Venue Questions
Is the venue included in the price?
Why do you charge a mileage surcharge?
Do I need to find a venue?
Who books the venue?
Do the cars damage the floors?
How long do I need to book the venue for?
How much space do we need?
What access and parking does the Wacky Wheelers crew require?
Indoors or Outdoors?
Party Questions
Which size party is best suited for my event?
What do the kids do when they are waiting?
What happens if it rains?
Do I have to provide food?
What’s the best time for a party?
What if I want my party to start at a different time to your normal times?
Car Questions
If the cars are suitable for 4 year olds – wont they be too tame for my older child?
My child is big for his or her age – will he or she fit in the car OK?
Products/Options Questions
Driving Licences – what do we need to know?
Medals – joint parties
Chequered Bunting – how much do we need?
Extra 30 minutes driving time – why might I need it?
General Questions
Do you have insurance?
Venue Questions
Is the venue included in the price?
Because we cover such a wide area we are not able to have a close relationship with many venues – and as the prices vary so hugely between areas it would be impractical for us to include the venue hire in our price – sorry! back to top
Why Do you charge a mileage surcharge?
We don’t charge any mileage for parties within a 20 mile driving distance from our base. Any more than that we charge a small amount to take account for the extra time and fuel. It’s a bit more for larger parties as there may be more staff! To find out more, why not have a look at how it’s calculated here
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Do I need to find a venue or can you recommend one?
We have a huge database of venues so its quite likely we will be able to recommend a venue near to you. But as we cover such a wide area – your local knowledge may be better than ours, indeed, you might know of an alternative venue that we don’t! In that instance we’d be very happy to comment on its suitability – although site visits are not viable unless we make a separate charge. back to top
Who books the venue?
In short, you do. We can advise on suitability, but because we are already juggling availabilities and venue suggestions for dozens of parties at a time our resources are short, and we’d worry that if we had to book the venue too then we might drop the ball… and it would end up in tears. So we stick to what we do best – concentrating on supplying the party entertainment. back to top
Do the cars damage the floors?
We don’t put a floor covering down as in general we don’t need to! As with much of the Jeeps, we have modified the wheels too – so that where they meet the floor – instead of hard plastic they have a soft velvety finish. Of course when we’re doing outside events we remove the soft finish and put on a rugged one – a bit like wearing wellies! So whether the floor is a brand new sprung wood one, a tiled one or one made of marble – we’re confident that no harm will come to it if the drivers obey the instructions! We have even done a party in the ballroom of the Mandarin Oriental Hotel, where Queen Elizabeth II was taught to ballroom dance!
A caveat though. We are very hot on getting the kids to take their feet off the pedals when they stop at an obstacle. This is because if they sit stationary with their wheels spinning, the friction is bound to cause a small mark, no matter how soft the surface. To that end, if a child repeatedly ‘drives on’ after numerous repeated instructions, we reserve the right to let them sit out for a turn or two. back to top
How long do we need to book the venue for?
We need about 30 mins to set up – however our record is 7 minutes, so if for any reason we are delayed – don’t panic as we should be able to get the party moving in no time at all! So if it takes you 30 minutes to get all your guests collected and all your bits and pieces back in order, we’d suggest you only need to book the venue for 3 hours. A sample timing would be – if a party was due to start at 10.30am, we’d arrive at 10,00, the drivers briefing at 10.30 (if everyone turns up on time), driving finale ends at 12.00 when birthday lunch starts and we commence packing up our kit. The party would finish at 12.30, we’d be ready to leave along with the guests, and the remaining 30 mins would be left to you to get the dining area etc all shipshape and also giving time for those mums and dads who want to chat a bit longer to stay. back to top
How much space do we need?
The first things to consider are which size track is being used, and how many people are coming? First, take account of the track size, then think about the space needed to wait/eat etc.
