Boomers! Save Your Money

Boomers is part amusement park, part arcade and part park. Or that's what it's supposed to be anyway.

Their advertisements show families enjoying the go karts and putt putt golf by the droves for a very reasonable fee but one visit to the location told another story.

We chose to play at Boomers in Modesto, California on a Tuesday because of the rumored 10 Buck Tuesday but when we arrived we found that it had recently been changed to 12 Buck Tuesday; an all day unlimited pass. At first it seemed like a great deal until we found out that if you want to play in the arcade you have to pay for an additional $10 add-on.

It was disappointing but better than shelling out one dollar for 4 tokens so we ponied up the dough. For five of us it costs $110 for what was supposed to be an unlimited pass for attractions and arcade games. I could have gone to my local credit union and purchased tickets for Paramount's Great America theme park in Santa Clara California, a real amusement park, for $22.95 per person and had a far better time.

When we went into the arcade it wasn't as full of games as we had hoped and anticipated but we figured it wouldn't be too bad. Until we found out from one of the employees that the additional $10 bucks didn't cover any games that rewarded the players with tickets. The add-on also did not cover playing at the batting cages. In fact, none of their unlimited passes included the batting cages.

We went back to the ticket stand and re-read the price board and weren't too surprised to find that nowhere on the sign did it inform visitors of this rule. There were very few games designated for those that had purchased the $10 dollar add-on and the games they did have available were nowhere near as fun, nor did they have as many games, as the ones at our local Nickel Arcade. It was definitely not worth the extra 10 dollars.

The attractions were not all that attractive. There were only six attractions total and one of those was for very small children only. They had the usual go karts, bumper boats, rock climbing wall, miniature golf, kiddie speedway and laser tag. The ride that ended up being the most fun was of course, the go karts.

Boomers miniature golf was a joke. It consisted of 18 holes on 18 different putt putt pads. Every once in a while there would be a downhill grade or an angle on the green but otherwise there was absolutely nothing fun or challenging about it. They didn't have any windmills or water falls or any of the other obstacles you normally see on a miniature golf course. It was rather boring and took a whole 10 minutes to complete. It was not worth the $9 per person to play.

One of the things Boomers brags about on its website is the Snack Bar it has inside the arcade. The Boomers in Modesto had a filthy eating area full of trash and dirty tables. There were only two people serving the area and what food they did have pretty much all tasted the same in spite of its very high prices. McDonald's would have been a better choice and would have cost less money. Overall the whole trip was a waste of money and energy. We spent less than three hours taking it in. My bank account was raped by their prices and quite frankly I was disgusted that I had even bothered to pay for it. The people I've spoken to about Boomers since then have, for the most part, had the same things to say about it and together we agreed it's not worth the price or the time.