Chicago to Melrose Park on a Friday afternoon is not a drive I'd wish on anyone, but as far as my…read morebaseball-crazy grandson is concerned, Sam's is totally worth it. Not sure what the 400+ balls cost--it wasn't much--and the look on the boy's face was priceless. Had it not been for some well-earned blisters, we might still be there!

I bring my boys here so they. An practice. I give them $10 each and they practice for an hour or…read moreso. We have met their friends here and have even brought pizzas as they have a couple of tables and benches. It's a great place to bring the kiddos!

Jan 2024 - our 5 yr old daughter LOVES the instructors here and the imaginative play they use to…read morehelp the kids develop coordination and strength. It has a dojo style vibe and instills values about respect and teamwork that can be reinforced at home. They mix structured and unstructured playtime and will work with the mixed ages and needs of the kids. I like that she gets to compete with older kids as it keeps her competitive even tho she is ahead of her own age group.

Cool place! We checked this spot out today with my friends. For $35 a person you get any of 5 games…read moreand unlimited arcades. Games include: - Bubble Soccer (so much fun) - Laser Tag game - Dodgeball - Meltdown - Boxing - NERF wars Arcade: - ping pong - foosball - air hockey - others We enjoyed! Thanks

Came with a big group and were led through activity after fun activity. Be prepared to run around…read moreand have loads of fun. Shoutout to Kenny and Natalie for facilitating everything so smoothly

Our girls have visited on two separate occasions over the span of two years. Both times were for a…read morebirthday party. To say the girls had a splendid time is an understatement. For their first visit, my girls were 2 and 4 years old. My firstborn had a general idea of what to expect and needed little explaining. My second-born needed a lot more guidance. But overall, both girls enjoyed the manicure, makeover, runway, and activities. The staff were engaged and friendly. For the second visit, my second-born was 4.5 years old. This time around, she already had the first experience under her belt and with age, she is much more well-acquainted with manicure and makeovers. She confidently communicated what her preferences are and was very enthusiastic and excited with each component. She selected her favorite colors, pink and purple, for nail polish. The staff applied eye-shadow and hair glitter that matched my daughter's outfit and hair accessories. Once again, the staff were entertaining, helpful, and interactive.

My daughter went to a birthday party there. She had a great time! Such a cute place and staff was…read morevery friendly.

Second time at Escape Factor. This was my third time ever doing an escape room - my first time was…read moreat Escape Factor two months ago & second time ever was at a downtown Chicago spot. The experiences were miles apart (literally & metaphorically) - I only want to do Escape Factor rooms. Escape Factor is well deserved of its 5 stars on Yelp (and 1K+ 5 stars on Google) - the rooms are incredibly high production value + very immersive (really feels like you're in a treehouse for 'Treehouse Raid at Fort Knox' or 70s game show for 'Bonus Fun Time Game Show Challenge'). Additionally, the game masters are truly incredible - they hit just the right balance of allowing you to stew on your own & giving hints in a way that nudges you in the right direction without straight giving an answer & ruining the fun. Shout out to Nick for being very in character as game show host (and game master) this past Saturday night! Highly recommend Escape Factor if you're in the Chicago area (for us, it's worth the trek from downtown!)

First time escape-rooming and I braved it as a solo adult with six 10 year olds. I was not sure…read morewhat to expect but everyone had a blast. I am still marveling at how entertained and into it the kids were from start to finish-their attention span never waned. Seaogh was our game master and he was awesome through and through. He knows how to keep things rolling and engaged with the kids in the most endearing way. They gave him hugs when we left! Really a great birthday for my son and while escape rooms were not on my 2026 to-do list I'd certainly go back. Thanks Escape Factor!

Absolutely wonderful time!!! The children loved it!!!!!…read more The cars were the hit at the party!!! Hired Party Wheelz for my 3 yr olds birthday party and they did not disappoint at all! Beautiful set up, kind, pleasant, professional staff. Easy process, great communication, I 1000 percent recommend!! I look forward to working with this team again!!

My son and his friend really wanted a Mario Kart birthday party. I looked into all the race and…read morebumper car options all over the North Shore, but ideally wanted to rent my own cars and put them in a local gym. I did some research and discovered you could rent power wheels cars (genius) and bumper cars (for older kids) thru Party Wheelz. I booked everything thru Diane at Party Wheelz who was super easy to work with. We decided on 9 power wheels for the size of our party, which also had some other mario themed entertainment. The next step was finding a gym that would let us bring in the power wheels. We had a few options in the North Shore, but ended up settling on a beautiful gym in Northbrook that was just perfect. Diane and her team showed up 45 min before party time to set up the cars and the obstacle course. When all the kids arrived they couldn't be more excited when they saw both the obstacle course and cars. In fact, they wanted nothing to do with the other activities including mario and luigi characters and playing nintendo because they just wanted to race the cars over and over again. Diane and her team kept things super well organized and I was impressed with how the kids waited patiently for their turns, although no one needed to wait for more than a few minutes. She also even had goody bags for the kids which included fun glasses and whistles, although I think all the adults who stuck around could have done without the piercing whistle sounds. Overall, it was a hit and I think perfect for a group of 1st grade boys. I think it's ideal for ages 4-7 and beyond that I'd look into the bumper car options for older kids.

