3 friends and I used Living Social vouchers for a treasure hunt with Real London Bus over the weekend. We had a blast! The adventure started at Film Bar in Phoenix, which is cool enough to go back to. We broke up in to teams of whatever size we pleased and chose clever team names (Sandra Bollocks speaking). After a brief orientation, we boarded the big bus. You're allowed to bring food and drink on the bus, which is cool. The bus itself was awesome; authentic London bus with an authentic British guide.
First we headed to downtown Phoenix with a laminated sheet full of questions we'd be answering. Some questions were easy (like counting the windows in a building) while others took more detective work and going inside some of the nearby buildings. This was the least-familiar neighborhood for us, so it really felt like a scavenger hunt.
The second zone was Old Town Scottsdale, which was guided by photo-clues on the back of our card. By the third zone, Mill Avenue (with which we were all intimately familiar), we'd already answered most of the questions. When we set off, it seemed a few teams were after only one more answer and we bottle-necked at the entrance to that shop. The race to the finish was intense, as 3 teams rushed to turn their sheets in first. Sandra Bollocks wins it!
There was some disappointment that the prizes were nothing to write home about, but we were forewarned. Do this for the good time that will be had, and bragging rights that come with a win!
If I were to make a few suggestions, I'd say 1) ask passengers to turn off their phones. That might be a bit of an honor system, but it is very easy to look up some of the answers beforehand. 2) OR make the questions more personal, like counting windows rather than an address of a shop, which can't be Googled or easily remembered by locals who will have an unfair advantage over visitors.
All-in-all, it was a lot of fun. I'd love to try one of the other events like pub-crawl or Holiday lights tour!