The last time I was in Destin, the only place I could find pins was at "Helen Back Cafe" on Okaloosa Island (10 mins from Destin). They had a very bad shape Rollercoaster Tycoon and a TZ needing some care but pretty playable.

You can use the pinmap feature to find locations to play:

https://pinside.com/pinball/map/where-to-play

There was an Attack from Mars at Hurricane Lanes back in March!

Just stopped at Helen Back about 30 minutes ago. Yep, they have a TZ (pretty toasty but not super bad) & Roller Coaster. We're going to stop by tonight & have a drink & play a few games.

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Just thought I'd post a picture of the Attack From Mars that's at the Hurricane Lanes. It was a little dirty but played great.

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AFM still at Hurricane Lanes June 2016. Still very dirty but played good. Couldn't get the ball up the lock ramp, though.

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Realize old thread, but:

Nearby - ish, in Pensacola:

LOTR, No Fear at Deluna Lanes
High Roller and TSPP at 'Play'
Hurricane and Shadow @ Felton's
Junkyard at Sir Richard's
POTC as Ruby's Fish Camp
Playboy at The Big Easy
Whitewater at Nascar

My town's on your way back out to TX - ( Near Mobile, AL) . Pinsiders always welcome at my place, only 6 pins on the line right now but we like them.

Very old thread - but still important to travelers - heading to Watersound next week (Destin) and wondering if there is an update to pins available to play in the area? Pinmap isn't terribly helpful right now for that area.

Thanks -

There are a ton of new arcades in Destin. The one I went to did not have pinball but you should check out the 3-5 new arcades on the main road through Destin.

I'm following this thread, too, since I'm headed to Ft Walton Beach next month.

I'll be there tomorrow evening - so if I find any info I'll update this thread.

Didn't get out into Destin much, we were in Watersound and I didn't find anything there. There is an arcade in Panama City called Funland Arcade that has three pins, Ripleys, Star Wars and GOT, all three in decent shape. Coin Drop - I think the GOT was 3 games for $2, the Ripley's was 50 cents a game and I didn't try the Star Wars. Bunch of other arcade type stuff in there too, and there was a kitchen and I think beer. We didn't stay long - had other things to do.

ROBINSON'S CRUSE THRU is in Ft Walton and I had a blast there last year.
The most recent update shows the EM is broken, I hope its back on line when we go in a few months.

Good luck, fellas. I live 20 mins from Destin, and I call the Florida Panhandle the "pinball wasteland". I prolly have more games in my home than nearly the entire area.

You're going to have to travel to Panama City or Pensacola, one hour in either direction for pinball. County Line Pizza closed this year, both locations, so their TAF, TZ, SS, and BOP are off the plate. No loss there: those games were in shit condition. Half the mansion inserts were gone, and TZ reset with both flippers pressed.

Sigh I have fond memories of Funland, grew up in South Alabama only about 80 miles away. That was like a watershed event for me as a kid and then teenager to get to go there and spend a buck or two... Sadly Funland closes for the season right around Labor Day so even THAT is not an option this time...

funny. The real reason we went was because when I was a teenager in the 70's, my dad and I lived in PCB and we would walk to funland to play pinball. Back then the whole place was lined with machines. I wanted to walk back in and see it 40 years later. It was a cool experience.l

Where are the games in Pensacola? I am just familiar with usually two at the Play bar downtown.

There's my house in Destin. I have plenty of games and beer

I will be in Destin at the end of the month, I need Pinball play time !!

Visit OReilys further down the street. There's a WPT there.

Cordova Lanes and the bowling alley on 9mile should have some too.

Will be in Destin for the next week. Looking to see if there are any pinballs added in the area.

This taco joint has removed the pinball and replaced it with a few mulicades that barely work last time I was down there- its a shame, great place to eat.

I checked on this back in late May. All pinball at Cordova Lanes is gone. Pool tables only.

Sweet, heading there next month

Is Destin a big tourist destination? I've never been there and don't know anything about it. Looks like that area is a good place to live. My neighbors claim they are bailing out of California, selling their house and moving to Destin after visiting there.

