I booked "The Elevated" Birthday party package online for my daughter's 10th birthday. I purchased for the minimum of 6 flyers thinking I could add on if any additional kids came last minute, but weekends are super busy and by the time we confirmed 48 hours in advance, the day was fully booked. It worked out okay with a few "unable to attend". Unfortunately, I didn't warn the attendees of the strict time constraint and one of the kids missed the 10 minute cutoff and wasn't able to fly. The rest of the kids did have a great time and the included high-flight, photo, and video for each flyer was a nice bonus. It took less than an hour from the official 11am 'check-in' time we were booked for, gearing up, training session with the instructor, flights (including 4 others not in our party), and undressing. Shawn was a great instructor for the kids. They're fairly efficient on a fully booked Saturday, and it helped that all the kids had their waivers filled out in advance. Our party room was ready for us at noon and we moved right in.
Online Info on the Birthday party accommodations was limited, and I didn't get a chance to ask the party coordinator about the details. The party room had a refrigerator full of sodas, and there was a cold/hot water dispenser and a Keurig coffee maker available. The table was set up with a tablecloth, a couple of balloon weights (no balloons), plates and napkins, and we were provided 3 large pizzas (we were able to choose the toppings in advance when providing the final count of attendees). There was an additional table available that we set presents on, and they had additional napkins, forks and cups. We brought our own cake, cake cutter, candles, and lighter. . .so it's a lot more "hands off" for the staff than other places (like Pump it Up and Chuck E Cheese where they have dedicated hosts). We actually preferred this as space was limited in the room and it kept the experience more intimate. There was a window if we wanted to watch the fliers from the following sessions, and another window with a nice view out the front of the facility. A TV was also available, but we didn't use it. 1 hour was plenty of time for pizza, drinks, cake, and present opening.
Important tips for event planners:
*Set your invitation start time to be 15 mins before the 'check-in' time
*Ask for RSVPs at least a week in advance of the party date (to get a final count by the time IFly calls)
*A few days before the party, Send a reminder to all the flyers to arrive on time on flight day. . .better to come early than miss the flight experience altogether.
*Bring additional decorations, we only had a banner, which we put up ourselves, but supposedly they'll put up decorations you provide if asked.
*Ask the Ifly event coordinator any questions. . .she won't offer details unless asked.
(Veteran moms cans ignore the advice above. . .I'm sure you're rolling your eyes and thinking 'duh', but this is coming from a mom that does these things few and far between ...boo me!)