Scene75 Columbus Sets the Standard for Operating an Entertainment Venue Safely

Scene75 has built their reputation around cleanliness and safety since their inception as a company in 2012. From the very beginning, this family owned business decided to only open their doors five days a week instead of seven so they could dedicate Mondays and Tuesdays to preventive maintenance, cleaning, and employee training.

When the virus struck, Scene75 voluntarily closed all their locations before the government mandated they do so. Financially, this decision had to hurt, but it just goes to show you how management truly cares about their guests and employees and proves they are true to their core value of putting people first.  While other business communicate news and status updates via messages that are very “corporate”, Scene75 status updates always seem to be hand written, heartfelt letters directly from the owners.

Knowing this, it should come as no surprise that Scene75 should be looked up to by other businesses as an exemplary example of how to operate safely and responsibly in the current pandemic era.

I visited Scene75 Columbus earlier today, their second weekend since reopening, to get a first hand look at the new safety protocols procedures put into place. The Columbus location is their newest and largest location, a 225,000 square foot indoor entertainment center at the Mall at Tuttle Crossing in Columbus, Ohio. It opened in October 2019, just five months before temporarily closing. It features 19 different attractions including an indoor SBF-Visa roller coaster, indoor go-karts, a two-story laser tag arena, more than 200 arcade games, a 36 foot tall drop tower, motion simulators, next generation batting cages, an inflata-park, blacklight miniature golf, bumper cars, and more. The facility also includes Illusions Restaurant & Bar, a snack zone, and two additional bars.

As you approach the entrance certain doors are labelled as entry or exit only.

Maximum occupancy will be limited to 50% of rated capacity and individual attractions will have reduced occupancy allowances as well. For example,  they will only fill every other seat on the drop tower. Capacity wasn’t an issue when I visited Friday morning, as there were probably twice as many staff as guests.

The first thing I noticed were the numerous hand sanitation stations scattered throughout the entertainment center.

Hand sanitizer pumps were everywhere you looked.

 

For everyone’s safety, they ask that you please wear a mask. They’re not required but strongly encouraged. The majority of the other guests I saw were actually wearing masks on Friday morning, which can’t be said of a lot of other places.

For laser tag, all primary touch points are sanitized after each session, including vests, blasters, and display screens. Laser tag will be reduced to 50% capacity, so they have plenty of vests to allow for a rotation program: while one set of vests is being used, the other is being sanitized.

Arcade games are cleaned continually, all day long. I personally witnessed a member of their sanitation teams cleaning every individual ball of their many skee ball machines. This attention to detail is reassuring to guests that they are in good hands.

Some games, such as VR based games or any that used a head set are temporarily closed.

Looks like they used the time they were closed to make some enhancements to the mini golf courses with new lighting.

Lines for the concessions and attractions had 6 foot spacing markers on the ground for social distancing.

Overall, I was truly impressed by Scene75’s safety and cleaning procedures. The amount of ongoing cleaning I witnessed while walking around combined with the attention to deal made it feel like Scene75 is a definite safe way to have a little bit of family fun during these tough times.

Read their full Stay Safe Together Playbook here.

Scene75 Gold Member Deal

Scene75 has an incredible deal going on right now. For just $29 per year you can become a gold member where you get $10 to use on games or attractions everyday. That’s a $2,700 value!

Scene75 Columbus is currently open weekends only (subject to change, check their website before visiting):

  • Friday 11am – 11pm
  • Saturday 11am – 11pm
  • Sunday 11am – 9pm

If you want to get your amusement park fix but are still unsure about going to one of the big theme parks, or if you can’t get a reservation for Cedar Point or Kings Island, I recommend checking out Scene75.

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