The Covid-19 pandemic has shaken the out-of-home virtual reality business, after more than a few years of V/R technology itself having difficulty gaining traction with consumers. Part of the early going though is difficult to understand – for those consumers who have experienced out-of-home “free roam” V/R installations such as The Void, Dreamscape Immersive, Tyffon, and the like – it’s quite something.
Yet, we’ve been musing on the the long road of so-called “location-based entertainment” and its not difficult to be chastened by how few innovations or fresh entertainment attempts actually meet with consumer acceptance. We’ll be updating the listing below as we muse, and share it again.
| Facility / Experience | Product Summary | First Unit Year |
|---|---|---|
| Sandbox VR | Free roam VR maker-operator. | 2016 |
| Immersive Fort Tokyo | Described as the first immersive theme park. A project of Katana Inc. | 2024 |
| Chicken N Pickle | Pickleball eatertainment chain. | 2016 |
| Immersive Gamebox | An interactive "smart room" that supports interactive social games in small groups. | 2018 |
| Pickelball | Pickleball is first played at the home of Washington State Congressman Joel Pritchard. | 1965 |
| 2020 | ||
| 2010 | ||
| 2000 | ||
| 1990 | ||
| 1980 | ||
| 1970 | ||
| 1960 | ||
| Adventure Landing | First park opens in Jacksonville Beach (Florida), in 1995, a project of the Adventure Entertainment Company. | 1995 |
| Adventureland | An indoor 70,000 SF family entertainment center located in the Sahara Centre shopping mall in Sharjah (UAE). | 2002 |
| All-American SportPark Las Vegas, Nevada | A themed FEC concept involving Andre Agassi | 1998 |
| AMC Theatres | Maurice, Edward, and Barney Dubinsky purchase the Regent Theatre in downtown Kansas City. After changing the family name to Durwood this first unit and those to follow would operate as Durwood Theatres. Eventually in 1968 the operating name changed again to American Royal Cinema and then to American Multi-Cinema, Inc. (AMC). In 2012, Wanda Group (PRC) acquired a majority stake in AMC for $2.6 billion. | 1920 |
| America Live! | Harborage, Minneapolis. A 60,000 square foot multi entertainment complex featuring 5 different nightclub concepts under one roof. | 1992 |
| America’s Incredible Pizza Co. | The first restaurant opened in Springfield (Missouri) in 2002. | 2002 |
| American Bandstand Grill | First Unit | 1992 |
| Apple Cafe | Explored but not greenlit by Apple, a retro-future diner with neon lighting and computers at every table. | 1997 |
| Apple Store | Apple's first retail store opens in Tysons Corner, Virginia, to a generally accepted consensus the stores would fail based on egregiously flawed thinking. | 2001 |
| Arabian Nights | Dinner theater located in Kissimmee, Florida; closed for good in 2013. | 1988 |
| Area 15 | a joint project between Fisher Brothers and Beneville Studios. | 2020 |
| B.B. King's Blue Club | First unit opens in Memphis. A CityWalk Hollywood unit would open later in 1994. A third unit opened in Times Square (New York) in 2000 and shuttered in 2008. Additional locations opened and closed. | 1991 |
| Bass Pro Shops Outdoor World | First Unit opens in Springfield, Missouri, a simplistic version of the well-known modern superstores. | 1971 |
| BattleTech Center | The first BattleTech Center opened in Chicago in 1990, with others to follow eventually tallying 26 such facilities. | 1990 |
| Belong Gaming Arenas | These gaming arenas by esports platform Vindex, are coming to U.S. malls. First unit for the U.S. planned in 2021, for Pearland Town Center near Houston. | 2016 |
| Billboard Live! | 9039 Sunset Boulevard, Hollywood. | 1996 |
| Blockbuster's BlockParty | Blockbuster, a unit of Viacom, opens its first unit in Albuquerque, Indianapolis to follow in the next year. BlockParty is an indoor entertainment complex with high-tech games for adults. | 1994 |
| Boston Market | 1985 | |
| Bowling's Automated Pinsetter | The automated pinsetter for bowling is first unveiled at a warehouse across the street from the 1946 American Bowling Congress tournament in Buffalo (New York). The invention spurs a decade of bowling technology innovations, mostly by manufacturer AMF. | 1946 |
| Bubba Gump Shrimp Co. | A venture between Paramount Licensing and Rusty Pelican. First unit in Monterey Bay, California. | 1996 |
| Bubba Gump Shrimp Company Restaurant and Market | Opens its first restaurant on Cannery Row in Monterey (California). | 1996 |
| Cafe@Play | A venture of IMAX and Simon Property Group. | 1998 |
| California Pizza Kitchen | 1985 | |
| Cartoon Saloon | Ft. Lauderdale. Adam West, Lou Ferrigno. The menu at Cartoon Saloon was an actual comic book. | 1996 |
| Casa Bonita | Lakewood, Colorado | 1974 |
| Castle Park Riverside | A 25-acre amusement park and family entertainment center located in Riverside (California). Formerly operated as Castle Amusement Park. Now owned and operated by Palace Entertainment. | 1976 |
| Champps American Sports Bar | West 7th Street, St. Paul, Minnesota | 1980 |
