If you’re visiting Asheville and are a game and arcades type fan, you don’t want to miss the Asheville Pinball Museum! Despite the popularity of console video games, there’s something amazingly fun about playing a pinball table with all the flashing lights, sounds, and high-velocity action. A resurgence of pinball tables and fans means that the Asheville Pinball Museum is very popular but you should still make the effort to visit. I’d have to imagine that it would be really hard to have more fun with $17 in Asheville!
I admit that I wasn’t that impressed with the exterior of the Asheville Pinball Museum but there’s magic waiting behind those double swinging doors! I’d recommend getting there right at open which is somewhere between 12 noon and 2pm depending on the day. Admission is now $17 (as of March 2025) for free play and once they reach capacity, they’ll put up a velvet rope and you’ll have to wait in line until someone leaves, just like an exclusive dance club! Grab a beer at the bar in back and you’re ready to get your game on at the Asheville Pinball Museum.
As you walk through the space, the first thing you’ll notice is the signage above each table and the pristine condition of each pinball machine. The signs provide a bit of history on the pinball table: name, manufacturer, quantity made, and more details to give you some background information. The tables here are primarily vintage, older pinballs and it’s a lot of fun to see the cultural icons and themes reflected in the pinball table design. From Superman to the Six Million Dollar Man, Evil Knievel, and Captain Fantastic (Elton John), it all feels like a throwback experience to a different time and place in the US.
Beers, snacks and sweet are also available at the front counter to keep you powered up for the pinball. All reasonably priced and fun options!
And as you wander through this fun, wildly decorated space, you’ll find all sorts of retro, cultural decor, that will resonate with any Baby Boomer or Gen X person. From the lunch boxes and boom boxes lining the walls, to the autographed old school pics and the bathroom covered with superhero figurines, it’s as if you took a time machine back to the coolest game room around in the 80s!
So if you’re in the Asheville area and above the age of 40, the Asheville Pinball Museum is a must-do to me. There’s so much to look at and play with if you’re from the era. But even you’re younger you’ll still probably enjoy a visit. It seems like a lot of parents bring their kids here to show off a bit more of what they grew up with. Nintendo Switch or PlayStation 5? Blah, you can do a lot better here at this throwback gaming experience in the mountains of Asheville!
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