Small Party – we do have a track where the size is flexible, generally about 10m x 12m. We can take bits out and add bits to make this track fit, but don’t really like going narrower than 8m. However, this track is now rarely used – and only for special circumstances, so the space for a small party is as a standard, below.
Standard Party – this track is about 10m x 15m, or about 1.5 x badminton courts. We can squeeze it a bit so can use less than 10m width, but bear in mind this will then make it longer than 15m!
Large Party – this can be as per the standard track, or adding in a couple of metres length – according to availability of space at the venue. So if there’s space, we can be up to 10m x 17m
Supersize Party – we sometimes use 2 tracks here, or our special supersize track – so will move to fill the space available, but would recommend a minimum of 12 x 18m.
Now the next thing to consider is how much waiting space is required. Are the parents staying or is it a drop off party. Will you be providing food in the hall or in an ante room? We also need some space for the waiting chairs (as many as there are jeeps) and also for the table football games. So for example, for a 24 child party with standard jeeps and eating in a separate room, there will be 14 waiting. So probably about an extra 10m x 3m is ample. If you’re not sure – just ask and we can help! back to top
What access and parking does the Wacky Wheelers crew require?
Our parties differ from the average party. A magician comes with quite a few boxes, but a juggler comes with very little. One major party company in London (who mentioned Sharks?) only come with a small backpack. We, however, just about manage to leave behind the kitchen sink. There’s the track, jeeps, pa system, table football, blowers, batteries… need we go on? Suffice to say we don’t turn up in just a Ford Fiesta! For that reason we need good access for either our van or trailers, plus we prefer not to have to move them once parked in the loading area (time!).
Important: If we can’t get our vehicle up to the door, it adds time. If the door is far away from the space where the party takes place, it adds time! So we do need to know in advance (preferably at booking) if the venue is not straightforward, because we make calculations about arrival and departure time based on reasonable access. Every metre counts!
Similarly, doorways should be at least 1m wide (so double doors are great). We can usually get through smaller doorways but this might mean dismantling the jeeps, and guess what? That adds time. We do allow a reasonable time for loading and unloading, but if the venue presents challenges that are above and beyond what’s reasonable, we may have to put a surcharge on. A major challenge (which may be a step too far :) ) would definitely include a staircase for example! back to top
Indoors or Outdoors?
The great things about our Jeeps being electric is that because they don’t have smelly engines they are equally at home indoors as outdoors. In fact, we think they run better indoors. The party is more contained indoors, and the floor smoother than outdoors (therefore less rolling resistance) and there’s no lumps, bumps or slopes to slow the Jeeps down. Having said that – you can’t beat an outdoor kids Jeep Party if the sun is shining! We now generally restrict outdoor parties to the warmer months (although can do them outdoor by special arrangement on the condition that if the weather is bad there may be a cleaning and drying charge).
Party Questions
Which size of party is best suited?
We do 4 sizes of party so we are sure to offer one that fits closely with your requirement. If you want to keep the party small and intimate – then the choice is easy – go for the small party. If you are in the mid 20s then there’s no need for anything bigger than the Standard size party – but if you are in the high 20s it may be worth considering the large 6 Jeep party. It really depends on budget and SPACE available. The thing to consider is that we have a progression of 4 driving exercises to get through plus the photo and finale at the end (where else would it be?), so with each ‘go’ taking 3 mins plus changeover time means the more children the less likelihood that they will all get a chance to drive all the different tasks. That’s not to say they won’t all get lots of goes in the jeeps, but it is a question of mathematics! back to top
What do the guests do while they wait their turn?
If you get the right number of jeeps to the number of children then they won’t be waiting long. We reckon a ratio of 4 children to one Jeep is about right, Let’s say you have a Small party – with 4 Jeeps, 16 kids. 8 will be on the track, 4 will just have come off, and 4 will be waiting on the chairs ready to come on. We also bring a mini table football table that the kids can play while they are waiting – and we often have as many as 6 kids getting involved in that. Whilst you could add a third party bouncy castle, we’re not that keen as it detracts from the finely honed routine of the party – but if there are 30 or more kids it can start to make sense.