When my now 4 year old son requested a super hero birthday party for him and his almost 1 year old…read morebrother I found there were very few local venues that could hold 60+ kids. I realized the Takiff Center (Glencoe Park District) was my best option and had a super hero themed carnival in mind...where kids ages 0-6 could play lots of different super hero games and win prizes. Now I just needed to find someone to plan such a carnival...and thanks to Yelp I discovered George's Gym. Rachel from George's Gym was very responsive, enthusiastic and seemed very capable of making my super hero carnival idea a reality. She even hooked me up with super heroes from Melissa's Royal Parties and had a plan to work them into the carnival. A week before the party I received the following well thought out plan from Rachel: Stations: 11:30-12:10ish #1: Bozo Buckets (They will receive tickets for this game) #2: Catch the Bad Guy- Each child will get a turn to knock over one of our big wedge mats while pretending it's a bad guy (They will receive tickets for this game) #3: Potato Sack Races- We will tell the kids, the potato sack is a super hero outfit that they must put on and then race another super hero (They will receive tickets for this game) #4: Obstacle Course- Using our Tumbling equipment, we will set up a small obstacle course area for the kiddos that might be a little too young to play the games. It will be completely padded and designed for 2 year old's to simply explore. It will have balls, ramps, folding mats, a tunnel and more. A PARENT MUST BE PRESENT WITH THEIR LITTLE ONE AT THIS STATION. (No Tickets given) #5: Prize Store/Craft Table- Not only will they be able to pick out a prize on one side of the table, but on the other they can also take some time to make a Super Hero Mask or Super Hero Finger Puppet! 12:10ish- We will shut down the stations and bring everyone together to play a couple of group games Group Game: Bat Cave to Avenger's Tower- This is an imagination/creative movement game where we incorporate various well known Super Hero's with various physical actions. We add more and more as the game continues, so by the end the kids are running around doing 6-8 different Super Hero commands all in a row Final Game: Parachute- We will bring out the parachute and finish by putting bday boys in the middle and singing Happy Birthday! 12:25ish- We will assemble the kids for a group picture for you and then clean their hands for cake time! -------- All sounded great and I added a bounce house the last minute (via the Park District) just to have one more station for all the kids. Rachel and her just as enthusiastic team arrived with plenty of time to set up for the party and the games were ready to go when the children arrived. Everything ran smoothly until the super heroes showed up 45 minutes late (apparently Captain America and Spider-man had an emergency), but Rachel scrapped the organized games and just kept the games/bounce house open since the kids were having fun. Captain America and Spider-man ended up entertaining the kids during lunch/cake instead which was fine...and Rachel apologized profusely even though they were from a different company. Next time I may hire my own super heroes, but I'd definitely hire George's Gym to organize a bday party in the future. A few of my friends have also used their for America Ninja themed parties and been very satisfied. I believe they also do programming at schools, daycares and even play-dates if you're looking for something outside of bday parties.

George's Gym is operated by Rachel, Max and George. I teach at Grace Christian Academy in the…read moreLittle Village neighborhood in Chicago. George's Gym comes to the school and provides a gym class for each grade level from preschool through eighth grade once each month. The students have a fantastic time and get a great conditioning workout. George's Gym bring their own equipment and supplies. They are very caring and are able to communicate well with the students. The faculty love it when they come, for they get a day off of leading gym class. George's Gym also does birthday parties and play dates that provide healthy fun exercise.

Great time! Very exciting! Full Energy interactions!…read more My company had a Team Engagement meet up,and this was the activity selected. From the time you enter the door, it is a FULL ENERGY EXPERIENCE! We were escorted to a studio, where it was explained to us what we would be doing. There were so many different games to earn points. We were separated into 2 teams (Blue and Red upon arrival). The teams go through a series of assorted games to acquire points. It was very competitive! Emotions run high! I can even say screaming was involved (or that could have just been me!!! Lol). There was so many options to win points. The games had you to really think, and it was vital to depend on your team mates for an assist. Our game show host Brandon was full of energy and made our time wonderful! I want to wish team blue all the best in the future, as they carried home a huge LOSS! HAHAHAHAHA! So many points to earn, but you have to play smart. Risks must be taken, but you have to lean on your teammates to bring it home for the "W". I wish they had sammages after all the yelling and jumping we did Lol We lost alot of electrolytes playing those games. I definitely recommend this spot for a good time. THANK YOU BRANDON!

This place has all the bells and whistles of the game shows we play on TV. The Host is real. The…read moreactual games are real. The buzzers and props are real. You will absolutely love it. Wowwww, we had such a great time!!!!!