Zombie Safari

Like others, I did the zombie safari through groupon with some friends. Since its now after Halloween, the lines were much shorter, so there were no issues with the wait times. The entire experience lasted about 15 minutes or less. From the time we parked to when we got back in the car was 27 minutes so that includes registration, bathroom break, and waiting to start. If the course had gone on for an hour it would have been fun, although I ran out of ammo before the end, but it was too dark and my protective mask was too filthy for me to tell if I was hitting anything anyway, even before that. I had never gone to paintball before, but if I ever go again, I will go somewhere else.

went there for zombie paintball from groupon. the line to get in was atrocious, even though we had made «an appointment», which was required. we didn’t get in until almost an hour after. Then. the masks they gave us to use? scratched up so bad I couldn’t see. They were total crap!
Then. the zombie safari. due to the crowds, they ran us through as super speed, and we didn’t even get time to use all our 50 paint balls. yea. and not alot of zombies to shoot at either. SOOO not worth the money.
this was a great idea and could have been so fun. more zombies, letting us take a little time, maybe? having equipment that was usable.
maybe it’s good for regular paintballs. with your own equipment. but this experience is NOT one i’d repeat.

So this past weekend I went with my buddy and his brother in-​law to this place in East Dundee. After the long drive out there (pretty much the end of the suburbs) we followed the address to 601 Dundee road (or something like that)… it was a graveyard.
After some more driving around, we found Santa’s Village and the paint-​ball place. We wait in line and bought an extra 150 balls as there was only 50 paint-​balls included with the entrance fee. We were told that it would take 20 – 30 minutes to go through the entire course.
As we started walking through there was zombies jumping out from pretty far distance which made it hard to get good shots. To add to that, the ‘army’ platoon leader was yelling at us to keep us moving. It really ruins the fun when we are being herded like sheep.
If anyone is going, I’d say save bullets for the second half as the zombies get closer and you can have some move fun shooting them at a closer range.
Overall the concept was great, and the production value was entertaining. But it was way too short, maybe 15 minutes tops and they rushed you too much.

First, let me say that this place is listed on Unilocal twice, so I will be copying this review to the other listing as well. Secondly after using Unilocal for years, I finally had an experience bad enough to make me create an account to write a review. 0 stars
This is for the Zombie Safari Hunt specifically, but is easily applicable to how scummy of a business this place is in general.
I’m so glad Unilocal exists, because it is really one of the only ways to get back at a company that has treated you and your companions like dirt.
Let me first explain something that I really don’t think anyone has explained yet. You might find yourself asking why everyone suffered through the terrible experience of this place, and the answer is they have the entire operation set up in a way where you’ll basically be too financially and chronologically invested in this adventure to back out, once you realize how bad they’re trying to rip you off.
This place is so remotely located from Chicago, that it was an hour and a half drive from the city. Once there, we really didn’t want to leave, simply because of how long it took. Aside from that, we spent $ 20 a piece for tickets on groupon, so we were financially invested as well.
They were polite enough at first, but it was clear many of the employees were just kids from around the neighborhood, with AWFUL zombie make up. Maybe this is somewhat cool for other kids, but it is ridiculous for adults.
Then they put us in a reservation line, that seemed like it wouldn’t be too bad — but it was a little frustrating that people with reservations had to get in a line. This line led us to a cash register where we were basically ignored for about 10 minutes. Then the guy says that we’ll have to wait about an hour to get in, but he gave us a coupon for a free visit — courteous, right? Wrong. Tells us the rentals are free, but each person attending would have to buy a minimum of 500 paintballs for $ 25 from this place. Okay, whatever, we won’t come back, but then, RIGHT AFTER THAT, he tells us for this night we only get 50 paintballs, and this won’t be enough. I know it might be for an experienced shooter, but we’re on a double date, and just wanna have fun, and spray stuff. So we agree that 150 more paintballs would be fun; but then he says $ 15 dollars for every extra batch of 150 that we got. 3 of us wanted extra paintballs. So I say, «okay, well that would come up to $ 45 for 450 paintballs. Let us pitch in for the $ 25 pack of 500, and we’ll divide them among ourselves.» The guy refuses, and says that’s deal is only for normal paintballing days. I point out that $ 25 for 500 is no deal at all.
To give you readers an idea of what I mean, as I’m writing this review, I took 2 minutes to look up online prices, and in that time, I found 1500 paintballs for $ 23, and free shipping.
However, as I’ve said, we invested our time, and money into this already, so 3 of us buy the extra paintballs at the HUGE rip off of $ 15 for 150. Meaning this groupon deal is advertised as $ 20, but they have this set up in a way where you’ll really need to spend $ 35 to enjoy yourself, because it was described as a half mile, 20 minute shooting fest.
We wait an hour, and we hear employees mention that the paintball pressure is low, so as to protect the actors you’ll be shooting at. Sounds suspect, but reasonable.
After an hour of waiting, we finally start our journey. My group thought it was only going to be us on this adventure, and that we would be surrounded by zombies jumping out at us, and we’d be charged with exterminating them. This was not the case.
We got paired with about 15 other people, and were led single file down a path where we were able to shoot at guys in fully protected suits, covered in white paint – not blood– from other shooters. These guys were not in our path, or popping out and trying to scare us. They were far away. Too far in fact for our low pressured paintballs to reach most of them. No wonder we needed the extra 150 rounds, we weren’t expected to hit anything.
There was only one satisfying target to shoot, and that was ONE guy that runs almost all the way up to the groups, so they actually have a target they can hit. However, although they tell you to fire at will, there are two makeshift drill sergeants constantly demanding you stop firing at downed targets. One guy even threatened to turn his gun on us. Worse yet, the guy that ran toward us was all part of a gimmick to weasel more money out of us. Right after we expend most of our ammo on this guy, we come across a «refill station» where we can buy 150 more rounds for the «amazingly low price» of (you probably guessed it) $ 15.
As nearly every review has mentioned, the journey is expected to be 20 minutes, so after only 3 minutes of shooting, it might seem like a good idea to replenish your ammo, and/​or to preserve it. But then the adventure ends abruptly, and they keep all the remaining paintballs.
This place is a HUGE rip off.

