Universal Orlando Resort is in the middle of an unprecedented period of expansion. In the last couple of years the theme park resort has added two of the best roller coasters in Florida, Hagrid’s Magical Creatures Motorbike Adventure and the even newer, and possibly better, Jurassic World Velocicoaster, o the Islands of Adventure Park, and even more new and exciting stuff is on the way with Epic Universe, the upcoming third gate. But now we know even more is planned before that, and it won’t even require a theme park ticket, as a pair of Escape Rooms
Universal’s Great Movie Escape has been officially announced for later this year and it will include escape rooms designed in the worlds of both Back to the Future and Jurassic World. But what makes these escape rooms potentially more interesting is the fact that they will be part of Universal Citywalk, not one of the theme parks, so interested parties won’t need a theme park ticket to enjoy them.
The Escape Rooms had previously been rumored to be taking over the area of Universal CityWalk that previously housed The Grove, but now they’ve been officially announced. And what makes these escape rooms all the more exciting is that they’re designed by the same team that has been putting together the various mazes for Halloween Horror Nights over the years. They’ve created some of the greatest successes that Universal Parks and Resorts have ever seen. It’s not that far a leap for a Halloween Horror Nights maze to an escape room. Just create some puzzles for those inside to solve and you have it.
Escape Rooms have become an incredibly popular way for people to enjoy an interactive entertainment experience, and many escape rooms have been created using popular brands an IP that fans love. It’s a nearly obvious opportunity for a theme park company to leverage their popular franchises for escape rooms. And with Universal having access to the likes of Harry Potter and Nintendo inside the parks, one wonders if we’re too far from a Hogwarts or Legend of Zelda escape room down the road.
No specific opening date for Universal’s Great Movie Escape has been given beyond some time this fall. It will be interesting to see what the price of tickets will be compared to other escape rooms. One assumes that from a design and technology standpoint, these escape rooms will be a cut above many of the ones we see in strip malls across the country, and some of them can still be pretty impressive. As such, this might not be the cheapest escape room around, though they may help manage how many people want to check this one out. Still, it could very well be worth the price to experience an escape room based on two incredibly popular films.
