Hard Knocks

This is our second time at Hard Knocks for my sons birthday party. The staff was great and did whatever was necessary to see that all of the kids had a good time. All of the equipment appeared to be in good working order

Okay, we had my son’s 10^th birthday party here this past Saturday, and here’s the pros and cons of this establishment:
Pros:
1. The laser tag — The kids at the party loved it. We booked an hour long session which put the kids into four 15 minute modules where they had to best each other in a game of laser tag. They seemed to really like it, so that was a plus. I don’t know how good it was because the adults didn’t actually go into the arena.
2. The closed circuit TV — you can watch the kids in your party navigate the warehouse, the office, and the coliseum modules (there was supposed to be a «house» setting too, but I never saw it and the kids doubled up on the «warehouse» module, so I guess the «house» module was down for some reason?). It was grainy and a little hard to disseminate one from the other, but not so bad that we couldn’t figure it out with a little eye strain.
Okay, that’s the end of the pros.
Cons:
1. The seating arrangements — When I set up my party online, I booked the war room instead of the roped off VIP area. I obviously didn’t read very well, so that was my bad because I thought by booking the private room, we’d be able to set up right away and have a place for the parents and family of the birthday boy to have as a «home base». I thought we’d take that time to set up and get ready for the pizza, cake & presents while the kids played in the arena. No such luck. I and my guests had to sit out in the main area on less than comfy metal barstools or try our luck on floor level sofas (they look like really large, better formed bean bag chairs). The problem with those is some of us middle aged schmucks can’t get out of them without assistance. They were comfortable, but if you were older (like my 83 year old father who attended the party), you can’t get out of the chairs without someone to help you. The metal stools were uncomfortable. I wish I had known in advance that we would be sitting outside the party room like homeless nomads for an hour before we they would deign to let us into the party room. I should have just taken the roped off VIP area since we were basically there already.
2. Upcharged video games — While you’re waiting for your guests to arrive, there’s really not much to do in the main lobby. If you’re with adults, no biggie, because well, adults have attention spans (most of us, anyway). When you have a dozen hyperactive 10 year olds, not so much. They had video game systems all over the place, but if you wanted to use them, it’s gonna cost ya. I don’t mind this if it was an arcade with arcade games (places that have these types of facilities usually hit you for $ 10 per kid unlimited arcade play bracelets), but this crap was XBox360, PS3, and friggin Wii. If you’re a paying customer, party or not, they should make these games «on the house». It would give kids and adults something to do while waiting to enter the arenas.
3. The food — on the site, it explained that you weren’t allowed to bring in outside food. Okay, I get that, or I thought I did. Once I got there, I didn’t get it at all. If you’re a facility that makes its own food, I get that you don’t want birthday parties bringing in outside food. After all, you have food onsite, so that would take away from your bottom line. At this place, there is no onsite food. They made me pay $ 54.99 for 3 pizzas and 10 drinks (since I had so many people I had to get 2 of these packages, so my actual outlay for my 6 pizzas and 20 drinks was $ 109.98). They get this pizza, not from their onsite kitchen, but from MARCO’S PIZZA! The funniest thing I saw about this was that the War Room came complete with a fridge, a microwave, and a dishwasher, but apparently those must just be for show lol because we couldn’t even provide a stinking chip. And by drinks, they mean 20 oz bottles of soda and water since there is no soda fountain (forget pitchers, guys…). If you’re having to go outside your facility to get your food, you might as well just allow party-​goers to bring their own fare.
4. CANDLES!!! — It’s a birthday party. What is one of the biggest parts of a birthday party? Blowing out the candles on your freaking birthday cake! We couldn’t even do that. The girl behind the counter told me my son couldn’t blow out his effing candles. If we wanted to do that, we’d have to take the cake outside & blow them out there then bring it back in. What a joke.
5. THE PARTY ROOM ATTENDANT — FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, TRAIN YOUR ATTENDANTS!!! Party attendants need to be attentive to their party. It’s in the damn title of the position! I had to hand out the food, rush to get more drinks for kids who hadn’t gotten one, all while the girl who I thought was supposed to handle these things wasn’t in our room, no, she was behind the counter at the front! When you see the mother running around doing your job, COME AROUND THE COUNTER AND DO YOUR JOB.
All in all at $ 25 per child (not counting the addons), it didn’t seem worth all the hassle, and we won’t be back.

You can’t light your birthday cake candles inside???
Seriously??? Most ridiculous thing I have ever heard of from a group party place. This company literally made our party of 10 year olds to take the cake outside of the front door, light it in front of the parking lot, sing happy birthday outside, and then allowed us to bring it back in. How absurd!