| Cheesecake Factory, The | David Overton opens the first unit in Beverly Hills. The company was first established in 1972 as a producer and distributor of cheesecakes and baked desserts. | 1978 |
| Chicken Dinner Restaurant | Knott's Berry Farm | 1946 |
| Chuck E. Cheese | First unit opens in San Jose, California, called Chuck E. Cheese's Pizza Time Theatre. Concept was created by Nolan Bushnell, who also co-founded Atari. | 1977 |
| Circus of Pepin and Breschard | First modern circus founded in the U.S., John Bill Ricketts. | 1793 |
| Cirque du Soleil | The first production, Le Grand Tour debuts in the small Quebec town of Gaspé, and is then performed in 10 other cities throughout the province. | 1984 |
| Claim Jumpers | 1977 | |
| Classic Sports Network Restaurant | Classic Sports Network | 1998 |
| Club Disney | Disney opens five Club Disney units quickly, later deciding that all units would be shuttered by November, 1999. | 1997 |
| Club Kokomo | From The Beach Boys' leader singer Michael Love, a restaurant concept featuring "Beach Boys" culture. Did not happen. | 1995 |
| Colonial Williamsburg | During the summer of 1978, the first living history scene is performed at Colonial Williamsburg. This 300-acre "living history" museum is situated as part of the historic district of the city of Williamsburg, Virginia, A place of some controversy ... during the restoration and reconstruction to establish the district some 720 buildings that postdated 1790 were destroyed - many of which with historic and cultural value dated to the early 19th century. As recently as the 1950's, Black Americans were only allowed to visit the district one day each week. | 1978 |
| Country Star American Music Grill | University CityWalk Hollywood | 1994 |
| Crunch | New York | 1989 |
| CyberDOME | 265 W. 54th Street, in the former home of Studio 54. | 1997 |
| Cyclone | Still operating at Coney Island, the famed wooden roller coaster opens. Cyclone is capable of speeds of 60 mph and features an 85-FT drop. | 1927 |
| Dan Marino's American Sports Bar & Grill | Coconut Grove | 1992 |
| Dave & Busters | First unit opens in Dallas. The brainchild of David Corriveau and James "Buster" Corley, who famously removed the demising wall that divided their two separate, already operating entertainment venues. | 1982 |
| David Copperfield's Magic Underground | Broadway & 49th Street, in Times Square (New York). | 1997 |
| Dean & DeLuca's | 121 Prince Street, New York | 1977 |
| Dick Clark's American Bandstand Grille | Overland Park, Kansas | 1994 |
| Dick's Last Resort | Rowdy roadhouse restaurant featuring insulting server staff. First Unit opened in the West End in Dallas. Now owned by Deja Vu. | 1985 |
| Disc Golf | The first formal disc golf course opens at Oak Grove Park in Pasadena (California). | 1975 |
| Discovery Channel Destination | MCI Center, Washington DC | 1997 |
| Discovery Naturescape South Korea | An indoor nature park, with immersive experiences for glaciers, deserts, canyons, and the like. | 2022 |
| Discovery Zone Play Place | First unit opened in Kansas City (Missouri). Famed tennis professional, Billie Jean King, was an early investor. | 1989 |
| Disney Store, The | Glendale Galleria Mall, Glendale, California | 1987 |
| Disney's America | Conceptual plans for this new Disney theme park are prepared. Disney's America was a planned theme park to be built near Haymarket, Virginia (Prince William County), It was in active planning at Walt Disney Co. during the 1990's. The 3,000-acre Disney theme park (with ancillary hotels, retail, and the like) if developed would have been located within a short distance from the historic battlefield, Bull Run in Manassas. Disney organization and other advocates encountered fierce skepticism from many members of the public concerns about Disney acting as an interpreter of American history. | 1993 |
| Disneyland | Walt Disney delivers a theme park. | 1955 |
| DisneyQuest | A Disney Regional Entertainment business unit, designed as a way for guests to experience the Disney Parks without having to be at the actual theme park destination. First unit located in Disney Downtown entertainment district (now Disney Springs). A second unit opened a year later in Chicago. | 1998 |
| Dive! | 10250 Little Santa Monica Boulevard, Los Angeles | 1994 |
| Downtown Disney Anaheim Disney's version of Universal Studio's CityWalk, with much the same role in on-site guest circulation and entertainment. | Disney's version of Universal Studio's CityWalk, with much the same role in on-site guest circulation and entertainment. | 2001 |
| Dreamscape Immersive | Founded in 2016, Dreamscape is helmed by a veteran entertainment industry team and features a brace of Blue Chip investors. | 2018 |
| Drink! | S. DeGraff, M.Morton, 541 W. Fulton Street, Chicago | 1992 |
| Ducks Tours at the Dells | Mel Flath brings WWII land-to-water vehicles known as Ducks to Wisconsin Dells and set up a tour company. | 1946 |
