Don’t sweat it too much, this place is pure tourist trap, just look at it

I stopped in a few days ago during my Disney trip. The place is massive. There are cool cars everywhere. I thought about not paying for the car museum tickets because there were so many strewn about but I'm glad I didn't. They were offering 50% off the tickets if you spent $20 at the gift shop. We bought the kids a couple garbage souvenirs and saved some cash. There isn't much in the way of descriptions of the cars unfortunately. I even tried the app and it was all really short poorly written blurbs. It was really slow so one of the (the only?) attendants gave us a ton of info. It was neat just looking at the massive collection of cars even if I didn't know what most of them were. I highly recommend the car museum.

The pinball room looked very tired an unkept. It wasn't worth wasting the money when you could tell the games were dirty and un-serviced. There weren't many if any recent games.

We had a $3 credit on for the arcade from buying the car museum tickets and figured we would play 3 quick games on the way out. It was the most expensive arcade I've ever seen. We couldn't find a single game (including skee ball) that was under $1 per play.

Please note The Pinball Palace in Orlando is in no way associated with my shop The Pinball Palace in Brunswick Ga .

Some people talk a big ball. Let's all go there and see what they got. https://pinside.com/pinball/events/pinball-palace-dezzerland-opening-tournament-2021 I know at least three people that say they are not going, losers before we even get started. PS; some of the coolest cars you ever seen all over the place!

Dezerland-Orlando-Pinball-Palace (resized).jpg

Don't forget that the whole point of this thread is that OP got stiffed by the owner. I wouldn't fault anyone for not going and I certainly wouldn't spend money there until OP is squared away.

Spot on slick. Post removed

Heading that way soon. Still seeing "The Pinball Palace is home to over 150 Pinball Games" on their website vs. an independently reported game count of 77. Any thoughts?

A Fellow Pinsider is running tech there, and he is OCD about games, so Id hope they play very well.

I went in June. Lots of games, more than plenty for the 3 hours we were there. I didn't count but it was a lot. Only one LCD Stern (Star Wars). Many had problems arise during the games, but it was still fun. Lots of older 80s-90s stuff I'd never seen. Seeing as it was a quick Uber from our place instead of the 45 min drive to Pinball Lounge it was work it (although we went to Pinball Lounge as well!)

I was lucky enough to tour the pinball/video game storage area that contained approximately 20 machines, mostly 80's and 90's stuff. All need lots of work and a few are total projects. The repair shop also has about 20 waiting for attention so; If you add the 14 not-for-play antique games in the museum, you could technically say the count reaches 125. Soon that whole wall to the left is coming down for more pins, a lounge and a retro arcade display from the 70's. Dezerland is just getting warmed up! So many other new attractions and food/drink places are opening soon.

For the record The Palace has only one employee, Jeff. Arguably the the hardest working guy in the biz. The poor guy can't fix problems as fast as than they breakdown, and that's when it's slow. Trust me he's working hard to get 40-50 non-working games on the floor soon. FYI: Mr. Dezer owns the machines and he is sole owner of the Palace. He won't spend money to repair games properly, promote, buy parts, offer promotions, etc. Sad but true.

IMO Dezerland only needs to change ONE thing: the attendant needs to be a full time employee (presumable Dezerland payroll) and have enthusiasm for the game, proactively solicit customers as they stroll around, and be willing to clean and level games. Everytime I visit I have encounter some clueless 17 y/o who only cares about his/her cell phone than pinball. Rarely will you see the same attendant twice and rarely do they get off there little stool. It would not cost Mr. Dezer a dime to employ the same person during heavy traffic time PLUS Jeff would surly like a helper and co-worker. This is a no brainer. How many pay-per-entry places do not have a knowledgeable attendant?
FarOutRide-Water-System-Diagram-V1-rev-A.pdf

Well I was just escorted out of Dezerland and banned for one year. No explanation or reason given. I have been a great customer (and friends with many employees) just purchased a swipe card for $300 GONE. WTF? Once one of my favorite places of all time just went hell. Anyone want to buy pinball palace credits? Card is good till 2025.

Cmon, there has to be some story to this.

I made a list of games that needed attention to leave for J*** and went to watch football at James Bond lounge for wings and beer. Security told me I had to leave. I had yet to have a drop of alcohol (I don't post those stories) End of Dezerland for one year!. To bad, real cool place and maybe I'll go back 12/2022.

Interesting. I was just at Dezerland for the first time, saw the arcade but didn't have time to play this trip. Based on what I've read hear, my plans to try it next trip are on hold.

I have a thought on the mess with game condition. I was just at the Volo Auto Museum near Chicago last month while attending Expo. Dezerland's Auto Museum seems to have a lot of "copies" of Volo's (and other museums I've been to) original TV and Movie vehicles. Some might_ legitimately be extra copies (they often use more than one), some maybe not. In either case, the condition of the autos was at Volo was hands down better than Dezer's. The museum lighting was out in parts of Dezer, some cars had missing pieces, signage was inferior and often limited to "use the QR code". The whole place, while fun to visit, seemed a bit cobbled together and not particularly well cared for. Both it and the arcade have a "slap it together" feel. I think the negligence that you're seeing is part of a bigger picture with the whole place.

