Escapology Tempe Review!

 

My kids have both done at home Escape "rooms" with us in the past & have been wanting to do a in person Escape room for quite sometime, so I set out to look for one that is family friendly. I found a spot in Tempe that not only offers regular escape rooms, but if you are looking for a birthday party idea they also have rooms specifically designed for kids to escape together as a group. The room we selected isn't specifically geared towards children, however it was a moderate challenge room & our children who are ten and fifteen felt confident they would do just fine. Escapology Tempe was kind enough to have the four of us out to test out one of their escape rooms & write a review for them. Escapology Tempe offers seven different rooms, plus they have a kids mode as well. Rooms at Escapology are private so you will not need to worry about another party joining in with you. 

The room we selected was Batman: The Dark Knight Challenge.The theme for this room was is that you & your group are part of a training course who is sent out on a mission by Batman to stop a disaster from happening in Gotham. You have sixty minutes to find & solve clues that will help you complete your mission, save Gotham City & escape the room. If you get stuck your game master will be able to help provide some clues to help you progress. So, were we able to beat the clock and save Gotham City? Keep reading to find out. 

This challenge consisted of three rooms full of puzzles that need to be solved & completed before the clock runs out. You start off your adventure in the Batcave being given instructions by Batman, once he is finished giving you a run down of what your mission is the first step is to find your way out of the Batcave. I enjoyed how they had everything set up in the Batcave, you did feel like you are in a real room set up by Batman for briefings and training. This is also the area where you'll find a screen which will hold any clues you ask for along with a basket to hold any belongings you do not wish to carry the entire time. I honestly wasn't keeping a close eye on the clock so I can not say how long it took to get out of the first room.

The second room was well thought out as well with how everything was decorated and made to feel as though it was part of the Gotham City world & that you are actually in Arkham looking for clues as to how you will stop the disaster in the city. This room had a lot more physical things that were able to be found, moved and completed which was a lot of fun & I felt like we all did a great job contributing to certain aspects of different puzzles to figure it out as a team. 

Entering the last room we had just under sixteen minutes left to complete the final steps. We were able to do one of the puzzles & collect a piece we needed for the final puzzle however one of the puzzles that needed to be completed in this room stopped us in our tracks. I do not want to go into complete detail of what the puzzles was as that would ruin the fun for anyone else wanting to do this game. I will note though that when the screen dinged after we spent quite a while on the puzzle, the clue that was on the screen already matched what we had figured out & what was written down on our little notepad. We had tried the combination forwards, backwards and with a combination of signs as well but nothing seemed to work. We did sadly end up losing! When our host came in after, I asked her if she could show us what the answer was along with showing her on our notepad our list of the order + the different ways I tried to punch them in. She went to hit the same buttons I had & said it should have done something so I honestly have no clue if it was something we had done wrong or if this particular puzzle wasn't working properly. She had let us know she would tell her manager about it as she seemed slightly puzzled as well. My husband & kids felt slightly robbed with that puzzle, but it happens! 

Even without escaping we did have a lot of fun & it was great seeing the kids in action figuring out puzzles and helping with clues. My husband and I think they did a fantastic job and we are looking forward to taking them to do another escape room in the future. We went on Easter, so Escapology actually had some Easter eggs hidden around their lobby area which was a cute way to decorate for the holiday. I had thought it was just the lobby eggs were hidden, but during our escape game my son actually found an egg hidden in one of the rooms! It had candy and a little note to take it to a staff member to redeem for a free game in the future. I thought that was a nice touch to add for guests coming in on a holiday. Escape rooms are always fun to do with friends or with family! If you are looking for something exciting to do, why not try out an escape room? Stop by their website to see the different themes they offer and book a escape challenge today. Prices for the rooms range from $36 per player for the kids mode up to $44 per player for certain rooms. 

🌵 If you live in Arizona check out the "Things to do in Arizona" section of my blog to find entertainment, restaurants, vacation spots & more. (Click on the name or locate it on the right-hand side of my page).

Disclaimer- The experience mentioned above was provided by  Escapology Tempe for the review free of charge no other compensation was provided. However, no product compensation will influence the outcome of any review. My honest opinions are used in all reviews, they are solely my own & they may vary from others. My reviews are posted for readers in order to provide an informed decision before purchase.

Ready Player 1 Games Arcade in Glendale,AZ!

