Lightning Strikes

A great place for a fun time. Bowling was great as well as some of the in door games. Drinks are alright, although somewhat expensive. Kids can have a great time. Food… okay.

I bring kids here often. The bowling alley is really nice, large arcade with lots of different types of games, and a large laser tag area. There are a lot of games to win points to spend on stuff in the prize room. I remember loving to do that at arcades when I was a kid and apparently kids still love doing that today. I always am impressed with the cleanliness of this place and the staff is really helpful and friendly.

The name has changed from Lightning Strikes to Spare Time. I read about recent renovations so we decided to take the little one there and give it a shot. On first impression, the place is very clean and open. Has a nice modem feel to it. And it didn’t stink. For those who have visited the stereotypical bowling alleys of the 80s and 90s you’ll appreciate this.
Unfortunately, we didn’t get to bowl or try the laser tag because the little one took one look at the game room and decided that’s where she wanted to be. So while we didn’t get to experience the actual bowling alley part of it, we did become very familiar with the game room. It’s nice and open and airy and, most importantly, clean. It was full of kids running around and games beeping and electronic bells going off but that’s what you expect in a game room. Although it was loud, it wasn’t overwhelming, and everyone seemed to be having a good time.
There are no game tokens or paper tickets dispensed for winning. You purchase a game card from one of the little kiosks and put as much money as you wanna spend on it (it looks like a credit card with a little magnetic strip on the back). Don’t worry, you can go back and refill the card if the money runs out before the kiddos are ready to leave. You just swipe the card on the scanner at each game and the cost of the game is deducted from the card’s available balance. «Tickets» won on each game are automatically deposited onto your card. If for some reason the game goofs up and takes your money but doesn’t let you play, or lets you play but doesn’t award any tickets, you can take the card to the attendant and he’ll scan it and fix the problem-​this may mean crediting the cost of the game back to your card-​everytime I saw this it was handled quickly and efficiently. You can redeem your winnings by picking from the numerous prizes available. And, trust me, these prizes are way better than Chuck E Cheese’s!
The only gripe I had with the game room was that several of the machines were not working-​I counted 8 but there may have been one or two more. While a couple of these machines were unplugged so it was obvious they were out of service, the others were all brightly lit in apparent working order but the card readers were not functioning and there were no signs to indicate these games were out of order. They had one guy working the game room and with the crowd there, there was no way he could attend to all the folks picking out their prizes, answer the zillions of questions people had, and attend to the non working games. But he was doing a bang-​up job of trying to do as much as he possibly could and all with a pleasant attitude and smile on his face. Kudos to the establishment for employing this guy-​now get him some help over there.
Oh, one more thing-​it would be really great if the owners created a smoking area away from the main entrance. The smokers congregate just outside the front doors and for those of us with smoke-​sensitive allergies it means having to hold you breath while you walk through the smoke tunnel (from about 15 feet away from the door until you get inside with the doors closed behind you). Even if there’s no one out there actively smoking it still reeks of stale smoke.

Now Spare Time — Very happy with the changes the new changes the new owners have made all around. The arcade seemed to have the most impressive changes. Great variety of games plus love the new card system vs tokens. Laser tag was enjoyable for the kids and adults too! I would def recommend checking it out if you haven’t been since the new owners have made changes.

Really great fun for kids of all ages. Renovations were recently completed and the game room is now open. The kids really enjoyed the new games and the new prizes to choose from. I would have given them 5 stars but there are still some renovations yet to be completed. (Snack bar was closed today due to renovations). They have an awesome deal for the labor day weekend for the kids, 2 games of bowling with shoe rental, 1 game of laser tag, $ 5.00 to spend in the game room, all for just 10.00 each! Great deal! If you are a thrifty parent like myself, look at the photo I posted and you can sign your children up to get 2 free games of bowling everyday until the end of the summer! Fun without breaking the bank– win win in my book. They have really improved with the cleanliness, customer service and all the games work now. At night, they have all you can bowl for one price and cosmic bowling. We always have fun bowling in the dark. If you are just wanting to have a great night with the family then this is the place to do it without having to break the bank.
They also have a nice area fr the adults to play pool or enjoy a game on TV.

We were looking for something to do and decided to go bowling. So, we headed over here to Lightning Strikes. It’s a pretty good sized bowling alley, if I recall correctly, they have 40 lanes. There’s a nice big reception area just inside the door. They also have an arcade and pool tables too. There was a concession stand to order food and beverages (yes, including alcohol) too, but we didn’t check that out.
The bowling alley was about half full. There were a lot of families bowling that day. I was impressed with the amount of space around each lane for people to sit. The entire facility was very clean. All the lanes were in good shape too. I really liked the scoring computer. It was very easy to get everyone programmed in and get bowling right away. We enjoyed the cute animations for strikes, spares, and gutter balls too.
They have a good selection of house balls and house shoes. I wear a massive size 14 shoe, and they had no problem getting me a pair of shoes that were in good condition. I had to look around a bit for a a 16 pound ball, but I soon found one and the holes were drilled perfectly for me.
The staff was friendly and helpful. Not overly friendly, but they were nice enough. It’s better than some facilities I’ve been in before.
One complaint I had was the price. Maybe it’s been a long time since I’ve bowled on a regular basis, but two games of bowling for three people, with rental shoes was over $ 40! That’s pretty pricey in my opinion.
After we were done bowling, we headed into the arcade… the previous review indicated that several games were broken or turned off… that hasn’t changed. We played some air hockey, a few video games, some skee-​ball, and some of those games where you win a cheap prize.
They do some event type stuff too… Biker Night is Friday night, and they do Cosmic Bowling on the weekends… but we were there on a Saturday afternoon… so it was mostly families and birthday parties.
Overall this is a decent facility. We had fun! Next time, I might look for discounted times to play (usually after 9 pm)… you won’t be disappointed if you go any other time though. It’s a good place to bowl.

Pros: went on a Saturday afternoon and wasn’t near as crowded as we thought it would be. The bowling lanes were about half full, but still plenty of space. There we’re pool tables and a couple of air hockey tables. There is also a little lounge for adults to get alcohol.
Cons: They have an arcade, but about ¹⁄₃ of the games were off or broken. They have a concession bar to get food, but wayyyyyyyyyyy overpriced.
Conclusion: If you like to bowl this is a good clean place to do it.