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Tag: hollywood
ESCAPE ROOMS – Escape Hotel The Attic – CA
The Attic at Escape Hotel is a well designed, story-driven, immersive experience. It is a really fun game. I had a blast playing and would recommend it to anyone that enjoys a good scare while solving puzzles.
ODDITIES – Jurassic Planet at the LA County Fair – CA
I’ve never been particularly interested in dinosaurs, but I heard about Jurassic Planet and my curiosity got the best of me. I’m glad it did.
For only a small $5 up charge to your fair admisssion you can walk among 40 life sized realistic animatronic dinosaurs. It pretty darn cool! I know they aren’t actually real dinosaurs (except for a few live creatures on display such as an emu, alligator and tortoise), but they seem pretty real if you let your imagination run wild. I found myself wanting to pet them and at one point talking in “baby talk” to a few adorable animatronic baby dinos.
I really enjoyed Jurrasic Planet and wanted to share it here. I also recorded a bit of my experience which you can watch from YouTube below.
2016 EVENTS ATTENDED DURING HAUNT SEASON
I love going to haunts and Halloween themed events all year, but I go a little crazy during haunt season (late September through early November). Here is a list of the events and haunts I attended in 2016 in no particular order.
SOCAL HAUNTS:
Universal Studios HHN
Knott’s Scary Farm (Skeleton Key)
Sinister Pointe
Motel 6 Feet Under
Delusion
Los Angeles Haunted Hayride
ROT
Coffin Creek
Scream Kingdom
All Saints Lunatic Asylum
Scream Zone
HOME HAUNTS:
Rotten Apple
Backwoods Maze
The Haunt with no name
Boney Island
PENNSYLVANIA HAUNTS:
Terror Behind These Walls
Field of Screams
Shocktoberfest
Pennhurst Haunted Asylum
MASSACHUSETTS HAUNTS:
Barrett’s Haunted Mansion
Spooky World
Haunted Overload
Chambers of Terror
Hysteria Conner’s Farm
Gallows Hill Theatre (performance)
ESCAPE ROOMS – Escape Hotel: Jack Reacher – California
I want to start off by letting you know that Escape Hotel offered free tickets to the general public on their website to play the Jack Reacher game for beta testing purposes and I that is how I booked tickets for this experience.
I didn’t know anything about Jack Reacher going into this escape room experience (aside from Tom Cruise being in the movie) and I didn’t learn anything about the story from playing the game either. I would recommend at least watching the movie trailer before playing the Escape Hotel’s Jack Reacher room if you want some idea of what the story is meant to be about. There isn’t really any story given to you for gameplay, however I think it’s assumed that the story is there from players’ prior knowledge of it. My team did mention that they didn’t think the room had anything to do with the movies aside from familiar faces in pictures used in some of the props. There is a video at the beginning of gameplay outside of the rooms we were locked in with the mascot of Escape Hotel talking, but I wasn’t really able to hear it because it wasn’t loud enough. That video might have given some of the information I was looking for, but alas I don’t know. There was an attempt at immersion through the use of blindfolds and environment, but it would have been much stronger if the story was made clear.
The room layout was interesting. We started out blindfolded and were placed in three different cells where we worked to escape our small cells into a larger room to work together to solve the final objective. It was unclear to us that the objective was not to escape the room. Since we entered blindfolded, later in the game I accidentally opened the exit door while exploring because I didn’t realize it was the exit door.
Puzzles. There were a few puzzles in the room. I hate to be too critical of puzzles since this was a beta test situation. I always try to be forgiving of small glitches and tech issues when testing a game prior to ticket sales opening up to the public and in this case we only had one, so I won’t elaborate on that. I will say that the room has some tech and I assume it will work wonderfully once the room is officially open for ticket sales. There weren’t very many puzzles for the length of the game. They all seemed fairly simple aside from one major puzzle that stumped our group until we asked for a hint. Once we were looking in the right place, we easily understood the rest of them. Sometimes I am not sure if it is fair to say that puzzles are easy when I am playing with experienced teammates because we’ve been exposed to so many different puzzles. However this time, along with my husband and a friend, I had two random teammates that had never played an escape game before and they didn’t have any trouble with the puzzles either. Again I want to stress that since we played during beta testing, it is very possible that the puzzles will change or more puzzles may be added to the game.
The rooms decor was not as elaborate as I expected. One of my favorite things about Escape Hotel is the amazing lobby. Unfortunately the beautifully themed lobby is not a reflection of the decor in the games that I have seen at this location including Jack Reacher. It was rather plain and parts of the set dressing was already falling apart. The props looked a little more like handmade craft projects than professionally designed props. It’s disappointing that the game itself isn’t more elaborately decorated since it seems the purpose is to promote the movie and give customers a “Hollywood” experience.
This game is a ticketed game, meaning you buy a ticket and may be playing with random customers that also bought a ticket. Normally I dislike playing with strangers, but our team ended up being a lot of fun. There were five of us, which was more than enough to play the game. There were times where there wasn’t really enough for all of us to do. I will say we had fun playing the game together though.
