Jump to content
  TPR Home | Parks | Twitter | Facebook | YouTube | Instagram 

49th Street Galleria (Defunct FEC Chain)


Recommended Posts

I'm putting together a little online memorial to the 49th Street Galleria, which I loved as a kid. It was a particularly well themed family entertainment center that operated in the 80's and 90's.

 

Up until just a few weeks ago, I would have thought there was only the Utah location located on 49th South, but in fact another location was opened in Philadelphia at the Franklin Mills mall. I'm told that two other (unknown) locations were in the works, but the expansion led to the company going out of business.

 

Is there anybody out there who visited these places? I'm particularly interested in finding out more about the Philadelphia location. I think it must have been smaller than the Utah one. The Utah one originally had: Main Plaza, Arcade, Roller Rink, Bowling Alley, Mini Golf, Batting Cages, Pinball Pits and later added SR2 Simulator, Double Decker Carousel, Gravitation and Laser Tag. From what I gather from the attached video the PA location had the Main Plaza, Arcades, Pinball Pits, Bowling Alley, Roller Rink and the SR2 Simulator. Anybody know if it may have had mini-golf, batting cages, or any other attractions?

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Replies 7
  • Created
  • Last Reply

Top Posters In This Topic

Top Posters In This Topic

Philadelphian here! That video is great!

 

In spite of the fact that I grew up a quick 15 minute bus ride from Franklin Mills Mall, I personally went to the 49th Street Galleria just a couple of times, only ever during a mall visit. The mall was a huge deal when it opened, was the biggest mall in Philly at the time (prob still is) and the Galleria was extremely popular for the first few years with teens/kids around my age at the time. Here's a really terrible commercial for the mall when it opened.

 

 

From what I recall the Galleria area was rather large taking up a decent chunk of a fairly gigantic mall. I only recall playing video games, never roller skated there or went to any of the club/dance events, but I vaguely recall there being flat rides. My other half went there a bunch and when I saw this thread this morning I asked her about it. She confirmed they had some rides - a carousel, the simulator you mentioned, she recalled a Gravitron as well, and a few other small kids rides. She does not remember any mini-golf (to be fair, she hates mini golf) nor batting cages (again something she likely would not have cared about) and neither do I, though she has a better memory than me and like I said hung out there much more often that I, and even worked in the mall for a few years.

 

Just a few years ago they sold it and it was rebranded to Philadelphia Mills. Apparently they have a Dave and Busters in the mall (not in the same spot the Galleria was) and there are a few small flats/kids rides.

 

We had a similar FEC around the same time just up the street from Sesame Place, so not all that far from Franklin Mills, called Sportland of America that also had a roller skating rink, video games, flats, simulators, other random stuff. *I may or may not have eaten psychedelic drugs at an all-night rave there once.

 

* 22 years ago, drugs are bad, kids!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Philadelphian here! That video is great!

 

In spite of the fact that I grew up a quick 15 minute bus ride from Franklin Mills Mall, I personally went to the 49th Street Galleria just a couple of times, only ever during a mall visit. The mall was a huge deal when it opened, was the biggest mall in Philly at the time (prob still is) and the Galleria was extremely popular for the first few years with teens/kids around my age at the time. Here's a really terrible commercial for the mall when it opened...

 

Thank you and your other half a ton for the info and the cheesy video! I don't have many details on the PA location other than the video and what you're telling me, but some of the Utah location info overlaps. When I get the site up and running in about a week I'll post an update here with a link. I do know that if you go into the Burlington Coat Factory @ Philadelphia Mills some of the 'Parisian Village' scenery is still there.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'm putting together a little online memorial to the 49th Street Galleria, which I loved as a kid. It was a particularly well themed family entertainment center that operated in the 80's and 90's.

 

Up until just a few weeks ago, I would have thought there was only the Utah location located on 49th South, but in fact another location was opened in Philadelphia at the Franklin Mills mall. I'm told that two other (unknown) locations were in the works, but the expansion led to the company going out of business.

 

Is there anybody out there who visited these places? I'm particularly interested in finding out more about the Philadelphia location. I think it must have been smaller than the Utah one. The Utah one originally had: Main Plaza, Arcade, Roller Rink, Bowling Alley, Mini Golf, Batting Cages, Pinball Pits and later added SR2 Simulator, Double Decker Carousel, Gravitation and Laser Tag. From what I gather from the attached video the PA location had the Main Plaza, Arcades, Pinball Pits, Bowling Alley, Roller Rink and the SR2 Simulator. Anybody know if it may have had mini-golf, batting cages, or any other attractions?

 

 

Didn't the location in Utah have a bungee jump tower as well? I remember visiting Utah in the mid-90s and bungee jumping off a tower in the parking lot of some kind of family fun center. It was a pretty good deal too because I think you paid by the hour instead by the jump. It was pretty dead the day we went, so I got in like 7 or 8 jumps before my time was up.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Didn't the location in Utah have a bungee jump tower as well? I remember visiting Utah in the mid-90s and bungee jumping off a tower in the parking lot of some kind of family fun center. It was a pretty good deal too because I think you paid by the hour instead by the jump. It was pretty dead the day we went, so I got in like 7 or 8 jumps before my time was up.

 

Sometime in the early/mid 90's the Galleria went out of business and the building was sold and became the Utah Fun Dome, which added the bungee tower, a slingshot ride and a golf course outside and changed the inside to be a bit more like a small amusement park.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I remember going to the Philadelphia location when I was a kid. I can still picture some of the arcade with redemption games being on the 2nd level and video games on another level in a more open area and. I don't remember much of the other attractions probably because of my age at the time, around 6 or 7 years old.

We had a similar FEC around the same time just up the street from Sesame Place, so not all that far from Franklin Mills, called Sportland of America that also had a roller skating rink, video games, flats, simulators, other random stuff. *I may or may not have eaten psychedelic drugs at an all-night rave there once.

 

I went to my cousin's birthday party there and my school also had an 8th grade fall trip there. I remember they had a small tea cups ride and bumper cars and a really good indoor playground / soft play area since it had some challenging obstacles compared to similar setups.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I have heard of this, apparently the place had a lot of crime, while I do not live in Utah and I have never been, I have definitely heard of this place, Word is they had 3-4 Sega R360 machines, which is my favorite machine of all time... it must have been really epic.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.

×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

Terms of Use https://themeparkreview.com/forum/topic/116-terms-of-service-please-read/