Yuletide at Old Tucson!

 

Did you know there is an old western town in Tucson that was built in 1939 & is a movie set used in multiple movie scenes including moves like the Three Amigos & Tombstone and shows like Little House on the Prairie. That location is called Old Tucson! It is still open as a filming location & when there isn't anything being filmed there you can visit to explore the town or participate in one of their holiday events. On December 23rd, we took a road trip to Old Tucson to experience Yuletide the old west way. The tickets may seem slightly pricey however all of the shows & rides at the park are included in the price of admission & there is quite a bit to do. 

When you first arrive, the first show is the opening ceremony. You'll learn the story of how the "West Pole" came to be & how Santa made his secondary home Old Tucson. Santa is brought into town in a wagon & he welcomes everyone to Old Tucson with a tree lighting ceremony. However, things don't go quite as planned when Jack Frost shows up to try & ruin the night. Everyone at Yuletide is invited to help join in the festivities to chase Jack Frost away and show the power of Christmas Magic. 

For entertainment there are magic shows, stunt shows, trivia games for kids, live blacksmith demonstrations, The goofs on the roof which are two adorable elves that sit on top one of the buildings talking with all of the guests. There is also a horse drawn carriage ride where you can sing Christmas carols, a train ride that takes you around the circumference of Old Tucson allowing you to see some sights & buildings you aren't able to see from inside of the town. 

That isn't all, they had a small movie theatre playing classic holiday movies, a small maze for kids, skee ball, a carousel, face painting, a shooting range, photo opportunities & you can explore Jack Frosts layer to see what he has been up to at Old Tucson. If you are looking for a way to warm up in the chilly night there is hot chocolate for sale along with a few spots to grab food or you can head inside for some in doors activities like pictures with Santa, Story time with Mrs. Claus or write a letter to Santa. There is also a small museum with movies props from films/shows that have taken place there, two sweets shops and of course gift shops. 

As mentioned, there was a lot to do! We went from one show or ride right to another, they kept the schedule packed and well organized. We spent a few hours at Old Tucson & enjoyed everything they had to offer especially the stunt show. There were a few neat stunts, but that isn't what really made the show, the actors themselves are what made the show quite entertaining. While this event might be over for the time being, if you are close & able to travel to Tucson you should consider visiting this event at the end of 2024!

🌵 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. This was not a sponsored review, we paid to get into the zoo ourselves. I enjoy being able to share spots like this with my readers who may not be able to visit in person but are still interested in learning more about these spots, or for anyone planning vacations in the area. 

Tucson Botanical Gardens Review & Giveaway!

 

We are always looking for new things to do whether it is where we live, or in cities we are visited so on a recent trip to Tucson we deiced to stop by the Tucson Botanical Gardens. The botanical garden is a beautiful & peaceful little spot tucked away right in the middle of Tucson in-between some shopping centers & a neighborhood. I like that the botanical gardens not only offer a wide selection of native plants to look at, but they also have a large collection of gemstones, a butterfly pavilion & art exhibits that change throughout the year. It is $15 per adult & $8 for children, which is a pretty good price for the amount of time you'll spend here & everything you'll get to see. On the day we arrived there wasn't a ton of visitors, so we were able to find a parking spot up near the entrance & explore the garden at our own pace without a large crowd around us. Everything is self-guided, there is a map at the entrance you can take a photo of to find your way around or you can just explore and see what you find. In total I would say we were here for about an hour as we took our time walking around looking at the plants & spent quite some time inside of the butterfly pavilion. 

During our visit we were able to see some beautiful sculptures on display that were created by John Benedict. Each piece is made from a combination of steel, copper, glass and other natural materials. It was neat seeing some of the recycled pieces he used in the art including chains & more. The pieces were gorgeous & very detailed, a few of them would be lovely to have in my own garden. The kids really enjoyed some of the critters such as the toad that was wearing a top hat with a little pipe in his mouth. The gardens did a wonderful job at intertwining the sculptures within the gardens, so everything flowed together & felt like it belonged in the spots they were placed. This exhibit is being featured until January 14th, 2024 so there is still a little bit of time to see it before it is gone. 

