Did you ever experience a place similar to this as a kid?

[DizzyDesii]

This shit was heaven for us 90s babies and any other 12 and under kid who had parents that loved to gamble lol. Your parents pay a fee and drop you off at this Best Buy size arcade like room for hours. There was technically no adult supervision although there was cams in case someone got hurt and security needed to rush over. My cousins and I used to run the slides in this place forreal lol. Tag was fun af on that set. This place had karaoke, arcade games, video game consoles, etc. I was so pissed when Hurricane Katrina took ours away in 2005. And i remember a cute sweet “bartender” who asked what I’d like to eat. I was like what you got? He said anything you can dream of. I said, I bet you don’t have raviolis! Then he served me up some Chef Boyardee on a silver platter 😭🙌😩

#FeelFreeToList #TheQuest

Updates

1 y

This wasn't an open arcade to the public like Dvae & Busters, Chuckey Cheese, etc. It was a huge locked room with cameras and no adults just a few security guards and a chef/bartender. The parent paid per child per hour for the kid to run wild in like a huge area until they finished gambling, shopping, etc. Your parent didn't even have to be on the property. Depending on the package deal they paid for, you’d get spoiled like crazy. The guy had me thinking my food/stuffed animals were free 😂

[NamerOfStars]

That I did- and it WAS a blast. A pity so many of those places are gone. I DO, however, still have a local arca- well, no, I DON'T actually have a local arcade anymore, but that's because I moved; the one where I USED to live is still there, though.

And at one point, some friends and I decided, on a whim, to get enough prize tickets to win the great big 300,000 ticket dragon that had probably been gathering dust since the Reagan administration. It took us about two years, and probably several times the money we'd've spent to just BUY one, but we did! We wound up redeeming the tickets at midnight, so we weren't surrounded by throngs of worshipful 8 year olds, but we still got double takes from everyone passing by.

[DizzyDesii]

This place above didn't even require points really. They just gave you shit since your parents paid in advance lol! But no arcade like place has impressed me since that one before 2005

[Jamie05rhs]

But @DizzyDesii Didn't you have to earn points to get the prizes?

[DizzyDesii]

@Jamie05rhs it wasn't technically an arcade. It had arcade games along with nonarcade stuff. It was like school without teachers lmao. But every hour was recess or lunchtime. I dont remember earning points to get a stuffed animal from the wall. The people behind the counters spoiled you because your parents already paid in advance for special/princess treatment

[Jamie05rhs]

@DizzyDesii You're saying certain parents "paid off" the toy store staff? 😯 Like, "Mr. Franklin says make my kid happy. If you know what I mean... (Wink)"

[DizzyDesii]

@Jamie05rhs more so of a package deal. Like for example, some childcare packages included food and prizes and some were just basic packages with just the arcade half

[Jamie05rhs]

@DizzyDesii That's kinda fucked up. So that means that all the poor kids got to experience the socioeconomic disparities of Christmas all over again -- except publicly, in front of all of their friends. "Why didn't you get any toys, Sarah?". "Uh, um... I don't know!! 😭😭"

[DizzyDesii]

@Jamie05rhs no because they still got “free” arcade games that didn't require money to play and we often snuck people some food and shit

[Jamie05rhs]

@DizzyDesii Awww. That's very nice of you. 💚

[DizzyDesii]

@Jamie05rhs i mean it was some meanass kids there but the place was so big that it was easy to maintain distance

[Jamie05rhs]

Oh; that's good.

[MysticDevice]

There's a place like that in my area. Its a one-off though and pretty much the same concept. I had my 12th birthday party there and it was pretty much the best thing ever. Place is still open and still raking in cash.

[DizzyDesii]

So lucky!!

[Lliam]

No. My parents weren't gamblers. What I enjoyed were weekend outings to all kinds of places.
Knott's Berry Farm was awesome. We lived about 1/2 an our away and admission was free back then.
We also went to Disneyland a couple times a year. It wasn't far away, either, and admission was inexpensive.
We went to Santa's Village in the mountains at least once a year.

We went on adventures all over southern California. The mountains, the desert, the coast, botanical gardens, Solvang, ... there is a long list.