| Easyriders Cafe Restaurants | 1997 | |
| Ed Debevic's | Retro dinner concept, with quirky if not mean servers. | 1984 |
| El Capitan Theatre (Disney | 6838 Hollywood Boulevard | 1991 |
| Electric Park | One of the inspirations for Walt Disney's ideas for Disneyland. The second version of this amusement park opens in Kansas City, Missouri. Situated about 15 blocks north of the Disney home on East 31st Street. Electric Park featured fireworks each evening and had a train system that encircled the venue. | 1907 |
| Elvis Presley's Memphis | Beale Street, site of former Lansky's Men's Store. | 1997 |
| Emeril's | Emeril Lagasse. New Orleans, Orlando. | 1998 |
| Entros | A remarkably innovative supper club participatory entertainment concept, sputtered following St. Joe Company's investment. | 1992 |
| ESPN Zone | The first ESPN Zone opens at the Power Plant at Baltimore's Inner Harbor. | 1998 |
| Evermore Park www.evermore.com | Immersive story venue, now with customized story model. | 2018 |
| Exploratorium | A San Francisco institution, was founded by physicist and educator Frank Oppenheimer and opened in 1969 at the Palace of Fine Arts. Since relocated. | 1969 |
| Facebook launches | Facebook launches on February 4, as a social networking service dubbed, TheFacebook. | 2004 |
| Fashion Café | This themed restaurant chain was defunct by 1999. Involved supermodels' Naomi Campbell, Elle Macpherson, Claudia Schiffer, and Christy Turlington. | 1995 |
| Fashion Show Mall Expansion | Retail mall expansion including largest house show production system ever placed in a mall environment. | 2003 |
| Federal Express | This game changing overnight delivery company starts operation on April 17, based on a college term paper written by Federal Express founder Frederick Smith. | 1973 |
| Ferris Wheel | G.W.G. Ferris designs and installs his giant wheel at the World's Columbian Exposition held in Chicago in 1893. Ferris developed the idea upon a challenge to Chicago area architects and engineers, by eminent architect Daniel Burnham. Burnham needed a big idea to rival the Eiffel Tower for the World's Fair being organized for Chicago. | 1893 |
| Flavian Amphitheater | Flavian's Amphitheater opens in A.D. 80, later to become known as the Colosseum. A project of Vespasian's son Titus. Mentioned here but its cruel sensibilities leave it off the Official LBE Timeline. | 0080 |
| Ford Model T Automobile | The Ford Model T automobile begins assembly-line production, setting the stage for the Great Experiential Loss (Norm Elder) of the American suburb. | 1908 |
| Front Row Sports Grill | TGI Fridays, Orlando, Florida | 1993 |
| Fulton's Crab House | At WDW's Pleasure Island, Lake Buena Vista (Florida). | 1996 |
| Fun City | 1999 | |
| Galyan's | Galyan's opens in 1946 as a grocery store and in the 1960's transitions to sporting goods. The sports retailer is purchased in 2004 by Dick's Sporting Goods. | 1946 |
| GameWorks | 1996 | |
| Gateway Country Stores | The stores feature a combination of old and new, inviting customers to come in, touch, order — and then go home and wait patiently, because the stores did not carry any inventory. The stores would operate until 2004. | 1996 |
| Happylon | Opened at the Filion Mall in Moscow, | 2010 |
| Hard Rock Café | First unit at Old Park Lane, Mayfair, in London. | 1971 |
| Harley Davidson Café | First Unit | 1993 |
| Highway 76 Branson | The Presley family opens the first music theater on what is now known as Highway 76, followed by more than 50 such theaters along this highway. | 1967 |
| Hippodrome Theatre | The New York City theater had a seating capacity of 5,200, with a stage 12 times larger than any Broadway "legit" house and capable of holding as many as 1,000 performers at a time, or a full-sized circus with elephants and horses. An 8,000-gallon clear glass water tank could be hydraulically raised for performances. Operated until closing in 1939. | 1905 |
| Hooters | First Unit opened in Clearwater, Florida. | 1983 |
| House of Blues | First Unit. Dan Ackroyd, Jim Belushi, J. Goodman. Cambridge, West Hollywood, Orlando. | 1993 |
| IBM PC | International Business Machines (IBM) introduces its first (commercially viable) personal microcomputer (model #5150) in August of 1981. Earlier that year (April 1981) Osborne Computer Corporation begins shipping its first personal microcomputer, the Osborne 1. The IBM Model 5150 allows for use of three operating systems, including a first use of an operating system provided by Microsoft (PC-DOS, later MS-DOS). | 1981 |
| Icebar by Icehotel Jukkasjärvi | Original ice bar opens in Jukkasjärvi (Sweden) | 1994 |
| IMAX Theaters | The first IMAX theater system is set up at Ontario Place (Toronto). | 1971 |
| Immersive Van Gogh | A traveling exhibit. Debuted at the digital art center L’Atelier des Lumières, in Paris. Featured in the Netflix show, "Emily in Paris." | 2019 |
