How to Celebrate a Weekday Birthday in Dallas for Tweens, Teens, and Families

I love to celebrate birthdays.  Of course, there are always years when my family members have birthdays that fall on a weekday during the school year and we want to celebrate without throwing off their schedules. In today's post, I'll share a fun way to celebrate weekday birthdays in less than two hours while also creating happy memories by visiting The Escape Game in Dallas! While this is a great way to celebrate everyone's birthdays, it's particularly fantastic for tweens and teens who have aged out of birthday parties with bounce houses, petting zoos, or younger themed activities. This trendy attraction has a time limit that makes the game fun as you race against the clock. This has the added benefit that the fun is packed into a short duration that fits a school night without any worries of staying up too late.  Let me share an overview.

Those of us in the Dallas metro are able to hop over to The Escape Game in Dallas for quick and memorable birthday activity. It's located inside of Grapevine Mills Mall which is approximately 10 minutes from the DFW International Airport.  The Escape Game also has locations in Atlanta, Austin, Chicago, Cincinnati, Houston, Jacksonville, Minneapolis, Nashville, New Orleans, Orlando, and Pigeon Ford. They have plans for upcoming locations in Boston, Cleveland, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, New Jersey, New York City, Philadelphia, Salt Lake City, and San Francisco.

Here is a quick overview from The Escape Game's blog:

An Escape Room is a 60-minute real-life adventure game. You and your team will assemble in a themed room and will have one hour to complete your mission and “escape” the room. A successful escape will require you to find hidden clues and solve challenging puzzles throughout the room. So take a look underneath the rug or sift through the books on the shelves, and take a closer look at all those paintings on the wall. You may find a string of numbers you need for a combination lock or a good old-fashioned key for a padlock. Everywhere you look is a potential clue to get out of an escape room or riddle waiting to be solved. But hurry, the clock starts ticking the moment you enter the escape room! (Visit here for their full description.)

As I mentioned earlier, the Escape Game in Dallas is a fun attraction for families, team building, and birthday celebrations. Personally, my tween and his friends celebrated his birthday in the Gold Rush Room. I will try to provide an overview without spoiling too many surprises. 

The Gold Rush room is meant for 2 to 8 players for one hour. The difficulty rating is 7/10. We were able to successfully complete it within the one hour time limit, but it was definitely close and required us to put dozens of clues together in order to unlock many locks until the very end.  

Here is the quick overview of the room's theme:

"For nearly two centuries, the hope of gold has lured people to the hills of Northern California. No one was captivated more than Clyde Hamilton, a greedy gold prospector who loved to gamble. Clyde made too many bets with the wrong crowd and now he’s missing. You’ve been tipped off to where he stashed his gold.. but so has the mob."Find it first!"

Here is a quick video:

Our son and his friends shared lanterns in the first part of the room. It was a bit eery as we felt like we were outside in the woods while we tried to solve clues to allow us to enter the hunting cabin.  I won't spoil any of the clues or answers, but their adrenaline rushed as they raced the clock in the dimly lit outdoor environment that felt authentic.  

We eventually solved clues to enter the cabin.  It was nice that the room had many clues and opportunities to unlock various things because everyone in our party was able to contribute and feel the excitement of putting clues together to open different locks.  Everyone felt good about the teamwork and ability to share the experience.  It was also nice that we found many opportunities to celebrate the birthday boy by figuring out clues together as a team, but then handing keys to him to unlock some of the different boxes since it was his special day.  

In the end, the children raved about his birthday celebration at The Escape Game!  They've been talking about it all week and many of the children in my son's class want to have their birthday parties at The Escape Game too.   

On my end, as a parent, I have to say that I love The Escape Game for tween birthday parties.  It was easy to reserve a room and the entertainment flowed naturally.  It didn't require much work on my end and it was very inclusive of everyone since they worked as a team.  There was no tween or teen social awkwardness. They were busy racing the clock to escape and were upbeat and positive as they worked together. 

My son and his friends had a great time.  As parents, it was fun to join them for the experience too.  Our children bond at school and on sports teams, so they know each other well, but it was fun for us to get to know them better through team work in the escape room.

Finally, the children raved about the party and their parents told me that they plan to visit The Escape Game with their families soon.  It's such a fun way to bond with tweens and teens!

Learn More
Visit the Escape Game Dallas on the web, Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. The Escape Game Dallas has several other rooms that vary in difficulty, including: Prison Break, The Playground, and The Heist.  I'm sure that all of the rooms are fantastic, but I am able to say with certainty that The Playground is also amazing since we tried that room too. Read about our visit to The Playground here.