Paintball Explosion Park

Had my 13 year old’s birthday party here this past weekend. The best paintball park we’ve been to! We had eleven 12 – 14 year old boys and three adults playing. The party coordinator/​ref, Luis was great! Everything went as planned and the day was stress free. Love that we weren’t stuck playing on just one map. He took us to a few different ones which the boys loved. My only complaint was I paid $ 10 for «cake cutting». Unfortunately that does not include actually cutting the cake. Luis told me that was only for them to bring the cake out to us. Other than that, everyone had a blast and all the boys are raving about how much fun they had and already planning on the next visit. Thank you for helping me make my son’s 13^th birthday memorable!

So I will first give you an idea of why I am leaving this review. I have been playing paintball for about 15+ years now and have played in multiple states and parks. I have managed and worked and plenty as well and managed a few teams. This is based off my first experience and paintball explosion.
1 the park– awesome layout and great mix of woods ball and receive ball fields. I like how they split up beginners, from open play to advance. This gives you plenty of options. Even though I sadly didn’t get to play on the nuke town field it looked awesome. Every field I did use was in great shape. There was a bit of sorta on lockers but I usually tend to carry my gear around d as I play pump.
The staff– spoke and kicked it with a few refs and what can I say, refs are usually under paid for what they do and u Der appreciated. Though paying attention to these guys it was a mix. I saw one specifically that caught my eye as taking his job seriously Viking. Though I had I believe a Kevin helping me chrono my marker for a bit.
Other staff– not the most friendly or knowledgeable. But you can’t expect to much as the majority of these your cute girls I am sure are there for PR.
Dislikes– 90 dollars a box of what they call eco and environmental safe paint for their park. Yea Um all paint is that and this is not even A grade paint. I would prefer evil from empire and this is similiar. Which evil is 65 at most a box. This park screws their customers on paint. Won’t stop me from going since I play pump though, this should be a crime.
Also they don’t have a stand alone chrono field. You have to get are to sit there and stand as you adjust your marker. A bit annoying. They should have a firing range with a hands free stand alone chrono field. There were like 3 or 4refs just standing around smoking cigarettes waiting to help someone chrono. This could probably cut down in some costs.
Not gonna say much about rentals or anything as rentals are rentals. They all suck. Except I did see you can upgrade to an etek and that’s nice. Not sure how they manage their gear but that is a nice option.
All in all this is a cool and great park. They would definitely get 6 stars in my opinion if they didn’t steal from their customers in their paint costs. It is ridiculous! Seriously. Paint should never be more than 65 bucks for tournament grade paint.

Still the best paintball park i have been too. If you haven’t been here yet you need to. The open play rocks and the big games are awesome. Staff and refs are on point and keep you safe. Grab a bunch of paint and get shooting. Best stress reliever ever.

This place is ok. The indoor speedbaml arena is really nice but it is drenched in Paint and is poorly ventilated. I don’t recommend it during the summer. The rentals are decent, but like all fields, the paint is expensive.
The outdoor areas are also sort of anticlimactic. I much prefer cpx in Joliet. I would only come if it is convenient. I still had a great time, but there are way better options with more friendly staff.

One of the best Woodsball Paintball parks in the Midwest (they also have one indoor speedball court). Nothing comes close to it except CPX. The fields are varied and waits in-​between games are relative short (CPX you have to get in a truck and they drive you to each field). The Call of Duty Maps are nice touch. My only complaint is they charge for use of only their paint (you have to use there paint-​rare considering all other parks allow you to bring your own paint).
All in all there is nothing like this around the Midwest. Highly recommend you check it out if any interest in paintball.

