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The former owners and operators of Palace Entertainment, the multi-state family amusement park and waterpark company, report a successful opening for their new FEC venture, the 22-acre Austins Park 'n Pizza Experience!, in Austin, Texas.
"It went well," Bill Rameson, CEO of parent company Austin Entertainment LLC, based in Irvine, Calif., said of the venue's soft opening June 26. "I've had openings in the past where we over-promoted and that can be disastrous." His estimates are that "a couple of thousand" people at-tended opening night which was promoted primarily by "letting a few people know" and a "Now Open" sign, visible from the nearby Interregional Highway 35.
Since then, about 10,000 guests had visited through the first full weekend of operation, Rameson said. The Fourth of July weekend also went well attendance-wise and the following weekend was better still.
Attractions include miniature golf, go-karts, bumper boats, batting cages, laser tag, driving range, and a climbing wall along with kiddie rides and a kiddie play area. There are more than 60 games in the arcade, a high percentage of which are redemption games. There also are six billiard tables.
Rameson said that most of the attractions and activities at Austin's are those that have been found to be successful elsewhere, adding that the difference between Austin's and other FEC's is one of scale. "It's more than what you...