Over the weekend we went to check out a comic book shop that also has a retro arcade attached to it & I can tell it is going to be a spot that we visit quite often. If you live near the Phoenix/Glendale area then you should check it out too! It is called Ready Player 1 Games & it is located inside of Jesse James Comics located at 5140 W. Peoria Ave Suite 100 Glendale, AZ 85302. Both sides of the store are worth checking out, there are a ton of comics, collectibles, cards and more to see & purchase. If you get hungry or thirsty they have drinks & snacks available for purchase and there is also a bathroom at the back of the store.

The arcade portion of it ended up being a lot bigger than I thought it was going to be, there were a ton of games to choose from. There were pinball machines, shooter games, fighting games, a air hockey table, old school games like Mario, Donkey Kong, Tetris and more. The arcade was clean, felt safe and almost every game was in working order - there was only one game that was turned off & only one game that gave us an issue with not working properly. The photos I've shown here only have a small portion of the games they had available, there isn't enough room on this page to post as many photos as it would take to show you everything in the store. 

How much is it to play? Every game varies on price, the most expensive is $1.00 per play which is mostly the claw machines and one of the arcade games. The others range in price from $0.25 for the older arcade games to $0.75 on newer games. When we arrived I brought a bag with $40 in quarters with me, we spent about two hours here between playing games and looking around the store and I still had about $6 in quarters by the time the four of us were ready to head home for the day. It was a blast playing the different games & seeing the kids have a great time as well. It was a bonus that I kicked both my husbands & daughters butts at Soulcalibur , I also had a lot of fun playing old school Mario brothers as it has been quite some time since I last played that. My kids had fun playing familiar games & getting to play older games they've never been able to play such as the Simpsons game they had.

The arcade side also has several areas where you can purchase collectibles & you'll also find them in display cases along side the games, on top of the games, etc. this spot is packed with collectibles and nostalgia. We all spotted several things we wanted to pick up and also quite a few things we didn't even know existed, so that part of it was pretty excellent as well. You could spend quite some time just looking at the collectibles, there are so many that every time you look you will find something you didn't notice before. Prices on the collectables vary, I've been to quite a few comic shops along with conventions and have to say that everything in their store has a pretty fair price. 

Before we left we explored the comic book side a little, along side the comics you'll also find some more collectibles, clothing and a card section in the back which has player mats, Pokémon cards, decals & more. The only thing I didn't really see that they had advertised on their sign were board games, as big board game players we enjoy looking for new games to pick up. The staff are friendly & will answer any questions you have or help you out if needed otherwise they will let you be. We really enjoyed this spot & we look forward to going back, it is a great way to spend some time while beating the summer heat. 

You can find a reel that shows more of this arcade by clicking HERE to see the video I put up.

Do you enjoy arcades? What is your favorite arcade game or what type of games do you enjoy playing?

If you live in Arizona or plan on visiting click on this link  "Things to do in Arizona!" or type it into the search bar to find travel destinations, restaurants, & more that are fun to explore.

Ace Comic Con Glendale!

**This was not a paid post. My honest opinions were used, they are solely my own & they may vary from others. I received two passes to the Ace Comic Con in Glendale in exchange for a review free of charge.**

It doesn't matter what fictional world you are a fan of comic con is a blast for everyone! This past weekend a convention called Ace Comic Con was in Arizona at the Gila River Arena for three days. The comic con featured a large number of vendors, different foods, celebrity appearances with photo & signature ops plus is also offered everyone who loves to Cosplay a chance to dress up. Tickets were $65-$75 for a single day depending on which day you went on, $125 for a three day pass and they also offered photo ops, autograph ops and VIP packages that ranged in price from $65-$645 for packages.

This year celebrity appearances included Tom Hiddleston, Charlie Cox, Michael Fassbender, Tye Sheridan, Alexandra Shipp, David Tennant & More. The nice thing about Ace was that you were able to attend all the Q&A's no matter what type of admission ticket was purchased, the first half of the session we were able to sit and listen to a small interview with the stars then the audience was able to line up and ask questions if they wanted to. The only thing I disliked about the Q&A we sat in was that there we so many speakers in such a small area that there was a echo making it hard to hear both the celebrity speakers, the host and the fans asking questions. The celebrity speakers on stage were having a difficult time hearing as well and had to ask many of the fans asking questions to repeat themselves due to the speakers. You never know what is in store for Q&A's, sadly I had to leave before he came on but when Charlie Cox (Daredevil) was on Tom Hiddleston decided to join him on stage for a bit. It was crazy how far some of the fans came to enjoy the con and see their favorite celebrities.

