, ask for JJ. Â I have it on good authority that this guy will get you to your detination(s) in style, like the rock star you've become.
Fun! The guy arriving an hour late was too bad, but because I had to be a little late anyway in order to get to our meeting place from work, it worked out well for me and a couple others. Plus the driver gave us a bunch of extra time to make up for it.
J.J. the driver also put up with our awful (but awfully fun!) loud singing, loud drinking, and every other loud and presumably obnoxious thing we did. And we drank whilst riding, which I had never done before (I swear, I'm a very good girl) and turned out to be quite fun -- especially because we had a reliable sober ride.
All that really needs to be said is that this was 10 times more fun than I had expected. Thanks, Rockin' Ride!
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