Any other title

Party Information Q & A

We know how stressful booking a party can be and we hope to answer all your questions before you book your party with us.  Below are a collection of questions other parents have asked in the hope this can be of help to future parents booking their parties with us.

Do the children play on their own as a group or are they playing against others?

With the exception of the Exclusive use option, your group will likely to be playing against others.  We have 80 gaming guns at  Lasergaming Oxford, and it is very likely that most of these guns will be being used during each session and teams play against others. We normally have 2 – 4 parties running at the same time so unless your booking is for Exclusive use then there it is very likely there will always be another group playing at the same time. These groups are all different sizes but will match the age range you have booked into so will compliment each other.  It is important that the games and missions are suitable for the age of players in the party so we group parties in age ranges to ensure the best possible player experience. We NEVER book children with adults or book young children with older children.

Your group will stay together as a party regardless of how many players you have and your child will lead their team.  We NEVER split children up and put them with other parties, you stay with the group you came with.  Sometimes in games we will pair and combine parties up but nobody is asked to leave the party they came with.  There may be occasions where you are the only group booked in, if this happens then your team will be split into 2 and will battle each other. If your booking is for 25 players or more you will have exclusive use of the Battlefield for your group and there will be no other groups playing.

How is the 2hr session spent?

At your party start time, you will be escorted up to the woodland by our Marshall’s, we will collect all your player consent forms in and check them for medical conditions etc.  The players will begin their 30 Minute safety briefing and Kit up and will be kitted out in either Army Flaks or Army shirts depending on the weather.  These are used for Team Id, and allow players to wear their normal clothes underneath and in the hot summer months, long t-shirts and in the winter months their waterproofs underneath.  They will then go for weapon selection, we have 8 different gaming guns, ranging in weight and features.  As soon as everyone is ready we will enter the battlefield for Mission Briefing.

After the first missions are completed the next missions will begin and this awesome game play continues until the last 15 minutes of the session, where they will return to de-kit.  Don’t worry just before they de-kit we will group everyone together for Team photographs near the helicopter or the APC.

Once the team has de-kitted and the final debrief completed, we will hand the group back over to you to take to the shelter.

If you have purchased food from the Forest Cafe then you will have reserved seating for the last 15 minutes of your party, if not then there is plenty of other unreserved seating around for you to enjoy your own food you have brought along.

We ask parties to ensure they take all their rubbish home and leave the shelters and picnic benches as they have found them, ready for the next group.  If you have purchased food from us, We allow 15 minutes shelter time to ensure a smooth changeover between parties.  If you would like to have a slightly longer food time, we have a seated spectators area near the high ropes course that you could move your group to if you wish.

What food options are there?

When booking your party you can now pre-order a 1/4lb beef burger or Veggie Burger for an additional £2.50 per player.  There is a small charge for Tea and Coffee.  From March 2016 we will be offering Wood fired Pizzas made in our authentic Italian pizza oven! as well as lots of other freshly cooked snacks.

Do you need a disclaimer or consent form to play?

Yes, all players must have a signed player consent form to play.  Under 18’s signed by their parents, over 18’s by themselves.  NO FORM – NO PLAY.  These should have been issued with the invite for the party. If your guests highlight a medical condition, they must provide details before the day, for example, if they have ticked back injury, they must provide details on the nature of the injury, how long ago etc.  In order to play Lasergaming all players must be able to safely negotiate their way around our woodland and gaming zones and be able to hold their gaming gun unassisted throughout the duration of the gaming.  They must be free from serious injury.  In the event a medical condition or injury prevents this then we may need to check suitability of the activity.  Please call us on 01865 410074 so we can advise on this.

With good preparation and management of the session, it is not very often players can not take part, it is better to call us and check beforehand if there is anything you are unsure about so we can make preparations for that particular player, conduct the necessary risk assessments and check suitability in line with our company policies rather than them turn up on the day, and they can not take part due lack of time for preparation for medical conditions and injuries. If a child ticks the Asthma Box, they must have a inhaler with them to take part. We can not allow players to take part without their medication to treat them in the event it is needed.

