Dan’s Miniature Golf

This use to be a good place to go. If you like over paying for small and I mean shockingly small cones, then Dans is the place to go. You’ll leave there feeling very disappointed. Going for ice cream is a treat but you leave there discouraged and still wanting ice cream.

Man, how times can change.
My boyfriend and I used to frequent this place. It was convenient and we enjoyed the soft serve. But for the most part, it was fairly quick and fairly yummy, so we have been consistent customers for a while. Which is where any of these stars come from.
Last week, though, we had a particularly bad experience which has now snowballed. My boyfriend ordered two medium-​sized ice cream cups with chocolate dip. We’ve ordered this many times, and it always comes in 16-​oz cups, ice cream overflowing, with a bunch of dip. I guess it SHOULD be a lot of ice cream, because for the two cups, it comes to almost $ 9, and for that price, let’s be real, I can get two pints of Ben & Jerry’s and still have some change left.
He comes back to the car with two either 8 or 10-​oz cups with lids on. Something was clearly not right.
«Oh, so you ordered smalls?» I asked. Even so, this would have been closer to the kiddie sizes I’ve ordered. And that was fine… I’m watching my calories, so I’m fine with a smaller size.
«No,» he responded, «I ordered mediums.»
We were both kind of shocked and confused, and then he ended up going back up to the caboose, and asking if we got the correct size because it was abnormally small, and could they please do something to rectify the situation. Because at this point, it was just kind of crazy that we paid almost $ 9 for a few bites of ice cream.
There were a few kids working, and they were SO RUDE, and gave him lip.
«UM, I gave you FIVE swirls,» a very confused employee snarked at him. «And, um, dip is an extra 60 cents.»
Well, yes, we did pay the exorbitant amount for your dip, and no, you really didn’t give us any.
The kids waved him off and were unbudging, and there was apparently no supervisor there. We were shocked and upset and disappointed, and really did try to deal with this in-​person. And what it comes down to is not that we are gluttonous and want ALL THE ICE CREAMS, but that (a) we paid you money for a service we did not receive, (b) your service is super inconsistent, and © there is absolutely no respect for your customers.
Okay, fine.
But we were still very, very bothered by all of this. Not knowing what else to do, I find that Dan’s has a Facebook page that they update maybe once a week with new flavors. I figure that this is my best chance at actually being able to get a hold of someone to at least let them know what was going on. And to make sure that I got some sort of response, I did post on their wall, which is something I really wouldn’t do unless I had bad feelings. Ya know.
I wrote basically what I’m writing here – that we had a bad experience, that the employees were rude and didn’t care, and we were appalled by the way we were treated.
I received some sort of snarky comment from someone who may or may not be related to the business (along the lines of, «YOU’RE the rude one, and this isn’t these kids’ careers!»), and was later deleted after I suggested that respect is an important trait to acquire regardless of career, but especially if you are forward facing.
Now today, I was a bit surprised that I hadn’t heard a response, so I went back to the page, only to find that my entire post was deleted.
Okay, fine. I’ve heard THEIR message loud and clear. I have no idea who is managing their social media (maybe the same kids swirling ice cream?), but they clearly are not interested in the experiences of their customers, and they certainly must not be interested in social media best practices, which encourage owners to always respond and to NEVER delete!
This entire experience just leaves a very bad taste. It would have been so, so easy to keep two very loyal customers – when we returned in the first place, all you had to do was re-​swirl our ice cream and not be so rude. Or, even respond to a Facebook post with grace! Unfortunately, no, Dan’s did none of this, and even actively has tried to just make it go away in every way they can think of that is NOT the correct way to smooth over a situation like this. So instead, they get this review, and me continuing to tell all my friends and neighbors about this experience.
Unlike another reviewer, I do not hope that Dan’s closes down. I only wish for the success of local businesses, and this spring we were actually counting the days until they opened. But until they can muster up the decency to be consistent and have excellent and kind service (I don’t care if it’s your first job or your last, you can’t be a dick. Ever.), I will always pass them by, forgoing the convenience, and using my time and gas to go somewhere that is not only far more delicious but way more service-oriented…like The Ice Cream Man.

Family went to Dans Miniature Golf for ice cream after a baseball game. 2 smalls and 2 kid cones. Came to $ 11. First cone came out, we thought it was the kid cone. It was the small. The kid cone came out and we burst out laughing — 2 inches high and not even filled. About 3 bites of ice cream in there. Still got charged 65 cents for sprinkles even though there were less than 20 sprinkles on it! Don’t waste your time — go to one of many other ice cream shops in area who want their customers happy and to come back! Never again… employees didn’t even care we were disappointed.