Along with Q&A's they also had a number of interactive shows and live performances with artists including a thirty minute drawing class with Mark Kistler, A trivia contest, A costume contest, A live crayon carving session with @Mumblestohimself (you may have seen his work on Instagram) and more. Vendor wise there was a ton of art work and comic books with some sculptures, stuffed animals, clothing and more. Each time we visit a con or similar events we always look for a print or a piece of artwork to bring home, this time was no different we picked up a cute Stitch sketch by Jonathan Hallett which will be going on our wall once we buy a frame for it. 

  Photo Credit IG @lv_cosplay_sickness - Two Cosplayers as 
Magneto & Professor X with my husband as a Two-faced 
inspired Nightcrawler/Gambit.

It was nice seeing the assortment of costumes at the con, there is always a mixture of people who do their cosplay's exactly as the characters are and then there are others who have fun with it and put a mix on the costume or come up with a character all of their own. I saw a mixture of costumes from video games, movies, and comics along with people in steampunk and renaissance wear, some handmade some store bought but all fun to see. Everyone has a great time walking around taking photos with each other and appreciating everything the con has to offer. My husband and I attended the event and decided to dress as some of our favorite X-men characters, we didn't get to stay nearly as long as we had wanted. I wore a pair of high heeled boots that went fantastic with my outfit, however I didn't think about the fact that I don't wear heels often so after about four hours of walking around I ended up with some giant blisters on my pinky toes and needed to get out of my shoes so we went home but we has a blast at the con and look forward to future Ace events. Last year Ace hosted events in only four states so keep an eye out for them to head to your state or a state near you! I will post on my FB about any upcoming events I hear about but for now it is only the Phoenix event they have listed on their site.
 

Fangirls Review & Giveaway!

**This was not a paid post. My honest opinions were used, they are solely my own & they may vary from others.The products mentioned below have been provided by FanGirls for the review & giveaway free of charge.**

There are a ton of products available that you can have customized to fit your interests, you can get a bag that has StarWars fabric or a pair of sneakers with a painting of your favorite Disney character so why not have some fun with your makeup packaging as well? A fun and creative shop on Etsy called Fangirls is making that a possibility by customizing some of your favorite makeup products with comic prints. Fangirls is run by artists Erin & Dara who create a number of fun comic inspired accessories.  Along with accessories they also customize makeup, at the moment they only have NYX makeup products but if you are looking for something different you can message the store owner to work out something custom (you'll just need to pay the price difference).



I've been to Comi-con and similar events in the past and there are always a lot of fun booths with various wares being sold, but I never really buy a ton however I think if I stumbled upon this table there I'd have a hard time not buying everything. Makeup and comic books? Heck yes! I have quite a few superheros and comic book characters I love so for the review I suggested that she send a surprise palette of anything she already had ready. When my package arrived I opened it to find a Jean Grey palette that consists of four shadow colors: Blue, Black, Light Orange and Yellow. I had only expected the palette, but I found a lipstick as well that features Batgirl. The packaging I had looks a bit different than the newer packaging the store owner has switched to so the image below is a sneak peak at how the new packaging looks:

Now onto the makeup! Each piece is made using recycled comics which are color coordinated with the products. Each palette will feature colors that go with the character for example if you wanted a four color palette featuring Loki it might include a green, black, gold and blue. When purchasing a piece you won't receive what is in the listing photo as they are just used for examples of what you might receive, instead you'll be able to pick out a character you'd like.

I like that not only does the palette have comic prints on the outside but they also decorated the inside and the package cover that stores the palette. Looking over the piece I couldn't find any issues, there were no bubbles or corners sticking up that might eventually lead to the comic print being ripped off on accident. There was also no funky smells from the comic prints used or the products used to attach the comic prints to the makeup palette. I like the colors selected for the Jean Grey palette though I think a slightly darker orange may have worked a little better. Looking at the batgirl lipstick, I thought it was going to be a bright red but upon applying it I found it to actually be more of a bright coral orange, not something I'd typically wear but I actually like it!

PRIZE ALERT:
One lucky winner is going to win a coupon code for $25 towards any Fangirls product(s) you'd like!

This is open to US/Canadian Residents!! Please remember if you DO NOT leave a comment on this blog post as your mandatory entry into the giveaway then all of your entries will be void. Doing the Daily entries will increase your chance of winning. Winners have 72 hours to respond to the notification email! 

This giveaway ends on 01/26/2019

 Giveaway winners are announced on FACEBOOK, If you would like to see who won my latest giveaways please visit and like my facebook page.
 
