One of my goals for 2016 for this blog is to bring more spotlight not just on the numerous amounts of delicious dining options in Wichita but also on the entertainment options and businesses here in this great town.
……and that brings me to Valentines Day. While most of the city was out dining with their significant other, it was me carting a couple five year olds around Wichita for a Sunday Fun Day.
Our first stop and the feature for this blog was Dart Warz located at 6803 Taft St Suite 407.
First question you all probably have is, “What is Dart Warz?”
Dart Warz is best described as paintball with Nerf Guns (or blasters as they call them). You’re placed inside a big battlefield arena with decorated cardboard boxes to hide behind and maneuver around and shoot at your opponents.
You are given Nerf Guns (or blasters) or you’re welcome to bring your own. For those well versed in Nerf blasters, there’s a list of restricted blasters you cannot bring.
Dart Warz is for anybody ages 5 and up. There are designated Glow play times that are for 8+ only and then Xtreme night play for those ages 13+. Both of my nieces just barely made the cut and were extremely excited for our Sunday Fun Day at Dart Warz.
The cost to play is $10 an hour per person for weekends and $8 an hour person on weekdays. They are open Wednesday 7-10 pm, Friday from 4 pm – 11 pm, Saturday from 11 am – 11 pm and Sunday from 11 am – 11 pm.
There’s currently a Groupon available to cut the price in half for you. Check it out here.
Dart Warz is a walk-in business. No reservations are needed. The first thing you’ll do when you arrive is fill out the waiver form at a few iPad stations.
Next up, you’ll go to the cashier and pay. At that time you are given a default Nerf blaster to use if you didn’t bring one that changes based on your age. You also have the option to pay an extra price for a cooler Nerf blaster.
We all three ended up upgrading our Nerf blasters. There were many kids who brought in their own blaster so we had to keep up with all the pros that showed up.
After you pay, you are sent to a debriefing room and given the instructions and rules, the Nerf blaster your requested as well as eye protection. Everybody is required to wear eye protection. You’re then given a colored mesh vest to wear that’s either yellow or orange. The color you wear is which team you’ll end up being on. Once all that takes place, you’re taken to the battlefield! Exciting!
This is where the fun begins. You enter the battlefield with no Nerf bullets. Those can be found all over the ground. You pick them up between games and load up your blaster and pockets with them. During the actual game, Nerf bullets will be flying everywhere. The way to reload on bullets is to pick them up off the ground. There will be plenty to go around.
How do the games work?
Games run around 4-5 minutes each. There are all sorts of games you play such as capture the flag, eliminate the other team, and others. At anytime you’re shot during a game, you have to go stand in a timeout area and wait for the game to end. There are referees in the battlefield to call people out when they are shot. People are also expected to be on the honor system if they ever get shot and the refs miss it. Some parents I noticed had an issue with the honor system.
Once the games started, it was an all out war and so much fun. You had Nerf bullets flying everywhere, pop music blasting through the speakers, people running left and right, kids diving for extra bullets, little five year olds just walking around not knowing what’s going on, it was pure organized chaos.
There were people of all ages playing from 5 all the way to 50. These group of 9 year olds who had the coolest blasters accepted me as one of their own. I covered for them when I sent them into the open area to grab me extra Nerf bullets, they let me know if anybody was coming up behind me. For the first time in my life, I felt loved and accepted.
There were all sorts of little hiding spots you could sneak to and shoot others but you had to be aware in case someone came up from behind and shot you and eliminated you from the game.
In between each game, I asked my nieces if they were having fun. They couldn’t stop boasting about the amount of fun they were having.
During the games, there were so many times I’d find them just hiding together behind a box with a big pile of Nerf bullets just randomly shooting them into the air. There were other times they would be walking around in the middle of open fire oblivious to what was going on. Needless to say, they enjoyed themselves.
For the hour we were there, we fit in around 10-13 games. I started to lose count because I was sweating like crazy and beginning to feel sore in my old age. For the kids, it was a very quick hour. For me, I was wondering when we would be done. I’m ashamed to admit but I woke up the next day sore with my quads burning………nothing a vodka seven couldn’t fix though.
Overall this was a unique and fun experience in Wichita. One that would really get kids of all ages to just get off their butt and be active for a good amount of time. By the looks of things, every single kid and adult enjoyed their time. There were probably 60 different people playing at one time while inside the battlefield arena.
One hour is probably a good amount of time for most people based on our experience. If the Groupon (found here) is still available it certainly makes it an excellent value.
The staff at Dart Warz for very good with all the kids. The place was well kept and the service for the most part was top notch.
My one major gripe for the day was the fact that our cashier upsold me two blasters for my nieces to use. The ones she recommended were too heavy for them to use. We wouldn’t find this out until the debriefing room and given our blasters. My nieces had to resort to the basic small ones and the money I spent for the upgrades was not refunded despite the cashier making the suggestion. So if you go, be sure the blaster you choose works out well for you or your child or somebody’s child as was the case with me.
Will I go again? Likely, my nieces want to go again soon with a bad addiction already. We may even buy our own blasters before going again.
For more information on Dart Warz, check out their website: http://www.dartwarz.com/content/wichita-kansas
Check them out sometime and let me know what you think! I’d love to hear your thoughts.
Happy Hunting!
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