The Door Escape Room just opened up for business last weekend, and the place does not disappoint.
If you’re not familiar with escape rooms, the concept is that you’re locked in a room with a group of people and you must work together to solve clues, like locks and cipher codes, that will lead you to the way out. Escape within 60 minutes, and you win.
Warning: Minor spoilers ahead.
You’ll start your visit by walking down this eerie hallway to the escape room you reserved. The custom color lighting sets the mood well, preparing visitors for the challenge to come.
Owner Skot Miller used to be a rocket scientist, literally, so there’s no shortage of tech-savvy fun in The Door’s escape rooms.
Miller plans to have a theme charity for each room, benefiting the SPCA, Big Brothers Big Sisters, and Habitat for Humanity. Participants can donate to the charity of the room they’re escaping from in exchange for an additional clue outside the standard 3 clues that each group will receive.
Of The Door’s four rooms, two will be open for business this weekend.
Miller expects to have all four rooms open by late September. There is a Groupon in the works for The Door, so keep your eyes peeled.
The Pharaoh’s Tomb is the first escape room, and the objective is to grab as many hidden treasures as you can and escape with your life. It can host up to 8 people.
No escape room is complete without a secret room, and The Pharaoh’s Tomb delivers with a secret entrance hidden under the tapestry. This room and others will soon include Z-Wave technology, which produces motion-sensor special effects. Basically, a sensor is hidden on an object like a gold coin. Then, when that object is moved from its designated spot, the lights go out. When you move it back to its place, the lights turn back on. It’s a pretty cool way to make the room feel that much more authentic.
If you feel like you’re struggling, ask for help. There’s a TV in the room so a helper can send hints if the room participants are having trouble with a clue.
Set to open this weekend, the Alpha-Omega Virus is the second escape room. It’s the largest room at The Door and can hold up to 10 people.
Here, you must sneak into an evil scientist’s laboratory and create the cure to a deadly virus.
The Door does not skimp on the details of their rooms.
Participants will wear safety glasses and lab coats to fully immerse themselves in the story of the room escape.
Each room has props that help create an authentic atmosphere.
There are skeletons, beakers, test tubes, and fake eyeballs scattered throughout the Alpha-Omega Virus room.
In all of the escape rooms, each group will receive an iPad that can be used to FaceTime the helper for a hint on a clue, write down notes, or accomplish room tasks.
For example, participants will need to use the iPad’s Bluetooth capability to interact with some objects in the room.
There will be decoding required for many of the room clues, so there’s a nice balance of classic puzzles as well as new, high-tech ones.
Two more rooms will eventually open up at The Door. One room’s theme is still TBD, and it’s set to open sometime in late September.
The other room will be Family Guy-themed Stewie’s Bedroom, a great pick if you’re looking for more lighthearted fun. It should be up and running by the end of August.
The room you begin in looks like a regular child’s bedroom, but a hidden door leads into Stewie’s secret evil lair that will have a “conspiracy theory” vibe.
At the end of the room experience, there are a bunch of signs you can pose with for a photo which The Door will post on their Facebook page.
There are signs for people who do and don’t escape the room; my personal favorite is the “alternative fact” sign below.
Don’t forget to grab a piece of candy on your way out! There are Dum Dums for those that don’t escape and Smarties for those that do.
The Door’s sense of humor is truly as great as their escape rooms.
The Door Escape Room is located at 204 W Woodlawn Rd. Suite D1 Charlotte, NC 28217 and here’s their website.