Would NOT recommend Dezer; go to other arcades, like those mentioned above in the thread, and other auto museums, like the Volo.

I'm giving Dezerland time to respond to my formal justification response but as a private company they are not required to do so. Still crickets from management after three days. I will say it was not related to alcohol or extreme behavior. Also I was never warned or told to "give it a rest and come back tomorrow Pete" I was going to spend four days there after buying a black Friday swipe card sale. I was having so much fun, maybe they thought I was abusing my unlimited card? Truly disappointing for me because I still love the place even after such behavior. PS $239 card fs, no expiration, one free Auto Museum entry.

Excessive crop dusting?

Its a silent killer.

On vacation to Universal Studios, I dragged my family and friends to this place by the sheer numbers of pins after a night at the park. My wife isn't much of a pinhead like the rest of us so she went and checked out their automobile collection ($20 bucks on a BOGO free deal with her friend...there are 6 of us on the trip) and we got BOGO for the 'pinball palace' (4) and we went with the $10 per person, per hour ($20 total plus tax) and I hate to say it, but it wasn't worth it even with the discounts. Nothing remotely to "modern" machines and like others have mentioned, need work. I kinda feel bad for them. The potential is there, but not implemented. A good section off the back corner where I can only guess that machines go to die live were blocked off, and nothing from the past couple of decades in the room. The car show (Fast & Furious type) that was going on was more impressive. I wish we would have gone anywhere else to be completely honest...unless you are into games from the 70's. Then it's right up your alley...

Brunswick Georgia . Many LE machines . All working great

66852032-C074-414E-87A9-7FBC61F2CE3C (resized).jpeg

Yes it is, wish I could have spent more time there on my last visit.

Highly recommended. My trips to Florida normally include a day in Brunswick on the way down and another day on the way back.

Can you people please call Micheal Dezer or Ed Young and explain the pinball arcade business? https://dezerlandpark.com/orlando/

The Pinside map now shows the "150 games" count as down to 68.

I was at dezerland this week. It does appear that the number of games in the “palace” has been reduced since my previous visit (about a year ago). I didn’t go into the “palace” as when I did last year, the games were in bad shape.

They moved a dozen or so pins out by the arcade area. Those machines have card swipers on them, same as the arcade games. However, on the three games I tried, the card swipers didn’t work. One did nothing, and the other two took my money but never added credits to the game.

Game maintenance is a bit of a joke at dezerland. That holds true for the arcade games too. We got ripped off multiple times during our visit. Same applies to their bathrooms, yuck.

And the staff, half of them look and act like they did bong hits in the back of the place.

On a positive note, there were a lot more food venues this time, and I believe the car museum has expanded. There’s a carousel too, although nobody was working at it when we were there.

forget about dezerland pinball and go over to District Eat and play . Problem solved.

I had my two boys with me (6 and 8 years old) and we were burning off time before a flight home. Dezerland, to them, is awesome. Lots to do there for younger kids. They don’t notice the downsides like I do, of course. I’d say they had an excellent time between games, bowling and the trampoline park. Just wish that dezerland would take better care of the place. Maybe sell one of the high end cars and invest back in the business? But what do I know, the owner is no rookie when it comes to running a business…

No longer seeing "over 150 Pinball Games". Current independently reported count is 64-68. Also, their Attractions page calls it the "Pinball Place", although clicking through it's still "Pinball Palace" (not to be confused with the good Pinball Palace).

What's the current review? I still have this place on my list of places to potentially check out while I'm in Orlando for a week in November, but between this thread and the pinball map reviews, it's towards the bottom. Still have hope that they've improved their maintenance over the last year, but I'll wait to see what the locals have to say.

I was there about a month ago. Unfortunately it was closed so couldn’t really play anything, but definitely a large collection.

One this I definitely found interesting is he must have the worlds largest collection of Gottlieb James Bond pins. I think I counted 4 or 5 of them.

The collection has some machines that caught my interest, any time I see something I haven't played before it usually goes to the top of the list when I'm in the area. Up to about 460 different machines, so it's hard to find something new outside of conventions.

I'll probably have enough time to stop in. Maybe I just play for an hour, maybe everything looks good enough to stay the entire day.

I was there at the beginning of August and the most fun thing there was watching my watch for my hour there to be up. Every game we played had an issue. Was very disappointed.

Don’t go. It sucks
You’ve got pinball lounge, the district, and arcade monsters in close proximity
Go to those!

There are a couple choices too. Depending on your timing, IAPPA returns, and usually all Pin Manufacturers are present, along with a massive show.

Freeplay Orlando, our local arcade show follows.

Nov 15-20

https://www.freeplayflorida.com/

I'll be there for FPF, spending the week before in the area and was looking for suggestions, some of the places above will do just fine

Ended up going Thursday with nothing better to do after going to Pinball Lounge and Hourglass earlier in the week.