We were also lucky to catch the La Calavera Catrina which featured Dia De Los Muertos sculptures by Ricardo Soltero as this exhibit ended on the 31st of December. The sculptures were placed into a small, enclosed area in the middle of the garden that made it feel as if you were transported to another location. I loved how many poinsettias were lining the garden in front of the sculptures. Throughout the entire botanical garden, you will find spots to sit down & take a break or just relax and watch any wildlife that might be around. The day we went it was cloudy & raining off and on, but we did still manage to see a hummingbird or two. 

There were so many cool varieties of cactus & other types of plants. I've seen tons of cacti in my life, but some of the cactus they had on display I've never seen. I actually found quite a few different plants & cacti types that I'd love to own and have in my own home or garden. I liked the different themed areas they had including a herb garden where you could touch & smell different herbs like thyme, sage, mint, etc. however because it was raining it made it harder to actually smell the fresh herbs. They also had other areas with food growing, a Zen garden & more. We had a lovely time walking around together as a group looking at everything the botanical gardens has to offer. They have a restaurant on site where you can grab lunch, however we didn't stop in as we had lunch shortly before we arrived. 

I did enjoy walking around and seeing all of the plants on display, but my favorite part was the butterfly pavilion. They had a small area where they had a bunch of cocoons on display with several that had recently emerged & drying out inside of the window. Inside of the pavilion they had some tropical plants, some small pond areas with gorgeous fish & of course tons of butterflies all over including the walls, flying around and even on the ground so you had to watch where you were stepping. The blue & purple morph butterflies were gorgeous, I loved seeing glimpses of their gorgeous colors fluttering around and chasing each other. 

🌼 GIVEAWAY 🌼

One lucky winner is going to receive two day passes to visit the Tucson Botanical Garden. They will be good until the end of 2024! 

This is open to Arizona 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 is hosted by ME.

This giveaway ends on 01/09/2024

Giveaway entry question: Leave a comment answering at least one of these questions.

What is your favorite type of plant?

What theme of sculpture would you love to see featured at the Botanical Gardens?

a Rafflecopter giveaway

It is easiest if you log onto Rafflecopter using the Name/Email Address option. 

🌵 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- The Tucson Botanical Gardens provided two passes for this review & two passes for the giveaway 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.

International Wildlife Museum a unique tourist spot in Tucson.

 

This isn't necessarily a spot I would have at the top of my list of places to visit, however we decided to check it out & it ended up being a pretty unique experience. One of the places that is included in the Pogo Pass is the International Wildlife Museum in Tucson. If you don't know what a Pogo Pass is it is a one time pass you purchase then over the course of the year from the day you purchase the pass you'll get into a variety of different venues for free saving you hundreds of dollars. Use code 6c8d10a3 to get a pogo pass for $60 each. Anyway, enough about the Pogo Pass let me tell you a bit about this museum. First and foremost it is located at 4800 West Gate Pass Blvd Tucson, AZ 86745 & is $10 per adult and $5 per child. :)

The International Wildlife Museum is a collection of over four hundred lifelike taxidermy specimens which are on display in a building that looks like a fort/castle. In front of the museum is a pond with a bridge you can walk over & see the fish swimming below. You will also find a large lion statue to snap picture with along with a cheetah near the front door. The building has an easy self guided system, the building loops around back through the gift shop but just in case they do provide maps so you know which exhibit you are in. 

I like that they had different areas dedicated to certain subjects such as a room completely filled with birds, a predator & prey section and more. Some areas of the museum you are allowed to touch, for example the room that has a bunch of different horn & antler types along with some skulls and teeth have a sign that says "please touch" so you are able to see what the different antler types feel like. Along the way through the museum they have some specimens that are out in the open & able to be touched, it was so neat to be able to feel how different animals you wouldn't normally get to touch feel. However it should be noted on the maps of the museum they have a note asking you to stay on your side of any roped areas, so if a specimen is on the other side of a rope please don't touch it. 

