Go Bananas

I visited yesterday for the 1^st time with my nephew (5y/​o), and that place is filthy and disgusting! It smelled very unpleasant and don’t even get me started on how unsanitary and DISGUSTING the bathrooms were. The staff was absolutely horrible, doing their own thing and when you asked for assistance with a ride they were not kid friendly and appeared to be bothered by being there. It’s sad because they’re just taking away from the kids experience and fun.

It’s a Tuesday afternoon early evening.
The establishment is not very busy.
It is clean. The workers are continuously cleaning.
All the attractions and games are in working order. Each game is a reasonable 1 or 2 token play. There is a jungle gym for children and a smaller version With soft play for toddlers.
The bounce house is clean and well-​maintained.
Each worker today was EXTREMELY kind and helpful as well as attentive.
They have a mini roller coaster, bumper cars, flying bananas, a mini spin coster thing,
2 jungle gyms. A mini bowling alley with mini bowling balls, and tomen play games.
Adults are allowed to ride with their children FREE-​WHICH IS GREAT
I had an expired groupon and to my surprise, the manager honored it anyway!
How unbelievably kind…
When i 1^st arrived The girl at the café counter was very efficient, detailed and kind. Asking if I would be interested in having her hold the order until the kids were hungry. She was right, they were too distracted to think about food.
I had ordered personal pizzas for the kids, which were very cheesy and delicious
Later, she even brought me the milkshake I ordered when it was ready, so I could keep an eye an my monkeys until we were ready to sit and eat.
Milkshake-really.yummy
Service-​awesome
Price-​reasonable
Attractions-​Fun
Perfect for kids under 8 or (9 MAYBE.)
Joe– one of the BEST EMPLOYEES EVER.
we
will
return.

This place its awful, the bathrooms are really dirty, the whole place smells. It really really need to invest some of the money it makes to renovate and improve. Stay away from this place its gross!

Loved it! Two kids (10 & 5) and both had a great time! Staff was so accommodating. The front desk person gave us a tour to help us decide which package we wanted and gave us suggestions! Also, was very clean and up to date. Was so surprised to see the negative reviews, because we LOVED it! We were there almost four hours and were the last customers in the place. No one rushed us and everyone was great! We definitely will return! THANK YOU! From someone who is accustomed to expecting mediocre customer service… you guys are doing it right! We will definitely be back!

I guess the only reason this placed earned its forced one star, is that my kids had a blast! It was mind blowing how the awful staff here are still employed! For starters, the first 3 mechanical rides and the bowling were broken, 6 tokens wasted! When I went to the counter to tell them about the broken ones, they asked «well do you have a name for these rides, we can’t fix it if you don’t tell me» what??? It would be my pleasure to describe them to you, but your too busy walking away not giving a sh*t! So I ask if they were going to refund the tokens and she said «you have to ask whoever fixed the machine» again WHAT??? Needless to say I was never refunded… On to snacks! I ordered nachos (which were awful) and mozzarella sticks. The asked me to wait a few minutes for mozzarella sticks, and they would call my number! I sat there and wait, Patiently, for 16 MINUTES! 5 – 6 different girls going back and forth never once asked what I was waiting or anything. Finally, I was able to stop a girl, I ask for my sticks and she went to the window asked my number and handed me the sticks, THAT SAT IN THE WINDOW for at least 10 minutes! Never once did i get an apology or offered to remake them, all I was received were pisses off looks, confused looks and rudeness!!! The lady seemed to be appalled that I asked if they were even still warm!!! I will never ever come back!!! Get a staff with a good personality, customer service skills, (even just a little would be nice) and a good attitude!!!

Went here over the weekend with my goddaughters, ages 4 and 2. Saturday nights definitely packed, as expected. But, not enough staff, smelled gross, felt dirty, and a lot of games were broke or out of tickets. I can’t believe how dirty it felt in there. Gross. Will not be back. (Got the Groupon also, btw… so luckily I didn’t pay full price for both wristbands)

My first time going to this place and it was horrible!
There isnt enough people working so they only had 1 person operating all the rides. I had to wait 10 mins just to get on the bumper cars because the opeator was working the roller coaster and its disappointing knowning that they have people behind the prize counter that cant help because they dont know how. I think that all there employees should be crossed trained. And the so called toddler area is so disgustingly gross, the floor mats are so nasty and black. I wouldnt like my toddler crawl around in that area. Very disappointing.

I read the other reviews and almost didn’t go. The other reviewers picked it apart for ridiculous things. It is a little old but it is still decorated cute and the theme is fun! I bought the Groupon and my kids, age 4 and 6 could not have been happier. I also thought the staff was good. They fixed machines when broken and were pleasant. We didn’t eat any food so I can’t comment. The roller coaster was a big hit. My girls won enough tickets to get a goldfish! If you are looking for something fancy that grownups will like, this is not the place. If you want a fun and reasonably priced afternoon for kids ages 3 – 8, this place is great.

Go bananas is the worst place to have a birthday party at. I had my daughters 8^th birthday there and my experience was horrible. They put us in the back of the party room where the light fixtures were blown out, we asked to be moved and they acted like we told them to jump to Mars. As the day got busier and other parties were going on we somehow lost our server. There were 7 – 9 parties going on and 2 servers. Our pizza orders were late and so were the drink pitchers. I took matter into my own hands and was serving my party guest. Running to the food desk for soda pitcher, napkins, cups and utensils. When it was time to clean up, I did that as well. I grabbed the garbage cans and cleared off our tables. I was so sweaty and tired and we hadn’t even played games yet! Horrible experience. I sent an email to the manager but never heard back from them, if you don’t care about customer service then I’ll take my parties and business elsewhere. NEVER AGAIN!!!

