Gator Mike’s Family Fun Park, a 10-acre adventure park in Cape Coral, FL, was heavily damaged by Hurricane Ian that struck the west coast of Florida in September of last year. We spoke with Chris Scuderi, owner of Gator Mike’s, about his experience during and after this disastrous event.

Chris explains how Gator Mike’s was humming along well, approaching about 400,000 visitors a year, when they were hit by the “perfect storm.” Listen to Chris’s fascinating story below:

“The devastation was biblical. It’s hard to describe.”

After the storm, Chris decided to rebuild and help his community as much as he could. He got the park’s electricity back up and running in about 3 weeks, and after cleaning up the park’s outdoor area, he opened the outdoor mini-golf attraction to his local community for free. He was able to reopen the entire park, with limited opening hours, 5 weeks after the storm.

“My staff was awesome. We’re really excited to get back to it. I’ll have to rebuild, and that’s what we’ll do.”

Because Chris’s insurance paid him nothing, his recovery relied on restarting park revenues. Omni Arena proved vital. According to Chris, about 30% of new customers come to the park for Omni Arena. Chris plans to offer packages that include Omni Arena together with mini-golf and go-karting.

“About 30% of new customers are here because they heard of Omni Arena.”

Chris further explained how he picked Omni Arena because he liked how the attraction looked and because of its unique experience. The shareability of Omni Arena’s gameplay on social media and the attraction’s marketing power were also key decision points.

“After playing, they’re always asking their parents: can we do another round? That was great!”

Gator Mike’s had Omni Arena now for nearly one year, and according to Chris, the attraction has already repaid the upfront investment.

When we asked Chris whether he would recommend Omni Arena to other operators, he said: “Absolutely! With a one-year pay-off, it’s been a no-brainer. I would recommend it to any owner operator who’s looking to join the 21st century and give their customers a cutting-edge experience.”

Watch the full interview below:

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