Tag: things to do

Pinballz Arcade Lake Creek

Published on by clairebooherLeave a comment

If you are looking for an activity to escape the heat this Labor Day weekend, try a trip down memory lane to Pinballz Arcade!  Pinballz’s Lake Creek location has expanded from their namesake pinball machines, to an epic play zone with go-kart racing, ax throwing, bowling and other awesome activities.  You will probably enjoy this place as much as your kids do!

Getting to Pinballz Lake Creek is pretty simple.  It is tucked back from the highway, but very easy to get to and find parking.  Once you get inside, you are pretty much left to your own devices.  Kiosk machines line the front where you can get your gaming card for the day.  If you want to do the go-karts or any of the other larger games, you do have to sign up with someone.  Otherwise, you are on your own! 

All of your standard arcade games and pinball machines are to the left of the entrance in a bright colorful line!  It may be hard for you or your kids to keep your focus with all the bright lights beckoning you to each game.  A lot of the games you can play with your kids, which everyone gets a kick out of.  If you’re a competitive parent, you might need to continuously tell yourself, “It’s only a game.  It’s only a game.”

Past the first round of arcade games is the eating area.  It is nice and spread out.  It is easy to move tables for the size of your group.  The food is standard concession stand food.  It is not good or bad, and it keeps you full.  One nice accessory I have always appreciated about Pinballz, is the cup holders at every single game! 

If you really want to be nostalgic, past the eating area is a large cluster of classic arcade games like Asteroids or Galaga.  It is pretty cool to see what old school games they have collected.

Tips:

Cost  The nostalgia of playing arcade games comes with the cost of playing arcade games.  Remember as a kid your parents would give you some money and tell you not to spend it too fast?  Then the money was gone in about 15 minutes!  Pinballz is unfortunately not immune from the arcade money vacuum.  Every so often they have deals with two hours of unlimited playtime or half off games.  But every game play cost money, and they don’t have an unlimited gaming card like Dave & Busters or Chuck E Cheese.

Meeting Spot  Pinballz at Lake Creek has gotten huge over the past year.  Even before they added their go-kart racing, it was hard to keep track of little ones running by arcade games.  The large eating area is where most parents set up camp.  It is a good idea to stake out your meeting place before you wind up the kids and let them go!

Food and Drink  No outside food or drink is allowed at all!  I walked in with a Gatorade bottle and they made me throw it away.  There is pretty good food and drink to buy.  But don’t expect to bring water bottles or snacks for the day.

So should you make the trip to Pinballz Lake Creek?

0-3 (Proceed with Caution)

Pinballz Lake Creek does have a really nice play area for the smaller kiddos.  The games are their size and easy to navigate.  It is only one little section in a giant area.  While they can definitely accompany their older siblings and have a good time, outside of this little area there isn’t a lot for this age group to do. 

3-6 (go now)

While this age group may also be too small for a lot of the activities, there is still plenty for them to do.  Lots of games for them to try or lots of claw machines for them to get frustrated with.  This age group will have a blast!

6-10 (go now)

Head to the bank, pull out that pesky retirement fund and go!  These kids will be in heaven!  They can do so much throughout this whole area.  They can do almost every single activity available.  They might have to wait a while before they can do ax throwing, but most parents are okay with that.

Museum of Ice Cream

Published on by clairebooherLeave a comment

The Museum of Ice Cream just opened up in the Domain.  The title suggests a fun history of ice cream!  The website suggests the museum “transforms concepts and dreams into spaces that provoke imagination and creativity.”   Their Instagram suggests great opportunities for fabulous pictures.  The reality of the Museum of Ice Cream is actually underwhelming.  At $40 per ticket, the museum doesn’t quite deliver on any of its promises. 

Getting there is pretty painless, considering the Domain can be very congested.  There is valet parking right next to the museum.  The Pink Parking Garage is also super close.  The wait outside is short, and the very enthusiastic staff provides popsicles while you wait.  I appreciated having a specific ticket time.  It allows you to plan ahead and keeps the crowds smaller. 

Once you enter, you are sent into a small waiting room.  You fill out name tags with your own personal ice cream favor.  Don’t stress to much about thinking of a flavor name, it is never brought up again for the rest of the time.  After that, you enter the first real room of the museum.  It is a small soda shop where you can grab your first ice cream.  Besides the ice cream, the only thing this first room has to offer are some restaurant-style activity sheets for the kids, and a jukebox. 

Then you move into the Instagram heaven of the exhibit.  Hanging bananas, light up hallways, and Circus Animal Cookies are strategically set up to make that perfect Instagram photo.  Your kids will most likely blow through all of these section as they serve no use and aren’t edible.  Along the way there is a stop to fill up on all the red-colored candy you can find.  This is followed by a stop for cotton candy.

Once the kids are full of sugar, you enter the climax of the exhibit, the Ice Cream Playground.  Inside this playground is the pool of sprinkles.  This is the most interactive part of the museum for kids.  It is definitely fun, and will make the kids work off some sugar, but how long it will keep the kids entertained, is uncertain.

That’s about all there is.  And while it is a perfectly pleasant experience, for the high price of $40 a ticket, you would hope to get more out of it than some fun Instagram pictures.  Really this trip is the most fun for the teenagers and lovers of social media.  For the little kids looking for sugar and playtime, it is okay.  They would probably have just as much fun going to an actually playground and then going to get some ice cream.

Tips:

It’s warm:  Ironically, the inside of the Museum of Ice Cream was very warm.  Between the Texas heat seeping in through the open doors, the amount of people, and the close quarters, the heat is noticeable. 

Waiting time:  Getting into the museum is very efficient.  They have specific times for you to show up.  Your wait outside will only be a few minutes, and once inside you can move about at your own leisure.  However, if you are coming to get your Instagram picks, you will be waiting a while.  Everyone wants to get their perfect picture and you will have to wait your turn. 

Beware the spinner:  In one of the last rooms of the museum, there is a large playground with slides, basketball hoops, and the pool of sprinkles.  There is also a pink spinner.  Every-single-person we saw get on that spinner had a hard fall!!  If you plan to try this obstacle out, just make sure someone has the camera ready!

So should you make the trip to the Museum of Ice Cream?

0-3 (Stop!)

I will commend Museum of Ice Cream for having fabulous family bathrooms.  And what little kid doesn’t love having free ice cream, candy, cotton candy, and popsicles?  The playground is really too big for this crowd.   It is not a stroller friendly experience.  There are a few great photo ops for your little ones.  But at the end of the day, it is an expensive photo op.

3-6 (proceed with caution)

This age group will definitely have a good time with the visuals, the games, and the ice cream of course!  The playground is a good size for these kids.  The playground does offer only a few option, but depending how much your kids loves repetition, you could kill a lot of time here.  In my experience kids this age aren’t big fans of getting their picture taken.  This museum is all about the photo ops.  If your child ducks for cover whenever you pull out a camera, this might not be the place for you.

6-10 (proceed with caution)

While this age group is best suited for the playground area, that is really all there is to offer these kids.  It’s a fun idea.  But at the end of the day, the museum is only interactive enough for about an hour and half of activity.  They aren’t going to learn anything fun about ice cream.  They aren’t going to come away with an appreciation for art.  At most they will have a good sugar rush for the car ride home.