The accuracy of this review is disputed. Please see discussion on the comments page.
Period of Field Use:
1 year
Last There:
February 9th, 2007
Paintball Experience:
4 years
Other Fields in the Area:
Gators, Kohns/Legends, Blitzkrieg, Jungle
Review:
Well lets just go down the line
Safety-
A bare minimum. The Goggles and barrel covers highly enforced but thats about it.
Fields-
In a bad need of repair
Hours-
The hours are decent and the refs keep the games rollin' when they do get started
Prices-
Cant complain
Rules-
This is the only field in Tampa where rules are made up by players and the owners do nothin' about it (there is a story behind this comin' up)
Services-
!? There are services at this field !?
Proshop-
If you feel like being ripped off sure use the proshop
Staff-
I've seen more motivation out of road kill than some of the people "working" at this field
Refs-
HA! If you would call kids who barely make the minimum age limit to play at the field refs then by all means yes they have em'
Players-
I've seen more wiping and other various forms of un-honorable play here in one day than in the entire span of my paintball experience
Facilities-
I've seen better at an outlaw field
Food-
They do pizza orders
Every here of "Dead Man Walking" play? No? Well its a play that only Orbital allows. Its where a player walks the line pretending to be out to get around the other team then proceeds to eliminate said team from behind. Well the very last time my team and I played at this field together we encountered this "new rule." During one the games I was out and watching my teammates from the sideline when I saw one of the players from the other team walking up the silde line pretending to be hit go behind teammate 1 and try to surrender him then he continued down the sideline. Teammate 1 the turned to teammate 2 and yelled "Fire." Teammate 2 proceeded to unload his hopper into Opponent untill he called himself out. The 3-4 more times that day our entire side was defeated horribly because of this. My teammates made many calls, sent emails and letters to the owners with no avail.
If you only get one thing out of this review take this with you
THERE ARE MUCH BETTERS FIELDS WITHIN DRIVING RANGE.
Try Blitzkrieg off of 275
*EDIT 05FEB2009*
Okay I probably should've edited this immediately after my last trip (late in 08) to Orbital. I must say that things have changed dramatically for the better. The fields arew in much better condition as well as have more widely distributed cover for both sides. The refs and staff are very squared away, players seem to be more willing to police their own now more than ever. A proper pro shop is still something to be desired, but its much better than before. Overall I'd give it 9/10 up from the 2/10 I gave it previously. Its not the best field in town, but definitely one of the top fields in Tampa if not FL.
Last edited on Thursday, February 5th, 2009 at 4:07 pm PST
Soo...my cousin invited me to go to paintball!
Its "Outta the way" for me...but It was VERY FUN!
Pro Time:
Good Store Managers
Great Refs.
Great Play.
O.K Pricing.
Nice Gameplay.
Sturdy Fortress (if you have played you know what i mean)
Lots of barriers.
Usually Nice, Good, Strategic Players (The REDZ are nice players)
Large "Woods Ball Field"
Paint Is Always "close to hittin' "
Con Time:
None It was great games.
Safety?:
I Suggest No One Under 11.
If you are running you can trip on roots, Rocks and other dangerous stuff
The barriers can sometimes be dangerous, Sharp.
Basically you MUST be a Cordinated person to go to ANY WOODS BALL FIELD!
i am a cordinated person so i say that this Orbital is a GREAT FIELD 10/10
PS: Just because my PAINTBALL EXPERIENCE is low i am a skilled marksman in any sport of weaponry.
I stopped by to play recball for the first time in a long time, and wow was I suprised.
First the pros:
1. Paint was flying well and decently priced
2. Staff was AWSOME, from the shop people to the refs, very impressed
3. I saw a flyer for a scenario at this field, finally!!!!!!
4. Saftey!!!! I have played places where safety is not enforced, the refs were STRICT on it here!!! One ref (I think his name is Tom?) constintly stayed on the players to place the barrell covers on and KEEP THOSE MASKS DOWN!!!!!! From what I saw he was normally the last one off the field, very attenetive!!!
5. THE GAMES!!! From straight hyper ball, to complex scenario type games, I enjoyed them all!!!! The games were fast paced and intense!
6. one last props to the refs. It seemed that the temps were making some markers spike. When someone brought it up, the other ref got a chrono to make everyone re-chrono. I saw over 10 people (there was a good crowd there) get caught shooting well over the posted 290 fps. The refs sat there and made sure everyone who went on the field was within the rules and safe!! Thanks guys!!!!
Cons:
1. A better sign out front would be great, the one out there does the job though.
2. A/C????? LOL
In all I give this place a 9/10. I will definetly be back to this field in the near future!!!
Last edited on Monday, June 4th, 2007 at 7:55 am PST
Wow...these guys have been busy. The fields have changed dramatically, the trailer looks good, the airball fields are starting to grow grass, what else can i say. Joey was a great ref out in the woods, the games stay very organized and it seemed I got at least 12 games in that day. Turn around time was great....Keep up the good work Orbital. The only bad thing that i can think about is the sign at the entrance, a bigger better one would bring in more people.
The accuracy of this review is disputed. Please see discussion on the comments page.
Period of Field Use:
3 months
Last There:
July 28th, 2006
Paintball Experience:
3 years
Other Fields in the Area:
many different places.....................
Review:
Man, where do I start?
How about driving to this place, there is almost no sign at all.
When you get there, be sure you use bathroom right away, otherwise go into the woods( or whats left of them). One bathroom for all the people there. You will regret it later.
