| Billy Bob's Wonderland | |
| Coordinates: | 38.4154°N -82.2554°W |
| Current-Owner: | Mark Hoffman |
| Street-Address: | 5 Cracker Barrel Dr |
| City: | Barboursville |
| County: | Cabell County |
| State: | West Virginia |
| Postcode: | 25701 |
| Country: | USA |
Billy Bob's Wonderland is a restaurant located in Barboursville, West Virginia, next to the Huntington Mall.
In 1989, a ShowBiz Pizza Place arcade and pizza restaurant location opened near the Huntington Mall in West Virginia.[1] Following the merger between ShowBiz Pizza and Chuck E Cheese in the 1980s, ShowBiz continued to struggle financially, and the company made the decision to unify both brands as Chuck E. Cheese's beginning in the early 1990s.[2] The ShowBiz Pizza location near the Huntington Mall severed relations with the parent company and began operating independently as Billy Bob's Wonderland in the early 1990s.[3]
An annual convention called Billy Con debuted in 2020 at Billy Bob's Wonderland. Patrons from around the country attended, as Billy Bob's Wonderland became one of the last public locations to feature the The Rock-afire Explosion.[4] It appealed to the nostalgia of older generations that experienced it as children, while video game franchises like Five Nights at Freddy's attracted interest from younger generations toward animatronics.[5] Three years later in 2023, Billy Bob's Wonderland was bought out by Fun City Arcade.[6]
As of 2024, Billy Bob's Wonderland holds one of the two last original operating Rock-afire Explosion bands in the United States, the other being at the Volo Auto Museum in Volo, Illinois.[7] [8] This band includes Billy Bob Brockali, a bassist/vocalist, Looney Bird, a vocalist, Dook LaRue, a drummer/vocalist, Fatz Geronimo, a keyboardist/vocalist, Beach Bear, a guitarist/vocalist, Mitzi Mozzarella, a vocalist, and Rolfe DeWolfe and Earl Schmerle, a ventriloquist/comedy duo.[9]
The Rock-afire Explosion, a documentary, was partially filmed at Billy Bob's Wonderland. This documentary, about Chris Thrash, Aaron Fechter, and the remaining Rock-afire Explosion fan base, was released at film festivals and special screenings around the United States in the fall of 2008.[10] [11]