Please note we can not allow players with broken bones in casts to take part.

What ages can you take from?

We can take bookings for children celebrating 9th, 10th, 11th etc birthdays and can take guests from the age of 8 to adult, we DO NOT allow under 8’s to play, with the exception of exclusive use.

If your child is celebrating an 8th Birthday, the only option available to book is Exclusive use, please do not book a party for 9th birthdays onwards.  7 year olds are only allowed to participate in a exclusive use party if they are a minimum size of 122cm and can use a laser gun unaided in a woodland environment.  For players celebrating their 8 1/2th birthday or whom are the last in the year to be 8, the requirement for Health & Safety and our Insurance is still Exclusive use.

It is only when they are celebrating a 9th birthday that they can be mixed in our general public sessions. Please note we also can not cater for young siblings under 7 under any circumstances, so that means no 5 or 6 year olds even if they are tall for their age!

What Food is included?

Food isn’t included in the party package price but is available to purchase for an additional cost.  Food selection can be purchased at the time of booking.  Parents are welcome to bring any other food they wish including a birthday cake BUT we ask that all rubbish is taken home and not left at the site.

What about vegetarians?

If you have ordered food in addition to your party package we can provide a vegetarian option on the day, providing that it is noted on the players consent form that has been handed in. If a player has a nut allergy or any other dietary requirements, sadly at this time we can not accommodate this.  We would recommend they either bring along a snack or lunch or they provide us with a cooked burger from home wrapped in tin foil so we can heat this up on the BBQ without any chance of cross contamination and serve to the player.  We also recommend that the burger roll is places in a sealed bag, both with the players name on so it is easily identifiable.

How many adults can we have?

2 adults or 2 Players out of the age ranges listed above can attend as part of your total party numbers, for example, If you have booked for 10 players for a 9th birthday, and Dad and 13yr old brother Billy want to join in as part of the 10, that is no problem.  We could not allow however, Billy, Dad, Mum, Billy’s mate and then 6 x 9 yr olds.  If you have any queries about the ages of your players, please contact us on 01865 822305.  Exclusive use does not have restrictions on numbers of parents and siblings that can be included in your party numbers.  Please note adults and players out of the age range are included in your total number of players booked, for example, 10, 15, 20 etc.  They are not in addition to your players already booked.

Is there a minimum height restriction for players?

Yes, for Health and safety, all players must be at least 122cm tall, and be able to hold a lasergaming gun unassisted in a woodland environment and throughout the gaming zones for the duration of the party.  All players must be free from serious injury.

Do you supply invites?

yes they are on the After you have booked your Party page, each player will need to have the front page of the invite, the back page of the invite and the player consent form for under 18’s and if over 18 – the adult disclaimer.  We recommend that you staple these together so it is easier on the day for parents to bring the directions and the consent form attached together.  Please note NO FORM – NO PLAY.  If your guests highlight a medical condition, they must provide details, for example, if they have ticked back injury, they must provide details on the nature of the injury, how long ago etc to us prior to the session taking place. If a child ticks the Asthma Box, they must have a inhaler with them to take part.  We can not allow players to take part without their medication to treat them in the event it is needed.

Can parents enter the zones?

No, for health and safety, all non-players must stay in the birthday area, players only in the zones.  there are areas in the shelter area that you can see the party and gaming, but we would ask that you do not distract the players whilst games are taking place or cross the fencing area to access the zones.

What if it rains?

With the great british weather, we are a wet weather activity,  we run all year, that’s sun, rain, sleet and snow!  Our gaming guns are weatherproof and so are the staff!  We recommend suitable layered clothing for the weather, and suitable footwear.  Please see our terms and conditions of booking regarding weather.

Can I Book a party during the week?

All our Birthday parties take place on a weekend, however we do take Group bookings in the week days and evenings, Non exclusive, Minimum charge for 15 players applies even if you have less, please see the group page for more information and to book please call us on 01865 410074

How do you book?

