Community experiences from the 90s and 2000s that are gone now

[Andrew NDB]

Some that come to mind:

* Going to local video stores to look for rentals. Then going to others to look for that movie you want when it's completely out at the one you went to.

* Going to exclusively VHS/DVD stores and touring the aisles.

* McDonalds birthday parties. And those being the best thing ever.

* Rollerskating rinks. They're still out there, but it isn't the same. Before, everyone was going there. Now they're niche.

* Talking on the phone with your friends. A lot.

* Going to the circus.

* Looking at comic books off the rack at grocery stores.

* As a kid, enjoying giant playgrounds with monster truck tires you could climb and play in. Even in elementary school.

* Touring gigantic toy stores that you could almost get lost in.

* Big black Nintendo stands in all malls where you could stand in line and play the latest games. Or 2 player with somebody else if it was a 2 player game.

* Going to the arcade. Yeah, you can still find some niche arcades here and there, but it's all retro because it kind of has to be now... they aren't making new arcade machines.

* Finding old porno mags in remote shacks as a kid, lol. I forget who posted that here once but that was exactly my experience.

I'm sure there's others I'm not thinking of. Can you think of more?

[IndigoErth]

Riding bikes, etc in the road with neighbor kids and being able to depend on someone to yell "car!" when needed. Don't see kids even playing outside all that much anymore.

Burning hot metal playground slides and playgrounds before wood chips, etc were used to pad a fall.

[Andrew NDB]

Originally Posted by IndigoErth

Riding bikes, etc in the road with neighbor kids and being able to depend on someone to yell "car!" when needed. Don't see kids even playing outside all that much anymore.

Burning hot metal playground slides and playgrounds before wood chips, etc were used to pad a fall.

Absolutely. Also, at least here in WA, *real* water parks with *real* big waves in the wave pool. As a kid I'd go to Wild Waves every summer and it was amazing. And you could rent inflatable rafts for it. And there was a "sweet spot" on one side where if you laid on one and started kicking your feet at just the right moment before a wave hits you, it would propel you forward like a rocket into people. I remember feining ignorance so many times about this as I'd mow people down with my 12 year-old body and raft. Wild Waves is still here but it might as well be called "Mild Waves." And you can't even go down the waterslides anymore without an inner tube. They won't let you. Though I do have a distinct memory of somehow getting stuck halfway down a waterslide... and then getting rammed clear by an older fat guy about 30 seconds later.

[IndigoErth]

Originally Posted by Andrew NDB

...it would propel you forward like a rocket into people. I remember feining ignorance so many times about this as I'd mow people down with my 12 year-old body and raft.

Though I do have a distinct memory of somehow getting stuck halfway down a waterslide... and then getting rammed clear by an older fat guy about 30 seconds later.

Well at least it all evened out.


No water parks here. The only slides I had at amusement type parks were those big scorching hot multi-lane ones you sat on some burlap bag type thing. Usually multicolored and had the bumps in it. Got burned real good by one once. Don't think I ever went on one again.

[Andrew NDB]

Originally Posted by IndigoErth

Well at least it all evened out.


No water parks here. The only slides I had at amusement type parks were those big scorching hot multi-lane ones you sat on some burlap bag type thing. Usually multicolored and had the bumps in it. Got burned real good by one once. Don't think I ever went on one again.

Oh yes. Those are even still a thing, I think, at the regular ride park next to "Wild" Waves here. Though I don't think I saw the burlap sacks anymore?

[Cowabung-Gal]

Malls are unfortunately going extinct.

I remember as a little kid in the 90s buying those Pokemon miniatures and Pokemon VHS’s from this video store in the mall, back when Pokemon was at its peak. It was also where I’d get to meet Santa and the Easter Bunny and sit in their laps. Some malls even had movie theaters (but ours didn’t). And don’t even get me started on the food court. I miss Auntie Anne’s so badly it’s not even funny.

Unfortunately, our mall was already struggling financially before the 2020 tornado tore it apart, so the owners just gave up on it and we haven’t had a mall since then.

Yeah, whenever I watch movies from the 90s and 2000s with mall scenes, I get a somber feeling, because those days are now gone.

[Andrew NDB]

It's weird here in WA. If you go to Westfield Shoppingtown Southcenter (formerly just Southcenter in the 80s/90s)... it's still packed! People are going. Now, the kinds of stores I'd want to go to on a regular basis are now about 5% of what it used to be. Just a lot of fashion stores and an admittedly impressive food court. And a Gamestop. Still, a pale shadow of before. BUT... you travel a couple cities away in either direction, the malls there are ghost towns. Nobody is there. 60% of all the stores are closed now. The ones that are there are like Quinceanera gown shops and hat stores, stuff like that.

[Original TMNT Cartoon Fan]

Originally Posted by Cowabung-Gal

Some malls even had movie theaters

Some had just a small children's corner with an indoor playground, sometimes also a room with a couple of chairs, a television set and a videocassette recorder, usually showing a Disney movie.

