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Universal Orlando opens first-ever escape room with 'Back to the Future' & 'Jurassic World' themes
Venture to the dinosaur-cloning lab on Isla Nublar or hang out with Christopher Lloyd's Doc Brown!
Universal Orlando Resort is upping its immersion game to hither unseen levels with a pair of escape room experiences inspired by two of the studio's biggest film franchises: Back to the Future and Jurassic World.
Now open at the Florida-based theme park, Universal's Great Movie Escape was developed alongside Universal Pictures and Amblin Entertainment to offer guests a chance to visit the dinosaur-cloning labs on Isla Nublar or hang out with the time-traveling Doc Brown. Both rooms are narratively randomized (allowing for repeat enjoyment) and totally customizable (based on party size and difficulty).
"They let us write our own story that runs in tandem with their canon and works along with their canon. We worked hand in hand with the filmmakers to really make it authentic, but what was cool there is that we were able to weave the story into the gameplay," Nathan Stevenson, Show Director for Universal Orlando Resort’s Creative Development Group, remarked during an interview with Collider. "So, when you’re in these really immersive environments, it feels like you’re in the movie, and you’re actually interacting with the movie. It went hand in hand with the escape room idea, and it really pushed it forward once we brought these folks on board."
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The lobby of the attraction leans heavily on an art deco aesthetic (see below) from the 1920s, "because Universal Pictures has this really cool history of interactivity with people," Stevenson continued, adding that it was meant to be a tip of the hat to Carl Laemmle, who founded Universal in the early 1910s.
"He immediately started with something cutting edge because back then, we weren’t into the talkie era yet. It didn’t really matter if people were talking on set, so he built these huge bleachers, and he would let people come sit in them and actually interact with the actors that were being filmed. While they were filming the movies, they really were truly part of the film."
Back to the Future: OUTATIME (named after the famous DeLorean's license plate) transports participants to a museum in the year 1993, where they learn that Biff Tannen has once again messed with the space-time continuum. Players must work together, uncovering Doc Brown's clues and find Biff, before the timeline is ruined forever. The best part? Christopher Lloyd returns to play the Doc!
"We had a really good relationship with them, which is just a dream," Stevenson added. "Talk about dream career moments, Christopher Lloyd came back to reprise his role as Doc Brown, and it was just amazing and incredible to hear him read those lines, and to be able to write those lines and to write a new story. They really let us go for it."
Jurassic World: Escape, on the other hand, takes place within the high-tech labs of the titular dino-theme park. Players step into the shoes of prehistoric geneticists, learning how to feed the resurrected animals and create new combinations of DNA. That is until an apex predator breaks free of its enclosure and goes on a rampage.
"In Jurassic World, you’re an engine and you’re in that world, so it’s very techy and very computer based, with a lot of computer-based challenges, and things like that," Stevenson teased, basically confirming that participants need to call on their inner Lex to survive.
Tickets for Universal’s Great Movie Escape start at $49.99 per person. Click here for more information.
If you want to relive the magic of these movies in the comfort of your own home, head over to Peacock for the entire Back to the Future trilogy, Jurassic World, and Jurassic World Dominion (both the theatrical and extended versions are streaming).