Not impressed with a lack of customer service here. I put in an online request for information on setting up a special event: twice. I also called and gave my contact information for a manager to call me. I guess they don’t like making money! Would have paid decent amount to close the venue to have a private party here for a co-​bachelor/​bachelorette party. Oh well.

Less than impressed! We went there for my brothers birthday. The front desk ladies were very nice and helpful. However the niceness ended there. They say there are 4 arenas… But really there are only 2! The house is off limits unless you rent their room and have a party. The Colosseum is only open if you have 60 – 80 people! So you are left with 2!
I am a police officer who likes to have fun, the last thing I want is to be yelled at by a 19 yo college kid. The «regulator» we got stuck with did not seem to want be there and gave everybody an attitude when they asked a question. The head «regulator» (not sure if she was a manager) a tall skinny blonde with big lips and a big mouth kept yelling at everybody like she was better than us. I understand she’s probably used to dealing with kids however yelling at us like we were 2 is not the answer. We are not crazy kids not listening! We are grown adults trying to have fun and unwind! I will not return to this location.
Don’t waste your time with this place they need an attitude adjustment!

This is war. Don’t make friends. Don’t trust your party. Plan to kill everyone.
This is a fantastic way to spend a rainy afternoon with friends who will come to hate you or admire your skills. Or even better a first date where you can pretend to save her or better yet use her as a shield so you can dominate. ^_​^
This place has 4 set up game areas but multiple objectives that allow for fun for hours.
Prices arnt to bad but I recommend looking for Unilocal deals, Groupon deals or livingsocial. All of which can cut the cost by a lot.
They also have specials where there are days where it’s free for some.
(^_^)/”

Equipment aging, the «house» never opened to non party groups. I have come to this location for a number of years and my past 3 visits, more of the weapons are bent or having shattered scopes than in years past. Its as if the equipment has not been recently inspected. It affects the quality of play and makes the value diminish. The staff here is always awesome and if it were not for the spirit of the staff i would likely never return with my family. This location has a room called «house» that allows 2 weapons that are not usable in any other room, but on about the past 20 games i have played the regulators have stated that the «house» is only open to groups or parties, not to the walk in public. That was NOT the case in years past. the reason unknown. Many kids under the height and age requirement at my recent visits, I think 8 and/​or 50″ is the minimum but i am constantly playing with kids much shorter or younger. My suggestions include updating your website so the weapons page is realistic that at the oviedo location you will never get to use some of them, inspect and fix weapons more frequent or invest in new equipment, lastly either enforce, update or remove the age and height restrictions.

Okay, I’ll admit it: I wasn’t excited to go here when I was invited but I was won over. My work had a team retreat here and we had SO much fun. I’m not sure how it would be in a setting with «strangers» but I can say with a group of people you know, it is a blast. The videos and gear are a little corny but it’s such fun once you’re in the rooms playing. More than a few times I laughed so hard I almost had to run to the bathroom… this is a sign of a good time. I would definitely go again!

Awesome place!!! Very nice set up. Very original set up. Great staff! Solitaire and Rachel where the best! From the way they treated my son and help helped him understand how to play the game. To the way they treated all the players and made for a fun atmosphere! I recommend to any one to go!

My group prefers to play at the Pointe Orlando location, but we took a trip out to this location for our Thursday hospitality guys night this time. The arenas are great for the type of game (minus the house), but the customer service and attitude towards us was terrible. The cashier was nice and friendly, but we were snapped at by the other employees. A buddy brought a Gatorade in and what we assumed was the manager shouted, «NO OUTSIDE DRINKS! ITS ON THE DOOR!» Our mistake, but a friendly reminder would have been appreciated rather than attitude given.
I know the customers really can’t be controlled on the type of person that plays and I know my group of guys play together and are very tactical, but be careful of a group of guys to come in and get very offended when they lose matches.
Also, be prepared. If you have an annual membership to one location, it does not carry over to the others. That was kind of upsetting, but we already drove an hour and a half to play here and weren’t going to sweat the additional $ 6.

I was invited to play «laser tag» for a friends birthday and this is not what I was expecting. This place is not your old black light laser tag place. It is more like simulated combat experience.
The cost was pretty high. It cost $ 37 for a membership and 30 min of play, but please not that the 30 minutes of play could last for hours depending on how good or bad you are.
Once you’ve watched the training video and signed the release they divide you up into teams. One team is tan and the other is camo. This is a huge issue. These are not distinctive colors and if you are playing with people you don’t know it can be very confusing as to who is on what team.
Then you go into a locker room and you pick your gun. They have several different types, but they are metal and they are heavy! Then you can be sent into either the warehouse or the office building. The guns have a certain amount of lives programed into them and you play until your gun says you are dead.
I thought it was fun and I would definitely go again, but next time I will be prepared for how expensive it is and I will probably avoid Saturday afternoon and all of the pre-​teen boys.

