When David Siegel passed away in April of this year, he left behind a complicated legacy that includes a timeshare empire stretching from Florida to Las Vegas; a record of anti-drug activism and conservative political donations; and a megamansion dubbed Versailles so ginormous that they made a Broadway musical about it. But everyone old enough to remember Orlando in the 1980s can agree that Siegel’s greatest contribution was the Mystery Fun House, a family entertainment center which operated on Major Boulevard from 1976 until 2001.
Almost a quarter-century after its closing, Kissimmee’s massive Westgate Vacation Villas is bringing that seminal attraction back to life — in spirit, anyway — with their new Mystery Fun House Arcade Experience, where I recently took an exclusive soft-opening media tour ahead of its Aug. 21 grand opening.
Long before Universal Studios Florida opened across the street, Siegel co-founded Mystery Fun House and filled its uniquely themed multiple chambers with obstacle courses, optical illusions and early arcade games, eventually expanding into mini-golf and laser tag. I can still vividly recall being terrified by the walkthrough’s gory haunted house-style scenes of Dracula dining with his fiendish friends, and attempting fruitlessly to aim my blaster while bouncing across the floor inside Starbase Omega.
As big an impression as Mystery Fun House left on Gen X tourists like myself, it made a larger impact on Siegel himself, whose own mother worked at the attraction. “The Mystery Fun House itself was a huge part of Westgate’s early infancy,” according to Jared Saft, Westgate’s chief business and strategy officer. “It was before he owned Westgate, before he built Westgate, and it was what got him excited about the idea of creating experiences for guests that are visiting tourist destinations.”
That history means there were high expectations for anything bearing the Mystery Fun House name, so Westgate took their time transforming formerly unused space underneath the water park into a nearly 10,000-square-foot arcade complex. Initial planning began more than a decade ago, and the ultimate design was conceived about two and a half years ago, says director of architecture and design Kevin Tay.
“This is a long, long process; we’ve done many iterations of design, and worked with our partners in corporate operations, maintenance, housekeeping, F[ood] & B[everage], and a lot with our executives to kind of narrow in everyone’s wants and needs. Ultimately, our goal was to figure out, how do we reimagine something that was popular in the late ’70s and the ’80s, and bring it to a contemporary feel? … It was a delicate balance of, ‘How do we reimagine it but stay true to the roots?'” says Saft. The resulting aesthetic is a blend of retro and cutting-edge, which begins with custom pixel-art animations displayed along a bold blue corridor leading off the recently renovated lobby. “A lot of it pays homage to arcade culture of the ’80s — but we made it contemporary, because we didn’t want to lose children today.”
Guests venturing inside are greeted first by a colorful mural, where I bumped into a friendly walk-around incarnation of the winking wizard who once loomed over MFH’s entrance. Yet to be installed during my preview were my two most anticipated attractions: a hallway displaying historical artifacts, including original animatronics and a fortune-teller photo op; and a mirror maze inspired by MFH’s memorably maddening labyrinth. Finishing touches were also still being applied to Sweet Dreamery — a Willy Wonka-esque candy store with an actual waterslide running through the center of it — and the cyberpunk-style MEGAbites fast-food hall.
However, the centerpiece arcade operated by Chuck E. Cheese — which actually made MFH’s original animatronics — is already in full swing. “It’s kind of a natural partnership: two iconic, historic amusement and arcade brands figuring out how to do it together,” says Saft. “This is not a Chuck E. Cheese; it’s a Mystery Fun House Arcade Experience powered by Chuck E. Cheese.”
That experience includes both an array of the newest virtual reality shoot-’em-ups straight from the IAAPA convention floor and an impressive assortment of claw machines, along with a Fun Zone of kiddie-centric rides and carnival games that’s the only attraction in town where you’ll find Pixar’s Cars and Universal’s Minions side-by-side. Chuck’s Arcade, an adult-oriented corner of pinball tables and throwback coin-ops, is more my speed. Alas, most are contemporary reproductions with flat-screen monitors, but Asteroids still sports a gloriously analog monochrome vector display. And unlike in the ’80s, you won’t be pumping any quarters into these machines; a $5 swipe card gives you 50 credits, and most games cost 15-30 credits per play.
Modern-day tastes and liability laws means that a re-creation of many iconic Mystery Fun House elements — like the bruise-inducing rotating barrel — could never be built today. But Westgate’s new arcade experience tries to honor the original in a way that Siegel, who was heavily involved in reviewing the project prior to his passing, personally approved.
“This was very special to him. I think toward the end of his life, he wanted to make sure that a lot of the imprint that he left felt relevant to what he had created and his story, and this was kind of the capstone of that for us,” says Saft. “It’s unfortunate he’s not here for this day, but we know he’s up there, you know, helping us move things along and make sure that the games are running and that people are having a good time.”
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This article appears in Jul 16-22, 2025.