Okay, we admit it. We promise to review “fun” and “food” but we’ve kind of strayed away from the “fun” aspect lately. It’s the weekend. You’ve enjoyed a great meal at an unconventional restaurant. Now, you want to enjoy yourself. You want move around! You want to be active! Or, somewhat active. We recently visited Monster Mini Golf in Windsor Locks and Roller Magic in Waterbury for our after-meal fun. Monster Mini Golf is a glow in the dark, indoor miniature golf course with plenty of scary props and a decent sized arcade. Roller Magic is a combination of a roller rink and an arcade. This is the breakdown-
Monster Mini Golf in Windsor Locks
Overall Grade: B+
NEW ADDRESS: 14 starr road, Danbury, CT
Course: 8.5/10-When we entered Monster Mini Golf, we immediately noticed the glow in the dark lighting and Halloween themed props. We felt as if we stepped into an episode of 90′s Nickelodeon’s Are You Afraid Of The Dark, a Twilight Zone/camp fire story show for kids and nostalgic adults. Are You Afraid Of The Dark featured an episode with a murderous clown named Zeebo who haunts a fun house. The creepy clown face (see the picture above) reminded us of him! Monster Mini Golf changes their props around Christmas to create a Nightmare Before Christmas feel! We found the course itself a little tricky. You need to calculate each shot around winding corners and tricky props. We enjoyed the challenge but felt that it slows down the progress of the game. You might spend a little extra time waiting from one hole to another.
Service: 9/10-We appreciated the creativity of the staff. During your game, a staff member will announce an upcoming challenge for players with a certain color ball. Another staff member (wearing a white lab coat) will randomly select a player for a challenge. The staff member challenged me to a mini golf shoot off! The objective: one hole, one shot. The person who putts closest to the hole wins the challenge. Unfortunately, I lost the challenge. Nonetheless, he awarded me with glow in the dark fangs as a complimentary prize!
Price of Course: 8.5/10-$8 for adults. $7 for kids. It’s a fairly standard price among mini golf courses in Connecticut. Monster Mini Golf will offer discount deals on their facebook page. They’ll often post secret words for weekly discounts on group games. Check back with their facebook page often for secret words and other prizes. Monster Mini Golf held a costume sweepstakes last October.
Arcade: 9/10-We loved their arcade! It’s a nice kick back to the 80s/90s with classic games like Pacman and shuffle board. Like drive-in movies, Connecticut seems to lack arcades so it’s always a delight when we find one.
In a nutshell: 35/40-Monster Mini Golf delivers Halloween fun all year round and pays respect to the classics with its retro arcade. Despite its tricky course, we recommend you visit for the creative staff, spooky props, glow in the dark lighting and, of course, Zeebo the clown! We will be back very soon (especially for Halloween). Here are the top three features we would love to see the staff add to Monster Mini Golf:
1. Scarier music: Music enhances the atmosphere of any environment. Scary music would definitely compliment the spooky props.
2. Remixed holes: Mini golf courses change up the structure of their holes every once in awhile. We would love for Monster Mini golf to add new, spooky holes with different obstacle courses when the customers least expect it. People love the element of unpredictability!
3. Tournaments: Farmington Mini Golf holds a tournament every August. The top prize pays $100. Monster Mini Golf could hold a tournament at Halloween that pays this amount.
On a final note: There are several Monster Mini Golf courses throughout the U.S. and Canada. We would love to see more of them in the Hartford county area. Monster Mini Golf will soon open in Stamford and Orange.
Roller Magic in Waterbury
a.k.a Waterbury Skating Center
Overall Grade: A-
Location: 60 Harvester Road, Waterbury, CT
Atmosphere: 9.5/10-RollerMagic is located in a part of Waterbury that looks like San Fransisco with its very long streets and houses/condos with decks on each story. The rink itself is hidden behind some factory buildings. These factors added to the adventure. They made us feel like we were in a place far removed from our state. When we found the rink, we discovered a parking lot filled with cars! We knew then that this place was a community secret. Families, teenagers and young adults poured into the rink the way college students pour into clubs in downtown New Haven. But unlike those clubs, the RollerMagic holds the crowd with ease. The building is spacious. It contains a large rink, a small food venue and an average sized arcade. We enjoyed skating around the rink for a good hour and a half. Christina showed off her roller blading expertise while I tried to stay on my feet. You could tell the customers were regulars by their expertise as well. We enjoyed watching the skaters show off their jumps, dance moves and other crazy tricks.
Service: 9/10-RollerMagic has fast and friendly service. No matter the size of the crowd, their staff takes care of you in a jiffy. They make you sign a waiver before you skate but do their best to ensure the safety of the skaters. The staff will skate around the rink to prevent any injuries or other difficulties. If you have any questions, they will be happy to help you. If you ask them questions while you’re skating, be sure to watch where you’re going!
Price: 8.5/10-The price is relatively cheap compared to other skate rinks in Conneticut. They offer deals at certain times during the week. Click here for more detailed information. RollerMagic could benefit by using Groupon like Ron-A-Roll Skating Center in Vernon does.
Arcade: 9/10-This is yet another arcade that pays tribute to the classic arcade games and incorporates new games as well. We liked the fact that Pacman costs only 25 cents per player! This is definitely reminiscent of the older arcades.
In a nutshell: 36/40-Whether you’re a skating pro like Christina or a skating novice (to put it nicely) like me, you’ll have a lot of fun at RollerMagic. You will burn A LOT of calories without realizing you’re doing so! Here are the top three features we would love to see the staff add to RollerMagic:
1. Larger lockers: Larger lockers would offer more room for the customer’s items.
2. A wider variety of snacks: This would attract more customers who feel hungry or thirsty after a round of skating.
3. Skate competitions: I won’t be participating in these anytime soon but it would be nice to see roller derby make a comeback!
CT Snapshot 