The girl at the pizza counter tried to scam us out of $ 10, charging $ 24 for a meal that should have cost $ 14. Even after she was caught doing it, she wouldn’t admit the price was wrong until we got the manager involved. I assume most people aren’t willing to argue with her about it when she repeatedly insists the price is right, so she probably makes a pretty good «wage».

This place is horrible!!! It is dirty, run down and majority of the games don’t work. The carpet is filthy and so is the play areas. It was so bad last night when we visited with our children and nephews. It smells, the customer service is terrible and the lines are way to long for food. The rides need to be cleaned thoroughly and they need to replace all of the carpet. I’ve been to a lot of entertainment venues for children and this one is byfar the worse!!! We went there to have a family outing for my son’s birthday and I regret it. I wish I would have spent my money somewhere else.

It’s been awhile and an update was necessary. It is wise for parents to look over reviews both old and new. My first review was thorough, this time I’ll stick to the necessary bits of information.
Go bananas has always and probably will be a destination I will take wee ones (kids) when they are visiting. There is a ton of fun to be had under one roof. It’s not as glamorous as some of the kids’ entertainment in the burbs’ but it’s just decent enough. The major reason I would continue visiting, is because of its inexpensive usage and the ability for even the smallest child to rack up enough tickets to score some decent swag. But that’s where the thrills end.
The place has progressively gone downhill. It’s dirty, grimy and some areas are smelly. I’ve caught whiffs of dampness which could be mold or perhaps a kid that couldn’t wait, which may have urinated in a remote area of the play-​zones. The carpets are definitely stained from all kinds of spills. (Note: I would never let kids in my company, to crawl or roll on their floors) The carpets could use a good cleaning and the walls, rides and games could use a good steam cleaning or some Clorox bleach. Areas aren’t cleaned quick enough. One could walk through an area and stick to the floor or slip on something. (Well, what’s to be expected when «kids» essentially run this place)
Games are not maintained well enough or to a standard (time to repair), which is unfortunate for the children. But, the employees are nice enough to kids and generally help whenever needed. In some cases, for instance, those that manage the rides, will engage with children. Always a nicety.
IF visiting, definitely check out their website to find deals and coupons. They also have an area to offer light meals and a dining room big enough to handle many smaller groups. Larger private areas are available for rental if planning a bigger shindig.

Horrible and disgusting. I will never have my child’s birthday here again. Save your money and go to Chuck E Cheese. This place is so dirty and run down. The ladies restroom was unsanitary and disgusting. There was a drain on the floor that was open and it looks like it was flooding up or something. Toilet paper and feces was coming out of it. The smell in the restroom was enough to make you vomit. I couldn’t believe they were letting people use the restroom. I complained to the manager and thankfully she closed the restroom and had her employees clean up the mess. But regardless it shouldn’t be the employees job. They need to get a plumber in there fast. I feel like I spent too much money on my child’s birthday for this dump. I will not being going back!

Had my son’s birthday party here this weekend. Great place. Very few places offer a wide range of activities for kids; go bananas has it all. It’s much more entertaining than the local chuckee cheese. Go bananas is an ‘everything in one’ setting; from coaster rides and bumper cars to a nice sized play area for kids of all ages. Kids had a blast. I found the party room to be very spacious and nicely organized.
Contrary to other reviews, I found this place to be very clean (considering the sea of children running around) and well-​kept. Staff was helpful and friendly and followed up to ask about our experience. Overall, a great time was had by our little guests. I can’t help but think the people complaining about the place are the same parents who don’t clean up after their child. You can tell a lot of people come from various neighborhoods way outside of norridge, which speaks volumes about how truly unique and entertaining Go Bananas is!

It’s old and run down. It’s dirty and sticky. Most of the games are just ticket generating machines which I found to be a waste of time. The few games they do have are OK. I think the chuck-​e-​cheese in Skokie as way better games & cleaner. The big climbing area was a hit for my kid & his friend. We didn’t do any rides because 200 tokens and 2 ride bracelets for the 1.5 hours I had wasn’t worth it. The staff was nice & the clientele was fine. It was a Thursday 3 – 5, not crowded.
The kids loved it, of course.

Awful! No adult managers/​supervisors to be found. All employees we found were rude.
Spending my money elsewhere.

Good food and friendly service. we have been coming here for years. Today the let us in to the facility at 11:00 summer hrs only. Good deal to avoid the rain and heat

This place is a hidden gem!!! Great deals on food & tokens… Took the kids and had a blast!!!

We arrived shortly before 12:30, you would expect the interior to be clean, unfortunately this was not the case. The surface of each ride entrance door was sticky. The glass viewing area was horribly smudged.
I bought a Groupon that included food, had I Seen the food beforehand I would have saved my money. Cheap frozen expensive mini pizza. The wait time for service was horrible They are very understaffed and it’s not the employees fault.
If you decide to go here, bring lots of hand sanitizer, Clorox wipes and eat beforehand!

I would have to agree with a majority of the reviews regarding cleanliness and under-​trained and understaffed. I think this place has massive potential if they just sold it to someone who truly cares about their business establishment. First off it is dark in there. I think some bright and colorful lighting will make the atmosphere a little less depressing. Next would be cleanliness and this should be a priority. The play-​place should be sanitized daily as it reeks of concentrated foot and urine odor. and the dining area is abysmal. Also, I shouldn’t have to walk around searching for an employee to start up a ride especially if there are only 3 – 4 rides at most! Every time my kids wanted to get on a ride nobody was there and we would have to flag someone down.
It’s pretty messed up but I cant help that every time I come here I think about the fact that a very young child died in this place! Its pretty obvious that the child died because the safety of children is clearly not a priority here and there is not enough staff to help keep in eye out. I would never allow my child to go to GO Bananas without me that’s how little I trust this establishment with my children s health, safety and well being.