I visited here within a week of the grand opening and was very exicted. They had a ton of PC gaming stands, and nearly every type of console on the market. This was about 4 – 5 years ago. I had a blast, spent probably 2 hours there with my friends between video games and laser tag. It’s a person like me’s dream! They even had a stage for guitar hero/​rock band.
So I recently went back and was bummed to see that all the PC gaming is gone, I didn’t see rock band, only about 3 consoles, and some arcade games. Cheesy ones. WTF happened? I don’t remember the laser tag being as fun, and my gun shot way to the left. When you shoot your gun, a LED will go off so you can see where you’re hitting. I shot at a wall from 10′ away and it was like 6″ to the left. I reported it and grabbed a new gun the next round and had a gun that shot low. It’s lasers and LED’s…and I own a gun with a red dot sight, they’re not hard to calibrate, just takes an allen wrench.
I still had fun with the laser tag but also wanted to do some PC gaming with my friends, one of which was a «professional PC gamer» from out of town and we were bummed that they didnt have that anymore, but oh well.
Don’t get me wrong, this is way better than any laser tag out there. The guns are modeled to look semi-​real, but they’re not (would be cool if they were!). The warehouse and office style combat arenas are an excellent idea.
So the 3 stars is due to the decline in offerings and service since I was last there, but it’s still a fun place to go for parties, date, or with a few friends. And definitely good for kids.

This is for the Points orlando location. It is not on help yet.
Let me begin by saying, I LOVE lasertag, and this meet all my expectations. We had just finished playing your typical old school laser tag and wonder works, and we wanted something more fun.
From the moment we walked in, the workers were so helpful and informative. They explained in detail how each package worked and made the complex situation easy to understand.
We played 3 missions and each one felt different and made the money we paid worth it.
It sounds a little expensive up front, 24 dollars for 4 missions, but when you do the math it is only about a dollar more expensive than the places around it, and it is much more fun.
I can’t wait to have my birthday party here!!!

Pros:
I was impressed with the lasertag equipment. The weapons, reloading, feel, and overall initial impression is very positive. I like that they seem to have friendly employees. I am still glad that I tried this, despite the fact that I do not plan to return.
Cons:
I found the actual gameplay was below my expectations, to the point where the cool equipment was quickly overshadowed by the fact that when I shoot someone… even point blank blasting each other, there is little effect of excitement. I don’t know if accuracy or hit detection is poor, but it seemed so cheesy when I actually played that I was wishing that it was good-​old-​fashioned lasertag of yesteryear.
I still had 15 – 20 bucks left on my card which I did not use because it was not fun enough. And yes, I am into this kind of thing. I used to play much laser tag when I was younger and still actively playing paintball.
NOTE: I am clicking that this is good for kids as the staff was one of the highpoints of my experience.

WOW! If you looking for a serious adreneline pumping day between good friends action 150% I will recommend Hard Knocks. Truly it was an experience Im 38 yeats old and ad a young man in NYC i wohld look for the laser tags experience up in NYC AS THEY WERE VERY LIMITED. I moved to Oviedo Fl and a friend recommended this place base on a laser tag convetsation we has from past year, the way he explain it i figure I woukd give it a shot since he had soldme base on the action that he explain that wad the ultimate experience.
Let me tell you the place. literally 3 min away from were I live and I did know that I jump at it with soem of my older friend to give. them a try. Upon arriving in. the place the help of the ref and the deatils in explaining everything was so detal that alone made the experience for those that came with me evn better as they were newbies although i felt like one I had do. e laser tags games before but this experience its above and.beyond. First laser tag weapons are all different and not all are the same thats a plus the its not a little room for play its hundres of sq foot of play area to the point sweating up a storm. The missions were superb, you will not be dissapointed.
Hard knock takes it to he next lever for us laser tags junkies, they also do parties birthdays as well give. them a call asap make your reservation today to get a good day for your organization of birthday party or even boys bachelors party.
Hard Knocks left oe wanting for more it wont be to soon since there so close to me that I will go back.
GET READY HARD KNOCKS DADDY WILL BE COMING HOME SOON!

I first went to Hard Knocks last year when I saw a Groupon deal, and I fell in love with the energy of the place. I thought it was just going to be laser tag with bigger guns– it’s not at all! There are a ton of different missions and objectives that keep you on your toes. Plus the lounge area is perfect for just hanging out or gaming. If you love FPS, you definitely want to come out because it feels so real in comparison and in each game there’s always something new.

Fun for a work function or kids. If you don’t want to play, they have a nice lounge area.

