Visit: Saturday 8/6/22
Context: 2 adults; 2 nephews and a niece ages 5-11.
Pros:
-We were entertained for 6+ hours. We had a list of things for that day in Ashland and ended up staying at Malibu Jack's the whole time.
-There were options outside the bustle of the main area that kept the kids engaged, such as taking pictures at the art walk.
-Even with it being fairly crowded, and including activities with longer waits such as laser tag, go-carts, and rides, we spent under 1/3 of our time standing around or in line. Bowling had a waitlist and called when a lane was available, which was helpful.
-Positive, friendly interactions with employees.
-Beer.
Very Bitter Con: Avoid the claw/prize games. You know how it's bad to use laser pointers with pets unless you eventually give them a reward for their efforts? This violates the same principle. Across each one of these games, whenever you caught a toy, the claw would open wide in a specific spot before it reached the slot. This happened more times than I'll ever admit before I decided to take a break and watch the same dumbfounded indignation at having been fleeced flash across the faces of adults and children alike. No one got a toy. In one game, the bouncing ball prizes were placed outside the reach of the claw. This place is already not cheap, and crassness of further exploitation is offensive. Unless you're planning to teach kids a poetry lesson about the claw as a metaphor for capitalism or provide live demonstration of the sunk cost fallacy while failing to win a $3 toy, redirect the kids elsewhere. Fortunately, there are enough other options to make that easier.
Caveats and Tips: We went in with an open schedule, 2 adults so we could split up at times, kids who were in agreeable moods, and the ability to say yes to most things they wanted to do. Lacking those factors, I might have planned to visit either the arcade area or specific activities outside that area rather than a little of everything. This place is a straight dopamine rush for kids that could easily descend into chaos without clear expectations of time and budget. I would have avoided the arcade and prize areas altogether if the kids had high hopes to win enough tickets for prizes, although this money-grab was not as egregious as those dreadful, godforsaken claws. read more