Two Bit Circus, the world’s first micro-amusement park, has continued to innovate through the lockdowns of COVID-19 and beyond, exploring the future of fun.
“Give creative people a pandemic and they’re going to come up with some exciting things,” says Kim Schaefer, CEO of Two Bit Circus.
Originally opened in LA, the attraction is working on developing a global network of micro-amusement parks, where one-acre entertainment complexes combine interactive technology with classic circus and carnival attractions.
At Two Bit Circus in Los Angeles, Dr. Botcher’s Minute Medical School story room is an example of the compelling fare: a life-size version of the Operation board game where players work together to save the patient lying on the operating table. Next door, Samuel Sweetbottom’s Candy Chaos is an interactive version of the candy factory episode “I Love Lucy”.
The team of artists, inventors, educators, and performers behind the games and innovations of the high-tech circus have ensured the trajectory has remained steep.
What’s new at Two Bit Circus
Schaefer, bringing blooloop up to date on the innovative company’s progress since we last spoke, says:
“When we started Two Bit Circus, the two founders had a huge number of creations that they had made over the years. We wanted to give them a permanent home, and that was really the start of Two Bit Circus. The first evolution that came out of that is the learnings from having a permanent location. Story rooms were very popular.”
“We have now built two additional story rooms because people like them. They’re unique to us, and we really wanted to celebrate that.”
Adapting to the pandemic
A little over a quarter of a million people came through the park in 2019, during its first year:
“It really gave us some understandings into the business, as well as how to evolve it,” she comments. “When the pandemic came around, we had the opportunity to say, ‘What do we want to do?’
“The idea of continuing to entertain people while they were at home was certainly not novel. But what we did was use the technology to be able to bring people together from any place in the world, from any home.
“We found that not only did it work fantastically well for corporate groups, but we hosted a weekly entertainment variety games show, and coined it ‘Remote’.”
Remote is a platform full of fun, customisable games. It allows participants to interact face to face with friends and to have competitive fun from anywhere in the world. Remote experiences included a mashup of classic TV game shows, with each show hosted over live video by a Two Bit Circus host and their robot sidekick, GameShowBot3000.
Participants played in their web browsers from the comfort of their own homes, competing in challenges, answering trivia questions, and communicating via text chat.
“We found that we had a great following,” she says. “So, we were able to do a lot of hosted groups, instead of their holiday parties, in 2020, and even 2021. We did quite a few of them.”
Bringing play to the people
Andy Levey, marketing director at Two Bit Circus, adds:
“It’s still a product that we sell today. What we find, especially in a market like LA, is that, for a lot of the people who would come and visit us downtown from a corporate perspective, their offices have dispersed. Remote is an opportunity for the employees to come back together, no matter where they’re working from.”
“We were also doing a lot of birthday and holiday parties for families,” Schaefer says. “Then there were the school celebrations and end-of-year celebrations, while kids were attending lessons online. But Andy’s right: that platform actually works very well, and still holds true today. We can also do a hybrid version, where we can have people in the park doing a game show, while also hosting people remotely and tying them into the overall experience. That platform has worked really well for us.
“We are very proud that we were able to bring play to people during the pandemic.”
Beta Nights at Two Bit Circus
Two Bit Circus is, once again, holding its Beta Nights. These are special evenings where they showcase their latest inventions and offer local creators the chance to come along and showcase theirs, and get feedback from customers.
“Beta nights are very dear to us,” she says. “It really is a fun night. Our next one is coming on September 29th. Beta nights are something that we weren’t able to do for about a year and a half. Therefore we’re really excited that we’re able to do them again on a little bit of a regular basis.”
A new location
Two Bit Circus Dallas, Texas will be opening in Q4 of 2022. She says:
“That is the culmination of everything that we’ve learned from an operational standpoint. We’ve got some new games going in. We have been able to search the world to see who else has great products that we want, so we’re able to bring to Dallas a unique experience with the same look and feel of what we have, within our brand.”
The Dallas, Texas iteration of the Two Bit Circus micro-amusement park, located at the Shops at Park Lane, will offer 35,000 square feet of technology-driven entertainment, featuring custom-designed arcade games, as well as virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR) and ‘extended reality’ experiences (via Dallas Innovates).
The venue will also be home to story rooms, conceptually similar to escape rooms, as well as cabanas with private gaming lounges, robot bartenders and carnival-style experiences.
The appeal of Two Bit Circus
Schaefer details the wide-ranging appeal of the Two Bit Circus offering, which transcends location:
“In my 20-year experience of working with families in destination resorts, I have found that families are families; adults are adults.”
“The type of unique experience that we create is appealing to everyone. I think that is what makes Two Bit Circus special. You can come as a corporate visitor; you can come on a night out with friends, or you can come as a family: it works for everybody. Our hardware and software allow us to be able to change that software if and when we need to, in order to be able to appeal to a certain audience.