Giveaway entry question: Please leave me a comment letting me know which character you'd choose or tell me another product you like from their shop. 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Stickers For You All Review & Giveaway

****This was not a paid post and my honest opinion was used. The opinions are solely my own and may vary from others.The products mentioned below have been provided by Stickers For You All for the review & giveaway free of charge.****

It seems silly but for the longest time I refused to put any stickers on my car. Why? It isn't because I don't like the way it looked, instead I thought it was bad luck. My first two cars I owned completely broke down on me and seemed to be right after I put car decals on them, I do admit though the first car I ever owned was a huge lemon and I learned a huge lesson we only owned the car for two weeks before having to get rid of it. I've had my current car long enough and keep up with the maintenance well enough I know it will last for quite some time so I decided to finally add a few decals. I have a Batman decal & Autobot decal we got in the prize section at Dave & Busters and now I have an adorable Baby Groot Decal. Baby Groot was made by etsy shop "Stickers for you all".



Even though it was placed inside of a foam sleeve the decal still ended up a little damaged from it's trip to my, however I don't think this is the sellers fault and let her know about what happened. She let me know she is going to switch up how she ships to help prevent it from happening again. The little bit of the scuff to Groots eye mostly smoothed out during application and you can't even tell anything was ever wrong since you don't look at it up close.

The application process was easy, after cleaning my window and letting it dry I peeled the backing off of the decal and made sure everything looked even before placing it onto the glass. As I was applying this to the glass I used a store card to help me smooth out the decal as I was going along, then I peeled the back off gently and admired tiny Groot on my window. The decal is well made, it is bright and it looks great on my window. It comes in a number of colors and sizes, the smallest size is only $2.90 for a decal and the largest which is 6.2" x 3.5" is $6.50 which is very reasonable. The store owner is very friendly, responses quickly and offers a lot of great products.

PRIZE ALERT:
One lucky winner is going to win $10 worth of products from Stickers For All You, winners choice of products. 

 This is open World Wide! Please remember if you DO NOT leave a comment on this blog post as your mandatory entry into the giveaway then all of your entries will be void. Doing the Daily entries will increase your chance of winning. Winners have 72 hours to respond to the notification email!
 
Giveaway winners are announced on FACEBOOK, If you would like to see who won my latest giveaways please visit and like my facebook page.

 Giveaway entry question: Name a decal you'd love from her shop. 

 a Rafflecopter giveaway

William W. Rockwell Review & Giveaway!

****This was not a paid post and my honest opinion was used. The opinions are solely my own and may vary from others. The products mentioned below have been provided by William W. Rockwell for the review & giveaway free of charge.****

It has always been a big goal/dream of mine to be able to dress as Hawkgirl for Comicon, Since I've recently started doing yoga and trying to get into shape I've main it my main goal for the year to reach that cosplaying dream and a giant part in reaching that goal was William Rockwell who creates and sells leather masks alongside metal sculptures. Just before Thanksgiving William and I began talking about working together on a piece for my blog, originally I really liked his Angel/Devil mask and owl mask but I figured why not get crazy and ask if he would be able to make a custom Hawkgirl inspired mask for me. He delivered in a big way and now not only do I have the most important part of my cosplay outfit and a piece of artwork I'll display in my home for a very long time but now you have a chance to own one as well because he has started selling them in his shop. William is a very caring and attentive store owner, he puts a lot of thought and care into his products and aims to keep all of his customers happy. If you see a mask you love but want it in a different color you should message him as I am sure he would be more than happy to do a different paint job, or if you are looking for a custom piece you can message him to work out pricing and details. He has his main website listed above and also an etsy shop found Here.





The creation process was a lot of fun and William really spent a lot of time going over suggestions, my ideas, his ideas and images of how Hawkgirls masks have look in previous series. I also voice some of my dislikes on various masks, for example some cosplay Hawkgirl masks have it to where the tip of the nose extends out past the persons actual nose and I didn’t want that, instead I wanted it to end right when my actual nose did. This was his first cosplay piece and first time sewing a design together so we were both excited to be working on this, I had picked out several photos of mask inspiration ideas I had an William came up with a foam layout of how the mask would work, and kept me up to date on the progress. In the early stages he sent me photos of the foam layout we weren’t sure about the nose piece as the original layout had more than one piece coming together in that section and after a few tweaks the mask was perfect, the next step was paint. I let him know I wanted the mask to be gold and black because I like how her newer mask looks black in certain lighting (it is a dark green) and I thought the two colors would be easiest to work with outfit wise, the originally paint job looked like the one he is currently selling on his website but I had him change some of the gold along the wings to black and I can honestly say I am beyond happy with this mask I was very excited to try it on for the first time. Some masks don’t fit well on me because I’ve been told I have a tiny forehead(two fingers in height) and I also have high /wide cheek bones which sit uncomfortably in some masks so I was nervous but this mask fits perfectly. The masks is light weight but pretty sturdy and it has a strap that runs from the top of the back of my head down to meet with a strap that goes around the base of my skull which fits comfortably and keeps the mask in place (As a side note it was quite difficult trying to take selfies with this mask on!).





