World of Illumination Tempe is now Open!

 

The last few years we've made it a yearly tradition to visit at least one of the two World of Illumination locations here in Arizona & this year is no different. We were able to head over to the Tempe World of Illumination location for a media night to check out the lights this year. They host this event at the Tempe Diablo Stadium located at 2200 W. Alameda Dr. Tempe, AZ 85282 which is easily accessed from the I10. Tickets are available per card, you do not need to pay per person. During the week it is $39.99 per car and on the weekends it is $49.99 per car, there is no difference in the show on a weekday vs during the weekend so it is completely up to you when you decide to visit. 

The theme for the shows changes each year, this years theme for the Tempe location is Enchanted Safari. You'll spot a number of cute safari animals along the way, and you'll also find a few other themes mixed in like the space/UFO themed section and one that has Dinosaurs. If you've never been to one of the World of Illumination drive thru light events, then I am sure you have some questions. So let's break down some of the questions I am sure a lot of people have about the event. 

This event takes place in the parking lot of the stadium, you'll follow along a set path which has several turns. This event was made with normal sized cars in mind, so to prevent any damage to their displays they do not allow over sized vehicles such as buses, RV's, Limos or over-sized vans. You will be asked to keep your speed between 3-5 miles per hour. Depending on how many people are at the event it may take you between 15-25 minutes to get through this event. If the line moves smoothly it will be closer to the 15 mark however sometimes things get a little jammed up if people stop. Since no one is able to get out of the vehicles to walk around this is a pet friendly event, so if you wanted to bring your pet along for the ride, you are allowed to! 

The event is family friendly. I feel like smaller children would enjoy this event quite a bit more than a teenager would, however it can still be fun for the older kids too. My kids are eleven & fifteen and they have both enjoyed going to this event the last few years. We also like to stop before hand to grab some hot chocolates & a snack to enjoy during the show. The event also offers a fun assortment of classic Christmas songs & fun remixes on their holiday station that the lights are synced to. 

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

Disclaimer- World Of Illumination provided a pass for the event for this 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.

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.

World of Illumination Candy Rush Review!

One of the things I remember most about the holidays growing up was going with my grandma to see Christmas lights that everyone put up. Now that I am older & have my own kids, we enjoy taking them out during the holidays to see lights too. The only difference? It doesn't seem like nearly as many people put up decorations like they used to, so we normally look for neighborhoods that decorate together, & fun events like the World of Illumination offer you a chance to see hundreds of lights while listening to Christmas music. 

We are lucky enough to actually have three different locations here in Arizona that each offer their own theme, however today I am only sharing the "Candy Rush" location in Tempe with you. It is located at the Tempe Diablo Stadium 2200 W Alameda Dr. Tempe,AZ 85282. They officially opened last night for the season & will be open until January 1st,2023.

You will only need one ticket per carload, it is $39.99 for a ticket. You can get 20% off if you visit Mon-Thurs, tickets are purchased online only and can be purchased on their website by clicking here. There is no limit to the number of people that can be in the car, for example if you have a large van that can hold eight or nine people there is no extra cost vs a car that only has five people. However there is a size limit on the vehicles that can go in due to the size of the course, there are no limos, rvs or buses allowed.

We were able to visit last night for opening night & had a fantastic time with the kids. We enjoyed the songs they had playing on the station they allow you to tune into & enjoyed the synced light show that went along with it. There were a lot of really neat light tunnels to drive through, adorable characters to see & more. Since they ask you to stick to a speed limit of 2-5 miles per hour it was a slow & enjoyable ride, so we let the kids pop out of the windows to look at the lights which they were thrilled about. 

The drive was peaceful & exciting at the same time, we really enjoyed how they had everything set up. It was easy to guide yourself through the course & we were lucky enough to arrive at a time with only a handful of other vehicles so we were able to get some good clips, CLICK HERE to watch the instagram reel I put together with clips from the show.

Is this something you think you would enjoy visiting? What is your favorite Christmas song?

Disclaimer- World of Illumination provided me with a ticket to the event mentioned above 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.