Colorado Get Out Pass Reviews
When I first saw the Facebook advertisement for the Get Out Pass, I immediately went to Google to ask if this pass was legit. I mean, all these places, for free? Usually if it’s too good to be true, it is. So color me surprised when I took the leap and asked for it for Mother’s Day. At a ridiculously affordable rate, the Get Out Pass is my new favorite thing.
Is It Real?
First and foremost, I am happy to report that the Get Out Pass is real. It is a legitimate pass that you download onto your smart phone as an app. You can browse all the venues, and when you want to go to one, you show up at the venue, select the pass option, and have the venue accept it. A lot of places I have gone are still getting used to the pass, so be prepared to let them read the parameters if they need to.
My experience is specifically tied to Colorado, so I can’t speak to any of the other states. Below I have a breakdown of How to Use It, a coupon for you (that’s right, regardless of what sale they have going on, using my coupon will get you the lowest price available!), and a Venue Review. I included the Venue Review because there are a bunch of places on the pass that I had never heard of. As I visit more, I will add them here for you as well.
How to Use It
Using the Colorado Get Out Pass is as easy as having a smart phone. This walk through will get you set up with the Pass so you can feel confident walking into your first venue (because trust me, you do not want to waste your Elitch Gardens pass by panic buying too early).
Step 1: Sign Up
After selecting your plan you will go to a standard payment and information page. Please note that you can only use your pass for one person, so if you have multiple people in your family, you may want multiple passes. Fill out your name, your card number, etc.
On the right side, as you finish checking out, there is a section for a Discount Code. Enter ‘scott4’ for an additional $5 off!
Step 2: Download the App
Once you have purchased the Get Out Pass, you will want to jump over to your cell phone. There you will search ‘Get Out Pass’ and install it onto your phone. All of your login information should have been determined by you when you signed up for the pass originally, so hopefully you still remember it.
Step 3: Go to a Venue
Okay, this sounds obvious, but it’s really important that you go to the venue you want before you redeem your offer. And look at those offers, since some of them are day and even time specific. You cannot use any codes or any pass information in advance, so there will be no pre-purchasing tickets to your favorite theme park through this pass.
Step 4: Redeem Offer
Once you are in line, you can click ‘View Offer’ on your phone to get to the redeem page. Select whomever you want to use the pass for, be it yourself or your children. Then click ‘Redeem”.
Thankfully, the Get Out Pass really tries to ensure you don’t waste a redeem on accident. It will give you best practice tips about not redeeming until you are at a venue. Honestly, I go through the whole redeem process at the counter with the check in clerk typically. If you’re sure you are ready to use it, select ‘Yes’.
Once selected, you have 6 hours to show your pass to the check in clerk at your venue. They will then click ‘Venue Accept’ and you can enter the venue for free!
Get Yours!
Absolutely in love the sound of this pass? I don’t blame you. I fell in love with it immediately. Please note that the pass is assigned to individuals, so if you have a family, you each have to purchase a pass. That being said, there is so much fun stuff to do on them, and it’s better with friends and family as well. They almost always have a sale going on, so don’t purchase it at full price. If it’s full price now, wait a few weeks and there will be another sale. Plus use my code scott4 to get an additional $5 off, making this the best deal around!
Making the Most of Your Pass
Okay, when I say free, I prefer when things are truly free. The Get Out Pass Venues had a lot of little, hidden fees. The biggest one I’ve run into so far is shoes. To make this pass last, and continue to save you money, I actually suggest you invest in a few basic items. These items are based on the frequency with which they will show up as available locations on the pass.
There are a ton of venues for bowling on the pass. Unfortunately, bowling shoes are not included at any of them. So I went online to look and you know what I found out? Bowling shoes come in adorable! I bought some, so now I can go bowling truly for free and not have to wear ugly, gross shoes. Probably my best investment.
Second perhaps only to bowling, there are a ton of jump places. Now I personally love jump places, so I have tons of these socks in my car. While I’ve included a link here in case you like these better, every place that you have to have them for will sell them. They are almost always $3. Buy them here or buy them at the venue, but wash and keep them with you.
