What is lead time?
Lead time is the minimum time required to plan an experience! We recommend planning with enough lead time in mind as this allows for a seamless process for you as the planner and takes as many event planning stressors off your plate as possible.
How do I find the lead time for an experience?
The only way to determine lead time is to rely on the unique experience’s Date & Time picker. You can find this by clicking on the Date & Time button on any experience page and then selecting the timezone you wish to book for your event.
When do you recommend I book my event?
Even though we can plan an event in as short as 3 business days, we recommend planning a few weeks out to build the excitement with your team so they have something to look forward to.
In general, we always recommend booking sooner rather than later to lock in your date and time — all of our experiences are first-come, first-served!
We've always been happy to help out customers needing an event in a pinch, but we have found that events planned within a quick turnaround time can be prone to issues due to the shorter than usual timeline.
Lead time at a glance
The lead times listed below are a general summary of the minimum recommended planning time for our experience categories. However, we recommend finding the specific lead time for the experience(s) you’re interested in — we’ll show you how in the following section.
- Shipped Items (includes Classes with Kits and Gifting) 📦
Examples: Terrarium Workshop or Chocolate Gift Box
Lead time: 3-4 weeks
Example: BYO Pretzel Making Class
Lead time: 6 business days
- Games 🕹️
Example: Coworker Feud
Lead time: 3-6 business days (experiences that require participants to fill out a submission form like Guess Who may require a bit more time i.e. 4-6 business days)
- Other Hosted Experiences 🗣️️
Examples: Museum Storytelling Tours or Communication Skills Workshop
Lead time: 3-6 or 3-8 business days
Under Lead Time: If you’re looking to book an experience with a kit or gift under lead time and we’re able to accommodate, bear in mind that our team may need to add the cost of rush processing to your order, and we cannot guarantee the timely arrival of your kits. Our team will communicate these details as necessary. Once a kits is en route with the carrier, we are unable to guarantee a delivery date.
Our calendar at a glance: Traffic Light System! 🚦
🟢 Green dates are available for instant booking
🟡 Yellow dates need additional confirmation from our team on availability
⚫ Gray dates are unavailable or fall on a federal holiday
Using the example above, if we are booking the Escape Quest on May 12th, we can determine that the lead time for Escape Quest is 3 business days, since the next available green date is 3 business days away, May 17th.
Pro tip: Business Days are Monday-Friday! This excludes weekends and Federal Holidays when our office is closed.
As another example, below is the calendar for our Terrarium Workshop, an experience with a shipped kit:
If we are booking a Terrarium Workshop on May 12th, we can determine that the lead time is 15 business days since the next available green date is 15 business days away, June 5th. (Here, May 29th is Memorial Day, a federal holiday).
Events with kits require a bit more time for address collection and shipping!
What if my event falls on a yellow date or time?
Our team typically accommodates an overwhelming majority of availability requests! 🔥
If the date you’re looking to book for is highlighted in yellow and within lead time, you can still select it as your preferred date & time, and proceed forward to the payment page to submit an availability request. Our team will typically get back to you within 1 business day (but oftentimes much faster!) to let you know whether we can accommodate your requested date & time.
Please note: Response times can be delayed during busier seasons.