What happens if it rains and we are outside?
Well, the simple answer is… we get wet! Being very British and all that we just get on with it (although we may discuss it quite a bit as Brits are wont to do). However, we are aware of the inherent risks in torrential rain (not to mention the displeasure of the drivers) so we won’t operate if it is absolutely bucketing down. The other thing to beware of if you are thinking of booking an outdoor party and it does go all wonky weather-wise, is that we may have to make a cleaning charge, as the track can get muddy when packed away, as well as the jeep wheels, as the next venue we go to may be indoors so we have to be careful. In the Summer though, there’s obviously less risk. If you are at all concerned please talk to us. back to top
Do I have to provide food?
We concentrate on making the entertainment the best it can be, and if you’ve ever tasted the boss’s sandwiches you’ll realise why we want to keep it that way! So really the answer is yes – you do…unless…. why not get use our Party Concierge service to organise a caterer for you so all you have to do is sit back and relax before, during and after the party! To find out more – use this link… back to top
If the cars are suitable for 4 year olds and older – wont they be too tame for my older child?
Our Jeeps are far from ‘off the shelf’. We have completely customised them so that they are all now 24v, and they have computerised controllers inside that enable us to change such things as top speed, rate of acceleration, braking efficiency, maximum current (good for slopes and bumps) – all by pre-programming them with our laptop. We also have a dial under the bonnet so we can alter the speed by miniscule amounts – to suit the drivers ability level – meaning the younger drivers would go a bit slower than the older ones, so its exciting whatever the age! Our jeeps also are fitted with remote controls, so we are also able to stop a jeep from wherever we are standing – and also change the speed! Being able to be so precise with the speed is something no-one else offers – and makes such a difference to the parties. back to top
Will my child is big for his or her age – will he or she fit?
The seats in the cars are adjustable so will slide forward to fit the younger drivers, and back for the older ones. However, sometimes that just isn’t enough – its rare, but does happen – even though we sometimes get an adult in! Usually the child in question that is too big is a teenager – so in those instances its not possible to have a passenger on board – its just one up! back to top
Products / Options Questions
Driving Licences
Our driving licences are totally fab! They are completely personalised with the party goers name, the date they passed and at whose party. They are credit card sized and laminated. But because they are personalised, we need some time to produce them – preferably 3 days. That also means we need the names in advance, and preferably in a format we can import into our system. That format is by the forename followed by the surname with just a comma in between, nothing else – as an example – John,Wayne
We need each name to be on a separate line – and voila ! Job done! back to top
Medals
Our medals are unique to us – and are proper metal (not cheapo grungy plastic ones). We include one in the cost of the party, but if you choose to share a party, please make provision to add a medal or two – as we don’t want any squabbling at the end of the party! back to top
Chequered Bunting – decorate the hall!
Our chequered fabric bunting is a MUST if you want to give the usual leisure centre a lift, and to turn it into a pukka polished racetrack! You only need one to go around the whole track – but do order more if you want to use it to decorate the separate hall (if you ‘ve hired one) for eating etc. back to top
Extra 30 minutes driving time
Our party programme is designed to fit into 90 minutes – but sometimes, if there’s more children than its possible to get through in the 90 minutes, its worth considering adding 30 minutes on to give 2 hours solid driving time. A caveat though – don’t choose this as an upgrade for a normal sized party – only consider it if you are pushing the boundaries (ie 30 kids for a 5 jeep party) as normally 90 mins is ample… back to top
General Questions
Do you have insurance?
Yes we do – our public liability is £5 MILLION. Why so much? Because we also do big events – we need the extra cover (most companies only offer £1m) – so should anything go wrong (and it hasnt yet in all the years we’ve been running) then you can be assured you’re covered. If you would like confirmation we can send you a link to our brokers that gives the details. Back to top