If you go to a climbing gym, and you find you really enjoy it and want to go more than once, it may be worth it to purchase some climbing shoes. These will probably fit better and, since they are yours, the idea of wearing them barefoot gets a lot less disgusting (I always wore socks with rentals, I could never get over it).
Additionally, if you enjoy climbing the high walls, even with an auto belay, you are going to need a harness. This one seems more optional, since some people are content to boulder the whole time, but if you want to belay at all, a harness is a must.
Venue Review
Okay, so fancy reviews aren’t entirely my strength. But I wanted to review each of the venues I visited so I could pass it onto you. So I made a little scoring system. It’s a 5 star rated system, that takes into consideration my subjective review, if it’s truly free or not, Get Out pass accuracy, and amount of time spent.
My subjective review is just that. It’s my personal opinion for how much I enjoyed the venue. That is a simple 0-5 star ranking.
I’ve also added a second person’s opinion as well. I ask friends who participate with me what their thoughts are and add their subjective ranking. My hope here is that this will help balance out what I would consider a tough bias on my part.
The truly free ranking is because a lot of the venues have little, hidden fees like shoes. When I say free, my thrifty self wants truly free. A 5 star ranking means there was $0 extra out of pocket. 4 stars is $1-10, 3 stars is $11-20, 2 stars is $21-30, 1 star is $31-40 and 0 stars means I spent over $40 on something that was supposed to be free!
My next ranking set is the Get Out Pass accuracy of it. Now obviously this would mean that I had to add this section when I ran into some that weren’t accurate. The ranking is as follows: 5 stars = Get Out Accurate, 3 stars = mostly accurate, but some things missing, and 0 stars = simply wrong.
Finally, my last ranking is amount of time spent. Now this does manage to be a it subjective again, since you don’t absolutely want to be somewhere for 4 hours every time you go out. However, there were a few places I went that, without spending additional money, you pretty much were barely there for 10 minutes. 1 star for 15 minutes or less. 3 stars for 15-30 minutes. 4 stars if it lasts for an hour or more. 5 stars if you get to kind of decide how long you want to be there.
Finally, while not broken down into stars, I will also be adding any notes I took, such as what you can expect to find there, or if there is more to do if you are willing to spend money.
3Quest Challenge
Rank: 4.25stars
Okay, the 3Quest Challenge was not my favorite. Compared, so far to Puzzling Adventures, I’m going to go with it was okay. Don’t get me wrong, you get the right group of people and anything is a blast. But it was a little anti-climactic. A lot of the prompts were just ‘take a selfie with your group’ which was nowhere near as fun as ‘drive around like a race car’. I feel like the app has a lot of potential, but it fell a little flat. It was indeed truly free though, and the lack of structure means it can go for as long or as short as you want. It was indeed accurate on the Get Out Pass description though. My friend also really enjoyed it, ranking it a good 4/5 stars.
Activate Fun Park
Rank: 4.625 stars
I really enjoyed Activate, both because of the trampoline side of things as well as the little ninja warrior course (still haven’t made it up that wall). My bestie even gave it an unqualified 5 stars! Its $3 for the jump socks. Everything there is included, such as the bumper cars, ninja course, and trampolines. I can spend easily an hour there, although the time spent does depend on your stamina (kids make jumping look so easy!).
Chipper's Lanes, Broomfield
Rank: 3.875 stars
Okay, I must admit, I think all bowling locations are pretty much the same thing, and since it isn’t my favorite thing to do, none of these places got above a 3 on my subjective review. Bowling shoe rental is $4.25 here. Now my biggest complaint here is that the Get Out Pass says you can use it for bowling or VR, but VR was not a choice. And finally, I think with a large enough group you could spend easily over an hour, so I’m giving it a 4 in the time department.
Chipper's Lanes, College Center
Rank: 3.375 stars
A pretty similar review to the last Chipper’s lanes, as once you’ve been to one, you’ve pretty much been to them all. My biggest complaint against this one is that there was no VR! Very disappointing in that regard. $4.85 for shoe rental.
