Birthday Party Ideas??

I've never had a "party" for either of my kids. A traditional one anyway. With my son, we used to meet at a park and we'd let the kids run around, we'd have cake and chips and juice and maybe a pinata. As he got older we'd have him choose between the "big" gift he wanted or a party.
Now I have a soon to be 6 year old and she's interested in doing what her other friends have done (laser tag, bounce, etc. etc. $$$$$$).
I wouldn't mind spending $150 or so on a party but don't know if that's unheard of. I'd imagine that she'd probably get about 10 or 15 of her friends from her class to come, so what are some ideas for a party at a facility or otherwise?
I am humoring doing something at the Dinosaur Park but it's so large that I don't want to lose sight of any kids. What other parks are around here that aren't as large but have picnic tables or an area to sit down and eat for a bit?
Any suggestions appreciated!!

 

We had our daughter's 5th birthday at Action Martial Arts. I don't remember exactly how much it was, but it was around $150. The kids had a blast - martial arts instruction, an obstacle course, trampoline time. The birthday girl got to cut her cake with a samurai sword! (She still talks about it six months later.) Also, they made these fantastic invitations for us to give out - her face photo-shopped onto characters - they were great!

 

A classmate of my youngest son had a birthday celebration at the Ashburn Volunteer Fire Department last fall. My son still talks about that party. I don't know what expenses are involved, but thought I would throw it out there. As a parent, I was thrilled to see a celebration outside of the usual moon bounce ruckus.

 

You could have it at the pool! I've known folks to reserve a few tables at Summerbrooke and bring food and cake. It also wouldn't be horrible of you to ask a few parents to stay to help you watch their kids, especially if you had it at the pool or a park. Some parents would probably want to stay, anyway!

 

Thanks so much for the suggestions so far, I love them! Keep them coming, I love hearing ideas that aren't the typical stuff. Of course the girl is asking for a chuck e cheese party (barf).
I checked out the party for the fire dept, and fyi here's the page.... What a great idea for kids who are into firetrucks! I wish I'd known about it a while back.
http://www.ashburnfirerescue.org/services/birthdayparties.cfm
The martial arts party sounds like a blast and it's a great deal. Trying to convince the tot...

 

RE Chuck E Cheese... my child was requesting that too and I had the same reaction. But I have to tell you, it's worth considering. We did it. I liked that they didn't have the 20 kid minimum that so many places have (because I think that's unmanageable). The prices were quite reasonable. Yeah, the pizza stinks, but whatever. The staff there was quite helpful, the kids all had a great time, and the price was really reasonable.

Oh... and no clean up!

 

Every time we have gone to a party at CEC, our kid and family are sick for weeks. Not a fan of Chuck's.

I would recommend the following, we have either had our little one's b-day party there or attended parties at each:

Loudoun Sport/Bounce:
http://www.sportbounce.com/parties.php

Claude Moore/Douglas Recreation Center (this is the BEST value): http://www.loudoun.gov/Default.aspx?tabid=3252

Hope it helps

 

I did look at CEC and was kind of pleasantly surprised at the cost, however my big thing is that I don't want to be responsible for the kids there and they just go all over the place, it's a hectic environment. I also don't know the kids in her class that well and couldn't identify but maybe one of them. That makes me really uncomfortable.
Claude Moore IS a great deal! My son actually went to a party there a few years ago and it was fantastic. If we didn't have 5 holidays/birthdays/anniversaries in the same month along with a vacation next month I'd probably do it.
I didn't even think of parks and rec. Maybe there are other options?

 

We had my son's 6th birthday party at CEC, and while I don't like the place, I was able to handle it for a couple of hours. All of the parents stayed, so I wasn't responsible for all the kids. They also put wristbands on the little ones so they can't get out without the adult that brought them in.


What about Great Country Farm? My older son has a fall birthday and we took them to the Cox Farm Fall Fest for his birthday a couple of times and it was a hit. (before it got exorbitantly priced) GCF has a lot of running around activities for little kids.

 

We've had a couple at Noodle Doodle art studio and liked them.

We've also done one at Layng's Flower Farm in the fall.

 

I just emailed Laynge's, that sounds pretty cool! Noodle Doodle also sounds great, thanks for suggesting. I looked at Kidz Art too. I knew I was forgetting something. I'm thinking I might have to up my budget, but I'll keep looking. I wish there were duckpins around here. Where we lived in MD there was a great duckpins place and the parties were great. We'd do it there but obviously her friends would probably not come.
I also sent a message to the new pizza place, pizza go round. They just launched their website and they're boasting parties but don't list anything about price or packages. If I had to guess I'd say they let you have a party room and you do it yourself. It might be a good option considering they're new.

 

I just posted in the food forums about Pizza Go Round. If anyone is interested in a party there, go and read the post, it's very reasonable and we're probably going to go with them. Even with some extras like getting quarters for the kids and buying a cake and some extras like wings, it might come in around or under the $150 I am trying to budget.

 

We did a party at the nature center last year, run by the Audobon Society folks. It was something different for the kids, and they had a good time.

 

I've tried to contact noodle doodle and haven't heard anything. Do they have off hours?