I loved the collection of butterfly & moth specimens they have, I collect them myself so I like seeing the massive collection they have. We also saw some gigantic puzzles in frames that adorn the walls through out the museum, I've never seen puzzles that big before. We also really liked how they had everything grouped and staged through out the museum, for example they have a giant mountain set up with mountain goats lined up along the mountain which is neat to see as that is how it would be out in the wild. They also had hand sanitizer stations set up along the way for you to use if you felt like you needed a refresh.

In total I would say we were there for about an hour to an hour and a half which is pretty good for a spot like this. If you get thirsty or a little hungry they have a few snacks along with an icee machine in the gift shop, though I was a little surprised they weren't selling framed butterfly specimens in the gift shop. We had a good time walking around looking at everything & talking about the different animals together. If you are looking for more adventures in Tucson type in "Things to do in Tucson" or "Things to do in Arizona" in the search bar of my blog, I have several more fantastic animal attractions and more in Tucson to share with you & when all done within a few days it makes for a action packed vacation. 

**This is not a sponsored post, we used our pogo pass in order to get in however we weren't provided anything from the museum.**

A must see destination in Arizona, the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum!

I recently found my favorite museum that I've ever visited & I wish I lived closer so I could buy a yearly membership to it because I would visit all the time. My family & I wanted to go on a small vacation for the holidays instead of doing a bunch of gifts so I planned a mini vacation to a city in our state that had several attractions we'd never been to before, one of those spots is the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum. It is so much more than just a museum it is a 98-acre zoo, aquarium, botanical garden, natural history museum & art gallery. It is located at 2021 N Kinney Rd Tucson, AZ 85743.

It is a popular tourist type spot so I highly recommend getting there early to get a parking spot closer to the entrance, or if you don't mind a short hike there are parking lots a bit further back. We arrived shortly after they opened & the parking lot was already pretty full with a decent line at the ticket window. The line moved quickly & the staff were all very friendly, the place is big enough that even with the number of people visiting you didn't feel crowded or overwhelmed which is nice. It also helps in spots like this when everyone takes their turn to look at exhibits, etc. without cutting in front of others so that made everything run smoothly. The website states it takes about 2-3 hours to see everything & it is quite true, depending on how much time you spend at each stop you might be there for even longer. A large majority of the museum is outdoors so if you aren't a fan of the heat the best time to visit is in the winter/spring months to avoid the Arizona summer heat. We visited on a beautiful slightly cloudy winter morning & the weather was perfect for visiting. 

The aquarium didn't open for another ten minutes after we arrived so our first stop was to the reptile house where we were able to see a large assortment of snakes, scorpions, frog/toads and more. We even had a chance to see one of the staff members feeding the toads which is always neat. My favorite enclosure in the reptile house were the walking sticks (or stick bugs), I haven't seen one out in the wild since I was a kid & I love how they look so getting to see a bunch of them up close was fantastic. After exiting we went straight for the aquarium & got lucky because the only other person in it was a staff member doing a bit of maintenance on one of the tanks so we had the whole place to ourselves. There was an assortment of fish both native to Arizona & non-native species such as seahorses to watch swim. No matter what aquarium I visit, I always enjoy spending a few minutes in front of the seahorses, it is so cute to watch them float around & grab onto the seaweed/plants with their tails. 

Shortly after we left the aquarium it was about time for the birds of prey show they host almost daily, but we decided to use that time to check out a few of the other exhibits since could see that 90% of the visitors there that day were headed to the show. We walked around the cactus botanical garden a little bit & I snapped some photos of the wild birds along with the cactus on display. They have multiple gardens around the museum, you can grab a map before heading into the museum that will show you where everything is & label it so you know where you are. Next I wanted to visit the hummingbird aviary, you actually get to go inside & be in an indoor garden with the hummingbirds flying right next to your head. I've been in bird aviaries before, none of which have had hummingbirds and I love them so I was overly excited. We spent quite a bit of time inside of it watching the hummingbirds, relaxing on the benches talking a little & of course I was snapping photos the whole time. 

