Empire Adventure Park opens at Samanea NY in Westbury

It’s 2:35 p.m. on a Saturday afternoon and Sage Quiachon, of Levittown, is determined. The 10-year-old is entering the Ninja Obstacle Course at Empire Adventure Park in Westbury with sheer force as she attempts to climb atop an 8-foot warped wall.

“You need to build momentum by getting a running start, grab onto the side and propel yourself up,” Sage says after conquering the task. “But once you get up there, you feel powerful.”

This new 35,000-square-foot family center, which can hold up to 638 people, blends active entertainment with technology. It has been in the works for five years.

“Growing up, I used to go to Nunley’s Carousel and Amusements in Baldwin. I thought that was the greatest thing, therefore, I wanted to build a place that would create memories for people,” says owner/creator Matthew Mullen, 55, of Rockville Centre. “One day in 2019, I was driving past Samanea mall and had just been up in Rochester where I saw this trampoline park. I thought to myself, ‘I can do this better.’ ”

Mullen has constructed a massive playground for people of all ages. The facility is broken up into sections.

TRAMPOLINE PARK

Inside the trampoline park, there’s a field of 22 hexagon trampoline pads in a colorful pattern with black lights above, which make the edges glow at night.

“You stay in the center of the trampoline landing both feet evenly and remain within the pads,” says Mullen. “There’s no double jumping for safety purposes.”

Trampolines are also incorporated into dodgeball and basketball plus the challenge of the Sweeper, which is a big padded arm that swings around causing you to jump over or duck under. Don’t miss a ride on the Glide Rail where you ride a ball ziplining across the park.

Birthday boy Massimo Randazzo, 9, of Massapequa, was the first to take the ride at his 18-person party.

“This place is really cool,” he says. “Riding the ball was wild. I’ve never done that before.”

After jumping on the trampoline, Sandy Varvaro, 56, of Rockville Centre, took a turn riding the Glide Rail. “It made me feel like a kid again,” she says.

AUGMENTED REALITY

Perhaps the most futuristic part of the park is the augmented reality section where players can see themselves in the game. This occurs via green-screen technology created by ValoMotion.

“It’s not like you are just playing a video game — you are actively moving in the process,” says Mullen.

In ValoArena, six players can choose from a variety of games like Toywatch Island, Groundfall, Runway Zero, Astro Blade, Operation: Money Grab and Photo Bomb.

Olivia Billarreal, 21, who was visiting family on Long Island from Fort Myers, Florida, got to play Groundfall, which is similar to the old living room game the “floor is lava.”

“You stand on the spots to prevent yourself from falling into lava. It’s a fun activity to do with family and friends because it gets competitive,” she says. “To see people fall into the lava on the screen is hilarious.”

ValoClimb involves a rock climbing wall where you take on a competitor as the game gets projected onto the wall.

“You interact with the images on the screen as you are climbing on the wall,” says Mullen. “Every once in a while, the wall will shake to keep you moving.”

During ValoJump, the player jumps on a trampoline as part of the video game taking place on the 86-inch monitor in front of you.

“You control the game with your actions. All the jumping takes place on the trampolines,” says Mullen. “On the screen, you see your image jumping from one platform to another platform within the sky.”

Sydney Varvaro, 17, of Rockville Centre, took on the ValoJump challenge.

“I had to hit the disco balls on the screen as I was jumping on the trampoline,” she says. “It’s challenging but enjoyable.”

ADVENTURE MAZE & LASER TAG

If your children have boundless energy that they need to expend, there are plenty of elements to keep them immensely active.

A three-story Adventure Maze featuring 124 individual play elements includes air propelled foam ball cannons, obstacles, slides and a net climb. Throw on a vest and grab a blaster to enter the NY-themed Laser Tag arena where up to 23 people can engage in a six-minute battle across 2,400 square feet with glow-in-the-dark images and theatrical lights.

Lucy Randazzo, 39, of Plainview, has quite a time keeping up with her excited 5-year-old son, Alessandro, who wants to try everything. “He’s loving life. If it is a chance for him to run and sweat, he’s in,” she says.

VIRTUAL REALITY

Gaming gets taken to the next level with Hyperdeck, which is a virtual reality attraction that combines environmental effects and motion simulation to build a totally immersive experience. Each seven-minute game has four players who wear goggles and have their own fire stations in a 300-square-foot space.

“The floor moves three degrees in different directions, wind comes from all four walls and heat gets cast down from the ceiling,” says Mullen. “You actually feel like you are flying throughout the entire game.”

There are different games to play and Mike Suttmiller, of West Hempstead, has chosen one where the objective is to take out an infestation of zombies in the future.

“I’ve always been interested in the VR thing and you really feel like you are actually inside the game,” says Suttmiller, 47. “This is a much higher level than the games I grew up with. You have to keep reminding yourself that you are not actually moving.”

For video game hardcores, there’s the E-Sports Arena, which holds 18-players on state-of-the-art computers where tournaments and rotating games are conducted.

EMPIRE CAFE

If you need to refuel, take a pit stop at the Empire Cafe where snacks are sold such as pizza ($19.99), big pretzels ($7), French fries ($4), chicken fingers ($6-$10), nachos ($6) and more. There’s free Wi-Fi in the rest areas and even a toddler playground for littles.

By David J. Criblez

david.criblez@newsday.comDavidJCriblez

David J. Criblez is a reporter for Newsday's exploreLI, covering entertainment-related events from local music to stand-up comedy to festivals.