A Surprise bowling alley and family entertainment venue is unveiling its $6.5 million renovation, that will bring high-tech mini golf, virtual reality and other games to the northwest Valley.
Uptown Alley, near Waddell and Litchfield roads in Surprise, is preparing to open its new addition at the end of the month. The renovation removed 10 bowling lanes to create 18 holes of a new miniature golf course called Lucky Putt. Surprise is the first Uptown Alley nationwide to add Lucky Putt, which combines mini golf with video games to track scores and create interactive games within the course.
The renovation also added two golf simulators with different courses that users can play, along with other simulated games like archery, cornhole, football and baseball, Benjamin Wibeto, technical manager for Uptown Alley said.
The renovation also added four bays of “Krazy Darts,” a combination of darts throwing and video games so people can play different games based on throwing darts. Bean bags are available for kids to use instead of metal-tipped darts. The darts area will also have a custom bar and food menu, inspired by golf themes, Wibeto said.
A karaoke room modeled off the TV show “The Voice” is another new addition. Customers can rent the room to sing karaoke, with options to record videos and judge the songs like in the show.
The former laser tag area of the building was removed during the renovation, replaced with a virtual reality game called Limitless VR. The area has physical barriers and props that become different parts of the game when players wear virtual reality headsets, with different virtual game options for up to eight players.
A slew of new arcade games that combine virtual reality are also coming to Uptown Alley, with 32 new arcade games added, including virtual reality racing and other arcade-style games.
Uptown Alley opened in Surprise in 2012, Wibeto said, and this is the first major renovation the building has undergone. The other 30 lanes of bowling at the site and the restaurant have remained open during the construction.
New offerings and competitors in the market for family entertainment have driven the need to upgrade the facility and give customers new options for entertainment, he said.
“We’ve been here 13 years now, it was time to offer Surprise more things to do to beat the heat,” he said.