I saw Thrillz Atlanta advertised on social media and was genuinely excited to bring my son there…read morefor his birthday with some of our family and friends. Unfortunately, after our experience, I feel like there are several operational and safety issues that need to be addressed.
About a week before our visit, I started seeing posts on social media showing extremely long lines. I initially considered booking a birthday party, but since I didn't have 10 kids, I felt like paying for a full party package would be a waste of money. Instead, a few days before our visit, I went online and made a prepaid reservation for 12:00 p.m, including spectator passes.
We arrived around 11:40 a.m., which was 20 minutes before our reservation. Despite having a reservation, we did not make it to the check-in counter until approximately 12:35 p.m. What really bothered me was that when we finally checked in, our time was started based on our original 12:00 reservation time. We had paid for 120 minutes, yet through no fault of our own, we had already lost a significant portion of that time standing in their check-in line. I felt cheated out of something I had already paid for.
I do want to make it clear that the employee who checked us in was nice, efficient, and patient with everyone. I had absolutely no complaint about her. In fact, throughout our visit, most of the employees we encountered were pleasant. My issue is with the overall operation, organization, and setup of the facility.
The parking situation was the first indication of the problems. The parking lot does not appear large enough to accommodate the number of people this facility attracts, especially when other functions are taking place in the area. It was extremely congested just trying to get into the parking lot.
The reservation system also did not make sense to me. According to the website, a reservation was required, yet when we arrived there were two lines--one for reservations and another for walk-ins. Even the reservation line was extremely long. If customers have prepaid reservations for specific times, there should be a more efficient process to get those customers checked in so they are not losing time they have already paid for.
The stickers were another issue. The stickers placed on us came off extremely easily. I repeatedly had to pick them up from the floor and make sure the children still had theirs on. I repeatedly had to pick them up from the floor and make sure the children still had theirs on.
The raffle-style tickets being used for laser tag also need to be reconsidered. Those tickets are flimsy, easy to lose, and are the same type of tickets that can easily be purchased online. How are children expected to keep up with a small paper ticket while they are jumping, playing, going down slides, and getting on rides?
We were also given cards that were supposed to be stamped for each ride. However, the facility was so busy and the staff appeared so overwhelmed that our cards were not stamped most of the time. If the card is being used to control or track ride access, there needs to be a better system and enough employees to consistently enforce it.
One situation in particular really bothered me. I was standing in line with the children in my group waiting for a ride when a staff member brought two people to the front and allowed them to go ahead of everyone who had been waiting. One of the children with me was even asked to get off because the seat was needed for someone else on the Grave Digger ride.
When I asked what was going on, I was told they had paid for a party and had "paid a lot of money." I responded that I had spent a lot of money too. My group consisted of 8 adults, 7 children, and 2 babies under the age of 2, and by that point I had spent well over $1,000 on this birthday outing.
I ultimately had my group get off the ride because I wanted them to be able to ride together. That made the situation even more disorganized because the employee then had to get my people back off, allow several other people in line to ride, and then put my group back on so they could ride together. It held everything up unnecessarily. he food and dining area were another issue. The food line seemed to be going in every direction, and there was no organized waiting area. After ordering, it took approximately 25 minutes to receive our food. At one point, the register system went down, so employees had to begin emailing receipts. People were everywhere in the dining area, and the entire setup felt chaotic and overcrowded.