[Mayhem]

We’ve done the circus a couple of times with daughter and her cousins, and there’s a large (in comparison terms to what is generally available) toy store about ten miles away we have visited sporadically (got her a racing trike last time). But indeed, most of the others have gone away. Even the jazz mags in the woods you’ve find occasionally…

[ResidentEvil7]

When I was a kid, my dad signed me up for a junior bowling league on Saturday mornings. I was on a bowling league for 5 years (1989 - 1994) I would bowl, get a strike which gave you a certificate to the snack bar for a free soda and tokens to the next door arcade place. After the game was over, my dad would take me to the arcade place which was attached to the bowling alley and play games for tickets for prizes. 20 years ago, they both closed and it became a mini mall. God, I miss that place!

Speaking of bowling alleys, there was another one but my dad went to on Wednesday night leagues. He'd bowl, while I played the arcade and pinball games with friends I met up there. Every time he bowled a strike, or a new game, he gave me $5. Good thing my dad was a good bowler. I would also spend some of the money he gave me to buy cheese fries and mozzarella sticks from the bar area. Unfortunately 5 years ago, the bowling alley closed and now it's a gas station.

Saturday morning cartoons. Waking up at like 7 AM to watch Ninja Turtles, Captain Planet, Garfield And Friends and Looney Tunes and Ghostbusters, Duck Tales. Saturday mornings between cartoons and my bowling league was special.

1990s Nickelodeon. I remember such shows on Nick as Legends Of The Hidden Temple; Double Dare; What Would You Do; Are You Afraid Of The Dark; Figure It Out; Nickelodeon GUTS; Get the Picture; Nick Arcade; Salute Your Shorts; and Kenan And Kel. Whatever was on the day before, we at school would talk about it at recess. Nickelodeon TV today kind of sucks; same thing with modern Disney.

[BornAgain]

Talking on the phone was huge for me. I mean I still text my friends and stuff but I had regular calls that went hours with some of my best friends and friends I drifted apart from after school. It’s very tender to remember ngl.

[TurtleManiac]

There was alot of Water Parks around California when I was a kid in the 90’s, then they built a new one near me called “Waterworld” and it was always busy I’d go there alot as a kid, until one year there was a high school graduation there and a bunch of graduates got on the big slide all at once, causing it to break and collapse. Alot of injuries, I think one student died. So the park was shut down for a while then re-opened with added safety measures. It is still open but I actually havent gone in like almost 20 years, I think Six Flags now owns it.

Alot of malls still around too, they still seem fairly busy. I did once go to the Puente Hills Mall just a few years ago to see the filming location for “Back To The Future”, and surprisingly this mall was pretty much a ghost town. Hardly any shoppers, and some stores weren’t even open. They did have the Twin Pines sign setup inside the Mall, as a homage to BTTF.

I do miss the good old days before technology took over everything. Being born in 1987 I got to experience peak “Turtle mania”, I actually remember going to the theatres to watch Secret Of The Ooze. I remember seeing the first cell phones in early 90’s, and Bill Clinton and Al Gore coming to town in 1996 for “Net Day”, introducing the internet to schools. Seemed like conputers and technology was constantly evolving throughout the 90’s. I guess most everything like shopping etc can be done online now, is why you don’t see as much people out and about as before. Now everyone is just staring at their smartphone all day. Also the whole covid phenomenon has made alot of people afraid to leave the house and do things remotely at home. Curbside pickup, self checkout etc, seems like robots are taking over.

[CyberCubed]

The only major difference is the lack of Arcades. I used to go to one connected to a Nathans by me, used to play a lot of Turtles in Time and the Simpsons arcade game when they were new in the 90's. And also the Terminator 2 game. I don't know if any Arcades still exist anymore.

Also bowling alley's. I don't know, do people not bowl anymore? I remember there being a lot more bowling alley's back then and they all went out of business over the years.

And last but not least, comic book shops. Outside of Mile High comics, all those smaller privately owned comic book stores are gone. I remember going to ones to buy Pogs and Slammers in the 90's, the ones that had all Skulls over them and trading cards back then, heh.

[ResidentEvil7]

Speaking of comic book stores, I still remember this one comic book store when I was real young in the 80s, not only did it have comic books, but ice cream, snacks, and concessions and an arcade machine.

[Andrew NDB]

Originally Posted by CyberCubed

The only major difference is the lack of Arcades. I used to go to one connected to a Nathans by me, used to play a lot of Turtles in Time and the Simpsons arcade game when they were new in the 90's. And also the Terminator 2 game. I don't know if any Arcades still exist anymore.

Also bowling alley's. I don't know, do people not bowl anymore? I remember there being a lot more bowling alley's back then and they all went out of business over the years.

And last but not least, comic book shops. Outside of Mile High comics, all those smaller privately owned comic book stores are gone. I remember going to ones to buy Pogs and Slammers in the 90's, the ones that had all Skulls over them and trading cards back then, heh.

Mile High Comics IS gone. Or at least not offering newer books anymore.

I think bowling alleys are still a thing. Less of a thing than they used to be for sure, but still out there.

[Original TMNT Cartoon Fan]

Going on vacation and now knowing everything waht the hotel looked like (maybe one image from the vacation catalogue).

[IMJ]

Wow that list. LMAO and everything on it - even the remote shack thing. Weird how that was apparently a thing everywhere.

[MikeandRaph87]

Check this channel out. I watch it from time to time. It's exactly what this thread is about.
https://youtube.com/@rhettyforhistory?feature=shared

[Original TMNT Cartoon Fan]

McDonalds birthday parties are still around.

[Hamato Yoshi]

furniture stores showing Disney toons