“The response we’ve had to the news that we’re coming to Dallas has been fantastic. The fact we’re located right in the centre of the city of Dallas is going to be a really neat opportunity for families.”
Revelers Resorts
Another Two Bit Circus innovation is their immersive hotel concept, Revelers Resorts. The company has acquired two former conference hotels in Denver, Colorado, and the New York City area, which they are transforming into the world’s first Reveler’s Resorts interactive gameplay hotels.
The Revelers Resorts project is a result of Two Bit Circus’ merger with Alpine Acquisition Corporation. In the merger, Alpine acquired two conference hotels with 739 rooms in Denver, Colorado and Stamford, Connecticut. These are both destined to become Revelers Resorts, home to experiential entertainment and gaming, with an immersive story experience across both venues.
Revelers Resorts are characterized by innovative, immersive theming, STEAM games, workshop activities, circus-style attractions and reimagined arcades. F&B outlets include Plate Spinner Pizza and Cannonball Candy Shop, as well as carnival carts with signature treats.
“This goes back to what happens when you leave creative people with a lot of time on their hands,” Schaefer jokes. “There is definitely a huge need for family entertainment that is within driving distance of home and a value proposition that is affordable to families.”
Additionally:
“Two Bit Circus is such a beautiful brand, with really special connotations, in terms of what it means to people. We combined these elements in making Revelers Resorts, in combination with an overnight stay.”
Telling a story
The branding is compelling and unusual:
“We wanted to add all the mystique, curiosity, and wonderment of a rag-tag circus to that overnight visit while adding all the spectacle of what can come with a high-tech circus,” she says. “We came up with the phrase ‘Circus Punk.’”
The theming is a fusion of high-tech (robots and holograms) with an aesthetic rooted in timeless circus nostalgia.
“We definitely want to stay in that inventor mode, and to honour that. We really like the potential of the technology that is out there today. The whole idea of the circus is that you get to suspend belief, for your enjoyment. We achieve that with technology, while still paying homage to that old rag-tag circus.”
Levey outlines the storytelling:
“We are creating a brand-new IP, a brand-new world. There’s a huge opportunity there that we want to explore. The target audience, obviously, is a little different from Two Bit. Revelers Resorts are more of a family destination. So, the aim was to create a world that kids from six to 12 years old could be a part of and immerse themselves in and that their parents could genuinely enjoy with their children.”
The next chapter for Two Bit Circus
They have, therefore, based the world on a character:
“His name is Revel. He was transported through time and dimensions into this world. He found and collected different curios and knickknacks, and created this circus. The guests have stumbled into this world, where there will be all sorts of storytelling and challenges.”
The circus is also populated by robots:
“Revel has created these bots that will guide you throughout your stay, and through some of the adventures, as well. Kids get to play with the characters in the experience. They are able to take those bots home with them, as well.”
Schaefer adds:
“Because we have an entire resort, it’s effectively one big story room. You will go on adventures throughout your stay. You will help Revel to find those curiosities, wandering through the entire resort as part of your story, engaging with different challenges and quests.”
Technology is key
Technology is part of the Two Bit Circus proprietary infrastructure.
“lt allows you, from check-in through check-out, beyond your stay and before you come in, to be part of this world,” says Schaefer. “It’s about being able to flow. Operationally, we want you to be able to flow through the hotel without having to worry about pulling out your wallet. We want you to be able to use the technology that we have there.”
Concerning the games, she explains:
“We have reimagined the old-fashioned circus games, creating them in a new way, through technology that has continued to evolve and become easier to use through the pandemic. We are really excited to be able to use things like projection mapping, holograms, and everything that’s at our disposal to add those elements. So, when you walk down a hallway, it’s not just a hallway.”
The fusion of elements immerses the guests in a circus outside time. The live-action game is an exciting additional component:
“We are really excited about that. We’re creating a brand-new story room that will be part of that story, and unique just to Revelers Resort. That’s what Two Bit Circus does. We know we’ve got hardware and software. Then we change it to be able to tell the story that we need to in the moment.”
Two Bit Circus looks to the future
In terms of immediate plans, she adds:
“Right now, we have our first two Revelers Resort locations, one in Denver, which we’re super-excited about. It’s a very family-heavy, family-friendly location; a top-10 city in the US. And then there is also Stamford, Connecticut, which is our entry into the tri-state. We know the New York market very well. Boston’s a pretty easy trip, as well.
“The Stamford location is going to be very special for us. It will really get us to a national platform on a much faster scale.”
“That is going to be our big focus for the next year. Then we will start getting other cities lined up, and looking at other opportunities. The idea is to buy existing hotels and convert them. That gives us the ability to scale faster, and the efficiency and speed to market that we think this brand is going to need.”
In the longer term:
“We would like to see Two Bit Circus expand. We’re going to get Dallas open later this year, as I said, and get some learnings from that. Then we’ll start looking for new locations as well.”
