This park is salt of the earth
Let's take a look at the world’s oddest FEC and catch up on the latest news from Universal’s Vegas haunt
Family entertainment centers, or FECs for short, are close cousins to amusement parks and theme parks. They are often indoors and may include a few rides, but typically offer arcade games and activities such as mini golf and batting cages. The centers, including chains such as Chuck E. Cheese and Dave & Buster’s, are usually found in malls or along busy highways.
In Romania, however, folks looking to play a round of mini golf can find a course along with other fun in a highly unusual place: some 370 feet underground–in a former salt mine. Located in Transylvania, Salina Turda offers tours of the mine. Inexplicably however, it also offers rides and attractions.
Dating back to at least 1271, Salina Turda was an active salt mine. It ceased operations in 1932 and was used as an air raid shelter during World War II. It opened to the public in 1992 as a tourist destination and was expanded in 2010.
In addition to six holes of mini-golf, the self-described “amusement park” also offers a 65-foot-tall Ferris wheel and mini bowling lanes. Guests can play table tennis and pool as well or rent a row boat to paddle around the Terezia Mine Lake. An amphitheater carved out of salt anchors one end of the park, although it’s unclear what kinds of shows are presented there. With its striking architecture, dramatic lighting, and massive salt formations, Salina Turda looks like an outpost on a distant planet.
Beyond the park and tours of the mine, the site includes (an above-ground) hotel with a restaurant as well as a spa and wellness center with a pool, sauna rooms, and jacuzzis. Salina Turda markets the health benefits of salt, and the spa offers salt therapy treatments. There is also a saltwater lake on the grounds, and swimming in it is touted for its restorative qualities.
Universal Horror Unleashed to open this summer
Turning our attentions to the U.S.A., the highly anticipated Universal Horror Unleashed, which is a year-round, permanent haunt under construction at Area 15 in Las Vegas, now has an opening date: August 14. That’s just a couple of weeks before Halloween Horror Nights, the wildly successful events at Universal Studios in Florida and Hollywood on which the new attraction is based, will kick off this year. Tickets, which start at $69 ($59 for Nevada residents), are now available. Universal is offering two passes, one that allows a single visit of each of the haunted mazes and one that offers unlimited visits.
As I previously reported, the 100,000-square-foot Universal Horror Unleashed will feature four walk-through haunted houses: the classic Universal Monsters, “The Texas Chainsaw Massacre,” Blumhouse’s “The Exorcist: Believer,” and a reprise of an original HHN maze, Scarecrow: The Reaping. According to Universal, the attraction will also include four “immersive entertainment areas,” which sound like scare zones in HHN-speak, as well as themed food and beverages.
What do you make of the salt mine FEC? Are you planning to head to Vegas for Universal’s new haunt?