On Sunday, Mason and I along with Jeff and his son Talon ventured over to Laser Expedition to play some laser tag. Back in the mid-to-late ’80s Jeff and I were regulars at our local Photon arena the few years it was open. Little did we know back then that someday the two of us would be playing laser tag with our own sons.
Laser Expedition is located off of Route 66 and Richland Road between Yukon and El Reno. The center has three separate attractions: indoor tag, outdoor tag, and the survivor’s maze. As the temperature was in the high 90s yesterday, we opted for the three indoor game/maze combo package.
Laser tag technology has come a long way over the past 25 years. The gear we wore at Photon, which included a battery pack belt and a helmet, weighed 18 pounds. The vests at Laser Expedition weigh a fraction of that. While the old guns used IR technology, the newer ones are more accurate and use lasers. The equipment has vastly improved.
The arena, however, is very different from the old Photon-style. At Laser Expedition, the maze is made of wood that has been painted black and decorated, with black lights and spotlights illuminating the field. The old Photon arena was a giant carpeted arena with multiple “terrains” and areas. One thing Jeff and I both noted was that our old Photon arena had lots of open areas that promoted camping or sniping (hiding in one place and shooting people from far away). The Laser Expedition arena promoted close-quarters combat. More than once I walked around a corner and bumped into one of the kids. Because of the smaller battlefield, running is prohibited at Laser Expedition (it was both encouraged and required at Photon).
Each indoor game lasts 10 minutes. After the first game was over, we took a break and decided to check out “the maze.” The Maze is probably a lot more enjoyable when it’s not 90+ degrees, as the lack of air conditioning made the area so hot that I felt like I was going to pass out. After spending 10-15 minutes twisting and turning through the maze we made our way back to the lobby where Jeff and I took a break while the kids played a round of air hockey.
After taking a short break, the four of us headed back into the arena for round 2. This time instead of everybody vs. everybody, we decided to play teams. The kids insisted on taking us on, and so with reluctance that’s what we did. Obviously Jeff and I slaughtered the boys, although the kids did get in a few good shots here and there. The final score was something like 800 to 12,000. It’s hard to judge what the scores are while you’re playing; it wasn’t until after the match that we saw how bad it was. After that game we immediately played a third round and switched back to all vs. all. In the end I was victorious, but it was a close game.
Our 3 game/maze package was $12/person, which I felt was was extremely affordable (in fact, I think the prices are comparable to what they were when Jeff and I were going to Photon 20 years ago). Even more enjoyable was the fact that during our entire visit, we were the only four people in the place. Going back on a Friday or Saturday might be more fun if you wanted to play with more people, but playing by ourselves with the kids worked out perfectly.
Okay, now that’s awesome. I just ordered it, although my only (slight) hesitation was that it’s VHS format. Icky.
You know, I was never good at team sports. The only sport I was decent at was Karate and I was never that interested in the physical part of it. I liked sparring because I liked outthinking people .. it was kind of like chess, except when you lost you got hit. Anyway, I was never into football or baseball or basketball or anything like that .. but when I discovered Photon here in OKC something clicked with me. I want to say our arena opened in 85 or so when I was in 7th grade. I played one time and was HOOKED. I was 14 then and working at a concession stand and making decent money and I blew a lot of it at Photon. Games were $3 for a 6 minute game and then on the weekends they offered a “Zappy Pass” which was $20 I think for all day so I would show up at 10am when they opened and play as many games as I could until 1am … 15 hours of Photon. These days I get winded climbing a couple flights of stairs, haha.
When I was 16 my family and I went on vacation to Chicago and my buddy Jeff went with us. While we were there, a Photon center opened in Chicago. We went and man we were cock of the walk. I mean, we were scoring 4x what everone else was. Of course everyone else was new and we had been playing for a couple of years. At one point the two guys working there cornered us and challenged us to a duel for honor or something equally cheezy that only people who were a little too serious about Photon would dream up. So the two of us played the two guys working there that day and we slaughtered them. I mean, we completely embarassed them. It was so awesome.
I was so good at Photon that it made me give up wanting to be a ninja or professional breakdancer when I grew up. I was going to play Photon for a living. Maybe I could like travel around for the company and put on demos or be a Photon tutor or something … okay not really but I was really good at it. And then one day Photon closed down and they turned our center into a used furniture store. And let me tell you I missed Photon so much I used to go in that furniture store and walk around pretending like I was looking at futons or bunk beds just so I could be in the building. And then one day it burned down and that was the end of that.
There is a guy building a new retro Photon center just outside of Tulsa, Oklahoma. People are talking about it. I am sure I will go up there when it opens, maybe not to relive the glory days, but at least to experience it one more time. But not for 15 hours straight, I can pretty much guarantee that.
Rob, first off, I want to thank you for visiting our facility as a destination of fun for you and your kids. As well, I appreciate the honest review you have given. I too remember Photon and the differences between the two. I hope what set us apart from Photon was the human experience that we have at our facility. We strive to make it an experience different and fun from the other laser tag facilities. Have you come back to your facility since then and tried the outdoor laser tag or the bathtub racing? I would really like to touch base with you and hear more of what you have to say. I am glad that you got to experience one of your youth pastimes with one of your own children. That is an experience sometimes hard to achieve.