I just had my son’s birthday party here, paying for the birthday party package for 10 kids for $ 350. While the kids did enjoy their first paintball experience, I really wish the place had been more up front about a few items. Firstly, when I initially called and spoke with the staff about doing a party, I was told the $ 350 would include 2.5 hours of private paintball field time. After that, I was told the kids would have open/​free play on their own until close. That was a lie. And what they don’t tell you, is 1.5 of those 2.5 hours includes training and sitting around waiting for fields to open. So when our 2.5 hours was up, the kids having not had much time to play, were really excited to get into free/​open play. So I ask our guide at the end where they go to start that. He looks at me dumbfounded and says there’s no open play– the rentals have to be returned now. Plus he says, as they’re using low impact guns, low impacts aren’t even allowed in open/​free play. Fair enough, but not cool to lie to customers about what they’re getting for their money. Second, I was told the 200 paint balls each child receives should be plenty for the 2.5 hours we reserved. Another lie. Half way through, a few of the kids were out which cost an additional $ 90. OUCH We wouldn’t have bought more, but thinking we still had open play later, we did. Sigh. Thirdly, some of the kids didn’t end up bringing appropriate clothes for paintball (even with fair warning to parents). My husband and I were concerned about this happening and remembered they sell $ 10 jumpsuits online, so decided to request those at the counter. DON’T BUY THESE. You don’t really get the feel of the jumpsuits as they’re packaged up when they hand all of them to you. Once we get outside and the kids start putting them on, I realize they’re made of that same cheap material as the hospital scrubs they hand your husband when you’re having a baby. And I mean an EVEN CHEAPER form– half the ply. Literally you could sneeze and they rip. So what I thought would be a neat reusable jumpsuit for all of the boys if they ever wanted to play again, was complete garbage. $ 100 down the drain as all were ripped by the arms, crotch, zipper by the end and had to be tossed. What ticked me off even more? Being told by our guide half-​way through the party, that the paint is made to wash out of clothing no problem. OUCH. That’s the exact opposite of what we were told in the sign up forms. There are a few more things I could go on about but bottom line, I’d love to see this place be more honest in the future.

This business shares a parking lot with Santa’s Village (an amusement park that caters to kids less than 9 or 10 years old). As such, we look at the action when coming or going to Santa’s Village and often fantasize about gearing up like we’re outside the wire of Camp Leatherneck. My 4 year old son was simply looking on when he started screaming. I picked him up and looked at his neck: he had a circular bruise from a paintball. We ran to the medics at Santa’s Village for evaluation and treatment. Fortunately, it was limited to that. Neither one of us were wearing eye protection or sunglasses. It could have been much worse. I implore parents of young kids, the demographic served by Santa’s Village, to not stand outside the fence to «watch the action.» It is unsafe. You can see paintballs all over the ground surrounding the fence, both inside AND OUTSIDE their weak netting. They need to be kept accountable for the fact that projectiles are fired from guns within their confines that can in fact traverse the fence and netting. They cannot ignore the fact that a children’s park is next door. Do not lose an eye standing here. Unless they fix this serious problem, they should not be located adjacent to an amusement park catering to small kids.

Very disappointed.
My son was really looking forward to going out to this place. The trouble was the staff took upon themselves yo mock his gear, guns and ammo. All he had saved for and paid for on his own.
He also complained that despite all their talk of safety they ignored many people getting hurt, continuing to shoot when «out», and so on.
If it had been other players I could ignore it. When it is the staff then that reflects poorly on the entire business.
Sorry but we will not be back.

I would give zero stars if I could. My son’s locker was broken into and his money & debit card were stolen. Staff showed no concern. What’s the point in security if they aren’t doing their job. Police were called & that’s it. More could have been done. They had the guy on video. Why wasn’t the place shut down and people searched? The person used his stolen card to pay for their own game. So of course they were still there! This place doesn’t deserve anyone’s business if they are going to show such little regard for their patrons.

Awesome fields. Hands down the best place to go for all paintball needs. The place is fun and the people here are great. I went in with a group of 11 and had a blast.

Very nice paintball field, judges are very friendly and they have couple fields for different levels, the big one outside is ver awesome, have best experience in paintball here

HORRIBLE Service. Poor maintenance and faculty in facility. PBX has expensive paint that is decent to bad quality. PBX employees don’t even act like they work there. Take your money to O’hare Paintball or CPX, you will have a better time on their fields.

