Somehow I Found the Beach Boardwalk in the Middle of Utah!

OK, this is not a real beach. In fact it is like an indoor boardwalk located right in the middle of an outdoor mall. But walking into Provo Beach in Provo, Utah was impressive right off the bat and somehow feels a little like walking into one of the Beach Club episodes of Saved by the Bell. At least like you are walking into a completely different time and space. There are so many attractions built into this unique FEC that I barely knew where to begin…but seriously, you know I’m headed for the laser tag first!

I headed up the stairs and down the hall, stopping to acquaint myself with how to score points. :)

Then I joined up with this formidable group of guys, all gunning for me after about the first 60 seconds.

We began with a video briefing that was incredibly well done. Theming is obviously what this place does best and they had the laser tag experience done up as a space adventure from the moment it began with an original briefing video…

…to a VERY well executed theme in the two level arena.

This was absolutely the best game of laser tag so far this trip! Those guys all played hard and gave me a serious game, so I hope them all up with Tiviachick wristbands. Before I left I got the vintage ice cream shop experience over at Ike’s on the lower level.

So you can see how well everything is themed at Provo Beach to give you a “real” beach boardwalk feel.

BTW, I also want to give a shout out to Malawi’s Pizza with a Purpose, a separate business located right next door where I enjoyed some delicious veggie pizza for lunch.

I had a great time at Provo Beach. 

Who would ever expect to find a beach experience in the middle of Utah? Most of my journey looked less like a beach and more like this.

Seriously, how BEAUTIFUL a journey I had driving through Utah!

Comments or Questions?

Contact: Tivia@tiviachickloveslasertag.com

Websites: www.tiviachickloveslasertag.com and www.photonforever.com

All Dressed Up!

I love when an arena is all dressed up and decked out with the latest accessories (just like me on a night out!) so I was really impressed with what I experienced at The Summit in Thornton, CO.

I perused the arena map before donning a Helios Pro pack and going in for a game.

They are really stepping it up at The Summit! I played at one of their sister locations my last time through the area and I do not recall them having all that I found in this arena. First, the arena itself is stunning. Creative Works clearly did a REALLY nice job with this one!

Next, I found all the Zone add-ons that I enjoy including lots of bonus targets, gates and pickup pads on each side.

And to my absolute delight…VIDEO BASES!!!

These are the upgrades I like the most on this system. Interestingly, considering all the things they opted for, I did not see the one add-on that quite frankly I’m not a big fan of, which is the game station. Sorry, but in my opinion trivia just does not belong in an arena…but drop the R because Tivia does, lol!

This arena looks brand new to me. Haydon told me it has only been there for about three years. The timeline tells me they have certainly put some new things in over the course of that time period and it has been well worth it because this arena was great to play and I would definitely remember this as one to return to.

Comments or Questions?

Contact: Tivia@tiviachickloveslasertag.com

Websites: www.tiviachickloveslasertag.com and www.photonforever.com

Silent Speakers Don’t Slow Me Down

A few last minute changes in my itinerary had me stopping into two Zone arenas back to back before leaving the Denver area for the night. The first was Chipper’s Lanes in Broomfield, CO where Derrick and I battled it out with Nexus gear in a mostly single level arena with just a couple of raised platforms.

An enjoyable game, but there was nothing terribly out of the ordinary with the arena itself, decked out in a classic CW theme I see quite frequently.

However, the game experience itself was a little bit different. Unlimited base deactivations meant that I kept running back-and-forth from the opposing base all throughout the game (did we suddenly start playing Tron, lol?). 

The one thing that really stuck out to me though was that my pack was silent. No sound cues at all when I tagged my opponent. Of course you can attribute this to you a little speaker connection, likely a very simple fix and I assume the other packs were probably fine, but since I was already wearing the pack I thought it would be interesting to see if the total lack of audible feedback made any difference to my game.

Derek gave a good chase, and I could see for the most part when I landed a tag against him. It was a little tougher to discern when he tagged me. I am simply not in the habit of looking down at my vest. I was only aware of tags to my left shoulder because of the vibration the pack, but I presumed he was getting a few tags elsewhere that I was not cognizant about. At least, that is what I thought until the end. 

I had perceived this as being a slightly more balanced game than it was. He seemed to be playing well. However, even though he was the one who had informed me that there were unlimited base deacs, he was certainly not taking advantage of them himself. That became obvious when we checked the scoreboard at the end. 

