I cannot recommend Freedom Woods, nor my instructor, Steven, highly enough!!…read more I had limited opportunities to ride over my lifetime, but at 51, a couple of months ago, I signed up for formal lessons under Steven's tutelage. He is an incredible instructor, who rightly places the horses's welfare and comfort level, and the rider's safety, above all else. He clearly factors in my (in) experience and age as well as the various horses' ages, temperaments, personal quirks, and any extreme seasonal weather, to make sure both myself and the horse are safe, comfortable, relaxed, and having fun - and every ride has demonstrated that, crystal clear. He will not hesitate to point out any mistakes I am making, especially when they may impact the horse's comfort level - which is exactly what should happen. He then gives very concise and clear explanation of the mistake, as well as what the correct approach should be, and often circles back later to make sure the correct approach was understood or to verbally let me know I properly understood and implemented it. The horses I have ridden so far are honestly perfect - I call one the Cadillac of horses haha - so any issues with my rides are entirely on me not communicating properly to my horse or following Steven's directions properly. I am old enough to muddle things up in my mind when I'm trying to think, ride, and listen all at once these days, but I can see he is factoring that in as well constantly, and he works piecemeal on specific aspects of riding so I get repetition and practice...and hopefully something sticks to the flypaper in my brain! I also feel like every single lesson offers the chance for improvements, however small - small not because of the stellar horses or teaching haha but because this student has so far to go and isn't the fastest learner!! Even so, it is awesome and empowering to feel I'm maybe a teeny tiny bit of a better rider in some way, every time I dismount after a lesson here. I tell Steven the same thing every week because it is my heartfelt truth - this is the best part of my week! What a joy!! I cannot recommend Freedom Woods highly enough!

Ive been riding every day since summer and have completely transformed not just as a person, but as…read morea rider. Everyone is so kind and welcoming. I was very anxious due to my high stakes tech job and this stable healed me. I volunteer in their hippotherapy program which has done wonders for the children that need it. Thank you to the family of Freedom Woods :)

Matilde, Jack Becker, and Thalia were very good at their jobs, good pool to go to if you are in the…read moreSkokie area.

Note to self: convenient location and parking off Dempster. This pool gets way too overcrowded…read morethough. The number of long hairs (not my own) that got tangled in my fingers made me want to hurl. On the plus side, got to spend quality time with my friend on a summer Sunday.

We had a wonderful experience working with the team at Lock Chicago Escape Rooms - Evanston! They…read morewere incredibly warm and responsive when we reached out about supporting an upcoming staff event for Rotary International, and the entire process was easy from start to finish. We especially appreciate their generosity and willingness to support other organizations in the Evanston community. It's always great to see a local business so enthusiastic about giving back. Thank you, Lock Chicago!

We brought our family of 5 as a fun experience in celebration for twins' birthday. Our Game Master,…read moreTy, was the perfect balance between providing context and being "hands off" to let us figure things out for ourselves. We have very different types of thinkers in our family, so this had something that allowed each of us to shine in our own way. I really appreciated the experience given all but 1 of us had never done anything like this before. Highly recommend.

a great haunted house with lots of dedicated scarers! Plenty of parking in the lot, and for us the…read morewait time was under 10 minutes in line. they has good lighting and decorations inside! would love to go back next year

I'm not sure how I'd never heard of Scream Scene until this year! 2022 was the 15th year for this…read morehaunted house at the former Skokie water park, and from the design to the actors, it was professional quality. From mazes to electronic features, and engaging cast and gore, it was both fun and creepy from beginning to end. I definitely screamed a few times, and after I exited, I watched as other "survivors" came racing out to escape the final element of fear. I've been to several haunted houses, although not for several years, and this one stands out as one of the best I've been to in the area. While this is a park district production, it's definitely not for small children, but great for probably teenagers and up. For the general public, admission is $13, or $20 for a fast pass. I was told it takes about 15 minutes to go through it, though I didn't time our visit to confirm that. By the time we left around 7:30, the line had grown pretty long, and it was only the second day it was open for the season. I'd recommend a visit to Scream Scene to get you in the Halloween spirit!

