Stopped down at the Canal Park Adventure Zone today with Mrs. Goose and the Goslings. Had to be dragged there is a little more like it. My wife got some free passes to the Laser Tag so I couldn’t very well say “no,” could I? So we went.

I have not liked this place much in its many incarnations in the current setting (Bananaz, Canal Park Fun Center, and I think there were two or three more – then before that was Grand Slam in the next building over, now an antique and chocolate magnet). What I didn’t like was that it is loud, dark, and a money pit. It still may be a money pit, I was there on free passes but I still managed to drop about 20 bones. But the lights and sound are dramatically improved. I’d say this is the best set-up they’ve had yet. And I am not complaining about the cost, either. It’s not cheap, but we got our money’s worth and it was a nice way to spend a couple hours.

They took out the great old signs from around Duluth which were the only thing recommending it before, that and the Carousel, which is also gone now. But they put in carpet, improved lighting and layout and seem to have fixed the heating system so that it has a brighter, warmer feel, and more importantly a much dampened sound. Some of the carnival attractions added a lot to the noise quotient (when they were working, that is) so I don’t miss them much.

They also added 3-4 batting cages and revamped the Laser tag. It’s two levels now and big enough that we divided into a couple of teams for two vigorous matches. Vigorous if you call a grown man playing with a bunch of ankle biters with a few middle schoolers thrown in for seasoning, that is. Seriously though it was very fun and provided some unique family bonding. This after vowing to never play Laser tag under a previous regime when I brought some kids down from work and half the equipment was broken and the course was about as big as my garage so a person of my girth ended up getting hit about every five seconds, nowhere to hide. Not anymore, this was a lot of fun and the play area was quite expansive. Definitely has a lot of potential.

The also fixed all the games, which adds a lot of charm. Here’s a nice scene of a little father-son first person shooter bonding that I captured with the old cell phone cam.

I like the redesigned mini-golf. Very Duluthy.

The gigantic Lakewalk mural will be a real treat for tourists who visit in the summer to enjoy the waterfront only to find that it’s 50 degrees and rainy out. Uncle Harvey’s Mausoleum back there almost looks good enough to jump off in person. In fact, that is one of the great missed opportunities of this business over the years: Duluth has some challenging weather and it’s good to have more indoor recreation options. Plus, if the real Enger tower ends up crumbling after decades of inadequate upkeep, maybe the King of Norway can visit this nice model here when he visits later this year.

Bottom line, it’s no Aladdin’s castle, but it has a fun arcade, the laser tag is worth a repeat visit, and the new carpet, lighting, and other amenities (batting cages and Vertical Endevours which I didn’t even mention before) make it a really nice, new and improved local attraction. I’ll be back. Which is the other thing that previous management regimes didn’t seem to understand. The high tourist season is 4 months long. For something this big to work in Canal Park area, it needs to attract the locals, too.