YEE: Be a Kid Again – Elite Event at Funtopia in Sender One

Do not let the bright colors and the playful fun blocks sway you. This place may look like it’s for kids, but us Unilocalers had a blast challenging ourselves in the many Funtopia courses that Sender One had to offer. There were times where you found yourself dangling 50 feet in the air wondering how you can safely get down. Close your eyes and take a leap of faith. That was the only way I was able to carry on. After the first jump, it gets easier from there. Promise.
-=-Tower Climb-​=- There’s nothing to hold on to here. Just take a step up and up and up on the dangling blue columns and suddenly you are up so high that your knees start to buckle. Conquering the heights was the first phase, and the next one was to trust your footing on the swaying columns. It doesn’t get more American Ninja than this.
-=-Mid Air Pillar Grab-​=- Not quite a wall climb, but more jumping out from a ledge and grabbing for dear life onto a pillar. My inner Assassin’s Creed came out here. It was a short ride, but unique experience. A full body harness was required but the staff was happy to help you out.
-=-LA Versus OC-​=- 3, 2, 1… GO… Representing the LA Rebels, Katie B would be using the force to take down CM Ryan and the OC Empire. A simple timed wall climb turned into a balls out competition to the top. After a couple hundred wall climbs, the Force and the Dark Side would come to terms and not a limb would be lost.
Thanks to Ryan C for organizing this hypercrazy super active event. I don’t do enough of that as it is so all is welcome. And thanks to Katie B for bringing in that LA vibe.

This event was a blast!
Tons of nice people gathered to have fun.
The walls were a blast, especially the firehouse ladder, smiley face that lights up as you send up the wall, the hardest one had to be the gears that move as you reach up or place your feet onto an unstable position.
I tried the tumbling towers, very fun. The view from the ground seems challenging but once you finish it, you want to do it over and over again.
There was also a glow in the dark room with holds that glow, which was neat but not for the claustrophobic at heart.
I was going to do the human fly trap but it was broken! =[
All and all a great event!
Great staff and friendly people!

This event definitely made me feel like a kid again. So many activities that involves a lot of jumping, climbing, and getting a good workout at the same time!
The first thing I did was go on the Velcro wall jump. Basically I was in a big velcro suit, and I climbed up to to jump on a Velcro wall. It was kind of weird trying to stand with the huge harness on me but once I jumped… ahhh it was weird and fun! The Velcro wall rolls down with your weight. I had so much fun, I did it twice!
The next thing I did was climb up the walls. The first wall I did was the firefighter one where you «save» the building by climbing up and «put out the fire» by pushing each button as you go up lol. They had ladders, which made it hard. I ended up falling terribly lol. After that I did the easier smiley face wall… and I made it to the top! Super fun.
The next thing I did was go on slide where you hold on to a handlebar for your dear life that lifts you up, and you slide down as you let go. I have the worst upper body strength so I wasn’t able to go up as high, but I still was able to enjoy sliding down.
The next thing I did was the tumbling towers… basically they have these steps that get taller and less stable with each step! From the ground, it is very intimidating because of the height. Once I did it, I was surprised how fast I was able to go and ultimately that I was able to reach the top! From there I jumped to the ground using the harness. The tumbling towers was my favorite out of the bunch.
Other activities I didn’t get to try were other climbing walls (some which had timing challenges) and other jumping activities. Overall, I had a blast and also it was a great workout! Thanks to Ryan C for organizing this fun event. It definitely was an enjoyable one and also definitely made me feel like a kid again!

The Good: Ryan we need for active events like this. I’ll be honest when I saw the youtube vid,
, I had my doubts. When you get there and the walls are 30+ feet up, you are in awe of the size (insert that’s what she said joke). Overall, amazing event where I was able to be a kid again. I forgot how much fun climbing, jumping and hanging on things were. If you want to have a good workout without it feeling like one then try this. After I climbed a wall 2 – 3 times I was tired and sweating and wanting to do more.
The Bad: The feeling you get the first time you climb to the top and have to jump down. I might have a fear of trust.
The Ben: Thanks Ryan, Unilocal and Sender One for a great evening of fun and sweat. If you are thinking about rock climbing but don’t know if you do it, try this out. It’s like a rock climbing 101.

