Billy Bob's Wonderland

Billy Bob's Wonderland is a family entertainment center located in Barboursville, West Virginia, near the Huntington Mall. It is notable for having one of the last complete Rock-afire Explosion animatronic bands, as well as being one of few Showbiz Pizza Place restaurants to survive splintering from the Showbiz Pizza Time corporation in the late 1980s.

History

In 1987, local businessman Rex Donahue opened a Showbiz Pizza Place location near the Huntington Mall in West Virginia. In 1989, following the 1984 merger between Showbiz Pizza and Chuck E. Cheese, Showbiz made the decision to unify both brands as Chuck E. Cheese's Pizza beginning in the early 1990s due to Creative Engineering's desire for control of the Rock-afire Explosion IP. This would include retrofitting the Rock-afire animatronics into CEC characters. Donahue severed relations with the parent company at this time and began operating independently as Billy Bob's Wonderland.

Sometime in the 1990s, two more locations were opened: one in Charleston and another in Ashland, Kentucky. Both stores had closed by 2001, as well as the original location in Barboursville by 2002, and they were consolidated into one large space across the street from the original store. This location opened in 2003, and remains to this day.

In 2023, Billy Bob's Wonderland was bought out by Fun City Arcade.

Billy Bob's Wonderland was notable for many years for the poor, seemingly non-existent upkeep of their animatronics. In 2013, Rock-afire creator Aaron Fechter was hired to fix the show, but was purportedly refused payment for his proposed work, and left.
Following these events, the show continued to deteriorate until local help fully restored the band in 2021. A "Rock-afire Extravaganza" event was staged in January 2022 to mark the show's return. Due to renewed interest, an annual convention called Billy Con debuted in summer 2022.

Rock-afire Explosion

As of 2024, Billy Bob's Wonderland holds one of the two last publicly operating animatronic Rock-afire Explosion shows in the United States, the other being at the Volo Auto Museum in Volo, Illinois. This band includes Billy Bob Brockali, a bassist/vocalist, Looney Bird, a vocalist, Dook LaRue, a drummer/vocalist, Fatz Geronimo, a keyboardist/vocalist, Beach Bear, a guitarist/vocalist, Mitzi Mozzarella, a vocalist, and Rolfe DeWolfe and Earl Schmerle, a ventriloquist/comedy duo.

See also

*ShowBiz Pizza Place
*The Rock-afire Explosion
*Aaron Fechter, founder of Creative Engineering

References

Theme restaurants
Amusement arcades
Animatronic attractions
1989 establishments in West Virginia
Buildings and structures in Cabell County, West Virginia
Buildings and structures completed in 1989
Tourist attractions in Cabell County, West Virginia
Barboursville, West Virginia

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