Right next to the hummingbird aviary is an art galley, the art work was gorgeous & most of it featured native wildlife or scenery and everything is available for purchase. There was also a small section with trinkets like postcards, 3D printed items & more. The restaurant they had there smelled amazing, so if you get hungry while there stop in for a bite to eat or visit their café for a snack + coffee. They have an underground animal area where you actually head underground to check out a few small enclosures to see critters that you don't typically get to see. Then we explored a bit more of the gardens & went to the bird aviary that has bigger birds such as cardinals, quail & more which of course I loved and we spent time at some of the benches just watching the different birds. 

In total you will go on a hike that is about two miles long, while viewing wildlife habitats set up along the way with animals such as javelina, bobcats, bears, wolves and more. They also have another underground section that takes you into a cave area & a mine where they have minerals on display. Just writing about the Sonora desert museum makes me want to go back again! There was so much to do & so much to see, it was quite the adventure. If we lived closer I would get a membership as mentioned, because it would be a great place to go for a mini hike for exercise while getting to see some neat stuff. They had some other great things to do, but if I talk about it anymore this post is going to be gigantic so if you are ever in the area you need to check this place out & enjoy it for yourself, you won't regret it. Admission is $29.95 per adult & $19.95 for kids - If you live in AZ & are a bit short on cash but still want to visit this museum they are part of the Culture Pass program through the Arizona public library system, you can visit your local libraries website to see which location has a culture pass for this zoo - the library allows you to "check out" 2 passes per family per month through their program (1 pass at a time) for free & each pass gets you two free admissions into where ever the pass is for. 

If you are looking for more adventures in Tucson type in "Things to do in Tucson" or "Things to do in Arizona" in the search bar of my blog, I have several more fantastic animal attractions and more in Tucson to share with you & when all done within a few days it makes for a action packed vacation. 

Which part of this museum do you think you would be most interested in? What would you want to see first? 

**This is not a sponsored post, my family & I decided to visit the museum while we were in the area and paid to visit the museum. I enjoy sharing some of the fun places we've been & things we've seen with my readers so they can enjoy it too if they get a chance.**

Reid Park Zoo in Tucson!

 As a family we always enjoy visiting new zoos or animal sanctuaries together so when we were in Tucson I knew I wanted to take the family to Reid Park Zoo. I had never been to this zoo before nor has my family so we were all pretty excited to visit. The park is a bit smaller than the zoos we have in Phoenix, it sits on 24 acres which also means it is cheaper to get into than other zoos, it is only $10.50 per adult & $6.50 for children ages 2-14, plus at the bottom of the post I will share two ways you can save even more on admission to this zoo. The zoo is located at 3400 Zoo Court Tucson,AZ 85716. The day we had planned to visit the zoo during our vacation it was a cloudy & rainy day, however we still had a blast at the zoo and it also meant less people were there due to the rain so we didn't feel crowded or rushed to see anything & were able to take our time at each enclosure and watch the animals play in the rain.

 The zoo was easy to self-navigate & there were plenty of animals to see, each one had their own large enclosure set up specifically for them. We thought that most of the animals might not be out due to the rain, however there were quite a few animals out playing in the rain & enjoying the weather so that was fun to see. I also loved the two different areas where you could go inside with a variety of birds, I love birds and enjoy photographing them so I could have stayed in those bird cages all day.

One of the things that was unexpected & made us laugh quite a bit was when we stopped by the bathrooms near the elephant's enclosure. My husband had needed to use the bathroom, so we stopped, my kids and I were waiting outside when I noticed a giant elephant butt sticking out of the wall near the bathrooms. I was joking around with my kids & asked my daughter if she wanted a photo next to the giant elephant butt, she laughed & said sure then went to smack the butt for the photo. When she smacked the elephant butt it made a loud startled elephant noise as if you had snuck up on a real elephant. It was unexpected especially as there were no signs we could see saying it was interactive so we had a good laugh, it is a great surprise for anyone who can't help but give the bum a pat. 

