Earlier in 2025 it was announced that Herschend was aquiring the US based assets of Palace Entertainment. This acquisition included famous properties such as Pittsburgh’s Kennywood, Iowa’s Adventureland, Noah’s Ark water park in Wisconsin Dells and Lake Compounce, the oldest continuously-operating amusement park in North America. It also included some smaller family entertainment centers including Malibu Norcross in Norcross, GA and Mountasia in Marietta, GA that we subsequently closed on September 28, 2025. Mountasia was specifically known for three mini golf courses, bumper boats and go-karts. I had a chance to drive by the now shuttered Mountasia and got some current pictures.

The Mountasia piece of land is sizable at 7 acres with a small amount of frontage on Barrett Parkway, but extending quite deep. From the front you’d be hard pressed to know it was closed other than the removal of the iconic sign seen in the picture above. However, when you turn in the driveway you immediately know the place is not operating normally as there are abandoned shopping carts on the driveway. Once you get up to the former arcade and cafe building it is essentially empty, but still has a Palace sticker on the window.

The go-kart track itself was always pretty well hidden, but the golf courses are still very visible and look like they could open quickly with a little cleaning and repair. The lake where the bumper boats were and water features appear intact, but the boats are gone. There actually appears to be very little vandalism or damage (which was great to see) as people did seem to use the parking lot to cut through to some neighboring apartments. I was with my 9 year old son who found the whole place a little sad as it looked like it had the potential to be so much fun, but instead it sat there sad and abandoned.

In a statement given to local news network WSB about the closure, Andrew Wexler, CEO of Herschend, said, “This decision is in no way a reflection on the hosts or the quality of the experiences offered, but rather a recognition that Family Entertainment Centers operate differently than the types of attractions we are best structured to support.” It initially reads a bit like the dating phrase, “It’s not you, it’s me”, but after some thought it makes sense. Herschend now operates some of the nation’s biggest theme parks like Dollywood which is a far different business model than a family entertainment center. Mountasia had operated for over 20 years and survived the 2009 economic crisis and Covid. I’m guessing it might not have been wildly profitable, but probably able to at least break even, so this seems to be less a profit and loss decision and more one about corporate focus. This is actually the second entertainment center formerly owned by Palace to close in this area in the last 25 years as SpeedZone, about a mile away, closed in 2001 that later became a Brandsmart and then part of Kennesaw State University.

“This decision is in no way a reflection on the hosts or the quality of the experiences offered, but rather a recognition that Family Entertainment Centers operate differently than the types of attractions we are best structured to support.”

Andrew Wexler, CEO of Herschend, in a statement to WSB

The land Mountasia sits on is prime real estate. It is at the intersection of a highway and a major road in an upscale subdivision of Atlanta. The area is filled with restaurants, stores, office buildings and apartments that is quite literally 15-30 minutes away from millions of people. It may not continue to be used for a family entertainment center, but it almost certainly won’t go unused for long. I personally have some fun memories from Mountasia and am sad that won’t continue for others. I guess businesses come and go and there’s still an indoor go-kart track a couple miles away and an indoor mini golf course literally a few hundred yards away, so the same basic experiences still exist in the community. It’s still sad to see a place that brought so many people joy fall silent, but to everything there is a season, so always enjoy your favorites while you can.