iT'Z Colorado Springs

When we decided to visit iT'Z Colorado Springs, I had high hopes. I'd heard that this was going to be similar to Chuck E. Cheese or Dave 'n' Busters.

After visiting, I'd say that if you have the desire to play games or eat, you should simply save your money and go to Chuck E. Cheese or Dave 'n' Busters. You'll spend less and your experience will be much better.

The first thing that I noticed was that you cannot simply go to iT'Z and play games. You just can't. Even if you already have points on a card, you have to buy a buffet for each person in your group. What if you have people who are on diets or can't eat at buffets? Too bad. Each person has to pay for a buffet. I did not order drinks, but looking at my receipt later (yes, I realize that I should have looked at it immediately), I found that we had been charged for 5 drinks. There's an extra $10 that I didn't expect to spend.

When we first arrived, the staff members were very unhelpful. I've never had a bad experience with employees at a Chuck E. Cheese. They're always more than willing to explain how things work, offer me information on coupons, and to answer questions. The staff at iT'Z was not so helpful. When I didn't want to pay for the buffet + game card combo, they gave me a ton of crap for it and kept explaining that I couldn't just buy a $10 card because it was going to "cost more."

$60 later...

The dining area is set up so that the food/buffet/bar/drinks are in the center at the back of the room. There were also a few different dining rooms. You get your food and drinks from the buffet and then pick a seat in one of the dining rooms. We went on a Saturday and the entire place was packed. It was nearly impossible to get food without tripping over a child. There was no organizational plan to the buffet at all (no lines). Everyone was just grabbing for food.

Given the choice, I won't pay for the food here again. There were several types of pizza, which was nice, but it tasted horrible. It was soggy and greasy. There was also a salad bar, which I was excited about. That is, until I noticed that the vegetables and the eggs were frozen. Yes, frozen. As in, frozen so you couldn't eat them, but they were still at the buffet. This iT'Z did have a bar, but it was unstaffed. There was a sign that said you could find a team member if you wanted a drink, but there were no team members to be found.

If you have older kids, they may enjoy the games at iT'Z.

There are a ton of different games, including arcade games and rides. My 6-year-old loved the selection of games, but it was definitely too much for my smaller son. The "little kid" things were too small for him (including a height limit for the bounce house) and the "big kid" things were too big for him, so it was frustrating for him. The bowling area was fantastic, I thought, and my sons both loved getting to bowl "for real."

That said, there were some problems with the games. Many of the games just didn't give tickets. Some of them ate your tokens. Staff members were nowhere to be found. Seriously. For a Saturday, you'd think there would be extra people working, but there wasn't. When you win tickets (assuming your machine gave you tickets), you could redeem them on some of the small prizes and toys in the prize shop. I liked that this prize shop offered stuffed animals and other cool toys.

If you have little kids, I would avoid iT'Z simply because it's not really kid-friendly. Little kids will get lost in the crowd and unlike Chuck E. Cheese, there is no security system in place to prevent kidnappings. I can't imagine bringing a toddler or preschooler here and letting them walk around. They would get trampled. Older kids (6+) may enjoy the variety of games and the rides. This iT'Z had a couple of different types of rides available, including a mini-roller coaster and bumper cars.