| In-N-Out Burger Drive-Through | The fast food food chain opens a novel drive-through only restaurant, in a 100 SF building with five cooks making take-out meals behind glass walls and fulfilling the order through the drive-up window. No seating and no outside parking lot, ordering by customers through a two-way intercom. In the same year, McDonald's is serving customers through walk-up windows. | 1948 |
| Intel® 4004 | Intel® releases the first commercially-produced microprocessor. | 1971 |
| Intergalactic Spacewar Olympics | The Laboratory for Artificial Intelligence at Stanford University organizes the world's first eSports tournament, the Intergalactic Spacewar Olympics. Players compete in the space combat game called Spacewar, first developed in 1962. | 1972 |
| Iwerks Cinetropolis | Created by Donald W. Iwerks, the Disney technical guru and founder of Iwerks Entertainment Inc. The venue eventually closed in 2003. | 1993 |
| Jekyll & Hyde | Eerie Entertainment | 1994 |
| Jillian's | Jillian's Billiard Club opens near Fenway Park in Boston. | 1985 |
| Jimmy Buffett's Margaritaville | 1987 | |
| John's Incredible Pizza Co. | First unit opened in Victorville, California in a 16,000 SF location. | 1997 |
| Kidmazeum | Marlboro, New Jersey | 1993 |
| KidZania | First unit opens in Santa Fe, Mexico (a suburb of Mexico City), a concept created by Xavier López Ancona. Initially known as La Ciudad de los Niños. | 1999 |
| Kinepolis Brussels | The first megaplex in the world opens in Brussels, Belgium with 25 screens and a seating capacity of 7,500. | 1988 |
| Knickerbocker Alleys | The first indoor bowling alley in the U.S., opens in New York City. Instead of wood, this indoor alley used clay for the bowling lane. | 1840 |
| La Méthode Naturelle | In English, "The Natural Method," first published this years as L'éducation physique ou l'entrainement complet par la méthode naturelle. In this work, French naval officer Georges Hébert describes a physical education method using the outdoor environment. The methods are the foundation for today's "ropes courses" and ropes-based team building. Hébert's motto was "Be strong to be helpful"). His concepts of physical training combined with character and capacity training were influential to many programs to follow including Outward Bound. Hébert will evolve this initial work many times over his lifetime. | 1912 |
| Legoland Billund | The first Legoland park opens, in Denmark. | 1968 |
| Legoland Discovery Center | indoor family attraction chain operated by British leisure group Merlin Entertainments. | 2007 |
| Limbo Lounge | Wet Seal/Contempo Casual. First uni in Burbank, California. | 1996 |
| Loulou Al Dugong's | Opens in Dubai in a 25,000 SF space. | 2000 |
| Lucky Strike Lanes | Lucky Strike Entertainment, LLC introduces this upscale, modern take on the bowling alley. Self-described as "the founding father of boutique bowling." In 2019, Lucky Strike was acquired by Wellspring Capital Management LLC (New York). | 2003 |
| Luna Park | The first of many amusement facilities to bear this name, opens at Coney Island in Brooklyn (New York City). It was the second of the three original iconic amusement parks built at Coney Island, the other two being Steeplechase Park (1897) and Dreamland (1904). The park operated until 1944 when it was destroyed by first an not reopened. | 1903 |
| Macy's Department Store | 14th Street, Lower Manhattan | 1858 |
| Madame Tussauds | London | 1835 |
| Madurodam | Located in The Hague, Netherlands, the amusement park opens only a few years before Disneyland with a collection of miniatures of famous Dutch castles and other quaint buildings. | 1952 |
| Magic Planet | First unit opened at City Centre Deira, in Dubai. A concept of Majid Al Futtaim Group. | 1995 |
| Mai-Kai Polynesian restaurant | Created by brothers Bob and Jack Thornton. Fort Lauderdale, a 40-year landmark offering Oriental food and strong rum drinks, also feature nightly performances by a Polynesian dance troupe. the last restaurant/bar in existence carrying on the traditions of service and serving the original drink recipes of Don the Beachcomber, and has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places. | 1956 |
| Mall of America | Mall of America opens, on the site of the former Metropolitan Stadium (home field for the Minnesota Twins and Minnesota Vikings). Located in Minneapolis (Minnesota). A project of Triple Five Group, following the success of West Edmonton Mall. A plaque in the mall's amusement park commemorates the former location of (baseball's) home plate and one seat was placed at the exact location it occupied in the former stadium, commemorating a 520-foot home run struck by Harmon Killebrew in June, 1967. | 1992 |
| Marché by Mövenpick | The first Marché unit opens on the Königstrasse in Stuttgart (Germany). | 1983 |
| Mark Strand Theatre | Arguably the first U.S. movie palace. | 1914 |
| Mars 2112 | Located in NYC's Times Square District; closed in early 2012. | 1998 |
| McDonald's | 1955 | |
| Medieval Times Dinner & Tournament | Dinner theater featuring jousting and medieval-themed menu. First unit in Orlando, Florida. | 1983 |
