New Highway 54 entertainment center almost ready to go, minus its chief attraction

Few Wichita businesses have seemed to open on schedule ever since the pandemic, and Mega Pines Mini Golf is no exception.

Still, owner Kelli Miller said, “We are getting closer to opening.”

The entertainment center on 14 acres at 1802 Highway 54, which is about a mile and a half east of Andover Road, had a soft opening for friends and family recently and officially will open in November.

However, the mini golf for which its named won’t open until the spring. It originally was slated to debut last spring.

Miller said there were delays due to insurance and then timing on installation, which can’t be done in the winter because of all the plants that are involved.

As Miller previously explained, the first 18 holes will have a national park theme where players can learn the history of each park, including its original inhabitants, animals and some plants.

Miller and her husband, Todd, are teachers who have had a portable Mega Pines Mini Golf course that they’ve been renting to schools, recreation centers and communities for events and fundraisers.

It’s tied to STEM standards, Kelli Miller said, so while kids are playing, they’re also learning about money, measurement, geometry and problem solving.

The Millers plan three permanent Mega Pines Mini Golf courses.

The second 18 holes will be an American history course. There will be a 9-hole indoor course with a Kansas theme.

The Millers also own the Rose Hill Strike Zone, which has batting cages and shaved ice.

They plan food trucks and snacks for Mega Pines.

While waiting on the mini golf, there are a variety of yard games and inflatables, including a 36-foot slide, a maze and a winter playground obstacle course.

Kelli Miller said there’s also a new activity called GellyBall that’s similar to paint ball, but instead of paint, it uses water gel beads that don’t cause pain.

“We’ll have a GellyBall arena on site,” she said. “It’s be great for birthday parties, work events, wedding parties.”

For the holidays, Mega Pines is teaming with the Augusta Lions Club to sell Christmas trees.

With those and the winter playground, Miller said, “It’ll be kind of like a winter wonderland.”

That’s thanks to fake snow, she said.

“If we don’t have snow on the ground, we will have snow for kids to come and play in.”

Miller is looking at the golf delay as a good thing. She said opening at a slower pace makes sense.

“It’s just helping us kind of ease into it. We don’t want to grow so fast we can’t sustain it.”

Look for the mini golf to open in May.

Miller said she’s excited to see how many people from around the United States are checking out the Mega Pines website already.

“So I feel like it’s going to have a really good pull as a tourist destination.”

Miller is hopeful for the actual opening given how the soft opening party went.

“That went fabulous. Had a lot of fun.”