Well it's official, my little monkey is 4 years old. We celebrated his actual birthday with a small dinner with his Dad and I on Wednesday and chose today to have the party with his little friends.
The venue we chose was Go Banana's which I had previously visited in January and thought it would be a good place for a party. You can read my review here if you haven't already.
The birthday parties are booked for 2 hour intervals and a $50.00 deposit + tax is required via Paypal. I was impressed with their online booking system (via their website). A calendar provides availability options and an email confirmation was sent once booked. One thing that needs to be noted is their attendee restrictions. 8 kids & 8 adults (any more Adults than that needs approval). They supply the table (picnic style), cutlery, small plates & napkins. They had cups but they were micro sized (like the ones you get from the dentist to gargle with.)
After I booked, food was next. They offered discounts with Wok Box & Flying Wedge Pizza. Wok Box was extremely pricey and more suited for larger parties. We went with Flying Wedge and I downloaded their order form from their site. Upon calling 2 days in advance (24 hours ordering is required) I was told that they no longer offered the 6" individual pizza's, so I had to come up with a new order. There was a lot of math to figure out adults + kids to ensure we had enough lol. I settled on 3 medium sized pizza's (Veggie + Hawaiian + Meat) and in retrospect should have thrown in a small cheese pizza for the kiddies.
I showed up early so I could set up and they had no issue with me being a 1/2 hr early. They had one sign in sheet for all the kids and since it was a busy Sunday, there weren't a lot of cubbies for shoes but just enough.
We chose the 11am slot which gave the kids play/snack/eat time. The pizza came right on time and the order was enough for 6 adults and 4 kids. Their special is 3 pizzas (no dips) for $34.99 (plus tax & tip) or 1 of 4 select pizza's for $11.99 each. They offered a 15% discount on specialty pizzas. Pizza was hot and tasted good. No complaints here.
They have a rule that decorations may not be taped to the walls, so I had to improvise. I blew up a few balloons which they disposed of for me. There was a small garbage bin and a recycling bin (for drink containers) so I ended up taking all our excess plastic/cardboard home.
We also bought a few veggie & fruit trays + drinks. The kids are constantly playing so they get super hot! Walmart is across the mall so any forgotten items are easy to grab.
Here are a few pictures:
After cupcakes and the traditional bday song, we let the kids play a bit and then it was time to clean up. One of the cashiers came over to give us a heads up. We had all of our stuff moved over to a side table (the rule is that you must vacate the reserved tables by the end of your booking or you are charged).
Overall I was quite happy with this venue for a Kid's party. The staff were very friendly and accommodating. While it can be costly for a small party, I would suggest maxing out the kids (8 + 1 parent each) to justify the cost. Or you can be cheap and have a food party in the Food Court and pay the $5.00 fee per kid to play lol.