6 Great Dallas Date Ideas That Blow Away Dinner and a Movie

Sitting at a restaurant and staring at each other for an hour or two can get kind of old when you’ve been dating someone for awhile. Or if you’re currently on the dating app circuit, meeting for drinks over and over again can become a boring routine. In order to mix it up with your partner or break the ice with a new one, here are some fun date night ideas in Dallas.

These Dallas date ideas are so much better than dinner and a movie.

Train to Be a Ninja

7140 Dena Drive, Frisco

Make your way over to the ever-expanding Frisco area to Ninja Nation. The playground and training facility obstacle course opened up last October. Modeled after obstacles on NBC’s American Ninja Warrior, Ninja Nation offers a unique playground for teens and adults (you need to be 13 years old and up for the Teen/Adult class.)

On Thursday evenings, the Ninja Nation Experience is meant for first time ninja warriors and will teach you the basics.

If you love it, there is the potential to train to be on American Ninja Warrior. Ninja Nation has a few ninjas going to Oklahoma for the Season 11 taping of the show this month.

Get Your Game On

2777 Irving Boulevard, Suite 200, Dallas

I went to Bishop Cidercade for the first time a few weeks ago and couldn’t believe it had taken me so long to get there. It’s awesome! There are more than 170 arcade games to play for just a $10 entry fee. Most games are for two players or more, making for a great place to have a date.

Guitar Hero, Mario Kart, and Skee-Ball are just a few of the games my date and I played. Obviously, the arcade has cider on tap, as well as wine.

Toss Some Axes

5438 E. Grand Avenue, Dallas

The axe throwing craze doesn’t seem to be fading anytime soon. Another new place, Stumpy’s Hatchet House, is on its way to the Toyota Music Factory in Irving. In the meantime, Bad Axe Throwing is the place to go in Dallas. As strange of an idea this may seem, you can literally walk-in and be given some axes to throw at targets.

Just make sure to check the walk-in schedule online for available dates and hours. Sessions are $20 per hour.

Roam Dallas’ Own Jurassic Park

650 SRL Thornton Freeway, Dallas

Dinos at the Dallas Zoo is a new exhibition beginning on April 5 and going through September 2. This is a great hand-holding opportunity as you explore more than 24 larger than life dinosaurs that the zoo has set up throughout ZooNorth, including the ferocious T-Rex.

You’ll learn about how Dallas Zoo animals are related to these creatures that roamed the earth so long ago and participate in hands-on activities such as manipulating robotic dinos and hunting for fossils.

P.S. — The Dallas Zoo has a new baby gorilla! Megan, a 13-year-old western Iowland gorilla, gave birth to Mbani last month.

Take a Rock Climbing Class

9201 Forest Lane, Dallas

If you and your significant other have watched the documentary Free Solo like I have, it’ll make you want to try your hand at rock climbing ASAP. Although much less extreme than the free climbing Alex Honnold does in the film, Summit Rock Climbing offers a Climbing 101 class for beginners. The class is free with a $16 day pass.

If you’re more experienced, you can do a Lead Climbing class for $35, which prepares you to climb outside on a real rock. You can also boulder here, which is climbing without the use ropes or harnesses, if you dare.

Vroom Vroom

1801 E. Lamar Boulevard, Arlington & 677 W. Campbell Road, Suite A, Richardson

Arrive and Drive electric go-karts at K1 Speed‘s indoor race track in Arlington or Richardson. This is one place that you can speed without consequences. You can buy you and your date one 14-lap race for $22 each, two races for $38 each, or three races for $48 each.

To add extra competition, you’ll receive a race result sheet that lets you compare times and overall rank against other drivers. And to make it more interesting, maybe bet on who buys dinner afterwards.