Mall's Rides, Laser Tag Venue Fails to Live up to Magic Billing

The summer magic is gone for a Gwinnett County family stuck with more than $150 in ride passes for an amusement company that isn’t operating.

On June 29 Diana Herrera spent $158.96 on season passes to Fantasy Magic World, which is set up in the parking lot of Gwinnett Place Mall in Duluth. When the family went to use their unlimited passes recently, they found no employees on-site and none of the rides were operational.

“It was a huge mess. Everything was torn. I was mad and sad,” Ayiana Herrera, 12, told WGCL TV.

Her mom, Diana, said she called mall workers, who gave her phone numbers to contact the amusement company, but no one has returned her call.

Fantasy Magic World was billed earlier this year as an entertainment draw in much of the mall’s former Belk store and the nearby parking lot. The Gwinnett Daily Post described the attraction as offering a laser tag ride, arcade games, a fantasy village and a giant, talking tree. Plans also called for carnival rides, circus acts, music performers, food vendors and more.

Fantasy Magic World CEO Natalio Pabon Pereira didn’t comment when the TV station went to his house seeking answers.

“I did this for the kids,” Diana Herrera told WGCL. “I think everybody should get their money back. Somebody needs to make up for it because it is not fair for the kids, and that is what I spent my money for the kids.”

A Savannah woman wrote on Trip Advisor that she managed to get a refund for the $48 she spent for two passes, purchased through a Living Social deal. Her party arrived at Fantasy Magic World to find crews taking down rides because Pabon Pereira didn’t pay them for their work.

She described her experience this way: “We showed up and there was a crew there taking down ALL the rides that were outside. We go inside, thinking that maybe it will still be neat. We were WRONG, they had a sign saying that the rides were down and that the lazer tag wasn’t working, and carnival games were not working. There were some things that were open that cost extra. I looked in, and it was two booths with stuff for sale, some blow up figures and lights. It is a SCAM!!!”

»Screenshot of Fantasy Magic World at Gwinnett Place Mall from WGCL TV.