Family Entertainment Center - Non-traditional FECs

Non-traditional FECs

Various major media and entertainment brands, including Disney, Lego, NASCAR, Sega, Sony, United Artists/Regal and Viacom, have been attached to family entertainment centers, often much less "traditional" than local and chain FECs, with custom-built, unique attractions, usually heavily branded, and most often located in major metropolitan areas. The first such urban entertainment center (UEC) was the Universal CityWalk in Los Angeles, California, which opened in 1993, linking several Universal properties. Including various retail outlets, restaurants, and attractions, the CityWalk created a great deal of "sustained buzz" in the retail real estate industry, which began "embracing the notion that Universal Studios, Sony, Disney, and other entertainment companies could create new anchors and entertainment programs for shopping centers". Another significant UEC was the Sony Metreon in San Francisco, California (1999–2006).

Some nonprofit, educational installations, such as the Exploratorium in San Francisco, also have aspects of FECs in format and atmosphere, but with activities geared toward learning and experiencing rather than simple entertainment. Some for-profit enterprises also use this model, or mix edutainment with simpler amusement attractions.