Called to see if they offered repair services. They told me they definitely had a repair shop. So I told them I’d be by the next day. When I got there a girl in the front informed me they «technically» had a repair service but their one technician had another job and hadn’t been seen in weeks and it could be a minimum of 3 weeks before he «had time» to come in. This info would have been great when I called. The staff was very unhelpful and just kept saying technically they offer repairs. Very unprofessional.

Been to this field only once. Not sure I’ll go back. While the fields were pretty fun to play on there are some other things I just didn’t like about it.
I absolutely hate that it is one of the most expensive places around the Midwest. $ 85 fpo +entry brings the price to about $ 100 for a day for one person. Not very affordable imo. The store on site seems pricey on most things.
A friend had put his marker in to be repaired a week before a scenario and they never even looked at it. They lied to him, said it needed a part to buy them more time, so he used a rental for free. (We all know how good rentals are!) long story short, 3 weeks later he picked his marker up still unfixed to get it fixed somewhere else.
Another situation. I called to buy a rebuild kit for my marker. They asked if I bought it there, I said no, and they informed me if I would have it would be free for them to fix. Since I didn’t buy my marker from them, they seemed unwilling to help me out. And of course, they did not have one, would not order one, but said if I would like to bring my marker in, they would be happy to look at it for $ 25+ parts.
It does seem more of the issues are with the storefront than with the field but after a couple bad experiences, I’m really not sure I want to do business with them and give them my money.
Since I was there playing I will review that as well. As stated, I really liked the fields. They really seem to have sunk a lot of money into the fields. Chrono area is good, only problem was– there was no chrono! They had a ref stand there with a hand held chrono! Unbelievable! Lol Indoor plumbing was a big plus. Not enough refs but it was a big scenario so it is to be expected. Refs were fair and nice. Parking in a regular lot is also a huge plus.
For such a big epic park, it only has one set of air fills, and they didn’t come close to keeping up and giving 4500 fills. That needs to be updated and it would help to put in another air fill station somewhere else.
A member of our group used a rental setup and of course it leaked air and didn’t shoot straight. He took that back and instead of being disappointed again, he borrowed a gun setup from someone who had an extra.

We came here for my husband and sisters bday. We played with 11 people and it was great. The only advice I would give is to please sign the waiver online before you come here bc their computers don’t work (it just makes things easier) and just know if you plan to have a private party for 2.5 hrs u will need to buy extra paintballs. We bought the case just in case but it was more than enough. I say maybe just the 500 one is good. Either way, everyone had a great time. It was everyone’s first time playing.

Cons:
Took a party of 8 here. Was turned off right away when the rental package for $ 58 didn’t include pods or a belt which was another $ 15. I own my own gear, but I brought 5 renters who’ve never played before with me. $ 73 for gun/​mask/​tank/​500 balls/​2pods/​belt is PRICY. Add-​on $ 10-​$ 15 on food drink, and you fly thru paint on these fields so another $ 25 – 35 on paint. $ 125-​$ 140 paintball experience.
I didn’t get chrono’d ONCE. None of us did. I noticed some of the regular’s would nod that they got chrono’d and when the ref walked away, giggled about how they haven’t been. That seemed a little weak.
Then we noticed the QUALITY of balls was TERRIBLE. Even 2 of the employees (One Ref, One Staff) told me that it’s a «custom blend». They bounce like crazy and shoot like crap.
The ref’s weren’t great. They did do a good job making sure shot players got out safely, and would hit check when asked more then once, but LOTS of times my whole party noticed people getting shot and kept playing and ref’s ignored initial hit check.
No woodsball fields. They have 1 that they calls woodsball, but it has about 30ft/​30ft square of woods, the rest is a parking lot with a huge bus and cars etc. Still cool, but no woodsball.
PRO’S:
The staff at first entry was SOLID. Cashier went quick, a friend of mine bought a gun/​hopper/​tank for over $ 700 and they moved quick to assist him to make sure he could get out and use it.
I also couldn’t get my JT lava lens to fit on my mask, and a staff member helped me out. I tipped him $ 2 for some gatorade.
Fields are pretty awesome. Definitely worth trying once as long as you know the $$ you’ll be spending. $ 85 for a case of what seems to be empire 3 or 4 custom blend crap. They are kept up pretty well too.
I’m fairly new to my gun, and have never filled my own air before, and the staff member went nice and slow showing me how to do it. Super easy. Very friendly.
The flow of the field was nice, music playing but great reminders and announcements for open and beginner games. All staff stayed on masks and barrel covers.
A/​C indoor speedball area. Nice to sit and watch, and cool off if it’s a super hot day out.
Conclusion: It’s expensive. I get why. But it’s expensive. As long as you’re comfortable with that beforehand, it can be a ton of fun. The fields are worth checking out once a year for sure. Otherwise I’d skip it.

