Much bigger and boasting more entertaining things to do, the expanded is set to open in Surrey on Friday, Sept. 13.
First launched in 2020, the popular amusement park is now around 100,000 square feet, among the largest such indoor facilities in Canada.
"We're three times the size of our former space," said Erik Vilio, who operates the massive park with brothers Steve and Glen.
The Now-Leader was given an exclusive first look inside the expanded fun park on Tuesday, Sept. 10, as renovation crews continued work and moved well-lit games into place at the Bridgeview-area arcade.
New features include carnival-themed mini golf, a new carousel, full-sized "Roller Disco" rink, more than 100 new arcade games, 16-person laser tag arena, larger bowling alley, two karaoke party booths, a 200-capacity banquet room and more.
"This space came up we we've been doing really well on the other side, so we figured why not go even bigger and better, make it even more fun," Erik explained.
The new amusement park is located two doors west of the old one, in the same building, where a church and storage facility was, next door to The Hive climbing centre.The vacated space is where an indoor go-kart track will be built in coming months.
"That whole space will be gutted," said Steve Vilio. "We may have both indoor and outdoor go-karts here one day, but we'll see how the indoor ones do first, starting in early 2025, pretty quick."
The total investment for the brothers' Willow Industries is north of $5 million 鈥� "probably closer to $8 million," Erik said.
Surrey City Council , with some revisions since then.
"We knocked down walls, brought in lights, repainted everything," Steve added. "It looks completely different that it did in here. We're about six months behind schedule because it was a lot more work than anticipated, but we're happy it'll be opening now. We're very excited."
Total occupancy is now more than 1,600, not including the go-kart track to come next year. Seven new "selfie" rooms are being built, too, along with a mini-doughnut stand.
The bigger roller rink will definitely be a draw. "We have hundreds of new leather, old-school quad skates to rent (for free, plus the fee to skate), and there's inline skates too, both kinds, whatever people want to use," Steve noted.
The new carousel, with 18 horses and a couple of benches, is built by Chance Rides of Kansas.
First of their kind in Canada, the two karaoke booths are imported from Spain.
"People can just sing karaoke, or they can record the song and have it sent by email," said Glen Vilio. "There's a huge list of songs to choose from, and there's a green screen so people can choose different backgrounds. It's pretty cool."
New banquet rooms will be popular for birthday parties and other celebrations.
"We have major one upstairs, for around 200 people, and two smaller ones," he said. "We could have nine birthday parties at the same time, and every Saturday they're busy. People usually have to book a couple of weeks ahead of time. We have room for expansion too, rooms all over the place. People can bring in their food if they book a room, but not at our party tables. The food area will have pizza and hot dogs, quick and easy stuff to eat, drinks (non-alcoholic)."
Admission is free at Central City Fun Park, where "Fun Cards" start at $10 for 25 credits. The fee is 30 credits for mini golf, karaoke and laser tag, 35 for roller skating (25 for younger kids), 20 credits for bowling, 10 for a carousel ride and one to six each for arcade games. People who drop $100 get 280 credits on a swipe card.
The amusement park employs around 100 people, and they're "always looking" to hire new people, Erik noted.
In Whalley, the Vilio brothers previously operated Central City Arena for eight years, in the former Stardust roller rink building, until their lease ended in 2018. That's when their planning began for Central City Fun Park in Bridgeview.
"The name fits because we're central for all of Vancouver, the whole region," Erik said. "We're a half-hour or less from virtually anywhere in (Metro Vancouver)."