An animal or two were hiding during our visit so we didn't get to see them but we were able to see 97% of the other animals which was fantastic. Two of the spots we spent some extra time at aside from the bird aviary was at the Gibbon Monkey & the Otter both of whom were being quite vocal and seemed to be enjoying the rain. We visited shortly after Christmas so they still had some fun photo opps up around the zoo that we took advantage of while we were there. They also had two different opportunities during the day to feed a giraffe, it does cost extra but it is only $3 per person & is a neat experience if it is something you've never done before. When you get hungry they do have a small cafe that offers food along with a gift shop if you want a souvenir. If you want a souvenir but want to save some money at the same time they had a penny press in front of the gift shop, it cost $0.50 to press a penny with your choice of design that will say "Reid Park Zoo" and have an animal on it. We personally love getting pressed pennies & have a small collection of them from various places we've visited in the past. 

We really enjoyed visiting Reid Park Zoo & will visit again in the future when we are in town. We thought it was a fantastic zoo that was clean and lovely to visit. Earlier in the post I had mentioned that I would share two ways you can save money on your visit if you are going through a hard time or are trying to save a little money during vacation. The zoo participates in the Culture Pass program through the Arizona public library system, you can visit your local libraries website to see which location has a culture pass for this zoo - the library allows you to "check out" 2 passes per family per month through their program (1 pass at a time) for free & each pass gets you two free admissions into where ever the pass is for. Reid Park zoo also gives a discount price to anyone who is part of the SNAP or WIC programs, you will need to show proof along with your ID at the gate to receive $4 off per ticket. If you live in Tucson or close to it & want to visit Reid park zoo multiple times through out the year you can buy a membership for yourself or a family membership which gets you in for free every time you visit. If you ever happen to find yourself in the Tucson area, I highly recommend stopping by to visit this wonderful zoo. If you are looking for more adventures in Tucson type in "Things to do in Tucson" or "Things to do in Arizona" in the search bar of my blog, I have several more fantastic animal attractions and more in Tucson to share with you & when all done within a few days it makes for a action packed vacation. 

If you want to see more animals from this zoo along with other adorable animals I've seen on my adventures, feel free to visit & follow my Nature Photography Instagram account where I post photos & videos.

Do you think you would enjoy this zoo? What is your favorite animal? 

**This is not a sponsored post, my family & I decided to visit the zoo while we were in the area and paid to visit the zoo. I enjoy sharing some of the fun places we've been & things we've seen with my readers so they can enjoy it too if they get a chance.**

Hotel McCoy in Tucson a cute alternative hotel!

 

Aside from selecting a destination, the first step in planning any vacation is deciding which hotel you want to stay at. I always like to look for a hotel that is not only within our set budget for the trip, but also close to what ever attractions we will be visiting. I recently planned a mini in-state trip to Tucson which is only about a two hour drive from us to visit some attractions in the area we hadn't been to before & also visit an old favorite. Prior to the trip I had already seen a few posts online about a newer hotel called Hotel McCoy & decided to reach out to the property owner about checking out their hotel while we were in the area. Before booking a hotel it is always nice to check out reviews of previous guests to read about the good, the bad and the ugly, after all you are paying hard earned cash to stay so you want to make sure the property is right for you. On Google they have a 4.7 star rating with 87% five star reviews and 13% four star or less reviews which isn't too shabby, after staying I can agree with both some of the good and bad reviews left for the hotel. They are located at 720 W Silverlake Rd #302 Tucson, AZ 85713 which is right off of the interstate and is close to pretty much everything we had planned for the trip. 

One of the main things that originally drew my attention to the hotel is that they have tried to create a fun & welcoming hotel experience that sets them apart from other hotels in the area. Every room on the property has some kind of mural on the wall or art work displayed in the room, there are murals painted all over the property itself and they have a wide range of amenities available for their guests. I do want to note for families with small children who book a double queen room or singles room to put a crib in, aside from the murals painted directly onto the walls any photography or artwork in the rooms is for sale & range in cost thus if anything gets damaged you will have to pay for it (You should take care of items in your room, no matter where you stay). Each room features a different artist/art style, we had several lovely photography canvas prints in our room. Parking is free, each room has a space in front of it to make your room easy to access. There is also a retro mini fridge in each room which is nice as we ended up picking up some cereal bowls & milk for breakfast our second day there so we were able to keep the milk cold over night along with our other beverages.

