Arcade Visit: Fun Land, Panama City Beach, FL

alfonzotan

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Just a quick report, and not a happy one. I stopped in briefly at Fun Land on Front Beach Road in Panama City Beach, FL, yesterday, and I'm sorry to say that another great old arcade is almost history, at least as far as "Golden Age" games are concerned. Once upon a time (really as recently as about five years ago), Fun Land was the last remaining "classic" arcade in PCB. These days there are only two 80's games left, what looks like a rebuilt Arkenoid, and a large-screen (I'd guess 25") Galaga/Ms. Pac re-release. Other than that, all the video games are pretty contemporary.

Shame... the "Redneck Riviera" used to be an arcade hotspot, and it stayed that way well into the 90's. The arcade at the old Miracle Strip Amusement Park (the whole park is now completely gone, all the way down to the slab) was legendary all by itself. Fun Land hung on for a long time as a pretty good time capsule, but I guess the economic realities finally brought them into the 21st Century. There were a good number of kids in there playing, so I really can't fault the owners, but... well, if you're over, say, 35, you know how it feels.
 
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My first and only time in PCB was back in 2003... I was amazed at the cool go cart tracks, they're huge and multiple levels. I had always wanted to venture into that arcade, sad news to hear it's succumb to the economics. But, the games had to go somewhere...

Someone nearby should do some research on who owns the games, and where they are now. Do some recon and save some more classics. Who knows they may be in storage, OR they may already be in collector's hands.
 
My first and only time in PCB was back in 2003... I was amazed at the cool go cart tracks, they're huge and multiple levels. I had always wanted to venture into that arcade, sad news to hear it's succumb to the economics. But, the games had to go somewhere...

Someone nearby should do some research on who owns the games, and where they are now. Do some recon and save some more classics. Who knows they may be in storage, OR they may already be in collector's hands.

It's a family-owned business, so it's certainly possible that they still have old games stored somewhere. God only knows how much money they turned down by not selling that place during the PCB real estate frenzy of the last decade.
 
It's a family-owned business, so it's certainly possible that they still have old games stored somewhere. God only knows how much money they turned down by not selling that place during the PCB real estate frenzy of the last decade.

As I understand it, Birmingham Vending actually owns it now (Don't know if they always did?) -- which is probably why they have machines like that Afterburner Climax super deluxe in there -- any regular op that has to pay list price would probably just buy the normal motion version.

You have to call up the main office in Alabama if you want to inquire about used games, so they surely have nothing classic sitting around.
 
As I understand it, Birmingham Vending actually owns it now (Don't know if they always did?) -- which is probably why they have machines like that Afterburner Climax super deluxe in there -- any regular op that has to pay list price would probably just buy the normal motion version.

You have to call up the main office in Alabama if you want to inquire about used games, so they surely have nothing classic sitting around.

I believe a family from Dothan owns (or owned) the building and the business... remember reading in the paper about how they had dug their feet in and refused to sell during the boom. That was a few years ago, though, so certainly something may have changed.
 
Funland of Panama City

I am one of the current owners of Funland. It has been owned by my family since 1950. We also own Birmingham Vending.

Thank you for visiting Funland. I am sorry that you were disappointed in the current game mix at the arcade. I try and keep a good mix of games in the facility taking into account cost, revenue, maintenance, ect. We really try and keep the classic feel to the place, but also want to appeal to a wide cross section of customers. I really appreciate your feedback. The ticket redemption games continue to be the most popular products.

The Panama City News Herald recently ran an article about Funland that you might find interesting. http://www.panamacity.com/articles/game-94333-newsherald-generations-keeps.html


Birmingham Vending does have a great selection of used equipment, but we do not have a large quantity of classic games. Unfortunately, over the years, many of the great classics have been sold or disposed of. We have had many great collectibles come through here over time.

Steven Toranto
 
Thanks for posting Steven. I regret not visiting Funland when I was in PCB in 2003 but we were taping the insanity of Spring Break for a TLC show and it never let up (of course).