| Meow Wolf | An artist's collaborative first organized years before, combines to create this successful curiosity. | 2016 |
| Michael Jordan's | Chicago, Toronto. The Chicago location operated until 1999. | 1993 |
| Mickey Gilley's Texas Cafe | 1996 | |
| Mickey Mantle's | The restaurant was located at 42 Central Park South in New York City. The restaurant shuttered in 2012. | 1988 |
| Mickey's Kitchen | Montclair, California, a second was added in Schaumburg (Illinois). Both were shuttered in summer 1992. | 1990 |
| Mimi's Cafe | Anaheim | 1978 |
| Miniature Golf | There are alternative claims about miniature golf's origin story. However, the first standardized "minigolf"courses to enter commercial mass-production started with the Thistle Dhu ("This'll Do") courses in Pinehurst (North Carolina). Some years later, there was the 1927 Tom Thumb patent of Garnet Carter from Lookout Mountain, Tennessee. | 1916 |
| Motorola Cellular | The first commercial automated cellular network (1G) analog is launched in Japan by Nippon Telegraph and Telephone. The first demonstration of such technology was just a few years earlier, in 1973, by Motorola's Martin Cooper and John Mitchel. | 1979 |
| Motorsports Grill | The 13,000 SF restaurant by New Directions Restaurants Inc. opens in Orlando, on a side street off Kirkman Road across from Universal Studios Florida. | 1995 |
| Motown Cafe | 104 W. 57th Street, New York. | 1995 |
| Mount Thebarton | The first facility to create an artificial skiing slope made with real snow, opens in Adelaide, Australia, which happens to have a Mediterranean climate. | 1987 |
| Movie theater megaplex | AMC introduces first movie theater megaplex in North America, at the AMC Grand 24 in Dallas, Texas. | 1995 |
| Movie theater seat cup holders | AMC patents cup holder armrests. | 1981 |
| Movie theater stadium-style seating | The Princess Theatre in Honolulu introduces stadium style seating in a movie theater setting. Years later, AMC will re-introduce the seating style which with risers allows each patron an unobstructed view of the screen. | 1922 |
| Museum of Future Experiences (MoFE) Brooklyn, New York | Unique immersive experiences that include VR technology. | 2019 |
| Mystere | Cirque du Soleil's first Las Vegas show, has its first performance. The show was also Cirque du Soleil's first permanent show. | 1993 |
| NASCAR Café | H&C Racing Inc. initially held the license from these restaurants, eventually selling the license to The Cordish Companies. | 1996 |
| Netflix launches | Netflix launches its website on April 14 with 925 works available for rent through a traditional pay-per-rental model. | 1998 |
| Netscape Navigator | Marc Andreessen's Mosaic introduces the first commercial browser for the "worldwide web." There are precursors and others at or about this time, but Netscape's product was easy to use and commercially viable. | 1994 |
| New York State Fair | In the U.S., the nation's first state fair is held in Syracuse, New York. | 1841 |
| Nickelodeon Pittsburgh | The first common format for movie theaters, in storefronts throughout the U.S. | 1905 |
| Niketown | Downtown Portland, Oregon | 1990 |
| Nomadic VR | First venue opens at Pointe Orlando, featuring “Arizona Sunshine,” a zombie VR shooter game. | 2018 |
| Nordstrom | 1963 | |
| Oculus Rift | Prototype of this groundbreaking headset, emerges. | 2010 |
| Official All-Star Sports Cafe | First unit located at Times Square in New York City. Investors included Wayne Gretzky, Joe Montana, Shaquille O'Neal, Ken Griffey, Jr., Andre Agassi, and Monica Seles. | 1995 |
| Old Course at St Andrews | The 18-hole "round of golf" opens for play at St. Andrews. | 1764 |
| Old Tucson Studios | Robert Shelton leases sets and locations from Pima County, first used in the film Arizona (1940), and the grounds and sets as a working film studio and theme park. | 1960 |
| Old Tucson Studios - Fire | Devastating fire at this venerable studio leaves the studio a modest vestige of its formal glory. The studio's name is eventually changed to simply "Old Tucson," recognizing the loss of its legitimate film studio facilities. | 1995 |
| Out-Take | Universal City, Irvine | 1993 |
| Pageant of the Masters | The unique live performers features "living stills" - recreations of classical and contemporary artwork. | 1933 |
| Paintball Gun | The first commonly used Paintball gun, the Nelspot 007, invented by James C Hale receives a patent. The gun is intended for use in the forestry industry. Earlier in the 1960's, Charles and Evan Nelson had invented a paint-marking pellet that could be discharged from a firearm, intended for foresters marking trees. | 1974 |
| Parkway Theatres | The first multiplex theater (cinema) opens in the U.S., a twin multiplex locate at the Ward Parkway Shopping Center in Kansas City (Missouri). Created by Stanley H. Durwood for his Parkway Theatres. | 1963 |
| Pat O'Brien's Bar | New Orleans, Cancun, Orlando, 718 St. Peter Street next door to Preservation Hall. | 1933 |
