Funland (London)

Exterior of the Trocadero in 2005

Funland

London, England, UK

Status

Defunct

Opened

Early 1990

Closed

3 July 2011

Owner

Burford Group (1994-1995, 2000-2005)
Trocadero PLC/Chorion PLC (1994-2000)
Criterion Capital (2005-2011)

Operator

Family Leisure

Coordinates

51.510583°N 0.132934°W / 51.510583; -0.132934

Operating season

Year-Round

Funland was an amusement arcade and family entertainment centre located at the London Trocadero, situated in Piccadilly Circus in London, England, UK.

History

Early History

Funland was opened up at the London Trocadero in Early-1990. It took up a portion of 14,000 square feet on the first floor, becoming home to all the latest video games, simulators, redemption games, and a Dodgem track.

In 1991, the venue extended below to include Lazerbowl, a 13,700 square feet extension including more games and a set of Bowleasy mini-bowling lanes. Altogether, the venue occupied 27,700 square feet of space altogether.

Funland continued to thrive in popularity during the 1990s, even with the larger SegaWorld London opening nearby in the same venue and other arcades nearby. Funland was extended again in the 1990s to include a new basement floor as well as a new entrance commissioned by the company Proun.

The Trocadero itself would gain its own amusement attraction in March 1998 - the Pepsi Max Drop Tower.

Expansion

In September 1999, Chorion announced that Family Leisure would secure the lease to SegaWorld London, following Sega's exit from the venture beforehand. In 2000, work began underway to merge Funland/Lazerbowl and SegaWorld into a seven-floor entertainment complex under the Funland name. To prepare for the expansion, Family Leisure closed their Funland branch in the Trocadero's basement.

For 2001, the company commissioned Proun, the company that previously handled most work for the arcade, to completely revamp Funland by adding new facilities and games. To make way for the revamped venue, the former SegaWorld attractions except for Aqua Planet were scrapped after Family Leisure discovered the poor condition that they were in.

While appearing to be a success at first, the large size of the venue deemed to be problematic for Family Leisure, as the company was not used to operating a huge entertainment complex, especially with crime rates at the Trocadero rising significantly.

Following the closure of some of the floors, access was blocked by a vending machine

In September 2002, planning permission was granted for Funland to only accompany the bottom two floors, with the remaining five being closed off to the public. All of the attractions, except for the first-floor Dodgems set, were sold off or scrapped. The Pepsi Max Drop (which by then was renamed "London's Scream Ride") was also put up for sale. However, due to budget restraints changes were hastily made, with the former SegaWorld Rocket Escalator that went to the reception being blocked off with a vending machine.

Downsize and Closure

Funland in 2011

Even after the downsize, Funland remained the largest arcade in the United Kingdom, especially with the rhythm game scene. The Trocadero was purchased by Criterion Capital in 2005. Over the next two years, the company submitted plans to build a hotel in the building. These were rejected twice by the local council. The company conflicted and rowed with Family Leisure over the Funland space for years. In May 2011, the Rocket Escalator was removed after being left abandoned for almost a decade, for the Pod Hotel conversion to begin.

On 1 July 2011, Funland's rent went into arrears and two days later on July 3, the landlord cut the electricity supply to the venue, and chained the emergency exits closed, effectively shuttering Funland for good. Although Family Leisure offered to pay for the supply, it wasn't enough for Criterion. Funland appointed administrators the following day, and the first Rocket Escalator was removed a few weeks later. After closure, the games moved to other arcades around the London area, while some of the Dodgem cars were moved down to the basement before the entire complex's closure in February 2014.

Plans for a "pod hotel" were approved in August 2012.

Layout

Floors 3-7 only existed during the 2000-2002 incarnation of the venue.

Area	Description
Floor 1	This was the original floor that Funland was housed in before the Lazerbowl expansion. This floor focused heavily on arcade games of various types, and was always home to the newest machines. A set of Dodgems was also housed here. During the merger with SegaWorld in 2000, the floor expanded to the park's former exit, with doors added to that side in 2001 to allow more convenient access to the venue.
Floor 2	Initially referred to as Lazerbowl, opened the following year in 1991. This floor added more video games alongside a set of mini bowling lanes. In 2000, the floor expanded to the former "Sports Arena" floor of SegaWorld London. The escalator that formerly took guests up was removed and a new platform with steps was added. The expansion added a Sports Bar and Restaurant (located where AS-1 formerly was), a ten-pin Bowling Alley, Wimpy fast food concession and additional space for arcade game facilities like claw machines and penny pushers (located in the former Mad Bazooka/Sega Store space).
Floor 3	Housed in the former "Carnival" floor of SegaWorld. This section was also refurbished but retained its facilities including the play area and McDonald's restaurant. It housed a large Dodgems set, and was likely the home of the other amusement facilities (eg, the Breakdance, Ghost Train, and Go-Karts). House of Grandish and Power Sled were also located here until their removals at the end of 2000.
Floor 4	The former "Flight Deck" level of SegaWorld. Little change was made aside from the removal of VR-1 at the end of 2000.
Floor 5	The Former "Race Track" level of SegaWorld. As with Floor 4, not much is known about the change other than it was refurbished and that the Aqua Planet attraction was retained.
Floor 6	The former "Combat Zone" level of SegaWorld. As before, not much is known about the change.
Floor 7	The former "Reception" of SegaWorld. It was retained as such aside from some minor changes like the removal of the Sonic the Hedgehog statue. Beast in Darkness was also housed here in 2000 before being removed. During 2000, this remained the major way to enter Funland before the 2001 remodeling.

Former Attractions

Name	Manufacturer	Designer	Type	Opened	Closed	Fate
Aqua Planet	N/A	Sega AM5 Digital Universe	Motion Simulator	2000	2002	Scrapped
Beast in Darkness	N/A	Sega AM5	Walk-Through	2000	2000	Scrapped
Break Dance	I.E. Park	N/A	Breakdance	2001	2002	Relocated to Funland Hayling Island
Dodgems	Self-built	Self-designed	Dodgems	1990	2011	Unknown
Ghost Train	N/A	Sega AM5	Ghost Train	2001	2002	Scrapped
Go-Karts	N/A	N/A	Go-Karts	2001	2002	Unknown
House of Grandish	N/A	Human Co, Ltd.	Haunted House	2000	2000	Scrapped
London's Fastest Dodgems	Self-built	Self-designed	Dodgems	2000	2002	Unknown
VR-1	N/A	Sega AM3 Sega AM4 Sega AM5 Virtuality	Simulator	2000	2000	Scrapped