Dozens of students, donning formal attire for Winter Formal-themed “Night in Vegas,” trickled into Dave and Buster’s of Milpitas on Dec. 2.  In total, 491 tickets were sold, fewer than the 674 sold last year.

The event began at 7:30 p.m. and students were permitted to leave at 10 p.m. but were allowed to stay for as long as they liked.

“Overall, the experience was fine,” senior Abhinav Kiran said. “The food was decent, the venue was nice, but I got bored as there weren’t that many things to do and the arcade got repetitive for three hours.”

Kiran also noted the dance floor was notably smaller in comparison to previous years’ venues. 

“There was nobody on the dance floor the entire night,” Kiran said. “There were TV screens everywhere talking about people in jail and news items that really killed the dancing vibe.”

Many students complained that the Dave and Buster’s site proved underwhelming compared to venues from previous years such as Great America in 2022 and Gilroy Gardens in 2021. Dance Commission member Emily Rich said the commission decided upon an indoor venue for this year out of fears of the same kind of rainout that occurred last year at Great America and prevented students from riding on rides.

She said that when the Dance Commission looks for a venue, they always try to look for one that has space for dancing, dinner and some form of entertainment at the venue itself.

Rich additionally mentioned the commission will target increasing efforts toward building excitement in the leadup for future events.

“We want to improve the excitement levels [before the dance],” Rich said. “We want to hype it up more by putting out more content beforehand.”

The venue lined up with the commission’s formal vision, with each ticket including admission into the event, access to a photo booth, virtual reality experience, food, a DJ and 135 credits for the arcade games. 

After entering the venue, students walked into the main hall which included the dance floor, seating area, and a Mexican-themed dinner. Students created their own tacos from a wide variety of toppings.

Photo by Neal Malhotra 

Main hall of Dave and Buster’s venue

After exiting the main hall, students could stay in a large seating area that included 3 pool tables.

After leaving the main hall, students roamed around the rest of the venue, and played various games in the arcade.

Photo by Neal Malhotra 

Arcade area of Dave and Buster’s