I have seen very little in the way of discussion about Universal's Great Movie Escape since it debuted a few years ago and what I have seen has been largely mediocre to negative. Last time I was down in FL, a friend really wanted to do the Jurassic World room and, though pricey, I agreed out of a sense of morbid curiosity. Given reviews, I expected to find unremarkable production value, poorly constructed puzzles, glitchy touchscreen systems, etc.
Now, admittedly, I've not done many escape rooms and would classify myself as an escape room amateur. My experience only consists of a handful of different rooms at a couple different venues. That said, I came away from the Jurassic World escape room very, VERY impressed with what Universal Creative has delivered here but also understanding why, I suspect, many people aren't having a great time.
My group of three booked a non-exclusive session meaning that we could have been paired with others. Thankfully, when we went, Great Movie Escape was an absolute ghost town with wide open availability. I think we only saw one other session booked and it was two guys alone for the Back to the Future room. No clue if it was just a disastrously slow day for them or if Great Movie Escape is just an enormous financial failure, but it did make nearly guaranteeing a stranger-free experience super easy. Going back and doing it again, I wouldn't have booked in advance at all and would have simply done a walk-up booking immediately before a desired time slot making sure that no one else would join before I booked.
Initially, before the experience, I wasn't actually super opposed to having strangers along as I've almost always had good experiences with strangers in escape rooms—even when kids have been involved. After experiencing the Jurassic World room though, I can assure you that you DO NOT want to do this with strangers or, worse, kids. Unlike other escape rooms I've played, this is a very fast-paced game of crisis management, not a slower-paced, puzzle-focused experience like I was used to elsewhere. To do well, you have to be able to quickly move about rooms, be willing to bark orders at your partners, and engage in a very high level of verbal coordination with one another. If anyone in your group (say a kid) would be a weak link in your group, I can see how the experience would degrade for everyone very, very quickly.
For a group of adults who know one another well and are comfortable around one another though, I thought this experience was stellar. It consists of a ton of different rooms, many of which have really impressive sets, lighting, screens, etc. It really was a completely, environmentally immersive experience—you can see Universal's theme park and HHN experience really paying dividends here. All of the games worked perfectly for us, the media was always spot-on, and the various effects and even the occasional jump scare really added to the tension and stress throughout the experience. My group played hard and fast, but we still only got a score in the mid-upper range. The speed, coordination, and communication required to do better would need to be at quite a remarkably high level in my assessment—and again, I suspect it would be downright impossible with strangers or kids.
Anyway, I came away quite impressed and with absolutely zero complaints. It was expensive, but given the incredibly high production quality throughout and that it is, by its very nature, an entirely bespoke experience, I don't think it's unreasonably priced. I do hope that what I saw isn't indicative of normal crowd levels though as, if it is, I don't see how this experience survives much longer. If you're interested, I'd get there while you can.
Anyone else given one of these a shot? I'd be especially interested in hearing about the Back to the Future room—from what I gather from reviews, it sounds very different?
Now, admittedly, I've not done many escape rooms and would classify myself as an escape room amateur. My experience only consists of a handful of different rooms at a couple different venues. That said, I came away from the Jurassic World escape room very, VERY impressed with what Universal Creative has delivered here but also understanding why, I suspect, many people aren't having a great time.
My group of three booked a non-exclusive session meaning that we could have been paired with others. Thankfully, when we went, Great Movie Escape was an absolute ghost town with wide open availability. I think we only saw one other session booked and it was two guys alone for the Back to the Future room. No clue if it was just a disastrously slow day for them or if Great Movie Escape is just an enormous financial failure, but it did make nearly guaranteeing a stranger-free experience super easy. Going back and doing it again, I wouldn't have booked in advance at all and would have simply done a walk-up booking immediately before a desired time slot making sure that no one else would join before I booked.
Initially, before the experience, I wasn't actually super opposed to having strangers along as I've almost always had good experiences with strangers in escape rooms—even when kids have been involved. After experiencing the Jurassic World room though, I can assure you that you DO NOT want to do this with strangers or, worse, kids. Unlike other escape rooms I've played, this is a very fast-paced game of crisis management, not a slower-paced, puzzle-focused experience like I was used to elsewhere. To do well, you have to be able to quickly move about rooms, be willing to bark orders at your partners, and engage in a very high level of verbal coordination with one another. If anyone in your group (say a kid) would be a weak link in your group, I can see how the experience would degrade for everyone very, very quickly.
For a group of adults who know one another well and are comfortable around one another though, I thought this experience was stellar. It consists of a ton of different rooms, many of which have really impressive sets, lighting, screens, etc. It really was a completely, environmentally immersive experience—you can see Universal's theme park and HHN experience really paying dividends here. All of the games worked perfectly for us, the media was always spot-on, and the various effects and even the occasional jump scare really added to the tension and stress throughout the experience. My group played hard and fast, but we still only got a score in the mid-upper range. The speed, coordination, and communication required to do better would need to be at quite a remarkably high level in my assessment—and again, I suspect it would be downright impossible with strangers or kids.
Anyway, I came away quite impressed and with absolutely zero complaints. It was expensive, but given the incredibly high production quality throughout and that it is, by its very nature, an entirely bespoke experience, I don't think it's unreasonably priced. I do hope that what I saw isn't indicative of normal crowd levels though as, if it is, I don't see how this experience survives much longer. If you're interested, I'd get there while you can.
Anyone else given one of these a shot? I'd be especially interested in hearing about the Back to the Future room—from what I gather from reviews, it sounds very different?
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