Entertainment complex with huge gel blaster arena now open in Ontario mall

Six months after first announcing the news, Playdium has officially opened its newest Ontario location, bringing the entertainment complex's biggest venue to Vaughan Mills. 

On Wednesday, parent company Cineplex announced the opening of Playdium at the suburban shopping centre located at Highway 400 and Rutherford Road, around 30 minutes from Canada's Wonderland on foot, or about a five minute drive.

The new complex marks the fourth Playdium in Ontario, while the brand's fifth location is all the way out east in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia.

Spanning 24,000 square feet, the Vaughan Mills location will feature more attractions than any other Playdium location in the country, the brand says. It's sure to put Dave & Buster's, the only other entertainment complex in Vaughan, to shame in comparison.

One of the biggest draws to the new location is Playdium's first-ever Gel Blaster arena in the GTA. The adrenaline-pumping attraction combines elements of laser tag and paintball, letting players duke it out with less messy water-based "gellets." 

Alongside arcade staples like Pac-Man, Mario Kart and Odin's Hammer Strike, visitors can check out more than 85 other games found at other Ontario locations. Other fun offerings at the Vaughan Mills spot include glow-in-the-dark augmented reality duckpin bowling, a multi-level ropes course and zip line, and immersive wall-climbing.

If all that running around works up an appetite, the venue offers a lineup of quick-service eats, including classic comfort foods like burgers, pizza, nachos, plus plenty of desserts and beverages to help you fuel up.

The grand opening of Playdium at Vaughan Mills comes five years after the closure of the massive Playdium Mississauga and one year after the opening of its 22,000-square-foot location at Toronto's CF Fairview Mall.