It is the tourist trap of the Panhandle. Makes driving on US 98 an absolute nightmare. Personally, I loathe that whole area and have been there maybe 7 times across the combined 25 years I lived in Pensacola and currently stationed at Eglin AFB.

Now Miramar Beach east of Destin..... THAT is a nice area. It is what Destin used to be - enjoyable and not completely congested.

Go in september/October - best time to visit the gulf INMO, no crowds and weather is cooler.

Ok, interesting. I’ve been to Orlando / Kissimmee dozens of times, if it’s anything like that...

Sounds like the same stuff going on over here at the beach on the other side. But, we also have taxes

We come down almost every year for over 25 years and the development down 98 is crazy.
My favorite place to play removed the last game recently - but I just looked at the site on Pin Map and someone has added Attack from Mars to the location.
Maybe check out ROBINSON'S CRUSE THRU and see whats up there?

Starcade had a Shadow last I scouted. Thing was so beat that someone clipped a work light on the back box shining down on the playfield because it was so dark. I have some pictures of it somewhere.

It probably is. I saw Shadow I'd guess......about a year ago. It was very tragic.

Who is the operator running all these shit games? TZ had more lights not working then working, reset issues, flippers that could not make either ramp shot, and the PF was beyond blown out.

TAF had half the mansion inserts completely missing.

SS was in equally bad shape.

I would have happily....happily offered $2K to save that TZ, starting with a new Mirco PF and learning the ins and outs of that entire game to bring it back from the dead. It was in ROUGH shape.

Midwest and NE Pinsiders have absolutely no clue how nice they have it vs. down here.

That's too bad. They're all junk now. The RCT is at White Sands bowling alley, and like all the others, embarrassing.

There was (closed now) a bar called Hell and Back... I saw a beat up Twilight Zone & offered 2500 but never got a answer. We were there again in February & the same Attack from Mars is at the bowling alley... it played well & was set so it was pretty easy to win more credits.

My wife's parents go to Destin from October to March every year & rent a very nice huge apartment on the 16th floor right on the beach. It's fun for awhile but I don't think I'd blow a bunch of vacation days unless it was free... her parents pay.

How can there be so many beach towels/souvenir shops in 1 area ?? I bet there's 1 on both sides of the main road about every 1/2 miles.

Thanks for the update. Headed that way now.

Thanks to Sinistarrett I found the 3 machines at Bucks Fish Bowl. AC/DC was left in service mode and would not operate but the staff was very helpful and took it out of service mode even though these are not their machines. The cannon would trap the ball and the machine would do a ball reset then move the cannon which would release the ball.

The Deadpool had an issue with balls getting trapped behind the targets in the center and then searching for a ball. It would take a long time to finally find the ball and it frequently resulted in a drained ball.

Other than that it is a good place to play all three games. Very few people in the arcade on a Monday and even fewer in the pinball section.
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let's revive this again!

We are heading back to Destin - to the 30a area called Watersound specifically - be there (if the apocalypse doesn't further interfere) the week of the 4th of July.

Any updates of pins in the area? Looks pretty grim from the internet.

thanks

We are going in a few months and I would love to hear of some places to play - take my money...

Hope you all find other places to play and will post the results.

Revive....what?

There's nothing here. You can use the Pinside map and hope it is accurate.

I can tell you that AFM at Robinson's Cruise Thru is gone and has a half working Rocky and Bullwinkle.

Sorry to tell you all this, but this place sucks. If you take the map and give it the same cross-sectional area as the city of Houston (1,427 games to play), we have in comparison 215 games stretching from Mobile, AL to Panama City, FL. You guys in big cities have it SO nice you don't even know.

On your multi-day vacation here, welcome to what I've been dealing with for 4 years - no pinball to play unless it's in your house. Finding people to play with is almost just as difficult. I have to drive 2 hours each way just to play with other pinball guys and gals.

Do yourself a favor, go to the beach and enjoy the sunshine.