| Patented Drive-In Movie Theater | The first patented drive-in movie theater opens in New Jersey, introduced by Richard Hollingshead. There were precursors to this patented version dating back to the 1910's. | 1933 |
| Pete Rose's Ballpark Café | Located in Boca Raton, at the Holiday Inn at Glades Road and Florida`s Turnpike. The restaurant shuttered in 2000. | 1992 |
| Planet Hollywood | First Unit. Schwarzenneger, Stallone, Willis. | 1991 |
| PlatformaVR | Opens first virtual reality venue in Moscow (Russia). | 2017 |
| Pokémon Go | Niantic releases this mobile augmented reality game, which allows uses to locate, capture, battle, and train virtual creatures called Pokémon. The GPS based A/R allows the Pokémon to exist in the user's real world location. | 2016 |
| Polo / Ralph Lauren Store | Rodeo Drive | 1971 |
| Popstroke Jupiter, Florida www.popstroke.com | Described as a "modernized" miniature golf family entertainment center. A concept of Tiger Woods with business partner, Greg Bartoli. First units at Port St. Lucie and Fort Myers, in Florida | 2022 |
| Public Zoo | First public zoo opens in France on the grounds of the former Jardin du Roi (Paris). | 1793 |
| Puttshack | In April 2021, Puttshack opens its first U.S. location, at The Interlock in Atlanta. | 2021 |
| Puy du Fou | Living history venue in France featuring spectacular live reenactments (shows), piqued with special effects. | 1978 |
| Puy du Fou Asia Qinhuangdao | A Puy du Fou (France) branded venue. Unlike the rural Puy du Fou which accompany their visitors on a 2- or 3-day journey through time, SAGA promises a 2-hour total escape, more suited to the pace of city life. | 2022e |
| Puy du Fou España | A Puy du Fou (France) branded venue. | 2019 |
| Puzzle Place Play Centers | From the producers of "Puzzle Place." Mundelein, Illinois | 1997 |
| Quisisana (Automat) | World's first automat, opens in Berlin, Germany. An automat is a fast food restaurant where simple foods and drinks are served by vending machines. The first U.S. automat was opened seven years later by Horn & Hardart in June, 1902, at 818 Chestnut St. in Philadelphia, Horn & Hardart became the most prominent U.S. automat operator. | 1895 |
| Race Rock | Richard Petty, Michael Andretti. Orlando. Known for its the Brute Force Burger (named for drag racer John Force). The race-themed eatery operated until 2007. Among the decor was the Superflow Chevy Monte Carlo driven by Tom Cruise (as Cole Trickle) in the film "Days of Thunder." | 1996 |
| Rainforest Café | First unit opens at Mall of America, in Minneapolis | 1994 |
| Red's Rec Room | Located at West Edmonton Mall, the 108,000 SF LBE concept was similar in design intent to Dave & Buster's which was introduced in 1982. However, Red's operated with an active concerts schedule and a microbrewery - truly unique. A project of Brunswick Corporation. Red's Rec Room closed in 2006. | 1996 |
| Regal's Funscape | 1994 | |
| Robot Restaurant | A 90-minute fantastical (wacky perhaps) performance venue with some food items. Located in Tokyo's Shinjuku nightlife district. | 2012 |
| Rock N Roll McDonald's | This flagship unit by McDonald's opens at 600 N. Clark Street in the River North neighborhood of Chicago. When the location had its Rock N Roll theme, the displayed memorabilia focused mainly on Elvis Presley in an exhibit in a separate structure on the same lot. | 1983 |
| Rolling Stones store 9 Carnaby Street, London, U.K. | The store will offer merchandise and fashion items by the Stones’ new brand, dubbed RS No.9 Carnaby. The retail venture is in partnership with Universal Music Group’s Bravado, a merchandise and brand management company. | 2020 |
| Ryman Auditorium | The Grand Ole Opry radio show moves into the Ryman. | 1943 |
| SafeHouse | Spy-themed restaurant opens in Milwaukee,created by founder David J. Baldwin. Purchased by Marcus Corporation in 2015. | 1966 |
| Sci-Fi Megaplex | The science fiction themed themed restaurant, at the site acquired in Fort Lauderdale. The company filed for bankruptcy in 2001. Included on this list given the theming. | 1998 |
| Sears Department Store | 1925 | |
| Sears, Roebuck & Co. Catalog | The whole story began with Richard Sears selling selling gold watches by mail order. | 1887 |
| Sega Gameworks | First unit opens in Seattle. | 1997 |
| Sega Joypolis | 1994 | |
| Sega Virtualand at the Luxor | Las Vegas | 1993 |
| SegaWorld London | The 6 floor indoor arcade opened at The Trocadero in London. | 1996 |
| Sesame Street General Store | First unit in Torrance, California, at Del Amo Mall. | 1990 |
| Six Flags Theme Parks | Founder Augus Wynne opens Six Flags Over Texas, his first park. | 1961 |
| Skansen | The first "living history" museum is established on the island Djurgården in Stockholm, Sweden, a model for living history museums and performances to follow. Skansen is created by Artur Hazelius to show the way of life in the different parts of Sweden before the industrial era. | 1891 |