We escaped in time and then waited for the game master to come congratulate us. She did not, so after an uncomfortable amount of time we exited the room ourselves and made our way back downstairs to retrieve our phones from the lockers behind the check in desk. The receptionist called the game master on her walkie talkie and she came out and apologized for not coming up to get us and explained that there is a blind spot in the room, so she didn’t know we had escaped.
If you haven’t played an Escape Hotel room before, be prepared to arrive 30 minutes early and fill out a waiver and create your passport. Also leave plenty of time for unexpected traffic and parking. There are paid lots nearby and some street parking. This location is also easily accessible by metro.
I can’t stress enough that this experience was a FREE BETA TEST and may or may not reflect the experiences of those that pay to play the Jack Reacher game once they officially start selling tickets to the public. I am curious to hear from others that play the game in the future to see if it has changed. If you play Escape Hotel’s Jack Reacher please leave a comment here on this blog post or on my YOUTUBE video for it.
CALIFORNIA ESCAPE ROOM LIST
Below is a list of the Escape Rooms I’ve played roughly in order of MY favorite to least favorite. Note: I prefer strong storytelling and immersion, especially in horror, paranormal & magic themed escape rooms, so my preferences may be different than yours. Feel free to write to me Twitter @christinebarger or Instagram @TheHauntGirl GROUPED BY REGIONS: LOS ANGELES AREA, “THE VALLEY”, ORANGE COUNTY, INLAND EMPIRE, HIGH DESERT, VENTURA COUNTY, PALM SPRINGS, BIG BEAR, SAN DIEGO, SAN FRANCISCO
LOS ANGELES AREA ESCAPE ROOMS
Quest Room: Red Giant
Maze Rooms – The Abyss
Quest Rooms – Perfumer
60out Escape Rooms: Wizards Workshop
Maze Rooms: One Way Ticket
Enigma Escape Rooms: The Seance
Exit Game: The School of Sorcery
Quest Room: Cannibals Den
Quest Room: Da Vinci’s Challenge
60out – Alice in Wonderland
60out: Zen Room
Fox in a Box – Dracula the Final Hour
Get the F Out: The Virus (I played the old Burbank location)
Maze Quests: Queen Anne’s Revenge
60out: Jumanji
60out: Grandma’s Masterplan
Two Bit Circus – The Lost City
Maze Rooms: World of Illusions
Countdown Live Escape: Krampus (Now 60 Out)
60out Escape Rooms: Doctor Psycho
Evil Genius Escape Rooms
Exit Game An Hour To Kill
The Mummy Escape Game (created by SCRAP)
60out Escape Room: P.U.T.I.N.
60out – Nautilus
60out: Amityville
60out Escape Rooms: Ghost Ship
Two Bit Circus – Space Squad in Space (played twice)
60out Escape Rooms: The Mystery of Senator Payne
Trapped in a Room with a Zombie & Still Hungry
Maze Rooms: Castle
Mobile Escape Room LA: MacGuffins Cocktail Room
Maze Quests: Clinic
60out: Da Vinci’s Secret
Countdown Live: Pandorus (Now owned by 60out)
Roomescape LA: Bunker
60out Escape Rooms: Quest in a Box
60out – Cartel
Escape Room Long Beach: Bad Blood
60out – Houdini
Horror Escapes L.A. Captive Chamber
Escape Hotel: Day Care
Maze Rooms: Motel
Mobile Escape Room LA: Sleep Study
Roomescape LA: Zombie
MagIQ Room: Secrets of Wizardry
Maze Rooms: FBI
Captured LA: The Starlet Killer
60Out Escape Rooms: Hangover Game
Fox In The Box – Tesla
Escape Hotel: Witchcraft
Logiquit: Warehouse of Jack Travis
Logiquit The Laboratory of Dr. Lev Pasted
Escape Haus LA: Masquerade Ball Room
Escape Room Treasure Hunt: The Alchemist’s Lab
*Maze Rooms: Cosmos Game
*Virtual Room LA
*Two Bit Circus – The Raft
* These are VR Games with escape room elements
“THE VALLEY” LOS ANGELES ESCAPE ROOMS:
The Basement (Basement, Boiler Room & Study) *NEW GAME* The Elevator Shaft
Cypher
Escape Chronicles – Testing Facility
Nodus 805 Escape Room
Chronicles – Smugglers Tunnels
Amazing Escape Room: Mystery of the Red Dragon
Arcane Escape Rooms: The Hideout
Horror Escapes – Trapped
Horror Escapes – Ringmasters Quarters
Amazing Escape Room: The Starlight Lounge
Amazing Escape Room: Escape the X Corporation
Unlocked Escape Room: The Professor’s Basement
Amazing Escape Room: Operation Desert Storm
Great Redemption
Arcane Escape Rooms: The Agency
The Room Live Escape Room
ESCRooms
Hollywood Escape House: The Royal Indian Dungeon
S.H.A.D.I.E. Grove Escape Room
Enchanted Escape Room
ORANGE COUNTY ESCAPE ROOMS:
Puzzle Workshop: CSI Hollywood
Puzzle Workshop: Secrets of the Illuminati
Crossroads Escape Game: Funhouse
Eskape Rooms: Operation Dream State
Escapade Games – The Last Experiment
Dead Ringers (by The Escape Bus) This is a 2 person game, where the partners compete against each other.