I noticed that the management has been creating FAKE accounts to write positive reviews for ZOMBIE SAFARI! After they have been removed they continue to create fake accounts and post semi-​decent reviews just to make themselves seem more legit. This is irritating and annoying beyond belief. I AM ON TO YOU GUYS! YOU CAN’T FOOL ME! I WORK IN THE LEGAL FIELD!

Zombie Safari– not worth it, even with the groupon or discounts… Would have preferred to just go to a haunted house somewhere. I felt like I just took a walk with a paintball gun for 5 minutes with a group of about 12 people all shooting at the same zombie. I don’t think the concept plays out as well as it advertises.

I want to mention my overall disappointment with Paintball explosion and the Zombie Safari. For starters, we made reservations… so one would think that we would be set to go at that time, or within a few minutes of it. WRONG! Our reservation was for 8 PM and we wanted to arrive early to sign the waiver and everything. When we got there, we were told we were not even allowed to get into line until 8 PM. So our reservation was set for when we could enter line?! Lame!
We filled out the waiver at 8 PM and then entered Paintball Explosion to find a massive line inside. We did not get into the Zombie Safari until after 9 PM. Then the entire thing lasted only 15 minutes. The groupon said it would be about 40 minutes and the wait time would not exceed half an hour. They also said that you would shoot zombies as they chased you. The «zombies» were teenagers in hoods that did not come within 50 feet of you. You also went out with a group of 12 people and only got to shoot 3 zombies at a time. It was a lame experience… a total scam.
They rushed us through the course. There were actually a couple of instances where they told use to move faster and I was running just to keep up. This was not a part of the scare tactic, but a means to heard more cattle… I mean customers… through the course. I did not even get to use all 50 shots.
I also found it distasteful that they were playing graphic R-​rated movies when there were children there to paintball. I had a group of middle school girls behind me who definitely could not handle the movies!
I was truely disappointed in this experience. I wish I would not have gone… I actually would have paid you not to go! It was a total waste of time.