A good amount of machines off or unplayable, but I saw some I hadn't seen before, and I thought I got a good amount of games in for my $15 2 hour pass. I'd go back if I was staying in the area, but mostly because PL was so far away. Better maintenance and more machines up would change my opinion on spending more than an hour or two there, but at least what was still playable was a good variety of games, including a few that were new to me.

Went there just two weeks ago with my brother on a day off from the parks. The kids liked the trampoline section and we did some laser tag, air hockey, and a few other games. A bit pricey, but isn't everything? We didn't do the car museum, but there appears to be a lot there.

We paid for the full day ($25) of pinball and played for about 3 hours or so. Most machines needed work. From stuck flippers, can't locate balls, roll overs and targets not working, Addams Family thing was inop and the volume was turned so high it was distorted. Very few games worked like they should. A few had tolerable issues you could deal with, but some had several issues making it unplayable. About the only good was Theatre of Magic seemed to work well. I don't know who the attendant was, but he said "if anything doesn't work, let me know". We did on the first couple of machines, but all he did is put a "out of order" flyer under the glass and shut it off. Not complaining about him, but I don't think he knew how to fix them or what to do. We quit reporting all the defects because there were so many.

I didn't count how many pins were there, but my guess would be around 60-70 with 15 or so being EM's. There were a few newer games, but most were shut off broke. Most games were 80s, 90s, which is my genre anyway. It was hit or miss with them and usually a miss. Lots of potential, but like others have said earlier, no mx program to speak of so it seems. Bummer! Unless you find a game you like that works and stick with it, I'm not sure it's worth it.

Wasted an hour of my life in here today. Dezerland pinball palace is by far, the absolute worst location pinball I've ever seen.
A large collection of non-working pins. If you're in Orlando, don't even attempt this place.

Do yourself a favor and take the ride to District Eat and Play. Awesome selection and very well cared for pins.

Bunch of busted, neglected pins. District Eat and Play. Arcade Monster. Pinball Lounge. All very well cared for machines within an hour drive of Orlando/Disney.

I'll remember to look this up next time we go and try the other places.

I offered to buy the pinball part out. It's in such a good location. They have to be aware that it's going to zero. The prior tech who wasn't paid now works at Pinball Lounge. As other's said, the attendents swap out every 30 mins or hour and I saw 3 different people attending the pinball section. Young kids so I didnt even bother to ask for fixes. Several games had actual issues even though they were still on. Data East GNR had a ball/scoop stuck that couldn't kick the ball out. Couple other games had balls stuck. Dracula the flippers were extremely weak and couldn't do anything. From everyone else's experiences and what I saw, it will continue to go south until a critical point.

I intentionally didn’t bring up a conversation I had with a tech there a long time ago so I wasn’t throwing the person under the bus. I’ll leave it at “long time ago” to protect the innocent.

The tech was clearly overwhelmed. I was the only person there so he and I could speak freely. He basically said they were understaffed and there was no way one person could keep up with maintaining all of the machines. I believe it, I can’t keep up with my home collection. I can’t imagine trying to keep up with all of those machines, even as a full time job.

Shame, it was a decent collection. But most games had problems or were non-functional.

Thanks to this thread I know where not to go in May when I'll be in Orlando.

I wouldn't go there for pinball, but I quite enjoyed the car museum.

I like cars, but feel like most car meseums are just boring AF.

https://www.wesh.com/article/dezerland-park-victim-dies/43754724

Maybe just a sign of the times....

Can happen anywhere sadly.

We had a vacation at Isle of Palms in SC last year just a family type of beach, and just the other week there was a big shooting at the beach. (Probably gang related or just a bunch of yahoo kids acting dumb).

On topic I went to Dezerland last year maybe 6 months ago. The pins were beyond crap. They have some good titles like CV and TAF but they don’t play well and are dirty.

My vote goes

Pinball Lounge (tie) more pins than the other two.
District Eat and play (tie) best value as you can get a monthly pass for like $35.

Monsters Arcade (their pins are in rougher shape than the other two but still ok). Expensive because they don’t do coin drop, it’s like $25 a day so not worth it just to check out one new pin.

Dezerland (not sure but last year was crap)

I have been to Orlando numerous times since PP opened, but based on the reviews have never bothered to stop by until now.

Having checked the website before I arrived, I asked for a half day pass. I was told that these we no longer offered, that the website hadn’t been updated in quite some time, and that the webmaster had been, surprise, “terminated”. The attendant said the options were half hourly, hourly, or daily. I said “Fine, give me two hours”. He responded that this was not a good idea; it would cost more than the daily pass. OK, whatever.

Right, what about the games? There were only two marked out of order. Of about 30 I tried to play, five were unusable for one reason or another. Most of the remainder were fine.

My recommendation? If you’re in Orlando and the weather is crappy, there are worse ways to spend $25. It’s an interesting collection. My better recommendation is to go to the “real” PP in Brunswick, GA. I’m not clear on current access to the “secret stash” across the street, but even without this it’s absolutely worth visiting. While Brunswick is no Orlando, there is quite a bit to do in the area.