One Amazing Bus: Fun On The Run

By Nancy K. Crevier

What is 30 feet long, 7 feet wide, and holds the attention of 20 kids (or kids at heart) for two hours or more? The Amazing Fun Bus. The handicap accessible, retrofitted RV bus is the brainchild of Taunton Lake Enterprises entrepreneurs Stephen and Loreen Lewis of Newtown.

“Nothing like this exists,” said Ms Lewis. “Stephen had to be really creative to make it work.”

A former relocation expert, Mr Lewis has devoted his time since June 2007 to making the Amazing Fun Bus a reality.

The Amazing Fun Bus is a self-contained mobile party machine equipped with all of the latest gadgets and gizmos to create a fun-filled atmosphere for partiers from 5 years old to 100. The Lewises will customize the roving RV to suit the client, whether it is being hired for a birthday, Halloween, Christmas, a corporate event, graduation, or a special fundraiser, and then they will drive the Amazing Fun Bus to any location within a 50-mile radius of Newtown.

What triggered the enterprise was an article Mr Lewis read more than a year ago about a hot dog vendor who did birthday parties. It started him noodling the idea of some sort of mobile party.

“I thought it would be great to bring video games to kids’ parties, because really, what is it that kids today love to do? Video games,” Mr Lewis said. The more he thought about it, the more feasible the idea seemed.

“You can get an RV [recreational vehicle] around here for a reasonable price,” he said. “We actually found this one on eBay. Then I had to take it apart and decide what would go in it.” He consulted, of course, with his on-site experts: his children Julian, 10, and Melody, 8. “They gave me some really good ideas of what to go with and what kids like,” said Mr Lewis.

He had hoped to have the bus ready to go by Labor Day, but it took a bit longer to get it the way he envisioned and to make it appealing not only to clients with children but to corporations and businesses, too.

“The Amazing Fun Bus is perfect for corporate events, family parties, fundraisers, and grand openings,” said Ms Lewis. “It’s a totally new concept.”

Climbing aboard the Fun Bus, the first thing partygoers see is a CD digital jukebox blasting out one of 100 tunes from the 60s, 70s, 80s, 90s, on up to today’s popular music. The music is selected by the client before the guests arrive.

The Tekken 4 arcade video game for two players is one of three arcade games on the bus, all of which can be played with tokens provided by the host, or used for fundraising by taking in quarters. If hands-on is more the guests’ cup of tea, a full-sized foosball table for four players can be used indoors or rolled down the handicap ramp beneath one of four awnings that stretch out on each side of the bus, extending the play area. Truly hands-on types may choose to grab a piece of chalk and wile away the time playing hangman or tic-tac-toe on the large blackboard that adorns one wall of the bus.

Two Xbox 360s, including one equipped with the popular Guitar Hero game, are onboard the Amazing Fun Bus, as well as the interactive Nintendo Wii video game.

“We have a library of video games that the client can select from,” said Mr Lewis, “or they can bring games from home.” The video games available on the Amazing Fun Bus are all nonviolent, but still hold a lot of appeal for all ages, said Ms Lewis.

Another arcade game they believe will be a big hit is the claw machine, a game that is a test of skill and patience as the player manipulates a steel claw inside of a cage to grasp a prize within the container.

“We have filled our claw-machine with soft, stuffed toys,” said Ms Lewis, “but we can customize the prizes in the machine, too. If someone wants little toy trucks or if a golf club wants golf balls in it to challenge the guests, we are happy to fill it up with whatever they choose.”

The claw machine can also double as a great place for guests to retrieve a goodie bag, added Mr Lewis.

It is a world of fun within, but the fun is all around the Amazing Fun Bus, as well. Pop open a side door and a seven-foot slide offers a fun escape to the outdoor all-weather dance floor made up of interlocking flexible plastic tiles. Complete with rotating multicolored disco ball, a choice of karaoke or disco, and a fog machine, the 12-by-12-foot floor can be completely enclosed from the weather by side walls that pull down from the awning.

“With 20 to 24 people rotating from station to station, we think there is plenty to keep everyone busy and occupied the whole party,” said Ms Lewis. “As parents of two young children ourselves, we think it’s a great way to keep kids contained and entertained at a party and have great fun,” she said.

With the RV finally fitted out to provide the most fun per dollar that they can imagine, the Lewises are ready to launch their project

The Amazing Fun Bus will debut this weekend at The Western New England Home Show. The two-day event will be at the O’Neill Center at Western Connecticut State University’s Westside campus on Saturday and Sunday, February 2 and 3, from 11 am to 5 pm. Visitors will be able to tour the bus and try out the activities. The Amazing Fun Bus will offer a limited time offer available only at the Home Show of a two-hour party for $500.

The cost of the Amazing Fun Bus includes travel to and from the event, set-up, customization of the party, coordination of the event, and supervision, as well as two hours of nonstop fun, said Mr Lewis.

“We’re very excited about this,” said Mr Lewis. “We believe it is going to be quite the thing.”

To reserve the Amazing Fun Bus, call 304-1516 or send an email to info@TheAmazingFunBus and leave your mailing address. The Fun Bus website, TheAmazingFunBus.com, will be up and running after February 1.