Decided to take my 2, 3, and 4 year old kids bowling for the first time (yes, I'm aware that I'm brave or stupid, but Dad needed to give Mom a break and was short in options/ideas). Herded the cats into Secoma Lanes in Federal Way and was greeted by a friendly man named Mike. The lanes were full so he directed me to the wall of video games and such, which turned out to be fun as the kids had never played the crane drop game and the four year old actually won a prize.
A few minutes later we had a lane, and Mike took us to get a special size/weight bowling ball for young kids as well as a contraption that allows the child to roll the ball down a ramp (and have a chance of hitting the pins). Amazingly, my daughter bowled a strike on her first ball and the rest was history. We had a very fun time, and the kids talked about it the whole next day at preschool.
In addition to the fact that we had a great time on a not sunny day (re most days in WA) the price was surprisingly affordable and the staff was kind and kid friendly. I'd highly recommend Secoma Lanes as a kid friendly attraction (don't take away my brownie points and tell Mom but Dad had fun too).
-BC
My husband and I came back here because Daffodil in Puyallup was too busy. Â We hadn't been since they remodeled. Â
The lanes are great now and the seating layout is better than most alleys. Â They have way more open space to socialize between frames. Â
The only really bad thing that would turn me off from going here is because they are CASH ONLY. Â A huge inconvenience when we forgot about that detail coming from Daffodil. Â We had to use their ATM- which included a fee and figure out how much to take out based on per-person per-game rate. Â No unlimited hour long bowling available.
They did advertise some pretty good deals for their pro-shop on the overhead monitors. Â However it was a Sunday so the pro-shop was closed. =(
Warning: this place is CASH ONLY. The lanes, the bar and the restaurant ALL are CASH ONLY.
We paid $24 dollars for two sets of shoes and two games. We made our $6 beers last. (You cannot get a beer in the classic bowling pin shape- one of my favorite things about going bowling!) And seriously, $6!!! Am I at a sporting event? No.
Instead I am at Secoma Lanes on a Friday night and the place is packed! Let the people watching begin- the hair, the too tight of clothing, the deuchebag with the Love/hate tattoos on the back of his arm, and the seriously wasted woman trying to just throw the ball.
As far as cleanliness goes, I sure did not find it in the restroom! Same goes for the mens'. One stall was completely out of commission and the garbage never was emptied even though I informed management about the conundrum about to be on their hands.
Positives:
Bowling with a metallic pink ball
People watching
Fair price
Negatives:
CASH ONLY
Dirty restrooms
Pricey drinks
Secoma lanes is okay as bowling alleys go, but it has a lot of negatives. First and foremost, CASH ONLY. What bowling alleys nowadays are CASH ONLY? I would expect this in Gardner, Montana, but not in the middle of a large urban area, aka anywhere in western washington. And if that wasn't aggravating enough, the drinks here are ridiculously expensive. If you are in high school that is fine, but if you go bowling (like we do) to drink beer and bowl, than you are in for a pricey night. I think that each bud light, the cheapest beer, was $3.75 for 12 oz cup, which is the equivalent of a complete rip off. Of course, they don't sell pitchers either. As far as the lanes, they are good enough quality and the place isn't tooo dirty. And the bowling wasn't as expensive as some places in the Seattle-Tacoma area.
Review Source:Cory at Bowldoc's proshop is great. Â His prices are steep compared to the internet but he appears to know what he is doing and his shop is better stocked than most in the area. Â He does work until 8 pm on some weekday nights which is more than I can say for the rest of the area proshops. Â However, he often will put up a "be back later" sign so call ahead.
The alley itself is conveniently located in the retail corridor of Federal Way (near the Walmart Superstore, Chipotle, Fatburger, etc.) which makes it convenient when doing the full midwestern weekend experience. Â Quality of the alley is above average. Â Pretty big. Â Prices are ok. Â Not new, not flashy, but not scary and not too MRSAy.
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