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1:30 sound

I still have one of my shirts from when i worked maintenance there around the time this was filmed.

You crossed on a red light

I met my wife at the dance clubs that were there.

Oh wow I miss this place

I've thought about this kinetic sculpture since the day I first saw it in 1990. Had just moved to the area (NKY) and my family and I would go on excursions to the areas malls as if that was where to discover the culture of the area (it was the way). This is very rare footage.

I swear some of these rides like the marry go round and the bumper karts look exactly from kings islands.

yes i worked here in the 90's, remember it well. its very unique, most malls are dying or dead now cause of online shopping. well this one was dead long before online shopping, it seemed to start going downhill when the first anchor moved out, which iam pretty sure was bigg's place. not even sure why biggs was the first to go, it was always packed with grocery shoppers (as i did mine there too) .

That mall brings back memories. I remember riding the hot air balloon Ferris wheel in that mall my mom always like Parisian when it used to be in the old bass pro shop. It’s sad. They are tearing that mall down I used to love the arcade in that mall when they had batting cages and free throw basketball . r I p forest fair mall

For some reason (besides the amazing kinetic sculpture) I remember those plastic chairs SO vividly

I feel like I am there. I was 18 when this was shot, and I felt like I was back. God I loved mall life

Wow miss those days !

Man, I miss this mall...

Miss this place. Going in there now is depressing.

Going to malls was replaced with brain-deadening Tiktok.

Thank you for sharing this amazing footage! Takes me back to the good ole days! ❤

i grew up at this mall i still live down the street from it, very sad

Man…hard to watch. 😢

0:52 those kids riding in the bumper cars are now in their mid 40s...some may even have grandkids. Time does pass us all by.

Wow! I spent so much time here growing up. I've got such great memories hanging out at this place. I think they made a huge mistake when they took out the rides and the arcade. It's sad to see it in its current state.

What if this turns into 'backrooms' 🤔🤔🤔🤔🤔

you mean to tell me that it used to actually have people there?

I loved watching those pool balls

Nostalgia at its finest!!!! I miss Forest Fair Mall so much. I couldnt wait for my dad to finish shopping so we could go to Time Out. The bumper cars, putt putt golf, the merry go round.... I wish we could go back in time. Watching this made me a little emotional. I miss those days so much. Thank you so much for sharing this ❤️

Thank you for sharing. So many fond memories and it's sad that there's nothing quite like it anymore. I would've loved to take my kids here if it still existed.

That was a place I visited often in 1990. I lived on the Fairfield side of the mall and it was a short distance from me.

Worked here in the 90's. So many memories.

Lol hey there. Long time no see. Weird that i found you reminiscing about dead malls.

I'm young enough that I don't remember this version of the mall very well, but I have fond memories of it being popping during the initial years of the Mills redesign in the early 2000s. Furthermore, as a full-time Arcade Legacy fan since the beginning of its tenure in the mall to the end, Forest Fair was THE haunt for me and me friends from 2009-2022 and it's insane the amount that it deteriorated in that time (especially considering it was dead to begin with). I actually have a lot of important and formative memories in the abandoned halls of this place just thanks to those late nights at the arcade, eating in the food court and urban exploring. It's always surreal to see footage of actual crowds of people in this sacred space back in its heyday because it's such a distant memory for all of us, especially now that we will never enter again.

One of my 1st jobs. Game tech at Time Out on the Court.

Thank you soooo much dude . I remember the time I got lost in there lol

#properpeople

This is honestly amazing. I grew up at this mall in the early 90s . 🥹🥹

George Rhodes is the artist who made that ball sculpture. I have been looking for this for years. Thanks so much!

i remember going to this mall in the late 90's early 00's as a kid I remember most of this! what i cant seem to find anywhere is that attraction that was jungle like that had a tricycle track in it. does anyone remember that??????

That baby boy would now be 33...

What a blast from the past!!! We went there every week, with 3 teens girls, I guess you understand why, lol.. would not have changed it for anything loved every minute. Thank you for sharing your video of the past. I miss the great malls of Cincinnati 😪

At the end, in the arcade... 1991 & 1992 you could almost definitely have recorded 12 year old me playing Street Fighter II if you would have panned the camera around. My grandma would drop me and my brother off in the summer and we would practically live there. And the balls rolling over the xylophone... So much nostalgia it almost brings tears. Thanks.

Unlike a lot of malls, FF never had decades of glory days and started declining almost immediately since it was a bourgeoisie mall in a working class area. Sadly by the time they rebranded in the early 2000s it was too little too late.

I thought I'd never hear that sound again

Wow! This is incredible you have this footage on this place in it’s heyday. It is truly interesting seeing a time period of Forest Fairs success period after seeing nearly a hundred videos of this mall being a barren wasteland with just a few anchors and arcade legacy as its claim to fame.

Sad to see how lively the mall once was

went here recently, video is on my channel. but crazy to see what the place used to be

Thank you

Awee how cool!!! That ring sound brings back soooo many memories. I shopped til I dropped in my teens there when they were hoppin.

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Been looking for 1990's footage of this mall for *years!* This video is a gold mine. Now people can see what it used to look like inside. Also, the child at 00:31 appears to have all black eyes. D:

Dude you have footage of that kinetic ball sculpture! That has lived rent free in my head my entire life and I’ve been looking for this forever! Born 92 and grew up 5 minutes from there. Went almost every weekend with my family! Man that place was great for awhile!

Omg thank you so much for this. I spent so much of my childhood here. Me and my grandma would spend hours looking at the golf ball thing! I always wondered what happened to it! It was so cool to watch!

This made me feel so good. There is a huge lack of footage from this mall for many of us who visited it regular. Thank you!

God its so eery to look at footage of the mall being busy, those kids are probably grown up now which is sad to think about! I bet alot of happy memos were made there, thanks for sharing footage! - love from aus