“Ages 1 – 100, we have something for everyone,” says Scene75 CEO Jonah Sandler. Located in Milford, Ohio, Scene75 is second only to its predecessor in Dayton as “the largest indoor entertainment center in the country.”
I visited before the grand opening, when the building buzzed with beeping construction equipment, pounding hammers and saws throwing sparks. Despite mere beams and printed signs, the place came alive with Jonah’s passionate descriptions. “It’ll be wide open when you walk in,” he said, gesturing around the building. “LED signage will show at a glance the activities and entrances.”
Scene75’s youngest visitors will dash for the entrance of the Bounce Room. Its toddler area even features interactive games along the walls where, Jonah says, “Mom and Dad can go inside and engage with their kids.”
Before the bouncing begins though, stop at the kiosk on the left. There, visitors purchase or load credits to a Fun Card used to pay for all of the activities and to track game winnings that can be redeemed for “stuffed animals, candy, electronics — whatever people are interested in,” according to Jonah. For guests’ convenience, a QR code reader can check the balance on the Fun Card anytime. Another convenience at Cincinnati’s Scene75 is located to the right. “That’ll be the coat room. That’s one thing we learned pretty quickly from Dayton, we need a dedicated coat room.” It seems Cincinnati will benefit from many such tweaks from lessons learned at its sister site.
Cincinnati’s Scene75 will also benefit from its marketing guru’s hobby. Sean Cope loves lazer tag. “We hired him after he won the gold,” jokes Jonah. “Might not have if he’d only won the silver.” As a lazer tag champion, Cope helped design Milford’s Post Apocalyptic course that includes “three districts that encourage people to move around and shoot from different levels.”
New to both the Cincinnati and Dayton locations, though, is Valkyrie, a Zombie Apocalypse Simulator and Ride. In fact, Scene75 is the first venue in North America to offer this 4-D motion shoot’em-up simulator. Up to eight people, each equipped with an arcade phaser, will “go on an intense first person shooting journey through a zombie infested military base enhanced by wind and strobe effects.”
Additional 4-D Theaters with motion seats, surround sound, 3-D visuals, and wind, bubbles, and other effects will also entertain visitors, and bystanders who can “view projections from outside to gauge others experiences.” Scene75 will also house Blacklight Mini Golf, Go Karts, Bumper Cars and Mini Bowling. There’s also a Chaos Room, a Lazer Frenzy and The Vault, “a lazer maze with a Mission Impossible type guy overhead.”
In the center of all the fun, Scene75 has a full service bar and restaurant with 24 beers on tap and a menu featuring not only Kids’ Meals, but also appetizers, gourmet burgers, and specialties like roasted chicken and Momma’s Meatloaf. Diners can watch the game on the 34 screens surrounding the restaurant, or look out on the action and keep an eye on the kids while relaxing.
There’s also a party room for special events. Walls open or close to create the perfect space for groups of eight to 80 to 200, and for the ultimate party, people can even rent the entire facility and fill it with up to 2,000 guests. A party planner is also on staff to take care of every detail.
Scene75
Entertainment Center
876 State Route 28, Milford
scene75.com