Space Golf — Attraction in Orland Township

This review is only for the arcade area.

6/9/2019 UPDATE: I am updating my review and rounding up to an even 3, because the Skee Ball and Basketball were operational again. When I went in on this trip, there were only two games down; Barber Cut Lite and Slam-A-Winner. Both fun games, but at least the Skee Ball and Basketball games, which take up a much larger footprint, were operational.

I also tested out the claws, and I wouldn't personally recommend putting a lot of money into them. The larger prize claw seemed like maybe you could get a lucky grab, but you could also potentially throw a lot of money in and never get anything, because the claw was weak. I wouldn't mind throwing a few plays on this one occasionally, though. The smaller prize claw had about two prizes appropriately sized for the claw inside the machine, the rest are obviously too large, and the claw is incredibly weak. I'm not sure if it was set to a payout, or if they just have it set to a looser setting, but I threw in about $4 to the smaller claw and won nothing. In bulk, I'm sure those prizes weren't very expensive, so it wouldn't hurt them too badly to increase the claw strength a bit. If it falls from the movement of the claw, fair enough, but when it won't even lift the smallest prize, and the rest of the prizes are obviously too large, that's not great (but not much different than many claw machines, unfortunately).

I decided to take the tickets I won from my two trips and cash them in. The prizes are all cheap little novelties from China; and the prize counter is very small, but you can't expect more than that, because this is just a little game room in a mini golf place, not a full arcade. There are some fun little novelties in there, just don't expect this to compete with a typical arcade.

This time I had the opportunity to interact with the employees and the ones I spoke to were friendly and helpful.

I would say my impressions improved because the larger footprint games were operational again, and knowing the staff are friendly. If the claws strength was improved a bit, I think this could inch up to a 4/5 star.

PREVIOUS REVIEW: I'm giving this roughly a 2.6, just enough to round up to 3 stars. I went to check out the arcade, which their website advertises as being mostly quarter play games, and a significant portion of their game selection were down, including the skeeballs and basketball hoops. What was up and running was more often 50 cents to a dollar, but some were only a quarter.

I won a few hundred tickets with the 10 bucks in coins I bought, but haven't cashed in. The coin machine has a credit card reader, which is good for me, since I don't like to have to carry cash.

The decor is interesting. Very busy and a little goofy, but fun for nerds like myself. If you're a retro sci-fi movie nerd, this place will be awesome for you.

If they get their games fixed, especially the hoops and Skee Ball, I'd say this would go from a 2.6 to at least a 3.5 star, just for a quick stop off...

This is response to Reyna’s review. There are always 2 sides to the story…here is how it really happened that Reyna left out….. An adult male walks into Space Golf, he DID NOT golf, he walked around for a bit looking around the store and then came up to the desk and stared at the girls for a few and then asked… Where is the bathroom? Which they allowed. The adult was locked in there for 30/40 minutes and the girls became concerned at what he was doing in there for that amount of time and then called. Your son then called you because you were shopping at Savers and you came in there with his ID, screaming and yelling, what does this say, what does this say? The young girl responded, Disabled. How were they to know that he was disabled? Space Golf is not a babysitter while you shop at Savers! He was gone from you for at least an hour and you weren’t concerned where he was at? Or, Do you tell him to go in there while you shop? You could have walked in there with your son introduced yourself and your son to the young girls…. Explain that he is on the spectrum and likes looking around in here and then asked the girls….. do you mind if he hangs out and looks around while I go shopping at Savers? That would have made this situation a whole lot better for your son and the young girls! You were asked to leave because you were screaming, yelling and accusing the girls of discrimination. In the crazy world we live in now, let me ask you a question, Reyna…..

You are a teenage girl working in a miniature golf place and an adult male comes in alone…. Does not golf, doesn’t say anything while he walks around looking at you, looking around the place, comes up to you and states for a few seconds and then says, where is your bathroom? Then he locks himself in the bathroom for 30/40 minutes. You don’t have any idea he is disabled…. What would your teenage self have done? Wouldn’t be concerned for your safety as well as his? Shame on you not telling the whole truth about what really happened and blame these young girls and Space Golf for discrimination. Why in your review did you leave out that you left your disabled son alone by himself while you shopped at Savers for at least an hour? Instead you want to blame your faults on teenage girls (who had no idea he was disabled) and try to tarnish a...

The concept of space golf is great. The idea of reservations is great. Arriving 15 minutes before your reservation is a common courtesy and is expected, BUT this should mean the people entering at their proper reservation time should have at least a 15 minute "jump" on playing. We arrived 15 minutes before our reservation time. It took about 10 minutes to pay and then receive our putter and pick our ball. We had 2 adults and a 9 year old child. So choosing a color took an extra minute. We entered the space golf area, where there is a sign stating "put 3D glasses on now"... hold up, game changer... glasses? 3D? We didn't even see it advertised. So puzzled, we inquired. It was an extra $1 per person for glasses. So we paid for that. Also took a few minutes. Once all organized and inside we proceeded to play. By the time we reached hole #3 we had people behind us waiting on us to finish so they could play. That made us feel rushed and anxious so we tried to hurry up a bit, which took the fun out of it for us. Especially if you were trying to have a fun little competition. We eventually finished all 18 holes... with 2 total different parties waiting on us to finish. *If they can organize their time slots and maintain that 15 minutes in between allowing customers, that would be another star given. * They have a food kiosk and an arcade area as well. Also sell some t shirts and other novelties. Another star not given... they encourage photos without flash, but I didn't want to feel as if I was not being courteous of those waiting behind us. It was our first time going and I wanted to take pictures.

I understand wanting to make revenue, but this is such a unique and fun thing to do for all ages. There has to be a way to mix the walk in customers with the reservation ones to where people aren't feeling rushed...