Those of us who remember visiting Discovery Zone will have a lifetime of fun memories. The colors, the noise, the fear of other kids leaving a variety of body excrement in the ball pit. Many people remember Discovery Zone as THE place to have your birthday parties. While I only visited Discovery Zone a handful of times during my childhood, and only one birthday party hosted there, I remember like it was yesterday all the fun I had!
Discovery Zone was a child's dream! Most of us used to love going to the Play Place at most of the McDonald’s locations around the country in the early 90’s. However the first McDonald's Play Place appeared in 1987. Discovery Zone debuted in 1990, and took the idea of McDonald's Play Place to a whole new level. Not only did Discovery Zone have the ball pits and tube tunnels like McDonald’s, but they were much bigger and better. DZ also had its own unique obstacles, which were always my favorite and some of my best memories are of those.
Starting with the classic rolling slide. This thing featured a bunch of rollers placed together that would spin which carried you down. Sometimes it didn’t work right and would either get your leg skin caught in it, or if you tried to stand up on it, employees would yell at you to sit down as you then proceeded to fall.
Discovery Zone was a child's dream! Most of us used to love going to the Play Place at most of the McDonald’s locations around the country in the early 90’s. However the first McDonald's Play Place appeared in 1987. Discovery Zone debuted in 1990, and took the idea of McDonald's Play Place to a whole new level. Not only did Discovery Zone have the ball pits and tube tunnels like McDonald’s, but they were much bigger and better. DZ also had its own unique obstacles, which were always my favorite and some of my best memories are of those.
Starting with the classic rolling slide. This thing featured a bunch of rollers placed together that would spin which carried you down. Sometimes it didn’t work right and would either get your leg skin caught in it, or if you tried to stand up on it, employees would yell at you to sit down as you then proceeded to fall.
My second favorite obstacle at DZ was the bungee cord jungle gym. Generally you would start at the bottom and climb your way to the top, which lead you into the tube tunnels. However i liked to climb to the top and then jump, rag dolling all the way to the bottom. Not safe at all, and not a smart decision, but hey that's what we did as kids!
I was also a massive fan of the zip line. The idea was to of course slide down and drop into padding below, just like we had seen on all the action movies and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and GI Joe cartoons. However, I would usually launch myself as hard as I could off the platform, and slam into the end wall. Why? I have no idea but it sure was fun!
Lastly was the ball pit pyramid. I remember this thing being a chore to climb to the top. Once at the top many would slide down. However me being me, I would usually try moonsaults(backflips) off the top of it trying to emulate some of my favorite high flying pro wrestlers I saw on TV.
Discovery Zone also had a selection of games you could play to win tickets, then spend those tickets on cheap, ripoff prizes. This was a big draw for the birthday parties, but like I said I can only remember going to one birthday party there. The one game I do remember them having strangely enough, is one where you would shoot these wooden balls out of a cannon and try to knock out a clown's teeth. Talk about wholesome family entertainment! I can also remember being with groups of friends and setting up timed races through the obstacles, no doubt inspired by some of our favorite game shows on Nickelodeon such as GUTS, Double Dare, Legends of the Hidden Temple, and Finders Keepers.
Sadly in 1995 the company behind Discovery Zone filed for bankruptcy., and officially closed in 1999. I tried to dig around the web, trying to find out what lead to this happening, as Discovery Zone was always packed! I didn’t come up with much, but it looks like it had something to do with a bunch of suits doing some shady stuff behind the scenes. That's usually the case when any of my favorite childhood locations goes out of business. Let not end this on a sad note though. Watch these videos and remember all the great times you had at DZ!
Sadly in 1995 the company behind Discovery Zone filed for bankruptcy., and officially closed in 1999. I tried to dig around the web, trying to find out what lead to this happening, as Discovery Zone was always packed! I didn’t come up with much, but it looks like it had something to do with a bunch of suits doing some shady stuff behind the scenes. That's usually the case when any of my favorite childhood locations goes out of business. Let not end this on a sad note though. Watch these videos and remember all the great times you had at DZ!
Do you remember going to Discover Zone? If so please share your thoughts and memories in the comments. If you liked this review and all the other content on this site, please spread the word on social media and consider Showing Your Support.