[DizzyDesii]

Yea theme parks is a diff level. Im referring to a place that was like a temporary child care facility where kids could go while parents played or shopped or whatever

[Lliam]

Nope. I don't think our mom wouldn't have left us alone in a place like that. She'd be afraid we'd get injured or kidnapped. LOL
If she took us along shopping, we stayed with her and had fun looking around.

It's not like she kept us on a leash. I played all day in the neighborhood, rode my bike all over the place. I just had be be home for dinner.

The one place they would drop my sister and I off occasionally was a movie theater. That's when you could enter the theater any time and stay as long as you wanted. There were double features and cartoons.

[DizzyDesii]

Lmao kidnapped by who? Its a huge locked room with cameras and like no adults aside from a few security guards and a bartender. It wasn't open to the public like an arcade. You had to pay per child per hour

[DizzyDesii]

Plus you can see the locked doors in the first pic above

[The_Shadow_Dweller]

There was a place like this in the nearest mall, but it closed down years ago. Another store has taken its place in the mall, but this is not as fun as the previous one. This one is exclusively for kids only. Seems like it.

But, bowling alley is there. But I do not play it!😭😅

[DizzyDesii]

Wow sounds amazing

[The_Shadow_Dweller]

Yup. They successfully copied the above images with nearly 90% similarity. But still, it was good.

[DizzyDesii]

Did it have Quest in the name as well

[The_Shadow_Dweller]

Nope.

[kellytheman]

My grandmother would go to the boat on the Mississippi river (casino) and they had a basement with a big projection screen watching movies, arcade machines, free soda, pool table, and huge ass jungle Jim where you could get loss. They kinda got rid of it after the boat got too old.

[DizzyDesii]

Damn that wouldve been dope to still have

[kellytheman]

Yeah but I feel those days are over kids have a hard time being kids these days lately.

[DizzyDesii]

Whys that

[kellytheman]

Just how the world is with abduction, shootings, covid just everything that is going on. I feel so sad for the kids in Ukraine with war they can't be kids right just trying to survive.

[jennifer_bloom]

I did not like that type of thing as a kid, I liked non kiddy things like movie theatres, safaris, museums, water parks, tennis lessons etc… There is an Africa lion safari in Canada I used to visit once every 6/10 years.

[DizzyDesii]

I was 3-10 years old when visiting that place so we didn't really have a choice lmao

[jennifer_bloom]

That is cute! I went to chuckee cheese a few times, cause our kids program had field trips there but I was bored, the only thing I liked was the cheese pizza they gave us afterwards.

[DizzyDesii]

Yeea i wasn't big on chuckee cheese but i like their slide set. But the pics above are all in one room. That was the childcare facility where kids went while parents went off to do whatever

[ShadezMcgee]

Played in play places like at Burger King, McDonalds, Chuck E Cheese, etc. Nothing from areas where people could gamble because my parents aren't gamblers (thank God).

[DizzyDesii]

I mean those places are like a quarter of the size if this place. Chucky Cheese came close but you usually had to be supervised. And your parents didn't have to gamble for you to go therr. Your parent could be out shopping ir at the buffet or screwing in some hotel. But the place was just meant to be a 24/7 watch while parents had their fun

[NathanDavis]

nope... as a kid I was terribly and painfully shy, big places like this, full of people and hyper everything could bring me and give me the most anxiety, lol

[DizzyDesii]

Aww damn. I mean i was shy but I was with my cousins who were like Bebes Kids so i knew i’d be fine 😂

[NathanDavis]

I did prefer open places... lmao

if there were no walls, then I could just run away and escape like hell... haha

[DizzyDesii]

Yea no this place you were locked behind the big purple doors in the first pic until your parents checked you out

[NathanDavis]

hell naw... sticky and gooey surfaces all over the place as well, lmfao

[DizzyDesii]

No the place was really nice and clean. Only the inside of the slide set prob smelled like gym socks lmao.

[NathanDavis]

lmfao...

[MCheetah]

This sh*t was always for rich kids, LOL! I barely had one friend who could afford a Chuck E. Cheese birthday party for $500 (in 1996 money).

