Control Lab at Inoculation Station

[Applesauce]

I still say having cameras at the escape rooms isn't even good marketing. Because if you watch somebody complete the room, you have no incentive to try for yourself. You already know the answer, why pay money for the experience of struggling when you can watch somebody else struggle for free.

VS the Control Lab, where watching people get scared would likely entice more people to spend money to scare others. Signage out front of the mazes should be a thing though, saying that hey you're being watched and some scares are from this area, which would advertise it more, but also let people know that this is what's happening. If they chose to ignore it it'll be Fiends all over again, except most people still wouldn't know.

 

[Nicole]

Maybe I should explain what I am thinking, when I say I should be given a way to opt out. @Zachary and I discussed reasonable compromises, and came up with an idea that I am calling “rolling blackouts.” Here is the general concept:

I think the park could rotate the video feeds among the houses, so that not all of them are streaming to Inoculation Station all of the time. Perhaps each hour a different maze would be shut off, so that people who don’t want to be watched can go through unobserved,

This solution would probably require that BGW set up a camera in an additional house or scare zone. The extra feed would replace a different main feed each hour. Then at the end of the rotation that extra feed would itself turn off for an hour. That way one feed could be turned off, but all of the TVs would still have victims to harass.

This way the park could monetize its guests throughout the entire event, while still giving them option not to participate,

 

[Icer]

If only. I'd like if they did this. But they won't, which is what sucks.

I've just accepted at this point that they are either oblivious to most everything or they just don't care enough to please us to that extent.

 

[VonDerrick]

Attractions featuring Control Room scares should have a sign out front alerting patrons to that fact so that, by entering the house, they are knowingly consenting to being seen and perhaps scared by people sitting at a bar on the other side of the park.

this is the quickest and easiest fix the park can do

on a side note, instead of Nicole's rolling blackout idea, maybe have the control lab scares be placed in an alternative path in the house, like how dystopia splits people up but you can choose which way to go if you have preference, so you'd only miss one room out of an entire house.

 

[VonDerrick]

I know others have different opinions on why they like/dislike this attraction, but here is mine: I'm not so much concerned about anyone being an actual stalker. I take issue directly with the park here, because their implementation of this attraction essentially turns their paying guests into a product. By entering the park (using the admission they paid for), guests are forced to consent to the possibility of becoming an uncompensated BGW attraction, earning the park additional profit from the other guests BGW charges to scare/watch them, while receiving no additional benefit in return. I understand the rational economic and business sense behind the park's effort to capture as much consumer surplus as possible, but this attraction seems to cross an ethical line, if not a legal one. For BGW to profit from turning its paying guests into unwitting products while providing no additional compensation in exchange seems unscrupulous at worst and insulting at best.

i don't see it any differently than the water blasters on pompeii, that said, its obvious and you can avoid them if you choose to not ride

overall i think its an innocent money making idea, that needs to be better clarified for all involved, at the least

 

[warfelg]

i don't see it any differently than the water blasters on pompeii, that said, its obvious and you can avoid them if you choose to not ride

overall i think its an innocent money making idea, that needs to be better clarified for all involved, at the least

The bolded x1000

If you want a house that someone else can control the scares, that needs to be advertised that way.

 

[bill s]

I don't know about BG, but most parks simply by entering you are agreeing to be photographed.

 

[Nicole]

This is fundamentally different than merely being photographed for reasons that I believe have been clearly articulated above. Additionally, I do not think anyone has said that the park doesn't have the right to do this. I have said that I want to be given the option not to participate.

 

[warfelg]

I don't know about BG, but most parks simply by entering you are agreeing to be photographed.

To me these are different things. Agreeing to be photographed by park personnel while walking around is fine, and I'm sure it's in the middle of the ticket somewhere. But having other park guests in control of your experience and able to see what you are doing in that maze; that's a whole different level. That's not agreeing to having your picture taken.