Crazy fun event. I was a lil worried and had no idea what to expect. I wasn’t smart enough to check YouTube to learn about it.
Wall climbing and exercise, fitness, sweat and smiles was great.
The employees and staff were great with enthusiasm, smiles and courtesy. For being a fitness type center, that was a relief.
The «play area» was clean, spacious, fun and safe.
It was fun and cool to encourage others to try a challenge or just to participate. This could be a fun event to plan with friends for a birthday party.
Ryan was of course a great host and had healthy snacks and water for us. Love the elite knee high Socks! After the first hour I needed some refueling.
I’d recommend this center to anyone looking for something new or to challenge themselves. I know I surprised myself with the climbing I did.

I did go through a minor Funtopia withdrawal the next day with a side of sore arms. I would LOVE to come back and do this again with a group of friends (or with my coworkers)!!! Do they allow «kids» like me and my bf in Funtopia or is it kids only?
Some of my photos look like I was in a Japanese game show.
Why this place is so awesome:
1. Several unique walls to climb. My favorite one is the one that I raced against another climber. It’s so challenging and a great workout.
2. Human bowling ball. You dangle from a bar that pulls you pretty high off the ground. When you let go, you slide down into the inflated pins.
3. Velcro Jump. You wear a special uniform and jump into the velcro wall.
4. Jump grab station. You leap of from a high place and grab onto the punching bag or the handle bar.
5. Tower Climbing. You climb up each pillar and it gets higher and higher. When you’re done, you jump off (attached to a harness, of course)…it was pretty damn high.
This place is also great for kids. We watched a video about safety, the staff is attentive when you need help with your harness, everything looks clean, etc.
Watching Ryan and Katie B. racing up the wall was super intense. Time flew when I was here. Thanks so much Ryan and SenderOne!!! It was so much fun!

thanks ryan, for a chance to role play spider woman and spider monkey at funtopia! funtopia was too fun for words :)
i had a quick glimpse of the funtopia area during the Unilocal elite yoga event and was immediately drawn to the colorful and interactive walls. so glad i got a chance to try out funtopia because it was seriously a blast :)
why funtopia is funtastically awesome:
1) fun for all ages: as long as you weigh 40 lbs you can enjoy 1.25 hrs of fun at funtopia :).
2) safe: we were not required to wear helmets on the walls but i assume you might have to if you’re under a certain age? you spend 15 minutes going through a safety video on how to operate all the equipments. there will always be a funtopia staff nearby to help :) i cant imagine being a kid and working the carabiner themselves, it’s probably the most difficult part about climbing :(at no point in time did i feel unsafe on funtopia premise.
3) not intimidating: i think funtopia is a great intro to rock climbing. not all walls were with holds, i found that the walls without holds are definitely much easier, but it still gives a great workout. plus the onbelay system kinda helps tug you up a bit, and you don’t need a belay partner.
4) gravity defying: there were the jump grab stations that challenges you to leap and hold onto a punching bag /​trapeze bar. it was definitely intimidating, but it’s so rewarding to know you can defy gravity and conquer the fear of heights.
5) interactive: so many walls, so many games. there’s the speed racer wall that you can challenge another climber, human bowling, black light tower, putting lights out, spinning holds on gears, the possibilities are endless.
such a great workout :) my biceps got such a great workout, so did my whole entire back! surprisingly my legs are ok, but i think my yoga practice helped.
i am now thoroughly convinced by senderone and can’t wait to get a day pass and try out the big kids walls! i am definitely keeping this place in mind for birthdays/​team-​building events :)