This hotel also has a small gift shop that has snacks, drinks & souvenirs next to a small bar that serves beer and wine. When you first check in you will be given one poker chip per member of your party, each adult can cash their chip in for a free small glass of wine or beer and kids will get to select a non alcoholic beverage from under the check in desk. My kids went with the Jones Soda! If you get a little hungry they have some local tamales they can pop in the microwave which will run you $4 each or there is a cute food truck that sits in front of the lobby that is open in the evening. It smelled really good, but we didn't end up trying it out for a family of four the prices were a little high so we went into town for dinner. Free breakfast is included in your stay, they set everything up on the bar in the morning which is poptarts, oatmeal with a number of toppings to add to it, apples/oranges, fruit juice boxes and coffee/tea. For various reasons I would give the breakfast a 2.5 star rating. You can eat in their lobby dinning hall which has a good amount of seating, at any of the outdoor seating arrangements or in your hotel room. There is a small on site bookstore, I was told the hours of it vary but we were able to check it out the second day we were there and my daughter found a pair of earrings she loved & bought. The hotel pool is saltwater & it is heated, they provide pool towels so you won't need to bring the towels from your room. It was nice to get into the pool for a bit, but man was it cold running back to the hotel room after getting out of the warm water. 

During our stay there were a few things we feel could have been improved a bit, such as our room cards didn't seem to want to open any of the pool gates or the room which has the gym/ice/water bottle refill station so to get into the pool we just had to reach over the gate and open it from the other side, but we never got to visit to get ice or water as we couldn't get into the room. The hotel is a remodeled old motel strip so the shower pressure & shower head quality were poor, the water had primarily one setting which didn't get that hot but I am not sure if that part can be improved. Wear socks in the room or bring slippers, after check in we decided to unpack a little & relax which meant walking around the room. When I went to sit down on the bed to lean back & relax against the wall to watch TV, I noticed that my feet had picked up a lot of dirt from the floor they looked grey on the bottoms, so I went to the bathroom to wash my feet off and throw on a pair of socks so they would pick up the dirt instead & I could take them off before bed to prevent any dirt from getting onto the white sheets of the bed. 

However there were other perks we did take advantage of that most hotels don't have, in the front lobby area they have a ping pong table, a foosball table, a claw machine, a pinball machine and a mini grass area with cornhole. We played used the ping pong table, foosball table & pinball machine several times plus we played a fun round of cornhole in the morning. They have it set up to where you can easily play at night as well because it is well lit and there is a firepit you can relax next to if you get cold. The mattress on the bed was very comfortable & the blankets kept us cozy. Each room also has a 55" TV with a roku hooked up to it, they had Netflix and Disney+ easily accessible on it so we watched a few things on Disney+ when we were relaxing in the room in the evenings, our remote had a few issues but we got it figured out. As mentioned before it was also really coinvent because we were close to all of the places we visited during our trip. Is it affordable for families on a budget? Yes and no, it honestly depends on when you plan on visiting. Like most hotels the price per night can vary depending on what events are happening in the area at the time, if it is busy season, etc. so the price can range from anywhere from $100 up to $400 a night for a room. Lastly I did also enjoy a lot of the artwork & murals that were painted along the hotel walls, there were some pretty whimsical & fun characters. You can see it all as you drive by to your room, or go for a stroll to see it all. My daughter & I took a short walk along the walls to look at everything. The hotel is also pet friendly, they allow dogs and fish however they can not accept poisonous animals such as snakes, nor do they allow cats. We were able to see a lot of cute dogs that hotel guests brought with them & everyone was doing a great job of cleaning up after their pets. 

So there you have it! A review of the good and bad from my point of view, I always feel slightly awkward writing about the things that I didn't like about a review opportunity but it is life & the whole point of why people read reviews in the first place. If you are an art lover & want to check out a new type of hotel experience, this hotel may be for you the next time you are in the Tucson area. If you are looking for more adventures in Tucson type in "Things to do in Tucson" or "Things to do in Arizona" in the search bar of my blog, I have several more fantastic animal attractions and more in Tucson to share with you & when all done within a few days it makes for a action packed vacation. 

