Southern California based escape room players with significant escape room experience.
We were visiting the Pleasant Grove area and wanted to run an escape room in some of the free time that we had. Alcatraz was one of the best reviewed rooms we found that was close to our hotel, so we booked their Wizard Hysteria room. The rooms are not private, so any booking that does not take up all available slots can be paired with other groups (we were lucky enough to not be joined by another group for our booking). That booking 10 player spots is required to make the room private makes it expensive ($280 to $300) option, especially since there is not enough room or puzzles to accommodate or justify 10 players. This room felt like it was designed more for 4 to 6 players, but 6 would make for a very cramped experience.
The location appeared to share space within the trampoline park building, but has its own entrance doors. We were greeted when we entered and were taken through the room information and video prior to entering the room. Once inside the room, we were given a few final instructions before beginning the escape. Clues and information given while inside the room is done via a walkie-talkie, and it can be difficult to understand at times. Also, during the final instructions, we were provided with information that revealed how big of a solve the room was, which took some of the mystery and fun out of running the room, as we knew what we were working towards.
This room is linear, and does not contain any outlandish leaps in logic. That said, the room is not particularly difficult for experienced players, and with a room record of 22:15 elapsed, should not poise much of a challenge to beginners. As a pair, we completed the room in 25:10 with 0 hints, but the record would have very much been within reach if we ran it with our normal team of 4 players. The room is severely lacking in puzzles, and the ones that are included will not provide much of a challenge to experienced players.
One major negative aspect of the rooms is that they are not enclosed rooms, but are instead open ceilinged, allowing players to hear other rooms that are also being played. This occurred during our visit, as while we were in the middle of our solve, we could hear the very loud and echoing sounds and screams coming from the horror themed room (Chloe?). It was very distracting and does break the immersion. It could also be a problem for those who chose a room wanting to avoid a horror experience, as it becomes unavoidable with this set up of the rooms.
Also, the manner that the final puzzle is given to players was very disappointing, and there has to be a better way to present it that makes sense within the room.
Overall, this room would be good for new players, but will leave experienced players wanting more, and perhaps a little disappointed given the higher price point and lack of...
   Read moreThe staff was fantastic. Very friendly, and showed us into a couple rooms so we could have an idea of what we were getting into before we committed to anything. That was nice of them and gave us enough information to decide on the experience we wanted.
We attempted two rooms this afternoon.
The first one we attempted was the "Chloe" escape room. Horror movies can scare me a bit, though I will watch them still, but this room was so much more intense than any movie I've seen. The atmosphere they set, the sounds, decorations, and the actor playing "Chloe"... it all came together to put me right in the middle of my worst nightmare. It was only my fiance and me attempting the room, and having such a small number of people makes it much scarier. It wouldn't have been the same experience or nearly as scary if you were shoulder to shoulder with 10 friends.
Well, about 15 minutes into this room and after having our first brief encounter with the actor playing Chloe, we decided that we weren't going to make it through this escape room and contacted the attendant to free us. It was honestly just too scary for us this afternoon. I could barely focus on any clues or puzzles with my fear of Chloe, and my fiance, while doing better than me, wouldn't be able to go it alone.
Since we had such a short experience in the Chloe room, they offered to transfer our booking to a different room at another time that afternoon. We accepted and went into the Harry Potter themed room about an hour later.
The Harry Potter room was much less scary, and there are no actors there with you. The puzzles were good, and not overly complicated. It's a good room to start off with for sure. They will give you hints if you are struggling, but will still only help you a certain amount. You can still fail to escape in the given hour.
Overall, the experience here was great. Even though we quit on the first room, we got exactly what we paid for. We wanted to go into a scary escape room and have that horror movie feeling while trying to solve puzzles, and that's exactly what we got. I HIGHLY recommend the Chloe room for anyone that enjoys a good scare and escape rooms. I also recommend you don't bring more than 4 people. The more people there are, the safer you will feel, so you will lose that scare factor, which is a key feature of this room.
To the staff, thank you again for working with us to get us into another room. We will definitely be back again to try the zombie room, and (if we can get more people) possibly the Chloe room.
Addition: I've done 7 escape rooms at 5 different locations, and the Chloe room was the most immersive and we'll made room I've ever been in. The actress playing Chloe...
   Read moreTo whom this may concern,
I had the Row room booked today for four of us at 4:45 PM. We purchased the Groupon online after reading the following description "The Row: You are awaiting the electric chair on death row, but your outside contacts have found a way for you to escape. Find their clues through a maze of laser security trip wires while evading a serial killer along the way." After reading this, We couldn't wait to go!
Unfortunately we did not get what was advertised. Either we were booked in the wrong room, they were understaffed, or this is just planely false advertised. There was no serial killer present, and there were definitely no security trip wires. When we previously called to schedule to see if it was appropriate for young kids they said there was an actor present but they could be substituted out if requested. We went with all adults expecting to be scared and when we went through the room, we were not. It was actually quite disappointing. The second room had almost nothing in it, and though the setup looked promising, it wasn't as described and wasn't "fun". My group members and I couldn't believe that what we had booked online was the same room that we went through today. The place was also super loud from other rooms going on (the ceilings are open to the entire place-so you hear others screaming in different rooms), very dim light (had to use flashlights on phones to look at most things) and there was no warning or clocks to alert you of how much time was left. So we were surprised when the door opened and we were escorted out without being told how everything went together. Unfortunately it was a very unsatisfying experience, and it left us underwhelmed. We thought there would be more to this from looking in other rooms as we passed by, but we were very disappointed. Wish I could've had a different room, or got my money back altogether. Don't think we will...
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