Finding fun in recession's wake

With a belly full of pizza, 5-year-old Isabel Kleidostey took on every ride and game she could find with a steering wheel at the Amazing Pizza Machine.

“I really like to drive,” she said as her nanny, Angie Diehl, looked on. Isabel, her sister, Payton, 8, Diehl and her husband visit the entertainment center every month or two.

“It's my favorite place,” said Isabel as her eyes darted to her next challenge: a climbing fun house with tunnel and slide.

Diehl said it's a fun, safe way to spend an afternoon and the girls love it. There's so much to see and do and, Diehl said, they love having their own “credit cards” — the plastic points card required to activate most of the games.

There are dozens of businesses in the Omaha area that cater to fun for kids and adults. Some are restaurants with arcades, games and rides. Some are focused on older kids with laser tag, paintball and other games, either combined in one place or as stand-alone activities. There are water parks and gobs of stops for a specific activity — from bounce houses to make-and-take pottery, batting cages to miniature golf.

They all sell a good time with family and friends — memories, maybe prizes you earn with your arcade tickets and, for many families, something that had to be cut back or out during the Great Recession.

Luring families back now often includes money-saving offers.

The economic conditions of the past few years affected businesses focused on fun, said Colleene Mangone, media relations manager for the International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions.

No hard numbers on the recession's impact and current recovery are available, Mangone said, because 2010 data currently is being collected. But she said association members are starting to see some improvement, and she's optimistic that will continue in 2011.

Officials at Omaha's Amazing Pizza Machine and Family Fun Center said they have seen growth in sales and traffic since 2009 after declines that began in 2007 and continued throughout 2008.

Now, as the new normal of expendable income has set in and summer heats up, one thing is for sure: “Customers want value,” said Allen Wachter, vice president of sales, marketing and development for the Amazing Pizza Machine, just off Millard Avenue at 139th Street.

“We're definitely entertainment,” he said. “As families were deciding how to balance where their money was going, we definitely saw an effect.

Family Fun in Omaha! Enjoy the Henry Doorly Zoo, Fun Plex & the ...

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Henry Doorly Zoo Package - Standard single king room or Standard double queen room, Complimentary deluxe continental breakfast, 20usd in Zoo Bucks, Two complimentary drink tokens for the Firewater Grille, and Two (2) Adults and Two (2) Children's passes to the Henry Doorly Zoo  

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