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Ep. 9: WrestleMania Birthdays and Pixel Floors: How Ed from Zero Gravity Dominates a Crowded Market


How do you stand out in a brutally crowded market of nineteen competing adventure parks?


If you ask Ed, a 36-year veteran of the amusement industry, the answer is simple: You throw out the corporate playbook, buy a drop-fog machine, lean heavily into aggressive guerrilla marketing, and treat underperforming venues as "reclamation projects."



In Episode 9 of the FEC Masterminds Podcast, hosts Clint Novak (Novak Amusement Solutions) and Erik Stottlemyer (CEO of Adventure Park USA) sat down with fellow mastermind member Ed. Fresh off closing on his third family entertainment venue in Minnesota, Ed shared his unconventional operational secrets for boosting birthday capacities by 40%, choosing low-labor high-margin attractions, and pulling off successful business turnarounds.


From Roller Rink DJ to Multi-Venue FEC Owner


Ed’s 36-year career in the amusement industry began with a high school gig as a roller rink DJ. That fast-paced, grassroots rink environment taught him a fundamental lesson: rink operators make the best guerrilla marketers because they are used to asking for forgiveness rather than permission to get feet through the door.


In January of 2022, Ed jumped into the adventure park space by taking over Zero Gravity in Minneapolis—the city’s very first trampoline park. Since taking ownership, Ed has four-xed (4x) the venue's revenue by focusing heavily on atmosphere, music, and the overall guest experience.


Today, Ed’s expanding portfolio spans three unique operations across Minnesota:

  • Zero Gravity Adventure Park: A 25,000-square-foot indoor adventure park (https://www.zerogravitymn.com/)

  • Summerland: A seasonal, 9-acre outdoor park featuring go-karts, mini-golf, and bumper boats

  • The Fun Lab: His newest acquisition—a full-scale, multi-attraction FEC (https://thefunlabmn.com/)


The "Bring Your Own Food" Birthday Model


Normally, FEC operators view in-house food and beverage as an essential high-margin revenue stream. But Ed looked at the physical constraints of Zero Gravity's facility and the constant headaches of late-delivery pizzerias throwing off tight 90-minute party room schedules.


He decided to implement a wide-open "bring your own food" birthday model:

  • The Strategy: Zero Gravity prices its birthday party packages $20 to $30 cheaper than competitors and explicitly tells parents they can bring in whatever food they want.

  • The Perceived Value: Parents love the flexibility. They stop at Costco or Little Caesars on the way to the park to grab cheap food, saving money while getting exactly what their kids want.

  • The Operational Win: Zero Gravity has increased its birthday party capacity by 30% to 40% because they no longer deal with delayed delivery bottlenecks throwing off room rotations.


High-Impact, WrestleMania-Style Birthdays on a Budget


To set his venues apart, Ed transformed his birthday party rooms into fully interactive experiences.


Using custom-printed cloth wall graphics, black ceilings, and interactive lighting, Ed built the ultimate themed spaces. The real star of the show, however, is the WrestleMania entrance effect:

"We suspended LED upshot fog machines above the doorways and handed parents a wireless remote control. When the birthday kid walks in, mom hits the button, the fog shoots down with LED lights, and the kid feels like they're walking out at WrestleMania," Ed explains.

The entire high-end transformation—paint, graphics, and fog machines—cost under $4,000 per room.

  • Bonus Operator Hack: Ed bypassed high commercial costs to build a fully functional Human Claw Machine by repurposing the metal truss frame of a retired Hologate VR attraction.


The Pixel Game Floor: High Volume, Zero Labor


Labor remains one of the largest headaches for modern operators, making high-throughput, self-serve attractions incredibly valuable. Two years ago, Ed became an early adopter of the Pixel Game Floor (developed by the parent company of Laser Force).

  • Labor Required: Zero.

  • Durability: Heavy-duty, touch-sensitive glass tiles backed by a 2-year warranty (no mechanical pressure switches).

  • Pricing Strategy: Ed bundled it as "free-to-play" for general admission and raised ticket prices by $1.50 across the board, paying off the unit immediately.

It has been so successful and reliable that Ed is currently removing the VR attraction at his new Fun Lab venue to install a second Pixel Floor.


Managing 100+ Employees Across 75 Miles

With roughly 100 total employees across three venues, Ed manages a 75-mile geographical spread. To keep top management talent in-house year-round, he cross-trains his seasonal summer team.


During the winter off-season, Ed brought his seasonal Summerland manager down to Zero Gravity to master their POS system and booking software. Ed is now grooming this manager to step into a multi-site District Manager role.

Real Talk on the Sacrifices of Growth Mode

Despite his rapid expansion, Ed keeps it incredibly real about what it actually takes to scale.

"When you are in growth mode, amen brother, it's weenie water soup, ramen noodles, and PB&Js," Ed admits. "You reinvest everything to get to the next level."

Clint Novak agreed, noting that he reinvests every dollar of profit right back into Planet Novak's expansion because the real reward is building something sustainable for the long run.



Listen to the Full Episode

Want to hear the full conversation with Ed? Tune in to hear us discuss WrestleMania-style birthdays, operator-free attractions, successful turnaround strategies, and how to scale your FEC business!

🎧 Watch or listen to Episode 9 of The FEC Masterminds Podcast right here:


Want to Scale Your FEC Business?

The best ideas are shared. That is the power of the FEC Masterminds Group—where operators meet privately to swap "gold nuggets" and operational strategies.

Are you an FEC owner looking to step up your operations, swap industry secrets with other operators, and scale your business? Apply to join our off-the-air Mastermind calls by visiting Novak Amusement Solutions today!

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