Been here multiple times and have brought my friends as well. Pickleball4All is a great place to…read morego! You can book lessons, events, and private courts via CourtReserve and their system makes it super easy to look at if events are full or not. Courts wise - 7 courts, all using Selkirk semi permanent nets, balls located around the courts, paddle system for Rack and Play, challenge court during Rack and Play. They also have water fountains, some drinks to buy, a small lobby, and paddles and equipment to purchase as well. The Rack and Play is great! You get to play with a ton of people and get a ton of games in. It's affordable too! I think too many new indoor places want to do all the bar/food/fad type of experience. Pickleball4All is all about pickleball, meeting fellow players, and a community! Also, the owners are awesome to talk to! 5/5 will definitely be back again!

Super nice indoor space to play PickleBall! Especially now that colder months are fast approaching!…read moreThey provide the balls so you dont to worry. Just bring your paddle and play! Reservations are required. And there are a few perks to becoming a member if you are a pickleball fanatic! I tecommend that you try it at least once get the feel of the place and if you like it then sign up for membership! Happy playing/pickling!

Review for Harrer Pool parties only: Don't. We contacted the park district 1 month prior to…read moreintended party date to pay deposit to secure the party room. After scheduling and paying deposit for the pool party and confirming we have 1 hour set up and 1 hour post party to clean up, we tried to contact the Harrer pool coordinator for room specs, table number, size, chairs and equipment availability so we know what we needed to buy or not buy..table covers wall decor and such. Nothing. Emails and phone calls not returned. Was contacted 2 days prior to party by the new coordinator only to be asked about the cake. Coordinator told my daughter, the birthday celebrant's mom, we had to be out of the room exactly at noon. We were pushed out at 1145.. why? They had their own party to go to. Will never opt for a party space that NEEDS to have a coordinator on site. Have used the field houses for parties before and will continue to use them again. OR will rent Oriole Pool party room and instead (as long as that particular "party planner" is NOT part of the deal) So terribly disappointed.

This review is purely for the 'open' volleyball Thursday nights. I've gone to the gym for years…read more The workers there are friendly and helpful. The older woman that looks to head this "open" volleyball seems to pick and choose when she would like others to take part. My friends and I have slowly started to participate in the open volleyball here, but have noticed that her attitude towards us participating is not very kind. We come from different suburbs in the Chicagoland area - not exactly close. But we're turned away because she felt that they couldn't let one more team play (even though other players told us we were welcome). Third week in a row we were given attitude while trying to take part in "open" volleyball. I would suggest MG park district try to come up with a sign up sheet or better method of signing up to partake in "open" volleyball. Because if I have to travel from far to only be told I cannot play, it should not be called "open" volleyball. We would have made other arrangements to play had we known we would be told we cannot play there. Instead we wasted 45 mins trying to arrange another court to play. Unprofessional and rude.

First axe-throwing experience. Went out for a work team outing and it was fun, but also a little…read morefrustrating. It took us a while to get our form right but then found some consistency. The place was empty for awhile until another group came in. I felt like it was really pricey at essentially $35/per person for an hour- over $100 for 3 of us. Also, the lanes are really short and we had the axe bounce out of the enclosure more than once. I would definitely try axe throwing again, but maybe somewhere else.

This is a fun stop. Several areas to throw axes and there is also a room for painting and a small…read moreVR game area you can enjoy. What I didn't like was the fact in order to get to the other rooms or walk to another axe board you need to walk in front of the other throwers. You could go back behind them but it is awkward with people standing in their area. There was no problem everyone was aware and would stop so you could walk by but for sure that was a concern for me that I didn't like. The layout could be much better.

Everything went well . The staff are top notch…read more Very clean Trackman on bottom tier.