If you show up at 9AM, you will wait at least hour and fifteen minutes to start playing.
They have no idea how to organize anything.
Nets are falling apart, to get into the game you have to dodge paintballs from all over.
Hey, at least you can warm up that way.
Paint check-up doesn't exsist here. People do wipe out paint. It's the nature of this place. Be an a-hole and don't worry about a thing.
Ref's are a bunch of screw-ups,and they just walk around doing nothing.
I got shot, I raise my gun showing everybody that I'm going out, but believe me they will shoot you ten more times while you are walking out.
Ref's didn't give crap about it, I guess it was funny.
Well one day I said it's enough, I started shooting people too, and ref's all the time.
They were pissed, but there is no way to say who did it. HA HA HA.
I've seen people almost getting into fights, it's just a paint damn it. Yeah it hurts HA HA.
A lot guys complaint about all of these things.
So if you have to go there, make sure you shoot guys getting out, shoot the refs, those freaks are walking so slow you can't miss.
Unfortunatelly we have to go there, not many paintball fields in tampa area.
Just watch out for the kids and try to have fun.
One last thing, don't eat oranges........................
Orbital is a great family orientated field. Staff is very helpful and welcoming. Primarily played woodsball, and had a great time. Regulars are very friendly and professional. Games are well organized and start soon after one ends. I'm new to the sport and had a great time. Would recommend this field to anyone, beginner or veteran.
-So many Cons so little time:
-The place is falling apart; they put NO money or time into keeping the field up.
-Refs are a joke, usually punk kids or friends of theirs.
-One ref for attack and defend. Since there wasnt a ref inside the castle I saw 3 people get shot point blank (blood drawn) AFTER they ran inside. Nothing was done or said about it.
-Netting is literally falling off or hanging down in most areas.
-People are screaming at each other about paint checks, wiping and over shooting, because the referees have absolutely no control. Fights have almost broken out every time I¡¦ve played.
-People have posted about the HUGE woodsball fields. Please. Go to www.waynes-world.com or even Kohn Sports to see a real woodsball field.
-Petty excuse for a speedball field not netted on all sides and you can (probably will) get hit with paintballs while merely walking to the woodsball field, so keep an eye out.
Its a shame this field is so close to my house because its the only reason I ever went there to begin with. My friends and I have tolerated it every-other Sunday for 3 months, but now that Kohn Sports has opened a field I can honestly say I will never go back to Orbital. Hopefully once word gets out that you don¡¦t have to settle for this poor excuse of a field people will stop going. You have options people!
Oh, if you do decide to visit the field I hope know someone who works there, or are part of their in crowd because they tend to stack one side up with all of their friends and home team and proceed to let them wipe paint and over shoot everyone else. Good Times.
Go ahead and dispute it.
Last edited on Friday, April 21st, 2006 at 10:00 pm PST
Pros
-Pretty Large property woods are fair.
-Woods cover isn’t too bad
-Good prices on paint and supplies
Cons
-Field officially opens at 9:00am but play normally doesn’t start until after 10:00am
-Refs are the worst, first of they are teenage kids that lack professionalism i.e. no shirts aimlessly walking around during the games not paying attention to what’s going on.
-Lots and lots of cheating. Without Refs the players wipe and blatantly cheat
-The protective netting is in very poor shape, the last three times I left the field with paint on my auto.
With the limited number of fields in the area I will still have to use this field.
Thanks to Kohn Sports I will never return to this hole!!!!!
Last edited on Wednesday, October 18th, 2006 at 1:20 pm PST
My first time experience with Orbital was not a very good one. With a group of 17 persons for this trip the overall consensus was very unfavorable for a return trip.
Here is our groups thoughts:
Pros
-Large property with lots of dense growth - great for woodsballers
-Good amount of cover - both natural and man made
-Good prices on paint and supplies
CONS
-Difficult to locate - directions are clear but property is poorly (or more accurately) not marked at all.
-Field opens at 9am but first game didn't start until 10:50 due to staff being very unorganized with field setup and game preparation.
-Even with a reservation for our group there was not enough staff to ref the games properly - we were advised that we would have our own ref's for our party, this never happened.
-Air setup was good for equipment - but only one person to fill tanks for the entire field was poor - also working on markers at the air station caused several missed games due to wait in line
-Refs were not paying attention to several incidents, fights, wiping, blatant cheating, all occurring in front of the refs were left unchecked - a ref even inserted his friend into a game in progress BEHIND the opposing team after they walked down the entire length of the field - when asked about it the 12-13 year old ref didn't respond just walked away and left the game he was supposed to be overseeing.
-Field entrance setup was poor - had to walk through games in progress to access most of the fields
-Field maintenance is poor - protective netting has enough holes in it to be ineffective in some areas, also not tacked down to ground allowing several instances where speedball games were shooting rounds into parking lot onto cars and persons without protective gear
When field was under different ownership (Weekend Warrior) they seemed to have their act together and knew how to please their customers. Without a definate staffing change to persons who want to ref and really run the games I doubt a return thip will occur anytime soon.
First off, the woods fields are not bad at all, and the price was very affordable.
Now for the bad, in order to get to your playing field, you had to walk through another active game, resulting with a lot of us getting hit by paintballs from other players. The players there when I played were not very cool to play with, alot of wiping off paint and going out of bounds and re-entering the game, and especially frustrating was that they would not stop shooting a player after they called themselves out, but the refs were no better, they would watch everything and stop nothing. The refs have no control over the game. I would give this place a 4, but would not desire to ever return.