Which part of the hotel do you think you would enjoy the most?

Disclaimer- A one night stay was provided free of charge + a 50% off was applied to a second night stay which were provided by Hotel McCoy 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.

Fox in a Box Tucson Reivew!

****This was not a paid post and my honest opinion was used. The opinions are solely my own and may vary from others.The game slot mentioned below has been provided by Fox in a Box Tucson for the review free of charge.****

My fiance and I are the kind of people who always say we'd be alright during a Zombie apocalypse  and we are always up for an adventure so when I found out about a place called Fox in a box Tucson we knew we wanted to check it out and see how well we would actually do. Fox in a box Tuscon is a live escape the room adventure experience which can host 2-6 people per game slot, they have two rooms available to play in it costs $36-$28 per person depending on the number of people in your party. In one room you must work with your teammates to find all the clues to unlock a vault and steal all the diamonds from the bank, and the other room you must work together to find the cure for the zombie virus which broke out in a science lab. I spoke with Fox in a Box Tuscon and we set up a game for six so my family and I could attend, we all discussed the two rooms and opted for the Zombie science lab. You have 60 minutes to figure out all of the clues to unlock the final clue and win the experience! The game master (one of the owners) keeps and eye over your game while you are in the room, there are cameras and a mic but they are not recording you simply keeping an eye on your progress I will include more on this later in the review. I also want to note that none of the rooms have anyone hiding to jump out and scare you or any other scare factor, the whole point of the room is to have fun and figure out puzzles.

 

When we arrived we were greeted by the owners who explained the game to us, went over the instructions for the game and played a small movie for us that went over the background of the scene that was about to in fold in front of us. Our mission was to solve all of the clues to find a cure from the zombie virus which had spread across the globe, a group of scientists had been working on the cure but had become infected themselves so it was up to us to save the world. The room was set up with lots of different medical equipment pieces and supplies and also had lots of blood splatter and an over all feeling of a zombie virus outbreak which was wonderful for the experience. The point of this game/adventure is to work together, a great tip they give you before entering the room is that as you explore let your teammates know what you found and what your thoughts are because it might help you with a clue to unlock something, if you think there might be something there say something.

Some would think that because you are in just a single room that everything would be easy because after all how many places are there to hide things? You would actually be surprised how intricate the clues are and how well the room is set up, there were way more things hidden than I thought there would be and the time goes by quicker than you expect it to so you really have to focus, discuss clues and try your best. If you get stuck and need help the game master keeping an eye over your game can offer you hints along the way, you can rack up a "hint bank" where you get one hint every 10 minutes you are in the room. The hint will appear on a monitor in the room which also shows you the count down of how much time is left or via a speaker in the room. There hasn't been a single game where a group hasn't asked for at least one clue so don't beat yourself up if you find yourself needing a hint.



I do not want to give away any clues to those of you who want to go check this out so I won't offer much on what all was in the room but as you can see below there are lots of locks that need to be solved by finding clues and that wasn't even all of the locks! This experience was one that all of us enjoyed and we hope to do events like this more often because it gets you thinking and working together. Each of us figured out parts to clues and some of us were better than others at various parts of the tasks which is why it is really a good idea to not try to do everything alone. The entire time we were in the room we were laughing, trying to figure out clues and just over all having a great time because the room is a great way to escape from reality from the outside room for a while. After your game you can discuss your favorite parts, take pictures in the room and talk with the Fox in a Box team one on one and give feedback on anywhere you think could be improved. We personally didn't see or experience anything that needed to be improved everything was perfect.

So now the real question is, did we make it out of the room in time? Towards the end after a hiccup or two which pushed our time back a bit more than we had hoped we weren't sure we were going to make it out on time and that we would become Zombie chow but we did it and we did it with only 39 seconds to spare. After the game if you are hungry they are located in a wonderful spot near a whole bunch of restaurants and shops so you can grab a bite to eat after.

Want to check them out? They are located at 972 East University Blvd Tucson,Arizona 85719