I was very excited when my daughter got an invitation to a birthday party at The Castle Fun Center in Chester, NY. Although it is in Orange County, and an hour and 20 minutes away, I have wanted to go there for a while. The invitation said to arrive promptly as pizza is served within 10 minutes of the starting time. There were many birthday parties happening at the same time, but we found our party and soon pepperoni and plain pizza arrived at our tables along with soda and water. The staff were very friendly and helpful. The tables are set up close to the Arcade area so it may be a challenge to keep your kids seated during the party. The Arcade area was very crowded, loud, and busy and kind of reminded me of the clink-clink white noise in the casinos.
Soon after the pizza was served, came the ice cream cake. After we had cake, we were escorted to the mini-bowling section where the kids were able to bowl using kid-size bowling balls. When the kids had played a complete game, we were led to Ballocity, a huge contained play gym with 2-stories where soft balls are launched out of jets every few minutes. I found it a bit dizzying, but of course, the kids loved it and didn't want to leave. If you have young ones, you will get quite a work out chasing them around the upper course!
The party lasted 2 hours and since we had played Arcade games during the beginning of it, we chose to leave after the Ballocity portion. We were all wiped out, in a good way (mostly!) There is so much to do at The Castle Fun Center. We didn't explore the roller skating rink or the outdoor batting cages, bumper cars, or lazer tag. Maybe on the way down to the city, we will try it again one day. For more information on on The Castle Fun Center visit their website.