«When he worked, he really worked. But when he played, he really PLAYED.» — Dr. Seuss
I have been to some pretty darn fun YEE’s. I’m smashed my own burgers, bottled my own booze, and even taken on a very ridiculous obstacle challenge! But I gotta say, indoor rock climbing at Sender One’s Funtopia pretty much takes the cake!
We climbed the night away and took on crazy fun walls and obstacles such as:
ASSORTED THEMED WALLS:
THIS CRAZY CRANE JUMP THING: Yes, that would be our illustrious Ryan C. after he did in fact reach the trapeze bar before letting go…
HUMAN BOWLING BALL WALL:
INSANE TREMBLING TOWERS:
There was also a wall where you put on a Velcro suit, jump to it, and quite literally stick ’til they roll you down… an incredible wall that had a «random» feature that elevated and flattened the grips on the wall (scary watching people do that one!)… and a black-​light climbing tunnel. Cathy N. and Angela K. quite literally saw me fall out of that one. So funny!
Oh and here’s me. But look to my right. That climb has gears on it that move. THEY MOVE! Can you just imagine the difficulty?
I didn’t even attempt it. Kevin N. did, however. He beat it… or did he? LOL:
(yes, he beat it, for the record)
Here’s Cathy N. showing the mouse maze wall who’s boss:
I really want to thank Ryan C. and the team over at Sender One for giving us such a fun and exiting evening! I will most definitely be back!

Going into this event, I had no idea what to expect. I didn’t know if I was going to be flying through the air or jumping off ledges or free falling into ball pits. I was nervous, my palms were sweaty, moms spaghetti…
It was an room full of climbing and jumping. All the walls looked liked a blast and I had a good sweaty time.
I temporarily disabled my extreme fear of heights for 2 hours and climbed everything in sight. Raced against myself with the timer. Double-​fisted juice boxes like the Kindergarten playground champ. It was an extended recess for me and all the Unilocal kids there.
At the end of the day, I was an aging old man with sore forearms and blisters on my hands. But it was all worth it. The staff was awesome and very helpful! Thanks to Ryan and Sender One for an incredibly good time. It was good seeing Katie B. there too.

I will admit it to you all right here and now, I am super duper freaked out scared of heights! However, for some reason this event looked like it would be fun and a good excuse to not go to the gym!
The video was helpful that was on the YEE page and got me pumped and excited. As the video was playing I kept saying to myself «I want to try that and oh that looks kind of rad».
Parking is somewhat tricky as we parked away from the complex, walking in we were greeted by the friendly stuff at the desk. After telling them, we were here for the Unilocal event we were directed to where we needed to go.
The building was clean and fresh smelling (just what I like in a gym); the meeting room was a little bit cramped but that okay! Said hello to the ever so happy Ryan C (SMILES and HUGS) and was super surprised to see Katie B (woo hoo it has been 2 years since I last saw her). Plenty of yummy looking snacks, ice-​cold waters, and box juices (hooray) were set up around the room for us to enjoy throughout the night.
One of the staff members gave us our belts and asked if we knew how to put them on, err I am a noob so I had to have him show me! First time ever putting on a harness I managed to get one of the legs tangled! Finally, I was able to lock and load, I was ready to take on any of the challenges of the night!
After a short instruction video of do and don’ts, we were taken out onto the playground and shown how to put on an auto belay correctly when climbing.
Now the fun really begins, everyone scattered about the area to start his or her adventures. As for me, I enjoyed taking photos and watching the boyfriend climb. Thanks Ryan C for making me not feel so lame for not wanting to join in the fun right away!
After while I was ready to take on my first challenge, boyfriend and I decided that we were going to do the building blocks challenge. Oh, wow that auto belay does take some getting use too! We had fun making up crazy stairs to climb up on. It was a great way for me to get use to how it felt to jump off and know I was not going to fall flat on my face!
The firehouse wall looked easy from the ground looking up, but climbing it was a very different story. I was hoping to make it to the middle but jumped off before the second set ladder. Gripping this wall was also hard too. Repelling down was fun; I just had to put all my trust in my auto belay and my belt.
The smiley face wall was a lot easier, better grip and I could climb up a little higher too.
I left somewhat sore and happy that I challenged myself to do something that I might have not ever done!
Thank you Ryan C and SenderOne for hosting this amazing, rad, crazy, fun Monday night of awesomeness!