Our Online booking system allows you to check availability and book online 24 hours a day, making it more convenient to parents.  please click the link at the bottom of this page.  If you would prefer to call us to discuss you requirements please call us on 01865 410074.  If you would like to send an email, please email lasergaming@oxfordadventurepark.com   Please note it may not always be possible to answer your call straight away but we aim to call you back the same day during office hours

• Selecting your session.

To ensure we run the best parties we can, we group the children in 3 separate age groups, Those children who are celebrating a 9th, 10th and 11th Birthday play together and those children who are celebrating a 12th, 13th and 14th Birthday play together and exclusive use parties for 8th Birthdays only. We can allow a maximum of 2 Adults in each of our Junior Parties, or 2 players outside of the age range of the group. On our online booking system there is 3 options, please select the correct age range you require.

• Enquire about potential party dates and availability

You can check potential dates online 24hrs a day, please click the link at the bottom of the page.

• Provisional booking

We no longer offer the facility to provisionally book parties as all our sessions are online and are checked in real time.

• Making a booking

When you make your booking, you will need to know how many players you are booking for, minimum x 10 up to 50.  How many guns you secure with a deposit at the time of booking is how many guns you will have on the day.  If you book for 10 for example, and only 8 people turn up on the day, you will still be charged in full for the amount of players you have booked for.  We can not accommodate extra players if you over invite, please see our inviting people section.  The deposit required to secure the booking is 50% of total players booked.  You can choose to either pay 50% or the whole amount on booking.  If you have selected 50% deposit and 50% remaining balance, the balance automatically will be taken automatically 3 days before the booking. The online booking system will indicate the date of this payment once you book.  We accept most major credit and debit cards.  Deposits are non-refundable, but are transferable to another date up to one month before your booking.  *Please note there is an additional  2.5% charge should you wish to pay by credit card.  There is not a charge for debit cards. Please follow the steps online and fill in all the information required on our booking system, including name and ages of birthday children.  Follow the instructions online and complete your purchase.  If you press the back button at any time, you may loose your information and have to restart the booking again.

• Booking Terms and Conditions

Please read our Booking Terms and Conditions Here, all bookings are made on the acceptance and agreement of these terms and conditions prior to booking your session with us.  Please print out a copy of these for your records.

• Is there a charge if I pay be Credit card?

  Yes, if you choose to pay by credit card there will be an additional 2.5% charge to cover the costs we incur to process that payment method.  There is no charge for debit cards.  With increasing costs for merchant services and card processing for credit cards, we decided against increasing all of our prices by a further 2.5% to accommodate credit card charges as 90% of our customers pay by debit card, and therefore decided to only add the additional 2.5% to credit cards to the 10% of customers who wish to pay by this method.  Please note if debit card is selected and then payment is made by credit card, there will be a £5.00 admin fee to cover the cost of this being manually changed to the correct card.

• After you have booked

Once you have booked your session with us, you will receive your confirmation of booking via e-mail.  There will be a pdf attachment called booking pack  This will have important information on that you will need to read regarding your party.  The email will confirm how many players you have booked for, the time and date of your party, the amount of deposit you have paid and the remaining balance that is due, when it is due or if you have paid in full.  If you have chosen the 50% deposit option, the remaining 50% will be taken automatically off the same card as the deposit, 3 days before the session on the dates specified.  You will also receive a receipt from paypoint for your card transaction.

• I have had a party with you before, Do I still get a free place in addition to the numbers booked?

  Yes, we like to reward our returning customers! when you are booking, you can fill in the information on the last party you had with us with an approximate date and we will verify the info from our database.  Once you have read your booking information pack, please email us your details and once we have checked we will confirm an extra place has been added for you free of charge in addition to the numbers booked.  Please note this is limited to 1 free place per party and is in addition to the numbers booked.  You also must have personally booked the party with us before in your name, unfortunately the offer is not valid whereby you have shared a party and a friend has made the booking and paid directly.