Dan’s Miniature Golf is in need of a second look, indeed! Since my last visit back in 2009 Dan’s has really upped it’s mini-​golf game.
Let’s start with ice cream. Step up to a real caboose on a real train track with a real railroad crossing signal that you can operate! It lights up and rings a bell when you push the colorful lighted buttons. Don’t let the kiddies be too over zealous with the bell. The staff listens to it all day.
Three soft serve flavors at a time. Vanilla, chocolate and a flavor of the week that changes from orange to cherry to watermelon to mocha to who knows… gotta check the sign. You can have each individually or each twisted with vanilla. You can also get a sundae made out of the soft serve with typical toppings. Slush puppies are also offered in various flavors.
I dislike melty ice cream so I choose to take the second cone when I go with my outing partner.
On to Miniature Golf…
The course has been meticulously and thoughtfully maintained. The vintage obstacles have been cleaned, painted and are maintained in proper working order. Each hole is challenging and offers enough of a diversion in creativity that it makes you want to comment on it. There is a new water feature that is pretty cool with a new wooden bridge to cross over it. All the putters and balls are new.
The grounds are planted with new saplings and annual flowers. One hole is still under construction and invites patrons to re-​play their favorite hole for a full 18-​hole game. That is fair.
We replayed the wishing well. You get a hole in one if you land the ball in the bucket.
I did not land the ball in the bucket but you bet I dropped it in just to watch it roll into the hole.
The cost is $ 6.50 as of July 2013. Dads play free on Father’s Day and Moms play free on Mother’s Day. There are other deals throughout the year that are displayed on their roadside sign.
Some of the greens are worn and most of the holes are sloped in not your favor.
I think I’ll be back for another round before the season’s end.

This is a throwback golfcourse, with every last bit of it truly hand-​made, right down to the golfball water retrieval tool crafted out of an old kitchen spoon. Many of the holes show a recent sprucing up, although about half still have threadbare turf and are missing «schticks», it still has the feel of a place where an owner cares about how things look.
The holes are a mixture of nyeah to moderately interesting. The two that standout are #14, where you have to launch over a fountain, which is fun but the engineering of the ramp wasn’t done nicely enough to allow a true skill shot; and #17, a deviously simple-​seeming rotating hole (yes, the cup is not in the same spot, it spins around). No Insane Clown hole, which I consider a plus, and one of the better windmills I’ve seen.
I do find it a bit annoying that dead-​on shots for trick holes where the «feeder hole» should lead to a hole in one are misaligned; this was the case on two holes, and the 18^th hole had a lip to it that made launching into the hole-​in-​one zone a bit of an adventure.
All in all in terms of fun factor and playability it’s only slightly above average, but the real grass in place of concrete paths and generally homey feel about the place lead me to give it a fourth star on warm-​and-​fuzzies. We’ve been to other courses in the area (we’re in the midst of a comprehensive review of every mini-​golf in an hour’s driving distance of Lock 7) and so far this is the only one we wanted to play again right away, and the only one where they’d obviously bothered to sweep the leaf and grass debris off prior to opening.
The large caboose that serves as the snack bar will attract the kids, but unfortunately since the inside is the food prep area, they will in turn be disappointed that they can’t go inside it. We did enjoy some soft-​serv icecream, but I have to give them downgrades for not knowing how to do a proper dip. Why does nobody know how to do a swirl dip anymore? Is it a lost art?

I cannot recommend this course highly enough. Beautifully maintained classical course, with some particularly challenging holes. A great time for all ages. This is one of the best miniature golf courses I’ve ever played on.
As a bonus, the grass around each hole is very soft, a delight to walk on barefoot.
The ice cream is also a treat.
Very reasonably priced.

I Saw This Online And Took A Chance Going There. It Was Definitely Worth It. The Course Is Small But Very Nice. It Has Some Really Cool And Difficult Holes. I Would Give It A Chance If You’ve Never Been There Before.
On One Of The Holes You Have To Hit The Ball Over The Water Onto The Green. Very Hard. I Also Thought The Last Hole Was Cool. If You Get It In The Free Game Hole A Siren Goes Off And Alerts Everyone…
I’d Give It A ⁴⁄₅