This was my first YEE and it is really setting the bar high (no pun intended).
Physically challenging? Yes… especially the sliding wall.
Confidence building? Absolutely… my stomach had a field day especially jumping off the ledge to grab the hot dog looking tube.
Mentally challenging? «I think I can! I think I can!» (from the Little Engine that Could kept running through my mind) especially walking up the trembling tower.
Pure fun? DOUBLE YES!!!
Thanks Ryan and Sender One for reminding me how much fun it is to be like a kid… overcoming challenges, feeling victorious and having fun along the way.

What a GREAT time! I had no idea what to expect for this event, since I hadn’t researched the venue prior to my arrival. But low and behold, here was a friendly and helpful staff, ready to help us climb this gigantic walls and structures of fun!
I really did feel like a kid again, running from one structure to the next, trying to figure out which one would be most fun and challenging. It appeared that lots of us overcame some fears as well! Bravo to everyone!
My favorite climb would have to be the the towering series of posts near the center of the room. The view from the bottom is so intimidating, but gets better and better as you make your way up.
Ryan and Katie were FIERCE with their race up the «Booby Trap» walls. Kudos for all that hard work!
The staff were extremely accommodating, and amazingly helpful. I already have tons of friends asking, «OMG, where did you go? That looks like so much fun!», after I posted some pictures on Unilocal and Facebook. I’ll definitely pass the word on about this awesome gem of place, and may or may not be contemplating my 30^th birthday celebration here next year… hmmm…

This was the best YE event since we took over the Uva Bar in Downtown Disney. Funtopia is… fun! I belong to the main gym Sender One, and am in there rock climbing at least 4 days a week. I am not afraid of heights. So this was a total blast. I leaped off the platforms to both the big bag and the grab bar, and then did the bag grab again with my eyes closed. The trembling stairs are challenging, and the big drop is a lot of fun. The Velcro suit leap was definitely a must do. The leaps are an extra charge, but well worth it.
As far as the climbing goes, there were actually some challenging climbs. The wall with the gears can be very tough, especially if you try it using only the holds on the gears. The climb is the dark is also fun, do it with the lights out.

This was such a fun way to conquer our fear of heights! I had been DYING to come here, I’m so happy it was a YE event. Thanks so much to Ryan and Sender One for letting us take over Funtopia for a few hours.
Who knew it could be such a workout?! I was a little nervous at first, but once you do a couple climbs, you feel like you can jump off the grand canyon.
The staff was incredibly nice and encouraging; they were rooting for us all along the way. So much fun!

I’ve never had so much fun with a group of strangers. It was amazing. I’ve never gone rock climbing before– well not anything that I can count as rock climbing and I was terrified of the auto belay. but after the 2^nd climb and 15 minutes breaks in between to re-​cooperate my shaking arms and legs. it got to be much easier to fall. Fun even…
1 ½ hours sounds really short but when you’re there, it’s not short. It’s long. Your arms are tired. But Unilocalers are amazing. They really cheer you on and hope you succeed! I met so many great people who pushed me to walk the trembling tower (which btw is SO scary that I think the easiest part was jumping off hahaha)
Thanks Ryan C. for giving me the Unilocal socks even though I didn’t check in (sometimes I feel there’s a bias against people without smartphones =(!!) I did promise to check in afterwards and write a review so I feel I have officially earned my socks! ^_​_​_​^
I would definitely come here again. Funtopia is F-​U-​N. Better believe it! =D
If I can do it– you can do it cause I’m definitely a chicken and I survived and LOVED IT! yayyyy

«Fear is a choice»… crappy movie but great quote.
Shout out to Ryan and Sender One for hooking us up with a playground full of adrenaline! Nothing starts a week off better than climbing, jumping off of 3 story pillars, and using yourself as a human bowling ball!
It was great running into Katie B, Minh, Kathy, Karen, Ingrid, Hanae, Ben, and many more!
As for the obstacle courses themselves, I loved all of the climbs. The super challenging one was the wall where the levers would randomly speed up and just disappear. Additionally, Karen went all beastly and went on the gear course using only the gears. As a man, I refused to let her win. Unfortunately, I had to revoke my dude car because I couldn’t complete the gears only challenge.
Other fun obstacles include the super high pillars, jumping from a tower onto a handle bar and just plain old climbing. The staff was fun and all of the other Unilocalers were cheering each other on. Overall, great spirit Unilocal!
Overall, another great event from Unilocal.As an adrenaline junky, I just want to go out and just Chuck Norris a mountain!

