Reality Bites

If you want to eat, try a restaurant. If you want to be taken for a ride, try Holoworld.

Comments (0) By Kyle Wagner Thursday, Jan 18 2001

That fun doesn't always come easy. Of the 122 machines at Holoworld, on a recent visit I found that a dozen of the ones designed for younger children weren't working; neither was the skydiving simulator, one of two virtual-reality experiences. Still, my daughters found several video games that spit out enough tickets for the good-quality prizes they coveted. And I became addicted to the mountain-biking video game, thrilling but less physically threatening than actually hurtling down a boulder-covered hill with my face hanging over the handlebars. The virtual-reality roller coaster was less impressive to a serious danger junkie -- just a lot of being turned upside down and tossed side to side while a series of cosmic coaster rails were sort of flung at us. I couldn't imagine riding the thing again, much less half a dozen times (at $5 a shot, I might add).

The teenage dude made it through five -- barely. Finally he pried himself loose from his girlfriend and raced toward the bathroom. "Are you okay?" she called, momentarily back in reality. "No," he shot back. "I'm really gonna hurl."

Q Crutchfield

Vroom service: The Holoworld Cafe caters to kids -- but offers adult fare, too.

Details

Corn dog...$4.99
Junior Explorer pepperoni pizza...$4.99
Saturn's spaghetti bowl...$4.99
Molten Macaroni and Cheese...$4.99
Sesame-seared ahi tuna...$17.99
Martian meatloaf...$9.99
Tortilla soup...$4.99
Shrimp & calamari...$9.99

303-790-4652
Hours: 11 a.m.-10 p.m. Sunday-Thursday
11 a.m.-1 a.m. Friday-Saturday

Closed location