• Inviting people

Your confirmation of booking will direct you to download your party invites, directions and player consent forms from our website for each player.  Players that are aged under 18 years old are required to have a parental consent form signed by their parents in order for them to play on the day.  No Form – No play.  Over 18’s need to sign their own forms.  We recommend you print of the invite, directions and correct consent form for each player, staple them together and issue these as invitations to your guests.  They need to either hand the consent form back to the birthday mum/dad prior to the party, or bring it along with them on the day. PLEASE NOTE – We recommend that you do not send out more invites than you have guns booked.  With some alternative parties, parents will send out 15 invites in the hope of getting 10 “yes’s”.  With Lasergaming parties, we do NOT recommend this, our parties are very popular, and most children will change their plans to attend. In the past there have been incidents where mums have over invited, more people responded with a yes, than they had guns booked, all our guns were booked out, so the poor mum had to let down children after they had been invited by telling them now they couldn’t come. This can be avoided by not over inviting!  Please start by sending out the same amount of invites as you have guns booked, and then as people let you know if they can make it or not, then send out others if need be.   Once you have invited your guests and people start accepting their invitations, some parents will inform you of information specific to their child, for example, they are vegetarian, they are allergic to wasp stings, they have had a broken arm in the past 6 weeks, they have a nut allergy etc.  If you are unsure how this will affect your party, please do not hesitate to contact us to discuss.  In most cases, with good preparation and prior knowledge before the party day, by our staff team, players can still attend.  For more info on this, please read our FAQ section.

• Remaining Balance (Only if chosen 50% deposit option)

The remaining balance for the party will automatically be taken off the same card as the deposit 3 days before the party.  We do not require you to call us to do this.  In the event there is a problem with the payment method we will call you.  If you have had a new card issued you will need to call us to change the details over at least 7 days before the party.

• On the day

So you booked your party, sent your invites out and now its party day! On your invites it would have asked your guests to arrive 10 minutes before the party start time.  We recommend birthday parents arrive 15 minutes before their party start time, but no earlier.   As your guests are arriving, please collect in their player consent forms as they need these to play.  Anyone who has forgot theirs, please ask them to fill in a spare one.  Please gather your group together in the car park.  We will come down and meet the groups and collect all forms form the party parents 5 minutes before the party start time.  Please note, children are very excited at this stage and it is very important that they are well supervised by their parents or the birthday parents whilst in the car park before we take them up to the Laserzones.   Once we have all groups ready, we will walk the groups up to the woodland and into the briefing zone.  Birthday parents and other guests can either wait in our party shelter area, or take a seat in the picnic area on site.  For health and safety reasons and child protection reasons, players only are allowed into the laser zones.   The groups will now be briefed and weapons issued.  They will begin the gaming and will not return until 15 minutes before the end of the party time.  We will return your group to the birthday shelter area for pictures, and officially hand the children back over to you. Each player will be given a 1/4lb burger and there will be squash underneath your shelter.  We would ask parents to ensure that the children at this time are fully supervised, they do not climb any trees or structures and remain in the birthday area.  Parents who have brought along a cake will usually do their birthday celebrations at this time, and we ask that all rubbish is taken off site with you, when your group departs. We allow 15 minutes for food and drink at the end of the session.  It has been our experience over the years that any longer than this, and the children once they have eaten and had refreshments start to get a bit restless which can be a problem for the birthday parents to try and control and keep the children safe until they are picked up by their parents. Please note we upload any pictures to Facebook on Monday’s and Fridays only.  www.facebook.com/lasergamingoxford We hope you have a great day with us, and we love to hear the parents and Birthday children’s feedback after their parties, and are always looking to improve our services.  If you have any comments or feedback you wish to share,  or any photos of players, cakes etc, please e-mail us at lasergaming@oxfordadventurepark.com

• Do you do adult events?

Yes we do, check out our latest video below