Billy Bob's Wonderland: Difference between revisions

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Billy Bob's Wonderland is a long-running, well-known FEC chain owned by Mark Hoffman with its only currently remaining location at Barboursville, WV (5 Cracker Barrel Dr).

The remaining store is noted for being one of the last public places in the US and the world to view the Rock-afire Explosion, in addition to having a perpetual license for the characters - this being how they are able to use the Billy Bob character name and design in their branding.

History

Billy Bob's Wonderland originally opened in 1989, with the first location being in East Barboursville, Along with the East Barboursville location they had also opened a location in Clarksburg, WV, both of which were former Showbiz Pizza Places that rebranded the exterior and interior to avoid Concept Unification. They later opened a third location in Ashland, KY, and all three locations combined in 2003 to become the larger location which they still reside in today at 5 Cracker Barrel Dr, Barboursville, WV 25504. As of 2024, this is the last FEC in the United States where the Rock-afire Explosion is publicly viewable as all the others have been closed, privately owned, or in a museum.

Show Collection

Billy Bob's Wonderland had three shows, coming from three locations, Ashland, KY, Clarksburg, WV, and East Barboursville, WV. Two of which were originally Showbiz Pizza Place's. In 2003 they closed down the Clarksburg, Ashland, and East Barboursville locations to open up one huge location not far from the original East Barboursville location, The Ashland show went on stage and the Clarksburg and East Barboursville shows going into 3 trailers behind the building. Through out the years characters and cosmetics were sold from the trailers including 2 Mitzis being stolen, some bots from the trailer went missing which means they were either sold, stolen, or lost somewhere in the building. The characters that went missing including 1 Fatz, 1 Looney Bird, 1 Sun, 1 Moon, and 1 Choo Choo. They put the East Barboursville Mitzi, Dook, and Billy Bob on stage. Of the Remaining shows inside the trailer they have two Dooks, two Rolfes, one Fatz, one Looney Bird, one Mitzi, one Beach Bear, two Billy Bob's, one Sun, one Moon, one Choo Choo, and two Antiochs.

The Rock-afire Explosion at Billy Bob's Wonderland was known for being in extremely poor condition until 2021 when it was fully restored by their show technician, Braylon Giles. As of 2024, the show remains in decent condition, with most of the issues stemming from the imitation parts and cosmetics. Giles no longer maintains the show.

Gallery

The original East Barboursville location
The Ashland, Kentucky location

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
-{{Stub}}{{Generic|desc=Store Exterior, June 14, 2022|image=Billy Bob's Wonderland 2022-06-14.jpg}}
+{{Generic|desc=Exterior of the Barboursville location, June 14, 2022|image=Billy Bob's Wonderland 2022-06-14.jpg}}
-'''''Billy Bob's Wonderland''''' is a long-running FEC chain with its only currently remaining location at [[Barboursville, WV (5 Cracker Barrel Dr)]].
+'''''Billy Bob's Wonderland''''' is a long-running, well-known FEC chain owned by Mark Hoffman with its only currently remaining location at [[Barboursville, WV (5 Cracker Barrel Dr)]].
-The remaining store is noted for being the last public places in the US and the world to view the [[Rock-afire Explosion]], in addition having the liscences for the characters- this being how they are able to use the Billy Bob name and design in their branding
+The remaining store is noted for being one of the last public places in the US and the world to view the [[Classic Stage|Rock-afire Explosion]], in addition to having a perpetual license for the characters - this being how they are able to use the Billy Bob character name and design in their branding.
-== History ==
+==History==
-Billy Bob's Wonderland originally opened in 1989, with the first location being in East Barboursville, which was a former Showbiz Pizza Place that rebranded the exterior and interior to avoid [[Concept Unification]]. They later opened a second location in Ashland, KY, and both locations combined in 2003 to become the larger location which they still reside in today at 5 Cracker Barrel Dr, Barboursville, WV 25504. They are infamous for their current location's show varying quality over the years, up until recent years they had been in extremely poor shape throughout, with many air leaks, broken mechs, bad condition or dirty cosmetics and decaying latex masks, when in 2021 Braylon Giles started extensive repairs, mechanically and cosmetically, albeit with third-party masks and painting quality not as detailed as the originals, with restoration being completed and opened to the public in February 2022 at one of the two conventions the store and Braylon had held. The show had remained in quite decent condition since Braylon restored them, with special changes being made to the show such as full decorations for halloween and a West Virginia themed outfit made special for their Mitzi. In December of 2022, however, Braylon was fired (yet again) after disagreements with Rex, and supposed stealing of items, resulting in him taking his mask molds along with his departure. Since his absence and to this day, errors with the show have occured, being broken movements/limbs and ripping in the masks.
+Billy Bob's Wonderland originally opened in 1989, with the first location being in [[Barboursville, WV (3419 US Rt 60)|East Barboursville]], Along with the East Barboursville location they had also opened a location in [[Clarksburg, WV (209 Emily Dr)|Clarksburg, WV]], both of which were former Showbiz Pizza Places that rebranded the exterior and interior to avoid [[Concept Unification]]. They later opened a third location in [[Ashland, KY (12862 KY Rd. 180)|Ashland, KY]], and all three locations combined in 2003 to become the larger location which they still reside in today at 5 Cracker Barrel Dr, Barboursville, WV 25504. As of 2024, this is the last FEC in the United States where the Rock-afire Explosion is publicly viewable as all the others have been closed, privately owned, or in a museum.
+==Show Collection==
-== Restoration Attemps/ ==
+Billy Bob's Wonderland had three shows, coming from three locations, Ashland, KY, Clarksburg, WV, and East Barboursville, WV. Two of which were originally Showbiz Pizza Place's. In 2003 they closed down the Clarksburg, Ashland, and East Barboursville locations to open up one huge location not far from the original East Barboursville location, The Ashland show went on stage and the Clarksburg and East Barboursville shows going into 3 trailers behind the building. Through out the years characters and cosmetics were sold from the trailers including 2 Mitzis being stolen, some bots from the trailer went missing which means they were either sold, stolen, or lost somewhere in the building. The characters that went missing including 1 Fatz, 1 Looney Bird, 1 Sun, 1 Moon, and 1 Choo Choo. They put the East Barboursville Mitzi, Dook, and Billy Bob on stage. Of the Remaining shows inside the trailer they have two Dooks, two Rolfes, one Fatz, one Looney Bird, one Mitzi, one Beach Bear, two Billy Bob's, one Sun, one Moon, one Choo Choo, and two Antiochs.
-In 2013, Aaron Fechter of Creative Engineering came to the Barboursville location to try and fix the downtrodden animatronics inside, but left shortly after upon reportedly receiving offensive comments from the store owner.
+The Rock-afire Explosion at Billy Bob's Wonderland was known for being in extremely poor condition until 2021 when it was fully restored by their show technician, Braylon Giles. As of 2024, the show remains in decent condition, with most of the issues stemming from the imitation parts and cosmetics. Giles no longer maintains the show.
-== Gallery ==
+==Gallery==
 <gallery>
+File:Billy Bob's Wonderland East Barboursville.jpg|The original East Barboursville location
-File:Ashland KY BBWL.jpg
+File:Ashland KY BBWL.jpg|The Ashland, Kentucky location
-File:Billy Bob's Wonderland East Barboursville.jpg
 </gallery>