I am not posting those scores because I did anything extraordinary or vice versa. It is more of an illustration of how different elements (like unlimited bases) can thoroughly change the dynamic of a game. However, as a result I have no idea how the silent pack may or may not have altered the game. Very clearly, that was the least important factor to the end result…but it sure doesn’t look like it slowed me down.

Comments or Questions?

Contact: Tivia@tiviachickloveslasertag.com

Websites: www.tiviachickloveslasertag.com and www.photonforever.com

Tag in Socks

I must admit I was a bit surprised when I was told I must wear specific Urban Air socks without sneakers to play laser tag at Urban Air in Westminster, CO. Playing laser tag in socks is unusual to say the least, but was actually kind of fun and made it feel a little more casual, so this is the thing I will remember most about this laser tag experience.

OK, so socks in the arena it is!

 

They were glowing bright under the black lights, as was everything else in this two-story arena. It’s interesting how much lighting really matters. I could tell that the build of this arena had many similar elements as the Urban Air I recently played in Buffalo, however it has a completely different look here due to the lighting in use.

 

This arena is operating with Delta Strike Evolution and I joined a group for a light game. I had called ahead and thought that this might be a Genesis site, but as for now that white whale still continues to elude me! Still, it was a fun time and a nice way to begin my tour of the Denver area arenas on my first night in town.

Comments or Questions?

Contact: Tivia@tiviachickloveslasertag.com

Websites: www.tiviachickloveslasertag.com and www.photonforever.com

Laser Tag at the Dentist’s Office

On my recent trip to Colorado, I got off the plane in Denver and immediately drove to the dentist’s office. No worries, this was not due to any issue with my teeth. It was actually to check out a really unique concept at Perfect Teeth for Kids in Centennial, CO where they have a complete arcade and laser tag arena available as a reward that kids can earn following a great check-up or dental procedure.

 

I had to check this out!

 

https://youtu.be/DHLBI5FgZxA

 

There’s a sense of whimsy and fun at this office from the moment you walk through the door and find the other “patients” sitting throughout the lobby.

 

When I arrived, I was greeted by Summer Marczuk, the Director of Pediatrics, as well as the office manager, Paige, who invited me to take a look around.

 

I entered “The Smile Zone” where they have an arcade that could rival a few FECs that I’ve been to with a full assortment of games and even a prize redemption counter! Kids can earn points to use here, which certainly makes for a great incentive for those kids to practice good dental hygiene and look forward to their visit to the dentist.

 

The full laser tag arena really amazed me. This was an impressive arena that could stand alone as an attraction all by itself! Summer told me that these attractions were added about nine months ago and not only is it something the kids look forward to, but a first in concept also. Their Dental Touch Smiles office located in Delaware has had an arcade for over ten years, but Perfect Teeth in Centennial is the first and (at present) the only one of their 240 affiliated dental offices nationwide to have added laser tag, making it a really special place to visit.

 

I was excited to try out some laser tag equipment by LaserTag.Net. It’s not often that I come across a system that I have not played before, so I was particularly intrigued to try out this gear during a one-on-one game against Summer.

 

Three tags will deactivate a player, however they can respawn throughout the game. Although versions of this system can be played with a vest, here they use a cross body sash of sensors and stand-alone FALCON laser tag phasers.

 

After playing some laser tag I was able to tour the dental practice and learn more about what they do here. With four doctors available (two pediatric dentists and two orthodontists) they are able to take care of check-ups, orthodontics, preventative, fillings, emergency and restoration for patients in their exam areas that are full of fun decorative touches as well.

 

I am thoroughly impressed with the ingenuity of adding laser tag as an incentive for kids to have a great dental check-up. Perfect Teeth for Kids is a place I would want to visit myself and I appreciate them allowing me to experience “The Smile Zone” upon my arrival in Colorado. Many thanks!

 

Comments or Questions?

Contact: Tivia@tiviachickloveslasertag.com

Websites: www.tiviachickloveslasertag.com and www.photonforever.com

Tag 4 A Cause is a Success at Loveland Laser Tag

Tag 4 A Cause night at Loveland Laser Tag was a huge success and I want to thank everyone who helped us raise funds through laser tag in support of the Doreen Katz Memorial Cancer Foundation!