Chipper's Lanes, Horsetooth
Rank: 3.5 stars
I actually liked the people working the counter at this Chipper’s a little more, they just seemed really nice. So that admittedly did play into my subjective review. No VR again though, as a warning. Shoes are $4.85 for the rental again. Also, silly thing to add, but there was food there that you could purchase, and since I think with my stomach as often as possible, that seemed worth mentioning.
Color Me Mine
Rank: 4 stars
This venue was adorable and fun, but the cost of the pottery was (understandably) pricey. I spent hours here though, and you can paint for as long as you want. I can’t wait to return with my kids so they can make something too. They fire it for you as well, and you return about a week later to pick up your finished product.
Downtown Aquarium Denver
Rank: 3.75
I must admit, I’m not incredibly impressed with Denver’s Aquarium. It’s loud, which I struggle with a lot, and no one I’ve ever spoken with understands the 2 random tigers that are kept there. Where the Denver Zoo puts education first, I don’t really get that vibe from the aquarium. Also, the seafood restaurant at the end feels a little sacrilege. My kids’ dad is also less than impressed. He says it isn’t remarkably engaging for kids, although if you have a membership it isn’t so bad because you can walk through again any time.
Elitch Gardens
Rank: 4.5 stars
Elitch’s is the amusement park of Colorado. It has an amusement park side and a water park side. I definitely suggest going on a weekday if possible and during the summer where it’s still warm enough to go in the water park. You never know what rides are going to be open, so that’s a bit of a gamble. This particular venue pays for a significant chunk of your pass though. As long as you go here and a handful of other places, you will more than have made your money back on it. Unless you bring food you will almost definitely spend extra money here, but I know I used to pack lunch and go back to my car for it, so keeping it free is possible. But you can stay for as long as you want (while they are open at least). I definitely commit to an all day affair.
Fat Cats (x2!)
Rank: 4.75
Fat Cats has two passes. One that is a monthly card of $5 for the arcade and one that is a weekly pass for mini golf. Now the arcade is cute, and it’s basically free money to play. Wednesdays are half off, so even a $5 card stretches pretty far. The Mini golf, I will admit, not my favorite. I’ve played a lot of mini golf though, so perhaps my expectations are too high. If you want to spend money, you can also go bowling, though I did not.
Fort Fun
Rank: 3.625
This venue was a new one for me. It had an arcade section when you first walk in, and then you can purchase access to their various different activities outside. The Get Out pass gets you one activity for free. It is a cute enough venue, but if you are only going there for the one Get Out Pass item, it’s a bit anti-climactic. There are 8 different activities that the Pass covers, and I have not yet visited all 8 of them, so this rating may change as I frequent more. Not all the rides are always open though, and at least one of the rides was closed forever, according to the people at the front desk last time I was there.
Monster Mini Golf
Rank: 4.25 stars
Monster Mini Golf is one of those indoor Mini golf venues, which was nice for the colder months. It was cute enough, with nice effects for some of the holes. This is a bit nit-picky, but the music was very out of place. When I think Monster, I think spooky. They were playing non-stop pop and upbeat songs. It actually took away from the atmosphere a bit. The glow golf was fun though. There was also a little mini-arcade if you wanted to pay to play. It was free and Get Out accurate. I would say it lasted around an hour with two players, a bit more with more people I’m sure.
Premier Martial Arts, Lafayette
Rank: 3.3 stars
I have some pretty mixed feelings about ranking this particular Get Out Pass item. See, when I called initially and told them I was interested in a class via the pass, they didn’t comment on the pass and I was able to sign up for a class. But when class was over and we got to chatting, they just planned to let me attend one class. The teacher didn’t know anything about the Get Out Pass, and essentially made it clear they weren’t going to honor the pass. So, I think for pass accuracy, it has to get a 0. They said it was probably their kid’s class deal, which isn’t how the pass works or reads at all. They did give me a free class, and he did call me back to schedule a 2nd class eventually. I will update this rank if it ends up being appropriate to do so.
Beyond the pass issues, I did actually have a lot of fun. It was clear that their ultimate goal was to close a deal for me to sign on with them in the long run at the end, but they are a business after all, so that makes sense. I wold return again for sure, although their teacher was a little spacey at times, he was pretty good at teaching. Disclaimer, my kids’ dad is a 3rd degree black belt, so I might be a bit of a karate snob!