| Sleep No More New York | The production is a creation of British theatre company, Punchdrunk. Reminiscent of but not derivative of the show, Tamara, a theatrical living story without stage or audience seats. | 2011 |
| Sony Metreon | Sony's famed San Francisco LBE entrant, featuring I/P of author Maurice Sendak. | 1999 |
| Sony Style | Sony's first retail concept opens in Canada. Sony also has two flagship stores in urban centers in New York (established 2004) and at Metreon in San Francisco (opened 1999) among other locations. | 1982 |
| Sour Patch Kids shop New York City | The candy maker's first physical stores opens at 665 Broadway in Manhattan on August 6. | 2020 |
| Southdale Center | Southdale Center shopping mall opens in Edina, Minnesota, a suburb of Minneapolis-St. Paul. It is the first climate-controlled shopping mall in the U.S. | 1956 |
| Speedo Authentic Fitness | 1992 | |
| Star Trek Experience | Themed attraction opens at the Las Vegas Hilton. The licensed attraction shuttered on September 26, 2004 due to low attendance. | 1998 |
| Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser | Immersive overnight accommodation, living in Stars Wars. | 2022 |
| Starbuck's | 1971 | |
| Survios VR | First Survios V/R arcade opens at Del Amo Mall (Torrance, California). | 2018 |
| Switchback Railway | America's first roller coaster opens at Coney Island in Brooklyn, New York. | 1884 |
| Tamara | John Krizanc creates the play “Tamara,” based on the meeting between Gabriele d’Annunzio and portrait painter Tamara Lempicka. | 1981 |
| Television City | Rockefeller Center, New York | 1997 |
| Tempus Expeditions | M. Simon / T. Mann, First Unit at Mall of America | 1994 |
| The Charleston Museum | The Charleston Museum opens in Charleston, South Carolina. Years later, it will open to the general public in 1824. The museum claims to be have been the first museum established in the U.S. | 1773 |
| The Colosseum | Located in Regent's Park, London. | 1829 |
| The Hub 30A 24 Hub Lane, Watersound Beach, Florida | The Hub is an entertainment district and gathering place with restaurants, shopping and events. The restaurants and bars are situated around a lawn and patio area with comfortable seating, a stone fireplace and a large event stage boasting a 25 FT LED Jumbotron for sports and movies. A Woodford Capital project. | 2015 |
| The Loop-the-Loop | The first amusement ride to use an "elliptical loop" opens at Coney Island. The ride was so interesting to view that an observation deck was built specially to observe riders. | 1901 |
| The Mirage | Steve Wynn opens his first casino on The Strip in Las Vegas, with The Mirage featuring a lava-spewing volcano. The streetfront entertainment launches a era of themed entertainment in gaming, and the first of Las Vegas' modern mega-resorts | 1989 |
| The NFL Experience Times Square | 20 Times Square, 7th Avenue in New York City. The 40,000 SF, $40 million venue was described as a joint venture between the league and Cirque du Soleil Entertainment Group. The venue was shuttered on September 30, 2018, less than a year after its grand opening. The foray is among the shortest runs on its capital spend, in LBE history. | 2017 |
| The Ridotto | The Ridotto is established in Venice (Italy) by the Great Council of Venice to provide controlled gambling during the carnival season. The facility is the first known gambling house in Europe, although not called a casino it operated as such. | 1638 |
| The Shepherd of the Hills | First outdoor production opens, based on the novel of the same name (published 1907). | 1960 |
| The Shops of Saddle Creek | This lifestyle retail center opens in Germantown, Tennessee. The term "lifestyle center" is generally considered to have been first used with regard to this project although retail destinations with lifestyle-center attributes pre-date Saddle Creek. | 1987 |
| The Sword of Damocles | The first head-mounted VR display is invented by Ivan Sutherland. | 1968 |
| The Void | Creditor takes over The Void's assets. June 2020 - The Void receives a Notice of Event Default and Lease Termination from the Walt Disney World Operating Participants Department. | 2020 |
| The Void | First unit opens in Pleasant Grove, Utah. | 2016 |
| The Zone at Glendale Galleria | Mall lifestyle shopping district for tweens and teens. | 2000 |
| Theater Stereophonic Sound | First upgraded sound in U.S. theaters. | 1953 |
| Tinsletown Studios | A themed show concept from Jim Garber and Jack Lindquist. | 1998 |
| Tivoli Gardens | Copenhagen, Denmark | 1843 |
| Topgolf | The first Topgolf venue opens in Watford in the U.K., in 2000, featuring RFID technology and dartboard-style targets. In September 2021, Topgolf opens its first unit in China, in Shanghai - company's indoor "The Lounge by Topgolf" concept. | 2000 |
| Tower Records | Sunset Boulevard, Hollywood | 1971 |
| Toys 'R' Us | Washington, DC | 1957 |
