Holoworld Brings Out the Stars

There aren't many places where you could expect to find Nichelle (Star Trek) Nichols, Gary (Diff'rent Strokes) Coleman, Dan (Grizzly Adams) Haggerty, and Kato (O.J.'s houseguest) Kaelin together, but tonight (Thursday) they'll all be on Lake Avenue in Pasadena, California, for the grand opening of the Holoworld "multi-themed restaurant-entertainment complex". The restaurant opens to the public on Friday.

Guests will be able to eat in a number of themed environments - the Indian Village, the Space Alien Room, the Jungle Room (which has nothing to do with Elvis), and the Old West Saloon, which, like the whole of the restaurant, is non-alcoholic. While guests are eating, they'll be treated to a laser light show, as the rooms change from daytime to nighttime environments.

After dinner, patrons can move into the restaurant's arcade area, and hop into a COBRA virtual reality pod or an M-4 flight simulator. Holoworld's "pool-within-a-pool" area features glow-in-the-dark pool tables with suspended stuffed sharks floating from the ceiling for a special underwater ambience. The restaurant's Cosmic (miniature) Golf course also glows under black light.

The complex's Laser Tag Maze features dinosaurs that shoot lasers in an attempt to befuddle players, 30 of which can enter the maze at one time. "We picked the oldest era - dinosaurs - and combined it with the latest era - laser tag," says Holoworld CEO Sidney Haider.

If all of this sounds suspiciously like Chuck E. Cheese or Auto Zone, don't mention that to Haider. "We're as far away from that concept as we can be," he says. Pressed for a way to describe Holoworld, he says, "I would say we're a cross between McDonald's and Disneyland, in that McDonald's has become a short-time hang-out place for the family while Disneyland is the ultimate family destination. We see Holoworld as a place that's for the entire family, yet is accessible and affordable."

Haider says plans are to open eight more Holoworld restaurants in California before the end of 1998.