By Carolyn Howard
PassPort to San Diego
A Sunday morning around 11 a.m. is a great time to have a birthday party at City Fun Center in San Diego. My son was turning 11 and he invited 15 of his friends to help celebrate his big day. Given the time, our group basically had the place to ourselves until noon when another celebration was scheduled. We had selected the “Extreme Party Package,” which included pizza and bowling. We enjoyed 2-1/2 hours in the private party room, a personal party host, set-up, clean-up and party supplies, four pitchers of soda and three buckets of popcorn/chips.
Each guest received free admission, a $10 bag of nickels, a free return admission pass, 300 redemption tickets, two slices of pizza, five frames of mini-bowling and a bowling pin pen. My son, the birthday honoree, received a light-up lanyard (which he thought was really cool), a spin of the ticket wheel, a jumbo dice roll for tickets and a surprise bowling gift.
I appreciated that City Fun Center splitting the $10 bag of nickels into two $5 bags and started the kids on just one. The kids received the other bag after we ate pizza. As a mom, I suggest letting the kids play first before trying to get them to sit down and eat. Kids have a ton of energy, and the guests our group couldn’t wait to spend their nickels on the more than 100 games offered by this great amusement center.
My son said the games were “awesome” and all of his friends had a wonderful time. I was a little concerned that City Fun Center may be too young for 11-year-olds, but they absolutely loved the games, which were actually appropriate for any age. They even had some Old-School games such as Ms. Pac-Man, Centipede and Galaxian, which were free to play.
Their package also included mini-bowling, which the group had fun doing (and it was a good way to slow down their nickel game play!) The lanes have automatic scoring, built-in bumpers and in a nice touch, no special shoes were required.
The pizza tasted delicious! Everybody finished their two pieces and also munched on chips and popcorn. I had brought my own cupcakes for dessert.
Having relocated a few years ago to the Miramar area of San Diego, City Fun Center is new and clean. All staff members were friendly, accommodating and attentive whenever the kids had questions or needed assistance with a game or prizes. I would absolutely recommend City Fun Center for a party or just an exciting venue to hang out and have some fun!
The facility is at 8990 Miramar Road. The location has a large front entry and lounge area with tables and chairs, free Wi-Fi and TV. Call (858) 675-9700, visit http://www.nickelcitysd.com/ or best of all, come by and check it out!