Industry Insider
www.parkworld-online.com
Inside Level99’s Real-World Playground
Founder, president and CEO Matthew DuPlessie talks to Park World’s Susan Storey about invention, immersion and the company’s growing footprint following its Disney Springs debut.
W
ith the opening of its fifth location at Disney Springs in Lake Buena Vista, Florida, Level99 is inviting guests into
a world built around real-world, challenge-based social play. The company describes its venues as tactile, immersive destinations where guests put down their phones, step into themed rooms and compete, collaborate and explore. Park World spoke with Matthew DuPlessie, founder, president and CEO of Level99, about the new location, the company’s design philosophy and why Level99 is carving out a category of its own.
For readers discovering Level99 for the first time, how do you describe the experience? To understand who we are, you have to understand our philosophy. The Level99 experience is real, tactile and highly social.
38 We are trying to do something distinct with
Level99. None of the games are licensed or purchased off the shelf. Everything we offer guests is original to us. We design all of our games in-house, blending mental and physical challenges with digital mapping, theming and design in a way that we don’t think guests can find in other family entertainment center-style venues. At Level99, we have games and activities that
no one else has because we invented them. We created them. And we keep creating new experiences so guests have a reason to come back again and again.
What sets Level99 apart from traditional family entertainment centers and location-based attractions? We see ourselves as a little unconventional and
as a sort of evolution in the industry. We created an experience designed to solve some of the gaps between today’s traditional family entertainment centers and location-based attractions. Our philosophy is “Get real!” We want guests to put their phones down and get up. While we are inspired by elements from digital spaces, the magic comes from translating that inspiration into a physical environment.
The venues are highly themed and visually varied. What goes into that design approach? We are deliberate with the overall architecture of the Level99 space. We create full environments for our games, moving beyond simple black-painted rooms to build separate experiences with distinct looks and feels. At the Disney Springs location, we have 63 unique games, each with its own story,
DARK RIDE EDITION 2026
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