Draft:Funland (London)

Funland

Funland's first-floor entrance in 2009
Location	Piccadilly Circus, Central London, United Kingdom
Owner	Family Leisure
Operator	Family Leisure (1990-2002) West End Amusement Parks Limited (2002-2011)
Type	Amusement arcade
Opened	1990
Closed	3 July 2011

Funland, was an amusement arcade and Family Entertainment Centre located in the Trocadero Centre in Piccadilly Circus, Central London, United Kingdom. The venue originally opened in 1990 and survived until July 2011, due to conflicts between the owners of the venue and the Trocadero.

Funland, upon closure, was classified as the largest amusement arcade in the United Kingdom and one of the largest game and simulator selections in Europe, containing various amusement machines such as arcade video games, redemption games, Claw Machines, air hockey, Super Shot, Whac-A-Mole, ten-pin bowling and a Sports Bar featuring a kitchen and pool tables. It was heavily focused on families and young adults.

History

Early History (1990-1996)

In 1991, Funland expanded to a lower floor with the addition of "Lazerbowl".

Major Success (1996-1999)

Despite the opening of SegaWorld London in 1996, Funland continued to thrive in popularity.

Expansion (1999-2002)

On 7 September 1999, it was announced that Sega would exit out of the SegaWorld joint-venture with Trocadero owners Chorion, who announced that they would sub-let the ex-SegaWorld space over to Family Leisure.

After Family Leisure took over the former SegaWorld space, the company closed their basement Funland branch and began plans for an extensive transformation and refurbishment, which would combine the original floors of Funland with the original two-floor Funland/Lazerbowl complex to create a massive, seven-floor family entertainment venue. Before SegaWorld's closure, the first two new additions for the Funland transformation - "Le Bar" (Also known as "Bar at 4") on the Race Track level, and a Dodgems set on the "Carnival" level were added for the 1999 season.

From late 2000 to Early 2001, Family Leisure commissioned Proun to begin the transformation. The first floor (formerly the SegaWorld "exit" and the original portion of Funland) gained a brand new entrance, while the lower section (Lazerbowl) remained as was. The second and third floors (formerly the "Sports Arena" and "Carnival" levels) gained extensive changes, with the second floor now becoming home to a Sports Bar, Pool table room, Bowling alley and Wimpy fast-food outlet. The third floor became home to several amusement rides, with a Ghost Train (repurposed from the "Ghost Hunters" attraction), Go-Kart track and Breakdance flat ride joining the Dodgems attraction, of which there were now two different sets. Other floors gained some minor additions but were not entirely refurbished. The only attraction that was retained from SegaWorld was "Aqua Planet".

Downsizing (2002-2005)

After Funland was downsized in September 2002, access to the SegaWorld entrance was simply blocked off with a vending machine.

At the start of 2002, Family Leisure leased out Funland over to third-party operator West End Amusement Parks. The lack of new arcade game titles taunted Funland due to its large size, and with crime rates at the Trocadero increasing, planning permission was granted in September 2002 to reduce the size of Funland to only three floors (consisting of the existing Funland area, the former SegaWorld entrance and the "Sports Arena" level) instead of seven. The upper levels were shuttered entirely and boarded up, with their games and rides being removed. However, due to costs, the ex-SegaWorld entrance and Rocket Esculator were not removed and was simply blocked off with a vending machine.

The rides at the venue were soon sold off to private owners including the unrelated Funland Hayling Island. Despite the downsize, Funland remained the largest video game arcade in the United Kingdom, and regained a resurgence in the mid-2000s as a central hub for London's then-nascent rhythm game community, with numerous notable events and notable games held at the location.

Final Years and Closure (2005-2011)

In 2005, Asif Aziz's Criterion Capital purchased the Trocadero Centre, with intentions to redevelop the site. Aziz announced his plan to construct a 500-room pod hotel in August 2009.

However, this began major conflicts with Family Leisure and Criterion, that would last through to 2011. In May 2011, the second disused Rocket Escalator was removed entirely to make way for the first batch of redevelopment. The arcade continued to trade as is until 3 July 2011, when it suddenly closed without any explanation or prior word of mouth. Initially, the arcade management cited a "power failure" until later news surfaced on 12 July that the closure was forced upon by Criterion, who chained all the fire exits shut and stripped off all power to the venue due to unpaid royalties and rent. West End Amusement Parks Limited called in administrators the day after the forced closure, revealing that 95 jobs had been lost in the process.

Following the closure, Family Leisure purchased back a majority of the machines held at the venue and relocated them to their other owned venues, while machines that remained were scattered through the remains of the Trocadero Centre. The remaining Rocket Escalator that went up to the second floor of Funland was also removed.

Operations

Funland was heavily marketed and foremostly as a family entertainment centre, and throughout its twenty-one-year history has seen many changes throughout its life. The venue initially took a single 14,000 sq. ft area in the Trocadero, which contained the newest video games, simulators and other amusement facilities as well as a Bumper Car track. The Lazerbowl expansion brought along redemption games alongside a set of mini bowling lanes, with the expansion taking up 13,700 sq. ft, making for 27,700 sq. ft of space altogether.

Much of this remained unchanged when they were combined with the former SegaWorld London floors. During 2000, access to the venue was through two ways - the original Funland entrance, or the Rocket Escalator which would go up to the top floor. Some of the SegaWorld floors were left untouched with minor changes, while others gained significant changes. The former "Sports Arena" floor of SegaWorld was completely refurbished, gaining a Ten-Pin Bowling alley as well as a large Sports Bar, restaurant facility, and Wimpy fast food parlor. The Sports Bar served food during the day and alcohol until closing, featured a set of pool tabless to the back, and had television screens that broadcast sporting events and music. The former "Carnival" level was now home to several amusement rides well as other family-friendly facilities. The Reception level also gained extensive refurbishment.

A larger entrance was constructed in 2001 where the exit to SegaWorld formerly was, which added more video games to the first floor of Funland (the original portion and the former SegaWorld exit).

By 2004, following the Gambling Act 2005, the arcade added many areas dedicated to gambling, including adding Slot and Fruit Machines while at the same time decreasing the video game selection.

Facilities

Alongside video games and other arcade facilities, Funland was also home to many additional attractions.

Name	Opened	Closed	Location	Description
Aqua Planet	2000	2002	Floor 5	a 3D simulator that simulates an interactive underwater shoot 'em up battle through 3D glasses, hydraulically driven seats, and two buttons. Following the removal of the rest of the SegaWorld attractions, this remained the only attraction from the park's initial run to remain.
Bowling Alley	2000	2011	Floor 2	Traditional ten-lane bowling alley
Breakdance	2001	2002	Floor 3	Traditional Breakdance ride.
Beast In Darkness	2000	2000	Floor 5	3D haunted house with scare actors.
Ghost Train	2001	2002	Floor 2	An interactive Ghost Train track ride, formerly "Ghost Hunt" from SegaWorld London.
Power Sled	2000	2000	Floor 3	Bobsleigh simulator.
Sports Bar	2000	2011	Floor 2	Featured a kitchen that
VR-1	2000	2000	Floor 4	3D simulator simulating a flight into space.