I was here with a group of thirteen friends on Sunday of July 4^th weekend. They were having a deal, where the only thing that we ended up paying for was the paintballs. We bought a case of 2000 (a little over $ 90), and split it between six people. It was enough for 2.5 games… the 0.5 is because we consolidated and only half of played the third game.
The people there were very knowledgeable, but I feel that the staff could have been more helpful to us, considering we were obviously beginners and only one of us had been there before. I realize it was a busy day, but nothing was ever explained to us. Literally the only information I received without directly asking someone for it was «don’t take off your mask.»
They did allow our entire group to play on the same team, which was really nice of them considering how many of us there were.
I would say, given my zero experience, that I thought the maps were really cool, if a little grimy, and that I’d definitely go again on a less busy day so that I could play with just my friends.
Tips for other first time players: We played in tank tops and shorts, and honestly (playing only in beginner games) I don’t think more protective clothing was necessary, despite most of the people there being dressed as though they were going into actual combat.

I took my three boys here today. The two youngest have never paint balled but are familiar with guns and call of duty, so I thought this might be a nice treat. Thus we traveled the hour and a half hours to get here. They are using a section of Santa Claus Village. Some of the bunkers are old park displays. Which is a nice added feature. They also have Nuke Town. Just like in the game.
I have read some reviews that say the refs don’t care. I have to say that is the opposite of what I experienced today. The refs were helpful and friendly. They were very concerned about younger players and enforced the rules strictly for those games. So I have to give them kudos for that.
So why only two stars? This is because of the lack of cleanliness. Now, I’ve been paintballing a while. Been to a couple of places, and I know it gets dirty and paint gets every where. But it should be cleaned at least every couple if years. The pictures posted on Unilocal show a clear view of their indoor field with green turf. The current indoor field is white and slimy from paint. It for sure looks nothing like the pictures. I would recommend a thorough cleaning in all areas. Even the gun rental house had sticky floors.
We did enjoy the fields. The private parties overtook all our time to play on the speedball field. So it was only outdoor play for us. We tried to keep it to beginner play but advanced played with remote lines kept coming in and blowing out all the novice players. A great ego boost for them I’m sure. But a little rough on the new players.
We like the park, it has a big amusement park feel. They get you on the price of paint, food and drinks. Bring money.

Great Park! so many field!!!
my favort field so far is Nuke Town!!!
Awesome park, Kind and knowledgeable worker.

I really enjoy this paintball park but the one thing that keeps me from loving it is the staff. I’d say that about 80% of the staff are 16 year old girls who are slow and clueless. The two in the front take forever to get you signed up to pay admission. If it’s a group, which many come to play, they take up to 20 minutes. Even the three people at the shop don’t know the prices or what comes in each package. Once you are all paid you head down to the rental place which is always a nightmare. A total of 5 employees are usually there, 3 of which are always just standing around or goofing off with each other. It should not take that much time to accept a ticket and provide a player with equipment. One girl looked like she was in pain from helping out so many customers. There’s two tech guys that help out with repairs and they are even slower. One of them even appeared to under the influence.
Why are these kids being hired? This is a very popular park and is busy every single day. You should have employees who are competent and can handle the stress. Worst part of all is that management is no where to be found. So I guess this place will just operate half-​assed until further notice.
Once you do get your equipment though, the park is pretty large and the maps are really fun. A better way of organizing and letting people know what games are about to start would be an improvement.