Todd Hannon, owner of Urban Jungle in Peachtree City, loved playing laser tag with his sons as they were growing up. First there was the play at home option and later playing in Dixieland in Fayetteville’s arena. When Dixieland remodeled, the laser tag arena left but Hannon has brought the concept back with Urban Jungle, a modern looking building that contains top of the line arcade games, a 24’ rock wall with four climbing lanes of varying difficulty, a two story professionally created laser tag arena and Laser Frenzy, a game that puts the player inside a scene straight out of the movies.
“We owned the building and it was zoned properly for something like this,” Hannon said, acknowledging that in Peachtree City that was half the battle. He went to Las Vegas and took in a convention that featured companies that created laser tag arenas and found Creative Works, a company out of Indiana, which apparently is the center of the laser tag universe. Once Hannon and the Urban Jungle team built the two-level arena, complete with a skybox where parents can watch and also shoot at players while staying out of their game, Creative Works came in and completed the painting and design.
Urban Jungle is one of only two laser tag arenas that feature Creative Works’ “Avatar” style theme, putting robots in the jungle. Teams start by entering a briefing room and listen to one of the 12 staff members lay out how to play the game. Next, it’s on to a room where team members put on a sensor vest, lit up in team colors and assigned a name to keep track of individual and team statistics. Using one hand on the barrel and another on the trigger, players enter the 4,600 square foot arena, a dark maze-like wonderland lit with lasers and black lights, trying to find and tag their opponents without being tagged themselves. If a player is shot, their vest and gun is deactivated for six seconds. Once the six seconds are up, they are free to shoot again. The game is 10 minutes long, but for the players whose adrenaline rises as they work their way through the arena, it can feel a lot longer.
The other laser attraction at Urban Jungle is Laser Frenzy and it is a game meant for individuals looking to test their physical prowess and flexibility. In man heist movies, a room is filled with a laser maze and one wrong move can trigger the alarm. There are no alarms here, but once the token has been put in and a level of difficulty has been selected, the room looks exactly like a scene from one of these movies and the player is on a clock to make it to a checkpoint across the room and back.
If you’re still looking for a way to burn some energy and get your adrenaline up, you can hook into the auto belay on the rock wall and scale one of four lanes. There are special shoes each climber is required to wear during each of their three climbs. While patrons are waiting for their next round in the laser tag arena or taking a breather from all the action, they can hit the vending machines or play one of the hottest arcade games like Terminator Salvation, Fast and the Furious Bikes or Rambo.
Urban Jungle opened on Dec. 18 and has already found a lot of fans over the holiday break. Hannon has seen the calendar begin to fill with birthday parties, which can be held in one of several rooms, and has even seen interest in using it as a location for corporate retreats and team building. The goal for Hannon is to have each night of the week feature a certain event or deal. One night is singled out for church youth groups, while Thursdays are nights for Rumble in the Jungle, a double elimination laser Tag tournament and Friday nights are Teen Nights.
The most popular deal offers an individual two games of Laser Tag, one game of Laser Frenzy, and one session (three climbs) on the rock wall for $20. It is well over an hour of entertainment and it feels like it.
“I’m happy with the way it turned out,” said Hannon, who enters the arena from time to time to challenge his kids.
Urban Jungle is located adjacent to The Avenue in Peachtree City and behind the post office and AllSpeed. For more information, phone 678-902-9010 or visit www.urbanjunglelasertag.com