[DizzyDesii]

Chuck e cheese was ridiculous. And not even worth that price. I prob had one unofficial bday there. But this place im referring to was more of casino childcare so it was prob $50 a kid at most. Not sure since its hourly pay now. But my mom said back then it was one pay type thing

[melanieeeB]

Yaaas one was called happy kids and one jump in, both closed down years ago tho
My aunt used to go with us there, it was pretty fun I guess

[DizzyDesii]

Dang that sounds fun! But adults werent allowed in our facility

[melanieeeB]

Ohh that's sad, well like my aunt couldn't run around too but like sit beside us and drink her coffee

[DizzyDesii]

Yea the place i was at required people to be 12 and under. Our parents had to drop us off at the stand they paid at

[Loveisgirthy]

Aw man Katrina that's crazy... I went to ChuckE cheese and Fun Fest as a kid. Then later Dave n Busters which is the more grown up arcade. But that place sounds absolutely rad as heck especially for a kid like I was.

[DizzyDesii]

This was like Dave & Busters on steroids but it was more of like a childcare facility

[Loveisgirthy]

Pretty sure I've only seen places like it in movies but it still looks like fun honestly, we need an adult sized version of this

[DizzyDesii]

For sure! But you had to be 12 and under i believe

[Loveisgirthy]

Yep probably would cut it off at 12. Feel like if adults had jungle gyms it'd be easier to stay fit

[DizzyDesii]

Thats what American Ninja Warrior is for lmao

[Loveisgirthy]

Lol sure sure But why we gotta compete? Just give it to us for fun. Same kinda set up but make it a night club kinda deal.

[DizzyDesii]

Then thats what Dave & Busters is for

[Loveisgirthy]

Nahhh they do not have adult jungle gyms, I want me sized jungle gyms and a big ass ball pit. And a fricken finger lickin good personal chef feeding me on command. Das it

[Th3ft]

This place looks awesome! I don’t think we have these up here where I am. I can imagine a game of rage being amazing in there though!

[DizzyDesii]

What is a game of rage

[Th3ft]

☺️🤦‍♂️😂 oh no! I meant a game of tag… I’m sorry! That was rather ridiculous!

[DizzyDesii]

Yea we played tag crawling through that huge ass jungle gymset

[Th3ft]

Oh okay! Interesting! I was picturing more of a chuckey cheeses. That sounds so fun! I bet they were expensive though.

[DizzyDesii]

Look at all the pics above

[Th3ft]

Lol! Well exactly! Middle pic with all the arcade games made me think of that most but with that jungle gym set and is that a miniature gymnasium for shooting hoops?

[DizzyDesii]

Yes all of the pics above are in the same building

[Th3ft]

Wow! The place must be huge. Is it inside a mall or a casino?

[DizzyDesii]

It was inside the casino/hotel. The hotel contained the casino, a shopping area, restaurant area, spa, pool and hotel rooms

[Th3ft]

Damn! Sounds like a nice hotel!

[DizzyDesii]

Yea until the hurricane ripped it away

[Th3ft]

Right! Well so wait they didn’t rebuild?

[DizzyDesii]

They built other stuff in its place

[Th3ft]

Interesting! I would have thought a place like a casino and hotel would have been able to rebuild. Oh well though. Did a lot of places change like that?

[DizzyDesii]

Hurricane katrina took out a loooot of our casino hotels and not many got built back. And the ones that did didn't get a Kids Quest

[Th3ft]

That’s really surprising. I wonder why they didn’t rebuild more of the casinos. I mean I imagine that the city is better off without.

[Th3ft]

Hold up I'm thinking specifically about New Orleans. How far are you from there?

[Jamie05rhs]

@Th3ft Katrina f'ed up Mississippi real bad, too.

[DizzyDesii]

@Jamie05rhs yea im in MS. We still got prob 15 casinos. But not all got built back. This was one of the coolest casinos that sadly neevr got built back as well. The whole ship ended up in the center of the highway after the hurricane

[Th3ft]

Did the ship Float? Was it a real ship? That is so cool! I mean it’s just a cool idea if it floats or no… it must have been pretty fun to go inside of.

