Continuing my earlier post, above you see the entrance to the Atari Adventure location at the Disneyland Hotel. The photos are from Mice Chat. The exact year is unknown, but the Atari name is gone, so it’s after ’85. You can see the original ‘Atari Adventure’ signage at The Original Disneyland Hotel. At the same site, there’s a 1983 article about the opening of the game room.
“The room, which is dimly lit, is also plush. Deep red carpeting, brass railings and hundreds of tiny lights give it the look of Monte Carlo.” If that doesn’t sound awesome enough for you, Atari Adventure was on the marina of the Seaports of the Pacific attraction, partially submerged—it’s remembered as the underwater arcade. Hours? “Early in the morning to midnight, seven days a week.”
Below are several more photos—interiors, this time—of the Atari Adventure in Northwest Plaza Mall, St. Louis. The black and white is from the The Golden Age Arcade Historian, and the rest are from the Bill Poon Company, the architecture firm that designed the space. All are from 1983.
The Atari Adventure mission was supposed to include hands-on computer instruction, but it sounds like the Disneyland location was just a giant, dark, gnarly, submarine arcade.
Oh my gosh, seeing those classic arcade games in that setting. My lost youth!
Your found youth!
I remember sitting in that underwater arcade at the Disneyland hotel and playing the Star Wars cockpit for the very first time. It was beautiful. 🙂