"So Dick, where are your buccaneers?" -- 3rd Rock from the Sun: Season 3, Episode 5
Ugh. I have been dreading writing this review because this place was dreadful. And it kills me because I have such fond memories of Malibu from my growing up and from taking the kids when they were younger - and this should have been a great experience! Well, it was terrible.
First, let's talk about pricing. Everything is a la carte unless you want to buy packages that don't make any sense. For $20 you can get unlimited mini golf and unlimited rides, but that doesn't include any video game tokens or Buccaneers Cove. To add BC, it's another $10 for an all day pass. So for $30, you get everything... oh wait, no tokens. The Starter Pass is $10 for a ride and a round of mini golf (who wants to play more than 1 round anyway?). You might want to play 2 if you want to play both courses. Oh yeah, none of these options include the batting cages either. By the way, just to enter the location of Buccaneers Cove, as an adult to sit and monitor your kids, you have to pay the $10 - can you say RIP OFF? I also handed over some cash for tokens - I can't remember how much, but whatever the best deal was.
So let me start with our day. I took the kids (niece and nephew), who were in from out of town, for a fun day of running around. I bought 2 Starter Passes, 1 round of golf (for me) and 2 BC passes... oh wait, 3 BC passes. Had I known (not on the website anywhere), I would have dressed differently. We started with mini-golf and played a round and had quite a bit of fun, but the course it pretty run down and needs an overhaul. It has been used a lot. It is cute, with the around the world theme, but also a bit lackluster.
Next up, the go-karts. Not well marked about who should go which direction for single riders, versus double riders. The rides are only 5 minutes long, but the kids had fun and I sat in the hot, hot sun waiting (while they waited under a covered area) as I hydrated. Now, I had brought in bottled ice waters for us, and these quickly dwindled in the hot sun. The kids rode and after we decided to go straight for BC. As we started to walk in, we were stopped by a kid and given the rules. Oh, and you can rent a cabana for $X, but sorry, they are all rented for the day. Okay, then why are you telling me?
I found a couple of lounge chairs and we set our stuff down and the kids stripped to their bathing suits and off they went. Here is the problem - white asphalt. Not gray, white. What happens is the sun reflects off this and makes it hotter than Hades and causes sun stroke. How do I know? The Granny next to me passed out and the paramedics came. After about an hour, I had sweat off all I could muster and was suddenly cold. I had consumed all water I had brought with me AND purchased from the snack stand inside. Luckily, the kids were wet and hot and tired and hungry and ready to play some games. So we bailed on BC (it was crazy crowded for a Thursday).
We walked inside and got in line (again) for drinks from the snack stand. One girl was running the entire thing - hundreds of people at MGP and ONE girl is working the snack counter. Not only does she get your order, take your money, but she fixes all the drinks and gets the food and hands it to you. 20+ minutes to get 3 bottles of water. Insane. It was one thing to go through this painful process the first time, but at this point, I had a bit of heat stroke and was about to pass out and couldn't form words.
My niece took over (age 13) and managed the transaction, I think she even signed the credit card slip, got the waters and got me to a table. They went and played games while I recovered.
Entire experience - crap. And for the money I payed - even worse. Hire someone more than high school aged kids, hire more than 1 for the snack bar. Renovate and clean the place up maybe? And consider some shade that you don't have to pay for at BC... let's not kill all the adults.
Verdict, save you money and hang out at the neighborhood pool. read more