| Toys 'R' Us Flagship store | Toys "R" Us opens international flagship store in New York's Times Square at a cost of $35 million. The 110,000 SF store included various themed zones such as Barbie (with a life-size dreamhouse), Jurassic Park (with an animatronic T-Rex), Lego, Wonka, and a signature indoor Ferris wheel. Operated through year-end 2015. The flagship store was also an electronic gaming destination - partnering with Microsoft as launch location for the original Xbox console in 2001. | 2001 |
| Two Bit Circus 634 Mateo Street, Los Angeles | Hybrid out-of-home arcade with featured virtual reality experiences, presented by Brent Bushnell. First unit located in downtown Los Angeles. A second unit is planned to open in the fall of 2022, at the Shops at Park Lane in Dallas. | 2018 |
| Tyffonium | First unit opens in Japan, at Divercity Tokyo. | 2017 |
| United Artists' Starport | First Unit at Circle Center Mall, Indianapolis. | 1995 |
| Universal Studios CityWalk | First imagined as an easy opportunity to catch studio tour and amphitheater visitors once more before reaching the parking lot, the studio earns a moment in LBE history with its first of several CityWalk facilities. | 1993 |
| Universal Studios Hollywood | Universal Studios opens its famed tram tour, following in the footsteps of Carl Laemmle's chicken ranch days. | 1964 |
| USA Cafe | In the Sundance Square district, Fort Worth (Texas). | 1997 |
| uWink | A Nolan Bushnell concept, first unit of 5,400 SF opened at Westfield Promenade, in Woodland Hills (California). | 2006 |
| Van Gogh: The Immersive Experience | A Fever production, organized by Exhibition Hub. 20,000 SF. The traveling exhibition is Exhibition Hub's first U.S. production. The group has already organized several other exhibits around the famous painters Claude Monet and Gustav Klimt. | 2017 |
| Vauxhall Pleasure Garden | Vauxhall opens, will eventually operate through the year, 1859. Initially named New Spring Garden. | 1661 |
| Vegas! | Creative Cafes, first uni in NewYork. | 1998 |
| Viacom Entertainment Store | First Unit opens in Chicago; no other units to follow. The store eventually closes in January, 1999. | 1997 |
| Victrola | Victor Talking Machine Company introduces the Victrola. The tabletop Victrola VV-XII is introduced a few years later in 1909, selling for $125.00. This first low-price compact Victrola is not successful, as the horn opening is too small to create sufficient listening volume. | 1906 |
| Virgin Megastores | Ultimately closed in 2009, followed by airport stores thereafter. Virgin's first formal store opened on London's Oxford Street. | 1971 |
| Virtual World Entertainment | VWE billed itself as the “world’s first digital theme park. | 1994 |
| VirtuaLand at the Luxor | An indoor Sega arcade. | 1993 |
| Virtuality Arcades | The first VR machine for arcades. | 1991 |
| Vitascope Hall | The first permanent home for showing movies in the U.S. | 1896 |
| Wanda Group | The Wanda Group is first established in Dalian, Liaoning, by Wang Jianlin. Among its diversified activities, the company will make a global run at themed attractions, film studio development, and cinema chain operations. | 1988 |
| Wannado City | An indoor children's role-playing amusement center, a property of Grupo CIE. Opened at Sawgrass Mills (Sunrise, FL). | 2004 |
| Warner Bros. Studio Store | Ultimately shuttered in 2001. First Unit at Beverly Center in Los Angeles. | 1991 |
| West Edmonton Mall | Located in Edmonton (Alberta), Canada. A project of the Ghermezian brothers who subsequently formed Triple Five Group. At one time the largest shopping mall in the world (until 2004), the mall introduced the concept of shopping plus location-based entertainment. | 1981 |
| Wildhorse Saloon | Owned by Ryman Hospitality Properties (formerly Gaylord Entertainment Co.) | 1994 |
| Wisconsin Dells | A roof is placed over the water park at the Polynesian Resort Hotel, making it the first hotel with an indoor water park at the Wisconsin Dells. | 1994 |
| Wolfgang Puck Cafe | Universal Studios CityWalk | 1983 |
| WonderCamp | 27 W. 23rd Street, Flatiron District in New York. | 1994 |
| WonderWorks | Signature design creates appearance of an upside-down building. Company slogan is "Let Your Imagination Run Wild". | 1989 |
| World of Coca-Cola | Museum opens at Underground Atlanta, later moved in 2007 to a 45,000 SF space adjacent to Underground Atlanta. | 1990 |
| World Wide Web | Tim Berners-Lee invents the World Wide Web, eventually released to the general public In 1991. | 1989 |
| Yellowstone National Park | President Ulysses S. Grant signs legislation creating the first U.S. national park at Yellowstone. Yosemite and Sequoia will be similarly designated in 1890. | 1872 |
| YouTube | The first video is uploaded by co-founder Jawed Karim to the then free video sharing service, on April 23, 2005 ("Me at the zoo). | 2005 |
| Zero Latency VR | Tech company that develops free-roam virtual reality systems, opens first venue in North Melbourne, Australia. | 2015 |
| Punch Bowl Social | Social-entertainment facility. | 2012 |