We booked Ms. Rachel and it was a terrible experience. I was beyond disappointed. The character…read morethat showed up barely talked she did not talk to any of the children and did not smile. She didn't say "hi" when she arrived: she looked scared to be there. She played a "game" with the kids by taking out a flamingo and telling one kid to hide it and asked me to help her talk to the children. The kids couldn't hear her because she was speaking so low. When it was time to "face paint" she stood there helpless until my sister in law asked her if she needed something and she said she didn't have warm water. But I wonder if she hadn't asked would she have attempted to try. The only time she seemed enthusiastic and talked was when she was going and it was time to ask for her money. I am truly disappointed and feel it was such a waste of money.

We recently booked a princess appearance with Characters IO for my daughter's birthday, and while…read morethere were some positive aspects to the experience, there were also disappointments that are worth sharing for others considering this company. To start with the positives: the princess looked fantastic and looked exactly like the character she was portraying. She brought a couple of books and coloring supplies, which the kids enjoyed doing alongside her, and she danced with the girls in a circle. However, one of the reasons we booked with this company was that the initial booking emails highlighted that the princess could provide simple face painting. Unfortunately, when she arrived, she did not bring any face paint. This was especially disappointing as face painting was my daughter's top request. During the event, the princess was fairly passive and required prompting--such as being asked to join in the singing during the cake cutting--rather than taking initiative during key moments. After the party, I followed up with the company to express my disappointment and to better understand what went wrong. They responded that face painting is not guaranteed per their terms and conditions. I explained that this was not clearly communicated and asked what I should have done differently--whether I should have confirmed in advance that our specific princess could provide face painting. Despite sending seven emails and five follow-up texts, I never received a clear response or guidance on this. So while the appearance was visually impressive, the lack of clear communication and follow-through on a key feature left us frustrated. If face painting is a priority for your event, I would recommend confirming it very clearly in advance--or booking with another company that can guarantee it.

Don't recommend! Communicating with them is horrible. They booked me down for the wrong day so I…read morehad to track them down the day of my event. Told me they could only do a 30 min show instead of the 1hr I had booked them for. Definitely messed with my event schedule. Stressful and worst experience I've ever had.

Always able to help. On time, fun and very nice costumes. Keep up the good work. As an owner of…read moreanother company in the area, I need to say that Edgar and his staff are always awesome! We are always counting on them.

A New Day Princess Parties was a lifesaver! I had my daughter's 4th birthday planned for months…read morewith a guest appearance from Rapunzel (her all-time favorite princess) from a different princess/character company. That company called me 4 hours before her party to tell me that Rapunzel was sick and could not make it. They offered Cinderella but that was not going to work for us. I called around on a Saturday afternoon and A New Day Princess Parties was the only company that picked up! Anute (the owner) showed so much empathy for our situation and moved quickly to reach out to her team to see if anyone was available. She even considered coming herself! Within 30 minutes she called to confirm they could make it. We got the best Rapunzel! She was so sweet and interactive. Her mannerism were definitely of Rapunzel. She not once fell out of character and she gave my little girl the best party. A New Day Princess Parties, thank you for going above and beyond!

They are great made my baby girl feel so special and made every moment unforgettable we love themread more

This was one of the most special events we could ever have hoped for. My dinosaur obsessed daughter…read morewas beaming the entire time, and so was I. Brian and the dinosaur handler were both so great with the kids, and we got so many compliments from parents. I am glad that we made the investment this year as the memories will last a lifetime.

Chicago Dinosaur MADE my dinosaur obsessed daughter's 6th birthday party. She was so excited and…read morethey didn't disappoint! The "dinosaurs" are not cheesy - totally top notch and realistic. Brian the owner was so nice and a breeze to work with. Great with kids. Totally got into the character. All the parents and kids said it was such a memorable day. Highly recommend!

So I only found out about this amazing business cuz Hawthorn Mall had an event to meet Belle. This…read moreprincess came right out of the movie! She was so in character and was great with the kids Her royal helper was great too! I loved how magical everything felt! Hoping to hire Mulan or Raya for my daughter's birthday this weekend! Can't wait!

From the owner: Local Fairytale Celebrations character bookings in the Lake in the Hills and surrounding areas!read more

I discovered Stages a few years ago (pre COVID) and my child fell in love with the Preschool Prep…read moreclasses almost immediately. Over the 5 years since we have done numerous camps, day off school sessions, and the spring musicals BUT recently I got to fall back in love with Stages when I attended a Broadway Baby class with a friends toddler. It was so fun, so relaxed and the kids (and me!) had a blast. We went thru an abbreviated telling of a musical (Lion King, but each week is something new) with stories, movement, songs, instruments and BUBBLES! I wish this existed when my kids were this age. Definitely recommend trying a class!

I've been following Emily & her incredibly talented team on social for awhile now and in awe of all…read moreher themed broadway musical classes. When it was time to plan my son's 4 year old bday bash I reached out to see if we could something work for his chosen theme: superheroes! It turned out they did have an interactive performance party with superheroes and so we booked it right away! All I needed was to find an empty room to host it and I booked the JCC for just that. Emily was super responsive throughout the party planning process and followed up closer to the party for a final count so she knew how many performers to line up. We ended up having 2 performers (Batman and Wonder Woman) for 25ish kids, which was perfect. I've hired many characters for many parties and these two were by far the most talented. Batman (Colin) and Wonder Woman (blanking on her name, which is too bad since she was incredible) had the kids totally engaged, which is not easy when it comes to a large group of 3 and 4 year olds. They had them dancing, singing, jumping and even gave them each a chance to pose for a pic with them. They also weren't completely masked like many other characters so the kids didn't find them scary. Superheroes is just one of the many themed parties Stages offers. Others I"ve considered in the past were a lion king party (perfect for toddlers/pre-schoolers). They even offer a pop star party where performers come and pretend to be the team behind a specific pop star (Taylor Swift, Jojo Siwa, etc) - and teach the kids how to become the next pop star. So fun! I highly recommend using Stages for an upcoming party and I hope to sign up my kiddos for one of their classes one day.