[Jamie05rhs]

@DizzyDesii Oh my gosh! That looks amazing!

And yeah, I was going to ask the same questions.

[DizzyDesii]

I don't know if it was real. I was under 10 but it looked real. They rebuilt it back as a normal building but not as a castle/ship like before



See its so plain now

[Jamie05rhs]

Aw man. Yeah, it is pretty basic now.

[DizzyDesii]

@Jamie05rhs and I’ve never been in the newer one. We dropped my grandpa off at the door of it and soon as the doors slid open, all you smelled was cigarette smoke. I was like nope not goin in there

[Jamie05rhs]

@DizzyDesii Wow

[DizzyDesii]

@Jamie05rhs and mind you 90% of our casinos are casino/hotels with restaurants and shopping stores. So sometimes the whole place smells like cig smoke including the nonsmoking rooms. Some i can tolerate but not all. But my fam used to stay in the casino 6 hours lol. Now its about 3 before we dip. But believe it or not, i haven't been to a casino since like March. This is the longest I've been away from a casino since i turned 21 lmao

[Jamie05rhs]

Wow; dang. I wouldn't be able to breathe in that crap.

[DizzyDesii]

@Jamie05rhs When moneys callin, the smoke becomes less bothersome. But i refuse to sit beside a smoker. They blow it in your face and i get so pissed

[Jamie05rhs]

@DizzyDesii I do not even associate with smokers. I don't allow them to exist in my life. I avoid them like the plague.

[DizzyDesii]

@Jamie05rhs i agree in terms of dating and friendships. But 9/10 MS casinos are smoking with some having the option of smoke free sides and only one being completely smoke free. So i have to tolerate it enough to go gamble

[Jamie05rhs]

@DizzyDesii Hopefully you'll grow out of that someday. Lol

[DizzyDesii]

@Jamie05rhs im managing it better. Not going monthly now

[Jamie05rhs]

@DizzyDesii That's good. 😇

[Kreneman]

Back in days where I am from their were a few popular places like that for kids and were called Discovery Zone, Boomers, and Grand Prix.

[DizzyDesii]

Ooo okay

[Phoenix98]

Yeah I'd take my kids to an arcade like that if any of them are still around by the time I have kids.

[DizzyDesii]

Ours got swept away during katrina. But yea this is more of a childcare facility then arcade because the parents have to drop the kid off and leave

[Phoenix98]

O well the places I went were more along the lines of genuine arcades.

[DizzyDesii]

Same but this place was just too cool. All the pics above were in the room

[Phoenix98]

Nice.

[Jamie05rhs]

Oh my gosh. That looks amazing. 😱

Unfortunately I never had anything like that in my childhood.
The closest I came to that was a skating rink with arcade games on the side.

[DizzyDesii]

It made childhood amazeballs

[Jamie05rhs]

I bet it did!!

[Dargil]

I rodewestern horses (fell a lot) and made my own spaghetti.

[DizzyDesii]

Okayyy

[RavVid]

Wow, that would have been fantastic! Retrospectively, I now had a bad childhood.

[DizzyDesii]

Yea it was awesome. And aww what made it bad

[RavVid]

That I didn't to experience the same as a child. After all those pics I now feel deprived.

[DizzyDesii]

Aww well we only got to go to that place like once a month lol

[RavVid]

But I never did!

[AimeeKyle]

There wasn’t anything like that where I grew up (in the country) when I was younger. The closest thing was some pretty extravagant outdoor play sets.

[Likes2drive]

Just the big arcade rooms in the mall during the 80s , Dave and Busters is similar and Chuckie Cheese

[DizzyDesii]

Well sorta but not really. We had those too bt thise are open to the public and all ages. This places was exclusively for kids like a childcare facility

[Agape93]

... nope. my parents would never take me to something like that, even if we could afford it.

[ALewis30]

Yes I have. Discovery Kids and Mr. Gatti's Pizza were both awesome.

[DizzyDesii]

We had gatti too but it was public and open to all ages. The place above was private and you had to pay for your kids to enter

[Literalbillionaire17]

Yes. My mall had something similar to this and half of it was for kids and the other half was for adults like tv’s and a bar and stuff.