Take Time for Today: Arnold's Family Fun Center in Montgomery County, PA

Our family was provided with complimentary snacks and game credits / "points" to facilitate this review. All opinions expressed are my own.

We took a whirlwind road trip to Pennsylvania a couple of weeks ago for a blogger conference and while there had the opportunity to visit Arnold's Family Fun Center! The name says it all, right? I told my almost-four year old that after we made it to Pennsylvania and settled into the hotel we were heading to Arnold's Family Fun Center for dinner. Her eyes got wide with excitement! Prior to arrival, we checked out Arnold's website to see all that they had to offer and we were amazed! We have some similar places nearby to where we live but this place looked HUGE. I remember wondering how it could be possible to have all of the things they offer under one roof... a bistro, a bar, go karts, bowling, rides, games, bounce houses, miniature golf, a tour of some cool guy's amazing collectables... see what I mean?! HUGE.

This place is huge! And use to be an old tire factory- cool! @ArnoldsFFC #Makeitmontco pic.twitter.com/vDIVwUo7O7

— Ashley (@IrishRed02) June 18, 2014

Now, before I tell you more about Arnold's let me say that I am not particularly familiar with Pennsylvania. This trip took us to the Valley Forge / King of Prussia area of Montgomery County... what a beautiful place to be! We headed to Arnold's around dinner time on a weekday, so traffic was a bit difficult on the main roads between our hotel and the facility but once we turned off the main road, we were greeted by beautiful backroads that led us to our destination. We followed our GPS and actually thought we were taking wrong turns because these roads looks as though they could only lead to fields and farms, but sure enough, we made it to Arnold's fairly easily. We only had to turn around twice... I do wish there had been more signage on the streets to show that we were getting close!

When we arrived at Arnold's Bistro & Bar, we were greeted by John Golden, Director of Communications at the Valley Forge Tourism and Convention Board, and Lorin Richter, the Sales Manager of Arnold's Family Fun Center as well as a very friendly serving staff.

Heading to Montgomery County, PA? This is your man! John Golden, Director of Communications @TourVF #Makeitmontco pic.twitter.com/mS9rUp4hBN

— Lori (@loriann978) June 18, 2014

We picked out some yummy dinner foods and heard all about Arnold's and the American Treasure Tour, a tram ride through one man's massive collection of Americana! Our family opted out of the American Treasure Tour since our daughter was understandably quite anxious to get out to the play areas.

American Treasure Tour sounds amazing! 100,000 square feet of one mans collection of stuff! #MakeItMontco

— Lori (@loriann978) June 18, 2014

We ate quickly (so quickly that I forgot to photograph my food for this blog post) so we could get playing. I ordered a Chicken Ceasar Wrap and French Fries and my husband ordered a Reuben and French Fries. The Bistro has a kid's menu as well but our daughter was way too preoccupied to order or eat her own meal so she snacked on ours. Everything was both reasonably priced and delicious, the staff was friendly, and the service was excellent.

Just adjacent to the Bistro & Bar is a full blown bowling alley. Say what?! We didn't bowl, but what a perfect place for a get together with friends! Grab some food, drinks, and then bowl. It's the perfect set up! If you're looking for a quiet, intimate dinner, this is probably not the place for you, but if you're looking for a delicious sit-down meal, with a ton of fun on the side, you've found a treat!

photo courtesy of Arnold's Family Fun Center

After eating, we headed to the play area. It was about 7:00 in the evening on a Wednesday and I must say that the play areas were fairly empty. Our suspicions about this place being massive were confirmed. We saw go karts, miniature golf, a haunted house, rock climbing wall, a mini bowling alley, a carousel, a bazillion arcade games, a bounce house (house is an understatement), bumper cars, and more! It was actually a little overwhelming! The sites and sounds equaled total fun. My four year old was on the younger side for many of the activities and unfortunately by the time we made it over to the section for her age and size, it was already closed for the evening. It was nice, however, even to just see that there was a section that would have been just for her! She did find plenty of fun... especially in the bounce zone and playing air hockey and skee ball with her Daddy!

4 year old's review of Arnold's...

"I liked when I bounced and when I went down the slides.

I really liked the really big slides. That was really fun.

I liked riding on the choo choo train.

And they had a carousel and a golf ball course."

This is intense! @ArnoldsFFC #Makeitmontco pic.twitter.com/lqy3rg5gFF

— Lori (@loriann978) June 18, 2014

The staff members we encountered at Arnold's were fantastic. They were super friendly, helpful, and accommodating! This is Matt, one of their smiling staff members who helped us figure out how to add more points to our card and get into the bounce zone!

Great staff like Matt The Man at @ArnoldsFFC! #Makeitmontco pic.twitter.com/R6JGeS7CFk

— Lori (@loriann978) June 18, 2014

Clearly, we had a blast at Arnold's Family Fun Center! Our only disappointment was that we were there for a short time and really could have spent much, much longer exploring and enjoying everything it had to offer! We need to go back soon for go karts, rides, and more bounce! We also heard from our friends that went on the American Treasure Tour that it was amazing and we'd really like to get back to check that out someday too!

We are looking forward to our next visit to Montgomery County, PA! The area has so much to offer and we are sad we were only there for about 24 hours! Next time you're headed to or through Pennsylvania, I'd encourage you to check out Montgomery County. While you're planning your trip, jump on your favorite social media channel and search for #MAKEITMONTCO... I guarantee you'll find some fun info and be able to piece together the perfect adventure for your family! You can also reach out to the Valley Forge Tourism and Convention Board for more information about everything Montgomery County has to offer.

Next time you're in PA, #MAKEITMONTCO!