TrapZone Escape Rooms
Detectives Society Escape Rooms: Da Vinci’s Lost Workshop
EscapeX Rooms: Casino
PuzzleMazement Escape Room: Professor S!
PuzzleMazement Escape Room: Paranormal
Kaein LLC: The Alien
Red Lantern
The Cromwell Estate
Escape the Place: The Chamber
PuzzleMazement Escape Room: Saving Christmas!
INLAND EMPIRE ESCAPE ROOMS:
MurderCo
Mind Trap Escape Room: Gold Rush
Wizards & Wires: The Curiosity Shop
Mind Trap Escape Room: Conspiracy
Trapped! Escape Room: Sector 13
Trapped! Escape Room: Puzzlemaster
Open Door Escape Games: The Study
The 13th Room: Alchemy & Wizardry
The 13th Room: Jack the Ripper
The Game Maker Escape Room (temporary room at Coffin Creek)
Funhouse Escape 60 Minutes to Curtain & Another 60 Minutes to Curtain
Get a Clue Room Escape: The Toy Shop
Broken Chains Escape Games: Caught In A Rumple
One Way Out: Bank Heist (now Exodus)
Unity Escape Rooms: The Cabin
Unity Escape Rooms: The Temple
Real Escape Room: Bomb
One Way Out: Apocalypse (now Exodus)
Real Escape Room: Crazy Secret Laboratory
HIGH DESERT ESCAPE ROOMS:
Escape the AsylumEscape This! Mosi’s Curse
CENTRAL VALLEY ESCAPE ROOMS:
Xcape Room Fresno: Murder Scene
Rooms of No Return: The Classroom
Breakout Fresno: Sabotage – Code Red
The Great Escape: Mafia Bomb Squad
Bakersfield Escape Room: RESCUE
Bakersfield Escape Room: Winter Fall
Rooms of No Return: Dead Silence
Real Escape: Bootlegger Warehouse
Real Escape: Wizards Lair
VENTURA COUNTY ESCAPE ROOMS:
House of Clues: Pirate Ghost Ship
The Ultimate Escape Rooms: We Are All Mad Here
PALM SPRINGS ESCAPE ROOMS:
Escape Room Palm Springs: Dark Shadows Room
Escape Room Palm Springs: Saw Room
Escape Room Palm Springs: Titanic
Escape Room Palm Springs: Mystery Room
Escape Games at the River: Baker Street Mystery
BIG BEAR ESCAPE ROOMS:
Mountain Room Escapes Big Bear
SAN DIEGO ESCAPE ROOMS:
Great Room Escape San Diego: Houdini’s Hidden Workshop
Quicksand Escape Games: China Town
Quicksand Escape Games: The Diner
The Unlockables
Divergent Realities The Informant
Escape Game SD: Japanese Thriller Room
Quicksand Escape Games: The Speakeasy
The Entrapment3rd Day Escape: Harvest Motel
Escapology San Diego: TH3 C0D3
Mighty Awesome
Great Room Escape San Diego: The Lab
Nightwalker Caverns Escape Room
3rd Day Escape: Hourglass
School of Hard Locks: Art Class
SAN FRANCISCO AREA ESCAPE ROOMS:
Palace Games: Houdini
Escape SF: Escape from Antique Room
MODESTO ESCAPE ROOMS:
Spookador
LOCATION CHANGES
49 Boxes
R.I.P.
These are rooms that I have played in California but are not currently available:
The Purge Truck
Countdown: Mrs. Jezebel’s Tea Party
School of Hard Locks: Halloween Room
CatCon Animal Planet Escape Box
Trapped! The Chamber
Trap House (Think Tank)
Real Escape Room: Treasure Island
Countdown: Special Event Beta Test
Kaien (the game we beta tested, but isn’t open yet)
School of Hard Locks: Principal’s Office
SCRAP Real Escape Game Escape from the Cursed Forest Event
SCRAP Real Escape Game Escape the Magic Show
Salvation Room: The Inferno
Amazing Escape Room: Black & White
Ace Escape Game The Pharaoh’s Treasure
SCRAP Real Escape Game: Escape from the Time Travel Lab
The 13th Room (ScareLA mini-game)
Trapped! Escape Room: Jailbreak
Room of no return: Jail
Escape the Night (VidCon)
The Cromwell Estate (Midsummer Scream mini-game)
Crossroads: The Asylum (ScareLA mini-game) *This game will be available in Oct 2017 at Crossroads
Escape Room the Movie pop-up at Escape Hotel
Escape From Godot
