Seattle Pinball Museum — Attraction in Seattle

My first surprise here was that the Seattle Pinball Museum is located in the heart of the Seattle Chinatown-International District. To be honest I wouldn’t have thought a museum dedicated to a uniquely American invention would be in the middle of an Asian cultural zone, but it turns out they are right at home here and beloved by the community.

The museum was in a compact space, and consisted of two levels. When we entered Charlie was waiting near the door and gave me a huge hug. Scrawled out on a piece of notebook paper, he had taken the time to write nearly a dozen suggestions of places for us to explore that were within walking distance. I was immediately impressed that someone had actually written a note by hand, which has suddenly become a rare occurrence.

Charlie took us on a tour of his museum, and explained that each machine in the building was arranged in chronological order. I’ve been to hundreds of pinball arcades and this is the very first that I’ve seen arranged in this way. Starting with a 1960 Gottlieb Texan (their last game to have wooden rails) there was a machine from nearly every year all the way to Sterns newest release JAWS (2024). Custom placards above the games explain innovations and historical significance, and each machine is set to free play. A nominal cover charge at the door covers admission to play the entire day, even with come and go privileges.

The arcade was very clean, neatly organized, and tastefully decorated. Various components of retired machines had been repurposed as decorations like framed back glasses and even entire side cabinet panels mounted to the wall. Behind the counter they had a variety of snacks, sodas and even some beers for sale. The museum had even taken then time to have some neat souvenirs like buttons, stickers, magnets and shirts. The designs were terrific.

One of my favorite moments of the visit was when Charlie explained to us his way of making memorable moments for children. In a large pickle jar on top of the counter were hundreds of used pinballs. You reading may not realize, pinballs eventually become worn from use and need to be replaced with new ones to maintain optimal play. Used pinballs really have no use at all, but are still visually normal. Charlie decided to sell these used pinballs to visitors for $2 as a souvenir which is brilliant, but even better is that he often gives them away. With a twinkle in his eye he explained that he keeps an eye out for especially enthusiastic and interested children and after asking mom and dad’s permission, gifts them with one of these balls. He recalled families coming back for future visits and thanking him for that kindness.

He considers it an investment in the future of pinball itself.

Just beyond the necessity of running profitable operations, most people in the world of pinball have an even bigger ambition: to ensure that it never disappears. Having nearly happened in the early 2000’s, pinball enthusiasts like Charlie feel an obligation to do their part to not only preserve pinball, but to grow it. That’s exactly what is happening at the Seattle Pinball Museum.

After flipping several machines and enjoying the collection, I asked to take a photo with Charlie and Cindy with this very post in mind. Charlie laughed as he agreed, joking that my arm must double as a selfie stick because I have obviously become skilled at taking these kind of photos in our travels. He’s right.

As we left for the day I felt extremely grateful for the invitation extended to me so many years ago and that I had finally been able to accept it. Pinball is not just alive and well in the Seattle area, it’s absolutely thriving. With a location as thoughtful and charming as the Seattle Pinball Museum, it’s easy to...

So I have never written a bad review about a business in my entire life, but in my opinion this place was horrible. We drove about an hour on Wednesday night where we arrived at about 6pm only to find the sign on the door said they closed at 5pm. We called and listened to their voice mail and looked on their website and both said they were open on Wednesdays till 9pm. The next day we did not get there till about 8:10 pm (There was 7 of us) and I went up to the counter and asked if we could get a discount since there was less than a hour. The guys conduct towards me was instantly a rude demeanor along with unkind remarks. So we spent a few minutes taking pictures by the machines and looking at how cool they were. I decided to go back to the counter and offer $5.00 each for the reminder of the hour. Again, very unbecoming comments. I told him it was probably bad business to not want our $35.00 and if he could not control himself I would give him a bad review. As I then walked away he started yelling out to me and giving me places where I could list the bad reviews! He then decided he was not even going to let us look, or even stay or go upstairs to look at the pinball machines and just kept on saying rude comments. I decided to take his picture to give to the owner so he would know which employee he was, and to approach him one more time but my daughter grabbed me and tried to get me to leave. She told that this guy is "freaking out" and she feared for our safety. She was quite shaken in the car about the whole thing. The next morning I called to complain to the owner only to find that he was twice as rude as the person behind the counter. He said things like; "please don't come back ever, we don't want your kind of people here" (I guess "your kind of people" are people who dared to ask for a discount) and "I'm glad your not coming back because you threatened to give us a bad review." He even told me that he has had 1000's of people who have complained about his policies. Like that was a good thing. He also threatened to sue me if I gave him a review with "slanders" in it. So then my son gave them a bad review to which he again was rude and untruthful (please read it for yourself, it is on this same web page.)