Puzzling Adventures
Rank: 4.5 stars
Okay, I loved this adventure! It was so much fun and we wandered around Denver for a few hours, learning all sorts of fun, silly things about it. Thus far, it might actually be my favorite activity on the pass. My bestie really liked that it showed us new parts of town. We would definitely buy it again, probably even getting the yearly subscription or whatever it was. We like this a lot more than any of the GooseApp walking tours. The Pass did not cover the entire cost of this activity though. I think it was an extra $15 to cover the whole cost.
SeaQuest
Rank: 4.2 stars
For starters. SeaQuest is located inside a mall, which I definitely did NOT realize initially. So after driving around the entire building, I can not report that it is located by Dillard’s. Hopefully this will save you some time. Personally, I thought it was cool. There were a lot of interactive, go in and pet the animals types of exhibits. You could also spend coins to feed animals directly. And if your kids are with you, there are plenty of stools so they can actually see. Unfortunately, it does not meet my admittedly high standards of care for animals. As such, I am only giving them a 3 in my objective review.
It was indeed free and Get Out Pass accurate. It’s pretty open ended, so you can decide how long you want to spend there. If I go again, I would definitely take my kids. But I don’t think I would ever visit and actually give them any money. Some experiences did require payment, but if you skip them, you can stay in the free zone.
Sky Zone Arvada
Rank: 4.75 stars
Pay attention to the time on this one. 7-10pm on a Saturday night is the only time it’s good for. It’s Sky Zone’s glow jump hour. It’s actually pretty cool. You will have to purchase socks for $3 and a shirt for $5 or you can bring a neon colored shirt. I really liked this venue though. It didn’t really have long stretches of trampoline like Activate did, but it had an obstacle course, a Jacob’s ladder, and even hanging silks. One of my favorites was the basketball hoops, so you could feel like an NBA star! Jump for the whole time or as long as you can last, and there was pizza for sale there if you got hungry.
The Summit - Interquest
Rank: 3.625 stars
Think those silly Chuck-e-Cheese type games. That’s what you are spending the free $10 Summit Card on. It’s essentially free money, and simple fun. I will admit, I can blow through the cards pretty fast, so I’m not there very long. I don’t live near Colorado Springs, so it makes it a little less worth it for me, but if you are in the Springs, or have gone down there for all the other Get Out Pass stuff, it’s a nice, brief stop.
The Summit - Thornton
Rank: 3 stars
Pretty much the same as the first Summit, but this one just happens to be closer to my home. Again, I blow through the card pretty fast. My bestie wasn’t very impressed with the arcade and gave it a generous 3 stars because maybe the bowling is more fun. The wording on the Get Out Pass is kind of confusing, and the people at the front desk couldn’t really figure it out either. So expect to get only a $10 card OR bowling, but not both.
Whetstone Climbing
Rank: 4.625 stars
In case I’ve never told you, I absolutely love rock climbing. I used to climb a lot before I had kids. Much less now. Whetstone has a nice array of bouldering and belaying, with a decent number of auto-belay options as well. Again, Fort Collins isn’t exactly close, but I’ll drive up there just for this. You will need to rent shoes for $6 and if you want to belay, you will need a harness for $5. Climb for as long as you can and be prepared for your arms to be tired.
Zombie Scavengers
Rank: 3.25 stars
Okay, I think I liked Zombie Scavengers well enough. It was a lot like the 3 Quest Challenge. This hunt was more about items than it was locations though. It definitely had a significant component that could actually be done in your own home, which I appreciated (I do so love variety). It was okay, not great. My bestie only gave it two stars because she really didn’t think it was her thing at all. It was free, and the get out pass was accurate. And as with other venues through this company, you could spend as much or as little time as you wanted.
Affiliate Disclosure
For the sake of transparency, I want to disclose that for every individual that uses my coupon, I receive a small commission towards maintaining my own Get Out Pass. This commission doesn’t cost you any money, in fact, it still saves you money!
Discount code scott4
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