The mask is extremely well made there isn't a piece of leather or a stitch out of place, I can find nothing wrong with this mask and I have nothing but good things to say about it. The mask took 50% less time than I thought it would to create a layout, create the mask and then paint, I honestly thought it would take closer to the two month mark to complete since he was working on other orders and getting ready for a art show at the same time but he go everything finished quickly, I am very impressed with his dedication to his work and to his customers. Shipping went perfectly and the mask arrived without any issues, the mask also arrived with some yellow and orange tissue paper to help keep it safe but my kids ran off with them before I had a chance to get a photo of it plus I was overly excited to get to try my mask on. There was a lot of love and attention to detail that went into this mask and it shows with the beautiful craftsman ship you can see while looking at the mask, his beautiful wife is also a big help when it comes to packaging and mailing things out so I want to include a thank you to her as well you both make an amazing team. William sells a large assortment of leather masks from half masks to full face masks and he even has a mask that covers the whole top of your head now, he also sells statues and metal sculptures!



Prize Alert: 
One lucky winner is going to receive a 5 piece bullet ornament (.223) pack(valued at $20) and a brass patina metal masks (valued at $42.50) which are both shown above.

This is open to US Residents only!  Please remember if you DO NOT leave a comment on this blog post as your mandatory entry into the giveaway then all of your entries will be void. Doing the Daily entries will increase your chance of winning. Winners have 72 hours to respond to the notification email!

Giveaway winners are announced on FACEBOOK, If you would like to see who won my latest giveaways please visit and like my facebook page.

 Giveaway entry question: What is another product you love or would like to own from the William W. Rockwell website?

a Rafflecopter giveaway
 

LootCrate February '16 Review

****This was not a paid post and my honest opinion was used. The opinions are solely my own and may vary from others.The products mentioned below have been provided by LootCrate for the review free of charge.****

It is time again to share the latest LootCrate box with all of my lovely readers. Normally I avoid spoilers for what the next month's theme will be but I couldn't help myself when I heard a rumor the February box could contain Deadpool gear and sure enough the theme for February was "Dead" and it showed Deadpool sitting down posing with a skull in hand. I was pretty excited for the 19th to arrive so that I would get my shipping notification email letting me know my goods were on the way.



When I arrived home from work I spotted the LootCrate box sitting on my porch and I couldn't wait to get inside and open it, I had a busy day that day running errands but I made sure to put aside a few extra minutes to open this right away. As soon as it was opened I could tell it was a treasure trove of Awesome.



The first thing I spotted when I opened my box was a Deadpool figure and a Deadpool shirt, and as always as a note before I go any further please keep in mind the LootCrate shirts seem to run a bit small so if you are considering subscribing order a shirt one size larger than you normally wear. The figure came in two colors, most crates had the traditional Red Deadpool but a few had a rare White suit Deadpool. As you can see above I received the red Deadpool who is fiercely adorable and now lives on my computer desk along side my Yahtzee Claptrap.



LootCrate has made it to where everyone who received the February box doesn't have to worry about dropping the soap anymore by providing everyone soap on a rope. What makes this soap on a rope more unique than the others? It is in the shape of Daryl Dixon's ear necklace from The Walking Dead season 2's episode titled "Chupacabra". This crate also included a Walking Dead big head figure in a blind pack, I received Rick. The figure is somewhat adorable but not enough to get past it being a pain in the butt, for the life of me I could not get him to stand still even with the stand he came with because he was too top heavy and kept falling over. The box also included the monthly pin and I have to say I am absolutely loving these updated pins they look 100% better than the older version of the collectible pins.

LootCrate ships to the US,Canada,The United Kingdom and Australia. Loot Crate is $13.95 a month [plus $6 S/H] the site guarantees $30+ worth of goodies in your box You can sign up for just a one time box or you can sign up for 6 months to a years worth of boxes & you can use the code “LunaMoon10” you will receive 10% off of your purchase price. What do you think might be in Next months box?