How many arcade games would you say you have or had in your inventory at one point in time? Some larger FEC or operators usually have a rough list of games, I'm curious if you ever recall back in the day what the largest number was.....throw out a estimated number just for fun.

Did FUNLAND jump into the laser arcade games back around 83/84. I would love to hear any anecdotes or stories of what oddball video arcade games you had back then. Ever remember a video arcade game called "Bouncer". It's been one I've been searching for for a while and have only heard few stories of FECs and operators ever having it on location or in inventory.

All the best.

I have to chuck at the line in the article...

"With more than 100 arcade games covering 7,500 square feet, Fun-Land is a throwback to the "good ol' days" of classic amusements, featuring old favorites like skeeball and a children's carousel; classic video games including Pac-Man and Tekken;..."

It's just hard for me to consider Tekken a classic but then again, I'm the pre-fighting game generation so Tekken didn't make my list of played games.
 
Last time I was in Panama City Beach was December of 1992. I only remember going into a pool hall on the strip. It was across from one of the beach-side campsites.
 
I used to visit PCB for Miracle Strip Amusement Park. It was such a fun place! Wish I'd known there was a classic games arcade there back in the day. With the park gone and not really being too much of a beach person (and now this arcade news), I really don't foresee myself making plans to return there anytime soon unfortunately.
 
I live in Panama City and work about 10 minutes from Fun Land. Fun Land definitely has kept the feel and look of the classic arcade but they have 'kept with the times' by putting more and more of the newer stuff in place of the classics. They have to make money to stay in business. Also keep in mind that they dwindle to almost no business during the winter months.

I remember in the late 80's that a friend of mine had his birthday party at Fun Land. I was 7 years old. One of my great childhood memories actually.

I would kick myself every day if I had turned down big money for the property back during the boom of the real estate market! ;)
 
We currently have a couple of hundred games in stock in Birmingham, plus many more on the route that we could sell. In the past we have had hundreds of games in stock at one time including several classics and collectibles. Unfortunately, space became scarce and from time to time, we have just had to clear out games in quantity. I have some favorite games that were disposed of "by mistake". We had a bear shooting game with the gun and a mechanical bear would go back and forth as you shot. Several of the baseball games with the ball and bat. I sold a space wars a few years back.

Funland had Dragons Lair, Sega Time Traveler (a hologram game). Mach 3 ( a laser game). Birmingham Vending had a bad experience with that game as it was not reliable. Don't remember bouncer. We did have some old time "stripper" video's when I was growing up. They must have been original from the fifties. I have no idea what we did with them, but I am sure they are highly collectible.

In my world, tekken is not a classic arcade game either, but that just dates me.
 
Great to hear stories from the trenches, Steven. Any other wild stories from the route or business you can share?

Can you also tell me why aside from Waffle Houses, that go cart tracks in Panama City Beach are GIGANTIC?! It was crazy seeing so many waffle houses (finally ate at one), but I never have seen multi-story go cart tracks. Never been to Fun Land, does it also have a go cart track?

There's a member on these klov forums who owns a shoot the bear. Definitely a great early piece, as well as the other themes with the same concept.

So has Fun Land kept it simple and stayed with coin mechs or did you move to dollar vend and card systems for game credits?
 
Related to this topic - not seeing the classics on location any more depresses me. I understand they don't make any money any more, but damn, I hate knowing there are the huge population centers in the country that just don't have access to classic vids any more.

Makes me kind of grateful that I was able to partner with a local pizza shop owner to get 8 machines placed at his place. I still service them to this day. I just emptied the coin bucket on the Ms Pac on Monday and pulled nearly $50 out of it - not bad for 4 months.

I never realized how rare this was.

 
Oh, I'm not saying the making any money on these cabs is rare, rather that there are 8 functional cabs on location. The owner could care less if he makes any money on them.

I wish he had more room - I'd have at least 3 more cabs there, as well as a pin :)
 
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