So, in my opinion, the guy behind the counter had a melt down and lost his cool which cost them $35.00 and then his father (owner) had two melt downs, one on the phone with me (which cost them $115.00, because we did not return the next day) and then his last one was on this website which will cost them even more money. I do apologize if I scared the man behind the counter for coming off demanding or aggressive and for responding in a negative manner, but we were just trying to give you some last minute business and have some last minute fun for the day. I never once swore, called names, yelled, or threatened you in any way.

So now I am interested to see if the owner will respond to these comments by indicating I am lying like I believe he has wrongly done to several complaints made by others on this web page. Maybe he will try to justify their actions by blaming others? Will he save his pride by not making any comments at all? Will he make threats of suing me like he did on the phone or will he and his son simply apologize.

Regardless, (and I mean this sincerely, not in a sarcastic way) something in their life's must be happening to make them seem so angry and upset about a simple situation and whatever the problem is that they're having I hope the best for them and I hope that they find real peace and enjoy...

Me and my boyfriend live in Florida, and had been planning for months to visit the Pinball Museum. We came up and visited my boyfriends cousin and his girlfriend in Seattle , and all headed to the museum yesterday. We had excitedly planned for it, and made sure to arrive before closing, at 5:05, as we read not only online but on the store’s doors that the museum closed at 6, and wanted to make sure we had at least some time to visit it before we had to leave when the store closed. When we arrived at the doors, we found them locked. We saw that there were people inside, and nowhere on the door did it say they would be closed an hour early, or anything at all to explain doors being locked/museum being. closed. We tried calling- no answer. As we looked inside through the doors, we saw customers playing at the machines and watched as an employee behind the counter just stared/ignored us. NOBODY made any signal that the place was closed, that we couldn’t come in, that we were doing something wrong, no signal at all; so we had assumed the doors must be closed by accident. When a customer came out, we walked in, and finally that was when the dude behind the desk acknowledged us in any way (long blonde hair, muttonchops n goatee, short stature). As we stepped in, he angrily came down the hallway and said “we aren’t accepting anymore people, that’s why the doors are locked”. We asked why and he said “because we aren’t” while continuously cutting our words off. I tried asking the hours for tomorrow, and he cut me off again. I then said “how were we supposed to know?” And he just said “now you know”. My boyfriend asked the same question, and asked why, and he just kept cutting us off and responding “now you know”. This was all within 30-45 seconds, as he was chauffeuring us out the whole time while talking over all of our questions. When we stepped back out, he closed the door without another word, and turned and walked away.

We are so baffled by how rude this man was, appalled at how confusing this whole experience turned out to be, and let down over the fact our plans to visit this museum are over. It was so sad watching my boyfriends cousins try to plan for something, get rejected, and when politely ask why in the face of rudeness, get shot down and humiliated again. It pains me to watch, as this man was so unacceptable, if they had not been there I would of given him a piece of my mind. I understand that maybe you guys stop accepting people at a certain time, and there’s nothing wrong w that, other than the fact it’s not written ANYWHERE. Not online, not on the doors, I mean if you don’t believe/see a problem with the customer service, then I hope you AT LEAST see a problem with the misinformed times.

You have lost 4 customers, two of which were repeat customers who had brought friends/family there multiple times. I’m sure this one employee’s attitude doesn’t reflect the business as a whole, and I hope that he isn’t the end all for more customers. I definitely reccomend fixing the hours at...