My first impression was bad when the referee took my bayonet off my M-​16. Apparently hand to hand combat is not allowed. But after that, I had a ball.
We had the place for two hours for a birthday, and we got six missions in. What a trip! Total adrenalin rush. I left there drained. Aggressions gone (for the moment), soaked with sweat, legs trembling.
This is a big complex in an industrial building near UCF. They have two combat arenas — one a warehouse and one an office. They run all kinds of combat scenarios — missions — some team and some individual. They have a large lobby where non-​players can watch the carnage on large screens.
They’ve spent a lot on equipment. The weapons are M-16’s, Mac 10’s, sniper rifles, pistols, and shotguns. They are full size and heavy. They make sounds, they produce muzzle flashes and ‘fire’ infrared beams. They are wired into vests that have sensors on them (and on the weapon). These register your hits. Eight hits, and you’re out.
Now, I don’t have a frame of reference to compare this facility to any similar facility, but the 20 somethings in the party (who spend all night on HALO and the like) were stoked.
People have mentioned that the referees (hot chicks) are hard asses. They weren’t with us. But we all knew each other and we were sober. I could see how the heat of combat could make complete strangers and drunks get out of hand, requiring firm measures.
Pro tips that I learned the hard way:
1) There are no sensors on your head. The other team can shoot your head all day, and it won’t register. So in team play, you can station a spotter behind a structure, and they can observe and call out targets to the shooters.
2) There IS a sensor on your weapon. So don’t leave it exposed or your mission will be short.
3) It is a game of mobility. You’ve got to work your team, and you’ve got to keep moving.
4) If you can hit someone, they are dead for 8 seconds. That is your chance to scoot and kill them again the moment they go live again.
5) If you get shot, and your opponent scoots up on you to execute #4 above, RUN. You are already dead, so run full tilt to a new position, hopefully one covered by your team.
6) This isn’t the movies. You can’t hit squat with a pistol at more than 10 yards.
When I went to work on Monday, I told my boss to can the bowling for beers for our next team building session.

No «I» in team
We planned a «team-​building» outing for work at Hard Knocks. I had toured their facility previously, but not participated in any of the combat. I thought I knew what to expect, but I was way off. I had no idea just how much fun there was to be had at Hard Knocks.
We sat through the funny training video and then were on our way to be briefed by the regulators. We had «Femme Fatale» and «Valkyrie» (a total knockout). They had the perfect attitude and attire and made sure we knew how to work our weapons. They detailed each mission and were thorough yet full of attitude (the good kind).
We went through two hours of missions and had a phenomenal time. The guns were awesome, the infrared accurate, and the beverages cold. I thoroughly endorse Hard Knocks for anyone looking for a team-​building exercise or just a way to get together with friends and blow off some steam. Yeah, it’s way the heck out in BFE (Oviedo), and it’s not cheap… but it’s totally worth the money. If you «like» them on Facebook, you’ll see that they have periodic specials that will save you some bucks.
It’s locally owned, a huge plus, and the owners are spectacular people who care about their clientele. I don’t know where the negative reviews came from, but I couldn’t disagree more with their opinions. Check it out for yourself!

I first ventured here on my surprise birthday party with a group of friends. I really had no idea what to expect, as none of my friends had been here before. I’ve only heard of this place, and how they have laser tag. The name laser tag is what really detracted me from the place. I’ve been to a good amount of laser tag places, and well. they’re all pretty similar and they get old fast.
This was something totally different. Whoever opened this place really did a great job with the «combat». (It’s not technically laser tag because they use IR). The place is really nicely set up with a bunch of tvs playing a bunch of different things, from movies to sports games. There’s even a stage for Rockband.
There are computers on which you can play a variety of games, but they aren’t the main attraction. The computers aren’t the best in the world, some of the equipment is a little faulty. For instance only the left audio on the headphones work or there’s a really sticky key on a keyboard. But like I said those aren’t the main attraction.
Also there are consol games, but I don’t really see too many people on them, because yet again they are not the main attraction.
What is the main attraction is the combat, which is absolutely amazing. There’s a bunch of different missions that cycle through, so you aren’t doing the same boring thing each time. There’s a bunch of different guns to choose from, which are quite heavy and quite realistic. There are two zones at which to play, the Office or Warehouse. There are now handguns too, which feel amazing in the hands.
I really thought I would get bored playing combat, since on my birthday I got a free all day pass and played literally for about 5 or 6 hours. And… after playing so many hours and getting decently good. I was still not bored. I think the huge reason is because of the missions, they really spice things up and make the game fun.
I really see combat as if I were playing paintball, but without the fear of getting painful welts and getting really dirty.
The only reason I docked this place a star is because it’s a little pricey for the combat, but there are tons and tons of specials they give. Check both the website and the facebook page. Though I still wish the prices were a little lower so I could play more often.
This is definitely a fun place to check out if your looking for something to do besides the theme parks around Orlando. Plus it’s less expensive and out of the FL heat.