There are tons of amazingly fun things to do at this indoor theme park for kids of all ages. Even the songs playing overhead were top 40 hits ...sung by kids!
Bowling by neon light is a big hit. The balls are small enough for little hands and the lanes are shorter than regular lanes making bumpers unnecessary. The best part? Little ones can hold their own against the big kids! The smaller balls make it easier to put some power behind every throw and the lanes being smaller make it easier to aim clearer, so for the older kids it's a chance to get their best game on.
Meanwhile, the Ball Pit is an entire city in itself. On one level you can shoot balls from air guns and have the balls land on unsuspecting kids below. Miniature golf and bumper cars are neon, too, and great for little ones. It's a little too easy for the older crew, but the black light kept them interested while they played.
The video games situated in different areas are of all difficulty levels for all ages to play. Ski ball, Deal or No Deal, Spider Stompin', and more like them are great fun.
Unlike Chuck E. Cheese, there are no tokens to keep track of because everything is done by debit card. Every game or ride costs a certain number of points and as the card is swiped, that amount is subtracted from the balance on the card. The ball pit is 20 points and the bumper cars are 14. The video games are around 2 - 4 each. There is a "Do It All" card that can be bought that allows unlimited fun, except for jackpot games, for 1 hour or 2 hours, depending on which one you buy. It is easy to rack up the tickets and then even easier to spend them on the prizes at the counter!
Best of all, on party day busy parents can relax knowing they can leave the mess behind with not a dirty dish in sight ... and no after-party cleanup!
Other local shopping malls such as Eastgate Mall, Florence Mall, and the original Kenwood Mall would follow during the 1970s, bringing competition, but Tri County held its own. In 1985, a food court was added called A La Carte, another novel idea that was among the first in the area. Tri County was a trendsetter but competition was coming.
Now, the year is 1988 and this is the point where the fortunes of Tri County, a mall that would remain vital into the early 2000s, and Forest Fair Mall, an instantly doomed fiasco, become somewhat intertwined. At this time, Tri County mall was a single-level mall with spaces for around 107 retailers. A remodeling plan was unveiled to modernize and add a second floor, which would increase the number of retailers to 187 and increase the retail space to 1.3 million square feet. The remodel was at the time projected to be completed in early 1990.
Forest Fair was the largest mall in Ohio when the plans were unveiled; it was even being billed as "America's First Supermall", and its retail space was 1.5 million square feet. Tri County was going to become a mall that was nearly as large (and actually, with more retailers) and was only 4 miles away. It's worth pointing out that there is a third, somewhat smaller mall, Northgate Mall, that is only about ten minutes from here as well.
The remodel was completed in October of 1990, right around the time that it had become all but a foregone conclusion that Tri County's neighbor to the west was becoming a shrine to failure. Tri County did not suffer the same fate; the general mentality among Cincinnati shoppers was that Tri County was the mall you went to when you actually wanted to spend money; they were long established and had stores that local shoppers were accustomed to shopping at. In 1992, a location of the popular department store McAlpin's opened at Tri County (later Dillard's), which featured rich woods and Italian marble. It had three levels and seven entrances. This served to further raise the profile of Tri County as a local institution.
A huge fountain was added at Center Court. It was removed a few years back, possibly due to plumbing issues. It had a big sunken seating area that surrounded it. If you look closely at the tiles surrounding the children's play structure in the middle of the mall, you can see where some of them are a lighter color. These lighter tiles are newer because they are where the fountain was.
Not all things last forever, though. By the early 2000s, the economy and general shift away from mall shopping began to take its toll on the now-aging mall. JC Penney left its location it had occupied since the 1970s for a new space in a "lifestyle center" a few miles away. The top level of the empty anchor space was ambitiously remodeled to house an indoor amusement park called Krazy City, who also had two locations in New Jersey. It featured scaled-down versions of carnival rides, miniature golf, and a climbing wall. It lasted until 2008, and the space has remained vacant since. The escalator that once led to its entrance sits closed and non-operational. (on the plus side, the bottom level is partially occupied by a BJ's Roadhouse restaurant that seems to do well on the weekends.) By 2009, the mall had a 25% vacancy rate, which sounds low, but remember this was a mall that previously had nearly ever space filled and had for many, many years a full tenant mix.
In 2010, mall management made a decision due to recent complaints from shoppers and retailers about "rowdy" persons....