Movie-themed

Lasers in Space?! What More Can You Ask For? – Room: Starbase Command – September 15, 2017 – DISTURBED FRIENDS REVIEW – PLAY-TEST

~ Mike K. ~ 1 Comment

ESCAPE ROOM REVIEW – THE QUICK AND DIRTY

Play if… you like space wars and ever had lightsaber battles with flashlights as a kid.

Avoid if… you don’t know Trek from Wars, or can’t follow directions.

THE BASICS

Escape Room Woodbridge (designed in collaboration with the Escape Room Guys):

Address: 12668 Darby Brook Ct., Woodbridge, VA 22912 (click address for Google Map)

Contact and Website: 703-910-6015
https://www.escaperoomwoodbridgeva.com
[email protected]

The Room – Starbase Command: RETIRED

Description (from the company website): An Elite Enemy Force has infiltrated your military compound on a distant planet. As Rebel Fighters, you’ve successfully fought them off. There is but one final task, to deactivate a deadly laser aimed at your home planet. Can you save your people from annihilation?

Difficulty (1-10): none listed

Time Limit: 60 minutes

Cost: $28 + tax per person. – Use ERGUYS when booking to get either a percentage or set $$ amount off per ticket (whatever promotion is running)

Identifier: N1 (replaced Dr. Jones’ Apprentice)

Party Size: up to 8 people

Staging Area: Simple sitting area with couches. Restrooms are located in the back of the building past the Escape Rooms.

Metro Access/Parking: No metro access. This company is located in a shopping center and has ample parking. Watch traffic delays on I-95 and leave ample time to get there.

OUR EXPERIENCE

SPECIAL NOTE: As the Escape Room Guys, Mike and Jason, worked with Escape Room Woodbridge to design this room, they felt it would be a supreme conflict of interest for them to rate something they helped develop. To that end, this review is written by Disturbed Friends, Mark and Eric, who are members of our regular team and graciously agreed to substitute for us in writing and rating our sections below. Their reviews are untouched (with the exception of fixes to grammar or punctuation), unless otherwise “noted.” 

Logistics:

Description of the room: A remote intergalactic outpost (hmmm… this is very reminiscent of the Hoth scene in Empire Strikes Back).

Understanding of the Mission: Disable the laser before it destroys your home planet and the enemy reinforcements arrive. The mission was really well laid out to us before we went into the room, and we all knew exactly what we were looking for.

Did We Escape: Yes

Time Remaining: 16:40

Our Suggested Party Size: The room is rated for a max of 8 people. To get the full experience of the room, we would say that 8 is 2 people too many, and would not go in with more than 6. ERG Note: if your party of 8 consists mostly of of newbies or Escape Room Virgins (ERVs), the maximum rating will work fine.

Did the room challenge the entire team? Yes. Even though we were all escape room vets, the room still presented a challenge. If you have done escape rooms before, you will complete some of the puzzles quickly, but there were still many puzzles we had never seen before, and they presented a tough challenge.

Members of our team (other than the ERG): Eric, Steph, Tara, Mark, and Aaron

Team UN-Disturbed Friends (Eric, Steph, Tara, Mark, and Aaron) saved their home planet by deactivating the laser!

Worth the time and money? Yes. The room was really well put together and the puzzles all made sense with the theme of the room it is definitely worth the time and money.

Where to Eat/Drink Before/After:

  • Fair Winds Brewing Company – We hit up this place on a previous visit. Great place for beer flights, beers and some food truck grub.

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We Went Down (and Not in a Good Way) – Room: Titanic – June 16, 2017 – FAILED!

~ Mike K. ~ 1 Comment

ESCAPE ROOM REVIEW – THE QUICK AND DIRTY

Play if… you enjoy a good ocean cruise.

Avoid if… you have a fear of drowning, or just really, really hate Leonardo DiCaprio in that movie.

THE BASICS

Escape Room Live Georgetown

Address: 3345 M St NW, Washington, DC 20007 (click address for Google Map)

Contact and Website: 800-616-4880
http://www.escaperoomlive.com/our-rooms
[email protected]

The Room – Titanic:

Description (from the company website): Aboard the beautiful, new Titanic, you are surrounded by opulence on the journey of a lifetime… until you hit an iceberg. Trapped in your state room, can you find a way out using your ingenuity and wits before the water rises above the porthole?

Difficulty (1-10): 8/10

Time Limit: 45 minutes

Cost: $28 + tax per person but use ERGUYS15 when booking to save 15% off per ticket.

Identifier: R1

Party Size: 8-10

Staging Area: This is probably the swankiest location we’ve seen. Tons of seating AND A BAR (wine and beer, for Escapers only). There are also free lockers to stash your belongings before you enter the room.

Metro Access/Parking: Rosslyn metro and then a .9 mile walk across the Key Bridge. It’s Georgetown, so parking can be difficult (so definitely carpool and use the parking garage for Georgetown Mall (at Wisconsin and M, head down the hill towards K Street). We suggest Uber or Lyft.