We enjoyed mini golfing here with our 3 year old. The course had some fun holes with just the right…read moreamount of challenge.

Man haven't been here since I was a kid back in the 80's. I forgot the place existed. I thought My…read moretrashnore didn't exist and was just a name of a hill I used to sled on. Can't wait to come back when it's snowing and bring my kids

A great big hill in the neighborhood. Convenient. The only bad thing is when the snow is used over…read moreand over walking up the hill can be dangerous for kids. It would be nice if there was stairs or a safer way to get up. But overall still a fun bill

Have you read the story behind funbox? The owner and his reason behind this? I could not- not go…read moreafter hearing it. I will start by saying I had an issue with my reservation and the staff was extremely sincere and worked around my challenges without any attitude or reservation. I have to give massive credit to the staff who are mostly high school/college students for their level of professionalism and customer service skill because a lot of time this generation is labeled as entitled or doesn't care. I got here on a Saturday for the first session at 10:30 am and I thought it's the perfect day for this- cool and 80. Just as a disclaimer, you should wear comfortable clothing that is breathable because you're in for a workout. I have a 5 and 2 year old- it took my two year old a lot of time to get adjusted to it because it's not the usual bounce house we go to and so many colors and things to do, it was sensory overload. Not the fault of the business, just my kid in true two year old behavior. We got out of the fun box to get a shaved ice and ended up going to the "obstacle course" section of Fun Box which was a big hit for my two year old. He literally went through the obstacle 3 times (I was drenched in sweat as a result) My five year old loved it too- the only thing I would make a complaint against is that there were not nearly enough basketballs for the hoop area which is a huge hit. I get it if balls were lost or broken but it would've been nice if there were more balls. I read some of the comments about water getting stuck on the inflatables or that there were some dirty areas but truth be told, I go to a lot of trampoline parks with my boys and this is by far the cleanest one I have ever been too. Yes, there was a little water but you're outside, you will have a little bit of bugs or water here or there but that comes with the territory. We can't fault the owners for natural occurrences. I had an amazing time with kiddos and I wish I had gone sooner because it was a lot of fun. If you can handle the heat, I would highly suggest going in the morning because it's not so crowded and you don't have to wait long to use some of the amenities but be warned it gets super hot super fast in the morning and as a result, the plastic gets hot too so it's a little tough going down some of the material. There are some shaded areas that are so nice and welcoming within the fun box. Overall, a great experience for families! Highly recommend!!

This was a fantastic concept, and would have been so much fun, but the experience left a lot of…read moreroom for improvement. It rained the day before, and the crevices were puddled with water, but as long as you watched where you were going, you didn't step in it. It was very hot, which allowed your socks to dry out fast. but unbearable without the purchase of snowcones. They can't really control the weather though. That said, it was as clean as you can expect an OUTDOOR bouncy house to be. No bugs except typical flying ones. Staff was all around in different areas, I'm not sure what they were supposed to be doing, but they took up all the shaded areas, so the kids couldn't even go up some of the towers. I made a quip about it to them, but we were about to leave anyway, so I didn't ask them to come out so the kids could actually play. I was very annoyed by this. It was not crowded at all. Front staff and snowcone staff was super friendly, and the bounce house itself is amazing. Cost of water and snow cones are pretty typical of any "event-type" place, so I wasn't surprised and they gave you a ton. I had the kids eat some, and I sat with it in the tent as they went back and forth playing and getting a few bites of snowcone, and it lasted nearly the entire 1.5hrs. I also was smart and brought my own ice water in an insulated water bottle..... it was fine! Areas of improvement: -staff taking up all the shaded areas in the bounce house- this itself deserves a 1star rating - honestly. -Maybe some industrial fans? To move the air a bit? Not sure how it would work in a bouncy house. Or leaf blowers to dry up the areas especially the "locker room" which smelled super moldy. Overall, it was an experience, and so much fun! We would go again on maybe a cooler day!