Theme park vacations are slipping out of the budget for a growing share of American families, but the demand for shared entertainment has not softened. Instead, it is migrating closer to home, reshaping retail real estate in the process, according to a JLL report.
While a three-day trip to Disney World costs thousands of dollars for a family of four, an afternoon at a local concept like Slick City Action Park or Sky Zone costs about $35 per person, offering a dramatically lower entry point into similar "experience" consumption, the report noted. The trade-off is driving measurable demand. Foot traffic across 20 tracked location-based entertainment concepts reached 217 million visits in 2025, roughly 12% above 2019 levels, according to JLL. Average dwell time has climbed to 140 minutes per visit, underscoring a shift in how consumers are using retail environments.
The underlying driver is a bifurcated consumer base. Higher-income households continue to spend on travel, dining and premium experiences. These consumers are fueling competitive socializing concepts such as Puttshack, Flight Club and The Cube, the British game show experience set to open on Chicago's Michigan Avenue in 2026, according to JLL.
But a larger portion of the market is trading down rather than opting out, said JLL. That shift is most visible in the explosive growth of trampoline parks and kid-focused entertainment centers, which now account for 1,355 existing locations and 355 in the pipeline. The category alone represents 61% of all planned square footage in the entertainment pipeline or roughly 10 million square feet.
Operators such as Urban Air Adventure Park, Sky Zone, Slick City Action Park and Kids Empire have scaled rapidly by targeting one of retail's most durable demand drivers – children's birthdays and weekend family outings. Store formats typically range from 20,000 to 60,000 square feet and often repurpose former big-box retail space.
Traditional family entertainment centers still represent the largest installed base, with about 1,717 locations across 43 concepts and roughly 40 million square feet. But growth has slowed to 10.6% since 2023, suggesting the next wave is coming less from legacy operators and more from newer formats and hybrid experiential models.
At the same time, competitive socializing and "game-based" entertainment are increasingly prevalent in malls and lifestyle centers. Escape rooms and challenge rooms have expanded rapidly, with Level99 leading a new category of large-format experiential venues that combine games, food and beverage, and repeat-visit loops within 40,000-plus-square-foot spaces.
Even immersive and media-driven concepts are taking anchor-like positions in retail real estate. Netflix House has opened large-scale experiential venues in former department store boxes, while Meow Wolf and immersive art operators continue to convert theaters and cinemas into destination experiences designed to extend dwell time and repeat visits, the report said.
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