OUR EXPERIENCE

This is the video we took before we entered the room:

This is the video we took just after we completed the room:

Logistics:

Description of the room: You enter the room and find yourself in the opulent quarters on the unsinkable cruise ship, the Titanic.

Understanding of the Mission: Simple… escape your quarters and the level before time runs out (and your porthole fills with water).

Did We Escape: No (we needed another 30 seconds (Jason’s estimate) or 2 minutes (Mike’s estimate))

Time Remaining: grrrrrrr

Our Suggested Party Size: 6 should work fine

Did the room challenge the entire team? Yes (Jason begs to differ)

Members of our team (other than the ERG): Whitney, Birgit and Mindy

Team Disturbed Friends (Mike, Whitney, Birgit, Mindy and Jason) were lost at sea when they failed to escape the Titanic.
Photo courtesy of Escape Room Live Georgetown’s Facebook page.

Worth the time and money? Yes (if for nothing else than aesthetics)

Where to Eat/Drink Before/After:  It’s Georgetown. Take your pick

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Zombies Normally Feast on Brains… Ours Went a Bit Hungry That Day – Room: Resident Horror – May 7, 2017 – FAILED

~ Jason ~ 1 Comment

ESCAPE ROOM REVIEW – THE QUICK AND DIRTY

Play if… you love zombie movies, or the Resident Evil movie or video game franchise

Avoid if… you neither like zombies nor being touched by one (or participated in way too many (in)voluntary lab experiments)

THE BASICS

Laurel’s House of Horrors:

Address: 935 Fairlawn Ave, Laurel, MD 20707 (click address for Google Map)

Contact and Website: 240-278-4545
http://www.laurelhaunt.com

The Room.- Resident Horror: RETIRED (Room is now Rising Dead)

Description (from the company website): Come experience our newest escape room “Resident Horror”. Work in a specially-designed laboratory to help find a cure for the un-dead break-out before it’s too late. Hit the wrong button and you’ll let the zombies loose!

Difficulty (1-10): Not listed

Time Limit: 25 minutes

Cost: $15 per person

Identifier: R1

Party Size: Up to 8.

Staging Area: It’s an old movie theater that is supposedly haunted.

Metro Access/Parking: Not metro accessible at all. The theater is in a strip mall so there is plenty of parking.

OUR EXPERIENCE

This is the video we took before we entered the room:

This is the video we took just after we completed the room:

Logistics:

Description of the room: You start off in a lab with a zombie chained up in the inner room.

Understanding of the Mission: You have to figure out how to get to the next room without getting killed by the zombie and then find the antidote to the zombie plague.

Did We Escape: NO. We needed like 3 more minutes.

Time Remaining: See above

Our Suggested Party Size: 6 (our 8 was a little crowded)

Did the room challenge the entire team? No. There were times that 1 or 2 people were standing around.

Members of our team (other than the ERG): Alphonzo, Eric, Eric, Mark, Katheryn

Worth the time and money? It’s cheaper than a normal room because it’s only 25 minutes. Probably worth tacking on as a second room of the day, but I wouldn’t go specifically for this one.

Where to Eat/Drink Before/After: Just call it a day and go to Five Guys.

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After Seeing Michael Myers’ Home, I Wanted to Purge… – Room: Escape the Movies, Revision 3 – May 7, 2017

~ Jason ~ 2 Comments

ESCAPE ROOM REVIEW – THE QUICK AND DIRTY

Play if… you [still] love horror movies.

Avoid if… the Purge made you want to, well, purge, or if you are afraid of the dark.

THE BASICS

Laurel’s House of Horrors:

Address: 935 Fairlawn Ave, Laurel, MD 20707 (click address for Google Map)

Contact and Website: 240-278-4545
http://www.laurelhaunt.com

The Room – Escape the Movies, Revision 3:

Description (from the company website): “Escape the Movies” is all-new in 2017, with revamped puzzles and features. You and a group will experience four distinctive rooms, with iconic scenes from your favorite record-breaking horror films, including Halloween (Michael Myers), Purge, Saw, and The Conjuring 2. Solve intricate puzzles and race the clock to escape. Your limits will be tested in an attempt to truly Escape the Movies… or become our next victims trapped inside the haunted theater!

Difficulty (1-10): not listed

Time Limit: 45 minutes

Cost: $25 per person

Identifier: R3

Party Size: Up to 8.

Staging Area: It’s in an old movie theater that is supposedly haunted, so pretty damn creepy.

Metro Access/Parking: Not metro accessible at all. The theater is in a strip mall so there is plenty of parking.

OUR EXPERIENCE

This is the video we took before we entered the room:

This is the video we took just after we completed the room:

Logistics:

Description of the room: The theater didn’t look as creep-tastic as it did last time, but they still do a yearly haunted house.

The rooms were just as well done as they were last year, probably even better this year. The themes were more clear than last year too. Made no mistake about which movie was which. (And no, you don’t need to have seen the movies to get through, which is good.)

Understanding of the Mission: Make your way through the 4 movie themed rooms with (or without, if you’re a dick to the GM) help from the GM. All you need to do is escape. With your life.