Props to Ryan and Sender One for the best event ever!!! I was having a terrible day at work but after this event, I couldn’t stop smiling and laughing! It feels amazing to overcome your fear of heights!!!
I tried every challenge except for the velcro and slide. I first tried the most terrifying challenge, the trembling towers! It is a giant stair up where you jump at the top. It didn’t seem that difficult until I stepped higher and higher. My legs were shaking and I looked down (bad idea!). I finally jumped and screamed my fears away! Feeling super accomplished, I decided to tackle the glow-​in-​the-​dark climb which was spooky and fun! Then I decided to conquer the clockwork challenge of spinning wheels to the top! Afterwards, I breezed through the ladder, letter, and happy face/​shape climb.
The spiderman climb was pretty difficult! My palms were sweating the entire time but I somehow managed to reach the top! Then I raced another Unilocaler on a climb and we tied! With all this adrenaline rushing through me, I breezed through the mouse maze and ended up jumping and barely grasping the orange pillar! After 2 hours of madness, my hands were all blistered up and my forearms destroyed. What a great workout this was!
It was great running into new Unilocalers (Felicia) and familiar Unilocalers! Skip Disneyland, I am telling all of my friends to check this place out! I can’t wait to return to finish all of the challenges! WOOT!

True to it’s name it was a «FUN» night.
(Disclaimer: As I’m typing this review, my fingers can barely move… the palms of my hands are screaming stop and the burn in my upper arms! just wait till tomorrow, right? ;))
It was such an encouraging event. All who attended were there to climb and not pig-​out! haha. So, I felt like we had similar goals to conquer the various obstacles in front of us. We were cheering for each other. We were encouraging one another with words like, «You can do it!» and «You’re awesome!»
Even when I was afraid to come down from the top, I knew that the people watching me and/​or the person who’s climbing next to me, were cheering me on and wanted me to finish well. Thanks all for the camaraderie!
So a 411 about the different walls that they offer. (*Note, this is only «half of» or «one side of» the Sender One building. On the other side next door, there’s a full-​blown, non-​auto belay wall, boulders, some gym equipments, and yoga studio)
1) Sad to Happy Face Wall: As you work your way up, the sad face gradually changes into a full, happy face that lights up as you touch each face along the way.
2) Put out the Fire: About 5 windows our on fire, so as you climb up, you touch the windows and it’ll «put out the fire»
3) Letter «Funtopia» vertical style
4) Turning gears: the gears turn 360, so you also have to work on your balance as you climb.
5) Glow in the dark: Climb in the dark with glowing circles
6) Spiderman wall: Climb up a «brick» wall with steps along the way
7) Race against time: You could also challenge yourself with randomly disappearing steps. Yikes!
8) Mouse Trap: Move the mouse and into the hole as you work your way through the «maze»
9) Jump off: After you climb up the ladder, you have to jump off and either 1) Hug a large punching bag or 2) Hang on a bar… then release.
10) Velcro wall: Wear a full-​body velcro suit, jump, and pray that you «stick» to the wall. Hilarious to watch!
11) Stair climbing with no hands: Step up to each tower, and once you reach the top pillar, the «leap of faith» is before you.
12) Free Fall Bowling: Hang on tight on a bar, be pulled up (there are 3 levels: low-​med-​high), and let go to knock out the blow-​up bowling pins.
13) Stack up boxes as you climb.
Thank you Ryan C. for putting this event on, and it was nice to meet Katie B. (LACM)! Thank you Sender One staff for being patient with us and cheering us on as well. Thank you Unilocal Elites, you’re the best! :)