Whirly Ball of Ann Arbor

Came here for a company holiday party.
First off Whirly Ball is a blast! This is a review of the Whirly ball facility.
Bathrooms are not very clean.
There were a few cars that just did not steer well that made playing very difficult.
Very strange rules for setting up etc. having a fridge was nice for drinks.

I live in California and wanted to have a surprise party for my husband with his family in MI. Whirly Ball Ann Arbor was recommended and so I went with it. From the beginning, they never answer their phones and when the woman called me back she was vague and short answered. I still went ahead with the party bc I was told it was a fun place.
It was a disaster in the day of the party. FIRST of all, I was told I could get inside the place to decorate and have food delivered at 12:00 for my 1:00 party. Well, I was there and the caterer were there, but the place was all locked up. I called the 3 phone numbers listed on the website and had to leave message at all three numbers. No call back. Woman finally arrived at 12:40 with no excuse. Then she had TWO parties to tend to at the same time leaving us WAITING to start our games and didn’t keep accurate score as her attention was divided among two separate courts.
I had the room booked from 1 – 3. Another party of people came and crashed our party at 2:40!!! They had the room booked at 3 and were there to decorate for their party!!! But ours was still going on. SO ANNOYING!!!
The facility itself is pretty decent but the way they run it was subpar.
It’s a building divided into 2 sections that are exactly the same: some video games and tables and a glassed in Whirly ball court. Between the sections are the bathrooms and control room.
I would not recommend this place for any important party. If it’s one for some video game/​Whirly ball and maybe a pizza then fine but other than that, it was poorly managed. Not worth the close to $ 500 I had to pay

We have been to the Whirleyball in Orlando before. We were looking for a closer location since we live in Kalamazoo. We had an awesome time. The owner was awesome. She helped the two people with us, who have never played, understand the game. We really enjoyed ourselves. I don’t know if there has been a change in ownership, but the staff here were great. The only tip I would give is you usually are required to have reservations.

I have our employees go to Whirly Ball every year for team building. We love it. Last year we went like we usually do. We were informed that we had to order lunch through them instead of being allowed to bring our own in. The woman that owns the place forgot to order our food. It arrived when we were almost done playing.
Also, because the woman forgot to order our food, she spent 15 min. of our time calling pizza places and wouldn’t let us play. Then the woman was rude to us the whole time we were there. She tried to argue with employees. It was horrible. I would never return there.again.

Whirlyball is a total blast. The venue’s website describes it as «a combination of basketball and jai alai played from electric bumper cars,» which is fairly accurate. It’s not really the type of activity where you can just drop in and play; rather, it’s an organized effort, good for company outings, bachelor/​bachelorette parties, birthday parties, that sort of thing.
The bumper cars make the game more unpredictable and also easier for those of us who aren’t interested in running around a court for an hour. Just don’t hit anyone head-​on; you’ll have bruises from the seatbelt the next day. The steering is a bit tricky at first but can absolutely be mastered with a bit of practice.
The venue will let you bring your own drinks and food; my company likes to have pizza delivered there. They also have arcade games, vending machines, and picnic tables.
The downsides are that you need a decent-​sized group to play (up to 10 people, but if you’re short a few they’ll move cars off the court) and the hourly rental is pretty expensive – I believe around $ 150 the one time I reserved a court for my company, and that was probably two years ago.

I think that *I* was more whirly than the ball by the time I was done! As Toria explains, the game is played in bumper cars with lacrosse-​like «scoops.»
Why was I so whirled-​around? I and some of the other first-​timers found the steering mechanism on the cars pretty darn hard to get used to. But no matter, that actually makes it kinda fun, and you have to have a good time when you’re feeling tremendously goofy and everyone is bumping into each other — on purpose or not!
I went for a friend’s birthday (great occasion for WB), and we were allowed to BYOB/​W, which was a nice extra. Not everyone in the group knew each other, and I think it’s an ideal activity for a group like that. You’re so busy playing that you don’t have time to feel awkward — instant teamwork!
Now, I just need to master the components of the game a bit more. You know, like steering and getting the ball into the dang net!

Whirly ball is, by it’s very definition, really fun. (Bumper cars and sawed off lacrosse sticks, come on!) The place is in an industrial park, and really is just a warehouse divided into a common area, and several whirlyball courts. The common area has some vending machines, tables and video games. During the day it’s more of a family fun thing, and at night you and your friends can BYOB and hang out.
Several things to note:
You need at least 10 people to play (5 each team).
You rent by the hour.
The lady who owns the place was really (to be polite) crabby when we were there. Some people in my group were pretty upset by her demeanor, I just ignored it and focused on my mad whirly ball skills.