If I could give 0 stars for this atrocious experience I would. 4 of us went to Zombie Safari to celebrate a birthday. Upon arrival we were forced to wait over 45 min in line just to redeem our Groupon, after which we were coerced into buying additional paint for the so-​called 20 – 25 minute zombie experience. After being fleeced for an additional $ 60,. we were forced to endure an additional nearly 3 hour wait in an extremely crowded hot room with no windows w/​an on-​going video of «Zombieland» playing over and over for entertainment. I’m sure the owners thought an R-​rated movie depicting marijuana usage and zombie strippers running in panties w/​tassles for a «top» would add a nice touch, I’m no prude but seriously there were young children there. After finally getting onto the course, we received 5 min of instruction and 5 minutes of shooting at zombies. Yep, 5 minutes, pretty pathetic. What’s worse is there were only 2 – 3 zombies per station, wearing hoodies and hiding behind barricades so they wouldn’t get shot. Isn’t that the point? Of course it would help to see the zombies which was extremely difficult given that they were well over 50 ft away, in the dark, and none of the weapons given to us shot over 30 ft. What a waste! Made you wonder exactly why they were hiding in the first place.
The staff was incredibly rude and treated their customers like cattle. We were told to basically get out and leave our weapons and extra ammo. Um, excuse me, we paid for it and NO we are not letting you have it back to re-​sell to other poor unsuspecting people. In fact, we heard one member of the staff tell another, «Hey let them shoot all the ammo they can. Get em in and get em out.» It was clearly obvious they were cutting everyone’s time short as there no possible way to get everyone on the course before closing. The staff was totally disorganized, unprepared, totally unresponsive and should be ashamed for misrepresenting the «Zombie Safari» experience such as saying in the Groupon q&a that Zombies would chase you (they don’t and get nowhere near you), lists the entire course w/​wait time as 45 min (3 ½ hrs and 10 min once inside, 5 min being instruction), that you would be engulfed by zombies (2 – 3 zombies max and that’s if you’re lucky), stating that the zombies would be so close you can shoot them in the face (yeah right, they are 50 – 100 ft away and do their best to hide).
People were asking for refunds all night long and its no shock as to why! This place is a joke and a total rip-​off. Even w/​the Groupon this nonsense cost over $ 100 which makes me sick! People work too hard these days, myself included, to waste our money on this nightmare. Save you rmoney and go elsewhere. How anyone can rate this beyond 1-​star is beyond me. As my son said, «this place blows.»

Sucked. The wait was unbearably long. The highlight of the trip was watching Zombieland on TV while waiting in line … the whole movie… with no sound. It looped, so we got to watch the beginning twice. The wait was at least 3 hours and people were asking for refunds left and right. The event itself was boring as well. The zombies just walked back and forth out of range and under cover. But your mask was so dirty, you couldn’t see if your gun was working anyway — not that you could’ve shot anything so far away. My 14-​year-​old son said, «I would’ve been more entertained playing with a toothpick…just a toothpick.» Sad. Once on the path, you got about 15 minutes of playtime. If you’re in the back of your group, forget about it. The call to stop shooting comes just as you make your way up to the where the group is shooting. 2 of our party of 9 had their guns jam, so they couldn’t even **start** shooting. At least we’ll have a chuckle about that time we spent $ 150 (5 of us) for that awful 15 minute walk in the dark up in Dundee. No thanks, Paintball Explosion. I’ll stick with CPX, even if the drive is 2x as long.

Zero stars for the «Zombie Safari». Just returned from taking a large group of dads and sons to this unbelievable joke. We waited 90 minutes in line, then finally got onto the «Haunted Trail». They basically lined us up single file, walked to an area with a few buildings, then they arranged us shoulder-​to-​shoulder so that the group of 40 – 50 of us could open fire on 2 or 3 «zombies» staggering around just beyond the reach of our guns. We stopped at 4 or 5 of these stations and did the same thing at each. By the third stop most people were so bored they stopped firing. It was over in about 15 minutes, and for the low price of another $ 10 we could go again. Nah. The minimum expenditure for this joke is $ 20 per person, with the suggestion that you should go for the $ 30 package to get a total of 200 paintballs.
This place is GREAT for regular paintball if you’re looking for a large number of varied fields and you can easily spend 5 or 6 hours playing.
Please, don’t waste your hard-​earned money on this zombie joke. If you do you’ll hate yourself when it’s over, and you won’t even get a kiss out of the deal.