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Apr 22, 2023

Urban Air adventure park opens in Dix Hills

Urban Air Adventure Park opened a new location in Dix Hills. Yaseem, 8, of

Urban Air Adventure Park opened a new location in Dix Hills. Yaseem, 8, of Huntington plays on the Sky Rider. Credit: Rick Kopstein

A former grocery store in Dix Hills has been transformed into Long Island's newest Urban Air indoor adventure park location, joining the franchise's other venue in Lake Grove.

The opening has caused a local buzz, says Lisa Wallace, 49, of East Northport, who brought her children, Ryan, 12, and Jaime, 8. "I think it's beautiful. It's very clean. It looks like they’re set up pretty safely here," Wallace says.

"We checked out the pictures online and it looked really cool. We wanted to come here with our friend group," says Joel Ramirez, 14, of Huntington Station, who visited recently with five other high school friends.

Here's what to know about the new location:

WHEN | WHERE 683A Old Country Rd., Dix Hills. Check website for hours.

COST $48.99 per person daily for all activities, annual membership also available. Half-off for participating parents; no charge for parents just accompanying child. Refreshments available for additional fee.

INFO 631-231-3894, urbanairdixhills.com

Riders hang from the ceiling, legs dangling, as they zip in a circle around a section of the venue, 18 feet off the ground. "You’re up in the air. It's like you’re flying. The slogan of Urban Air is ‘Let ‘em fly,’" says co-owner Jon Bihn. The Dix Hills Sky Rider travels a shorter distance than the Sky Rider at the Lake Grove location, but riders go around twice each time, Bihn says. Riders wear a five-point harness system.

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After the Sky Rider, other popular choices include a ropes course (kids get on a skateboard for part of it), the laser tag arena (the Lake Grove location does not have laser tag), virtual reality games and the rock-climbing wall, Bihn says. In the black-light laser tag arena, players wear light-up vests that can be programmed with the color of their team. Virtual reality games include Fruit Splash, for instance, during which a player wearing a virtual reality headset tries to eat ants before they devour a picnic while bees and butterflies buzz by. Urban Air also offers a trampoline dodgeball area and a trampoline Slam Dunk — "You can be an NBA star for a day," Bihn says. A Warrior Course challenges users to race to the finish. "This one is fun if you have upper body strength," Ramirez says of the Warrior Course. There's also a section of Urban Air called Soft Play for toddlers.

Betsy Xu, 35, a salesperson from Syosset, climbed on the Battle Beam to face off against her daughter, Jiayu, 11. The Battle Beam is a padded balance beam, and players each have a padded jousting-style weapon that they use to force each other off the beam. Xu knocked Jiayu off and she fell into the surrounding pit filled with blue foam blocks. Victory! Losing wasn't so bad, Jiayu says. "It feels good," Jiayu says of falling into the pit.

Urban Air has six private party rooms that can accommodate up to 18 people each. Two-hour birthday parties start at $699 for a minimum of 10 children, with each additional child $40. Parties include a private host to take children to the attractions, pizza, bottled water, decorations and balloons, setup and cleanup and socks for each child. It's bring your own cake.

Bihn, 67, worked importing backpacks before opening Urban Air. "Welcome to my retirement," he jokes. Bihn has four children; they are 40, 37, and 12-year-old twins. "This is like their dream," Bihn says of the twins. "I think the older ones are excited, too." Co-owner Manish Bangard, 48, has two children, ages 12 and 10. Both families live in Dix Hills.

Beth Whitehouse writes about families, parenting and great things to do with the kids on Long Island. She's been a Newsday editor and shared a 1997 Newsday staff Pulitzer Prize for coverage of the crash of TWA Flight 800.