Revel & Roll

Bowling at Revel & Roll is this week’s Wednesday Activity Review. Each Wednesday this summer Ann Arbor with Kids is sharing an activity review for school aged children.

My daughter and I visited Revel & Roll today for our Wednesday Activity Review. With the rain this afternoon, it was the perfect day to go bowling. Revel & Roll offers bowling, arcade games, full-service food, and a bar (for the adults). With modern decor, comfortable sofas, and big TVs, Revel & Roll is not the traditional dingy, smoky bowling alley that I grew up with.

Bowling at Revel & Roll

The 3 giant TV screens over the bowling lanes draw your attention as soon as you enter Revel & Roll. During our first game, we watched the U.S. Women’s Water Polo match on the right. The left screen had on soccer. The center screen was showing music videos to go along with the music playing in the bowling alley.

There are ramps to make bowling easier for younger kids. There are also bumpers that can be used by anyone in many of the lanes. When asked if we wanted bumpers, my daughter decided she was old enough to try without bumpers. After bowling quite a few gutter balls in the first game, my daughter decided she wanted to try bumpers for the second game. Unfortunately, we were in a lane that did not have bumpers. At least she managed to roll less gutter balls in our second game and improve her score. Next time, we’ll be sure to ask for a lane that has bumpers.

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Arcade at Revel & Roll

Revel & Roll offers a full arcade with fun games. I got a laugh at seeing Skee-Ball games at a bowling alley. Meanwhile, the Plants vs. Zombies game caught my daughter’s eye.

Instead of tokens, the games are played with credits on an arcade card. I like the card method instead of tokens since they are so much easier to store between visits.

Food & Drink at Revel & Roll

We didn’t eat at Revel & Roll, but they offer separate seating and a full bar (for the adults). The menu does look good. I am planning to return sometime and have lunch or dinner while bowling. Perhaps we’ll take advantage of the $8.99 lunch specials or have an early dinner during happy hour (weekdays 3-6p) with $5 for select appetizers or $6 for a small pizza.

Pricing at Revel & Roll

Bowling can be reserved online by lane. When we visited in 2016, you could pay per game. My daughter and I opted to pay for 2 games. Lane prices vary by day and time and can be found when you reserve the lane. I am not sure if the game price varies based on when you are there since the price isn’t listed on the website.

2022 prices are considerably higher than when we visited in 2017. At the time, lanes were $19.95/hour. They are now reserved in 2 or 2.5 hour blocks and the cheapest I found was $90. Prime time reservations in prime time (mostly Friday-Sunday afternoon) require a $20/person food & drink minimum.

Specials are available after 8p on select nights (as of May 2022)

Sundays – $3.99/game/person
Mondays – $15.99/person unlimited bowling including shoes
Tuesdays (start at 9p)- $2.99/game/person, $2.99 Tacos, $2/$5 arcade card
Wednesdays – $17.89/person unlimited bowling including shoes
Thursdays (College Night) – $17.79/person unlimited bowling shoes included, $2.25 slices, hot dogs

Tips for Bowling at Revel & Roll

I have a few tips to share after our trip to Revel & Roll

Make sure everyone has socks. Even though I was wearing flip flops, I remembered to pack a pair of socks. We skipped reviewing Revel & Roll in June since my daughter had no socks that day.
Only some lanes have bumpers. If there’s even a chance you’ll want them, ask for a lane with bumpers.
Check for nightly specials and different times of days
Arcade games are 50% off on Wednesdays