 

[..…]

I feel that the Control Lab would fit well with a theme like Dystopia. People could pay to assume the role of Big Brother and control the scares of those inside. This would confine the idea to one part of the park, where everyone would be aware of what they’re getting into when they enter the attraction. Thematically the two are a perfect fit, and it would solve the mutual consent issue.

 

[Nicole]

I think that is a fantastic idea.

 

[Celticdog]

I think it's brilliant marketing and execution by the park. Why pay for more employees to scare guests, when the guests can pay for the privilege of scaring each other? It's a voyeuristic way of working in a house without actually committing to be a park employee.

At least the images are not shown on the BG website, like they were several years ago.

 

[Icer]

Hey guys, ignoring the rude string of comment on here, I will say that this is the park just trying something. I mean, it is a cool idea to be able to activate scares on other people, but I think these stations should be put outside their respective mazes and should be advertised more for the idea that its friends scaring friends in the maze instead of strangers scaring strangers. It's a cool idea that I think they just went the wrong way with.

That is exactly how I see it, since not everyone I would like to go with enjoys haunted houses, they feel no reason to go. They wish they had another way to enjoy the haunt aspect of it other than shows, and I feel like something like this would be perfect for my younger sister to enjoy.

 

[..…]

OK so the thing about turning people into a product is essentially what they are doing, but they do get something in returned. The people attending that pay are scaring them and they are coming to the park to get scared. So it could be argued that the people paying are paying for a service to the scared guests as well as themselves. I think it's a cool idea to have guests scare people, but that they went the wrong way with it. I'd like to see groups split in two, like in Dystopia and they are given the oppurntunity to scare someone from one of the rooms and vice versa. Like a versus escape room or something.

This is true, the guests are getting scared in return. But since they paid the park to be scared in the first place, they shouldn't be subject to the park selling them to other guests to receive those scares. That's only my opinion though, and I really like your perspective. I completely agree with you that they just went about this the wrong way. If they did it properly they could have something really fun - like you said, splitting into groups so that one group can scare the other. I've never done any of the escape rooms, but I believe there is an upcharge? They could also add an upcharge if you want to be in the group scaring people.

 

[Cartoonguy2112]

Try to keep in mind, this is a first year event meaning it is likely to change next year. If anything my suggestion would be to make you pay for time instead of scares and only show a live camera when you pay. This would make the event more comforting for guests. Also if a guest wants to see what it looks like before they by, have a stand still of someone getting scared.

 

[tursiops]

Not to invalidate how this makes anyone feel or even present how i feel about the control room, but when we got to the camera and remote scare in DD last night and they explained it most of the group seemed to think it was funny/neat idea. This is of course not a universal response and i totally get not liking the idea at all. I also agree with the people who think it's kinda tacky to turn your paying customers in to employees and products. I do believe it was created though to be a fun novelty. The way it was explained seemed to come off as genuine, not as a cheap money grab. Which it is.

 

[MAZ]

I’m probably not adding much to the situational discomfort with what’s going on here, but I’ll go ahead and say it.....I like being on TV. And if I know that I’m on it, or are going to be on it, I always do my best to entertain!

 

[Nicole]

So, it makes sense for you to be able to opt in. Everyone should have a choice.

 

[VonDerrick]

haven't seen it mentioned, here are the scares:

- Festa Bridge, Jack pops up on a digital park map scaring the viewers
- The Vault XX, Sea Dog Cemetery Room
- Demented Dimensions, *the spider in the woods room*
- Dystopia, the trash can bangs towards the end in the black light room
- FrostBite, the second to last room before the sliders, a zombie bend down from the ceiling

*the spider in DD seems to be removed*

 

[Applesauce]

Last night when we walked through DD, the spider was caught in the net that was hiding it.

Also it should be good to note for those who are concerned about the anonymity of being in a house

Fest Bridge: Guest's Front
Vault XX: Guest's Back
Demented Dimensions: Guest's Front
Dystopia: Guest's Back
Frostbite: Guest's Front