Balboa Fun Zone Memories Then & Now! Penny Arcade Journey!

Hi, I'm so excited. We're here in Balboa at the Fun Zone and I have Mr. Fun Zone himself, Alan Sandoval. I'm Pat Pattison and I love California. Alan, your family had the Playland Arcade down here for years. How long did it breathe? It was in my family for 38 years. 38 years? And I ran it for 20 years. Oh my gosh, and the actual location is gone now, right? Well, the building is still there. It's a t-shirt shop. We needed another t-shirt shop. Yeah, and you and I were talking about all the things that are still the same, but so much has changed. What's it like to be down here for you? Well, it's very different than when I grew up here. I was 10 when my parents bought the arcade and the Fun Zone proper, which we're adjacent to, was an assortment of carnival rides and games. I was 10 years old at the time when they bought it and there was a beach out here. The seawall didn't exist, a real nice beach with a float, a swimming float with a diving board on it. I don't remember that. And we're at the famous Balboa Ferry, so cars come and go to Balboa Island. And you mentioned you were born on the Little Island over in Balboa. Well, no. Well, your family lived when you came around. My family lived on Little Balboa Island. Little Balboa Island. Look it up, Little Balboa Island. You'll find it. And growing up down here, what are some memories? Because I know you ended up working also for the Fun Zone Boat Company, right? I did. And we talked a little bit about that. What did it do? Well, the Fun Zone Boat Company ran excursions. They had three or four boats about 40 foot long. They'd hold 50 to 60 people. And they'd take excursions around the island, narrated excursions for 45 minutes. So Alan, walk with me a little bit. So this place has changed a lot, but the Ferris wheel's always been here. Well, it's always. And not in this location. That's right. It was about 50 feet to this way. So this is, and then what would have been in this area? Do you remember? Yeah. There was a Ferris wheel. Okay. Excuse me. Merry-go-round. Merry-go-round. I remember that. Yeah. And an arcade was the last building in this block. Okay. Was that your arcade or was that one of theirs? How many arcades were there? There were three. There were three. Wow. Can you remember the names of all of them? The Fun Zone Arcade. Yeah. It was this one. Okay. Playland Arcade, which was ours. Yeah. And the Bay Arcade. I remember. I remember. Wow. Well, why don't we go up inside the arcade and see if they're still doing things right? Okay. You up for that? Sure. So I'm here with Garrett and Alan, and you guys represent Penny Arcades through the ages. And what were the decades that Playland was We bought it in 1957. 57. Okay. And I sold it in 1992. Wow. I sold it to the guy next to me. Okay. The Bay Arcade's still there? No, it's just this right now. So yeah, no longer two arcades. So what are some of the stuff you see here that you guys did? The tickets? Well, yeah. In general, it's the same thing. Yeah. You win the tickets, you redeem them for something you're going to get home and take home and throw away. I got to relate to you something funny that happened. This happened over and over and over again. A guy or a family would walk up and the dad would say, okay, we have 15 tickets. Now this shelf is the 15 ticket shelf. So you can pick out anything on that shelf. And this happened over and over again. The kid would look at it and pick something. And the father would go, no, no, you don't want that. Control freaks. The kid would pick something else. And his dad would go, no, no, you don't want that. Anything you want. I always felt like saying, why don't you pick it for it? Does that still happen, Garrett? It's happening today and yesterday and about every shift I've worked here, but you know, you got to have the patient spirit and all that good stuff. Timeless. Now, do you live locally? Yes, sir. Born and raised at Huntington Beach right down the street. So one of the things Alan related to me was the energy. What was your favorite part? I loved working Friday nights and Saturday nights because I was busy and the energy was just incredible. You know, a lot of people having fun, but just to see so many people having fun, just enjoy it. Like a Disney ranger. No, seriously. It's all about the smile. Garrett, thank you. Thank you. Thank you. So did they have, did they have these things? Uh, no, I don't even know what that is. What does it do, Alan? I don't know. I know what these are. Pinball machine. Wow. There we go. Ski ball. Ski ball machine. This hasn't changed much. They're a lot more sophisticated now, but it's basically the same. I love this. I love this. Everybody loves it. And the other one I remember that was a pain in the ass working for you was the poker wall. I'm Pat Pattison and I love California.