This quarter’s laser tag 5K challenge has been going on since July and had a great running start with a mini-high score contest during Fake Nats 2.0 held in Syracuse, but the big event was this Tag 4 A Cause night that I had been planning with Loveland Laser Tag owner Jeff Willy for several months. I am heartened by the amount of support that resulted in us raising over $1500 for the cause and making this our largest Tag 4 A Cause to date.

I was joined by Adam Katz, director of the Doreen Katz Memorial Cancer Foundation, who had dyed his beard pink for the occasion. He traditionally does this for the month of October in honor of breast cancer awareness month, but brought out the pink beard a little early for this event.

This Tag 4 A Cause challenge will continue to raise funds through the month of September for the Doreen Katz Memorial Cancer foundation, which is a cause I really believe in. Adam explains that they “help the children of cancer patients by covering fees charged directly to families by schools, K-12, and also provide support for therapy for the kids so they have a voice outside the home.” This support is so important and he told me the foundation took on four more families in Colorado in advance of this event. 

We set up a table space in the front lobby to welcome laser tag players and offer them the chance to donate to the cause, participate in the laser tag 5K challenge and earn their achievement medal.

And we were even joined by a couple of families who have received support from the Doreen Katz Memorial Cancer Foundation as well.

We all had a great time laser tagging in the huge, three level Loveland arena.

I completed my own personal laser tag 5K here as well.

On average it takes approximately 10 games to tag 5 kilometers, but I pushed hard to complete mine even faster, using the long ramps in the arena to my advantage. Their Egyptian themed arena is a great place to move around a lot and has plenty of targets and beacons hidden throughout, including one right under the iconic pharaoh’s head.

I only played a couple of games each hour because I had to pay attention to the results of the games that were qualifiers for the high score trophy.

Those games were played once each hour from 5:00-midnight at the 15 minute mark. I did not realize they had different sessions throughout that window, so we made the last minute decision to add a second trophy award so that there could be recognition for both the earlier session and the “after dark” all you can play window.

I must say, I was really impressed with the scores. Right out of the gate Loki set the bar high with a score of 25,793. I figured that would be hard to beat, but several Loveland players really played hard and met the challenge. For quite awhile Frank was creeping up on that score. GooseMoose was leading the After Dark standings with a score just below at 25,153 and it looked like those two were neck and neck right up until…Grave Digger swooped in with the overall top score of the night at 27,883! Nice job!!!

Our trophy winners were Grave Digger aka Jarrett Albee for the overall win and “After Dark” honors while Loki aka Troy Meissner wins “The Light Shines” for the early session high score. Kudos to those who recognize that this is a Photon reference. And congratulations to both these players for some awesome laser tag competition throughout the night. Both earned golden phaser trophies for their really impressive scores!

My thanks again to Jeff Willy and the staff at Loveland Laser Tag for hosting our Tag 4 A Cause night. Huge thanks to all the participants who donated to make this happen including the players here in Loveland, the Laserforce tournament players at Fake Nats in Syracuse and everyone who participated on their own in other arenas (we even received donations from players in the Czech Republic!). You can still participate in the Tag 4 A Cause laser tag 5K challenge to support this cause between now and the end of September. Full details at https://www.tiviachickloveslasertag.com/to-benefit-doreen-katz-memorial-cancer. Thank you to all who continue to help us Tag 4 A Cause!

Comments or Questions?

Contact: Tivia@tiviachickloveslasertag.com

Websites: www.tiviachickloveslasertag.com and www.photonforever.com

Two Weeks Away!

Two weeks from tonight is Tag 4 A Cause night at Loveland Laser Tag in Loveland, CO to support the Doreen Katz Memorial Cancer Foundation! 

Ok, ready? Want to help and take on the laser tag 5K challenge? It’s as easy as this: donate, play laser tag and earn an achievement medal! Full details can be found here:

 

https://www.tiviachickloveslasertag.com/to-benefit-doreen-katz-memorial-cancer

 

You can complete your laser tag 5K challenge on your own at any arena or join us for Tag 4 A Cause Night at Loveland Laser Tag on September 18th from 5:00-midnight. Donate to the Doreen Katz Memorial Cancer Foundation with Tag 4 A Cause and you will qualify to compete for the high score trophy and door prizes too! More info at www.TiviachickLovesLaserTag.com

Comments or Questions?

Contact: Tivia@tiviachickloveslasertag.com

Websites: www.tiviachickloveslasertag.com and www.photonforever.com