Did We Escape: By the skin of our teeth (again)

Time Remaining: 2. Freaking. Seconds. [You’re welcome! ~Jason]

Our Suggested Party Size: 6 was prefect, but there was room for 2 more.

Did the room challenge the entire team? Yes (omg yes…)

Members of our team (other than the ERG): Mark, Katheryn, Eric

Worth the time and money? Yes

Where to Eat/Drink Before/After: We aren’t familiar with Laurel, but there’s a Five Guys 2 blocks away.

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Friday the 13th Was Unlucky for Jason (Vorhees) – Room: Friday the 13th – January 14, 2017

~ Mike K. ~ 3 Comments

ESCAPE ROOM REVIEW – THE QUICK AND DIRTY

Play if… you love camping or the Friday the 13th series.

Avoid if… you have anxiety while being stalked by a serial killer (even a pretend one).

THE BASICS

Escape Room Live Georgetown:

Address: 3345 M St NW, Washington, DC 20007 (click address for Google Map)

Contact and Website: 800-616-4880
http://www.escaperoomlive.com/our-rooms
[email protected]

The Room – Friday the 13th:

Description (from the company website): Ch Ch Ch Ah Ah Ah! Jason is back and he just wants to play! It is Friday the 13th and you need to hole up in a cabin and keep Jason out until midnight… after all, nothing bad ever happens on Saturday the 14th!

Difficulty (1-10): 7/10

Time Limit: 45 minutes

Cost: $28 + tax per person but use ERGUYS15 when booking to save 15% off per ticket.

Identifier: R1

Party Size: 8-10

Staging Area: This is probably the swankiest location we’ve seen. Tons of seating AND A BAR (wine and beer). There are also free lockers to stash your belongings before you enter the room.

Metro Access/Parking: Rosslyn metro and then a .9 mile walk across the Key Bridge. It’s Georgetown, so parking can be difficult (so definitely carpool and use the parking garage for Georgetown Mall (at Wisconsin and M, head down the hill towards K Street). We suggest Uber or Lyft.

OUR EXPERIENCE

Logistics:

Description of the room: You enter the room and are in the woods outside the Camp Director’s cabin. Probably the best staging we’ve seen for a room so far. We can’t even call this a room; you have to see it.

Understanding of the Mission: Perform a series of tasks to alert the authorities, hide out in the cabin and stave off Jason until the clock strikes midnight on Saturday the 14th.

Did We Escape: Hell, yes!

Time Remaining: 15 minutes

Our Suggested Party Size: We had 8 because we didn’t book the entire room and had two random people in with us (a father-daughter team, who were pretty cool). So, 8 was good, but we could have done it with 6.

Did the room challenge the entire team? Yes. Plenty for everyone to do.

Members of our team (other than the ERG): Mark, Steph, Catherine and Katheryn

Team Disturbed Friends (Mark, Jason, Steph, Catherine, Mike and Katheryn) avoided being killed by Jason Vorhees! Photo courtesy of Escape Room Live Georgetown's Facebook group.
Team Disturbed Friends (Mark, Jason, Steph, Catherine, Mike and Katheryn) avoided being killed by Jason Vorhees!
Photo courtesy of Escape Room Live Georgetown’s Facebook group.

Worth the time and money? yes

Where to Eat/Drink Before/After: It’s Georgetown, so there are plenty of places to go for food and drinks, depending on your budget. We’ll leave it to Google, since we had wine and beer at their bar.

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I’ve Always Wanted to Be in the Movies! – Room: Escape the Movies – July 17, 2016

~ Mike K. ~ 3 Comments

ESCAPE ROOM REVIEW – THE QUICK AND DIRTY

Play if… you love horror movies.

Avoid if… a little gore turns your stomach

THE BASICS

Laurel’s House of Horror & Escape Room:

Address: 935 Fairlawn Ave, Laurel, MD 20707 (click address for Google Map)

Contact and Website: 240-278-4545
http://www.laurelhaunt.com

The Room – RETIRED

Description (from the company website): You and a group will experience four distinctive rooms, with iconic scenes from your favorite record-breaking horror films including Saw, Halloween, Nightmare on Elm Street, and Insidious. Solve intricate puzzles and race the clock to escape Jigsaw, Michael Myers or Freddy Krueger.  Your limits will be tested in an attempt to truly Escape the Movies… or become our next victims trapped inside the haunted theater!

Note: this room has been revamped since we did it, so your experience may not be the same.

Difficulty (1-10): none listed

Time Limit: 60 minutes

Cost: $25 + tax per person

Identifier: R1

Party Size: Up to 8

Staging Area: It’s in an old movie theater that is supposedly haunted, so pretty damn creepy.

Metro Access/Parking: not metro accessible at all. The theater is in a strip mall so there is plenty of parking.

OUR EXPERIENCE

Logistics:

Description of the room: The theater itself was pretty cool looking. They turn it into a haunted house for the Halloween season.

The rooms themselves were very well done… we knew what movie we were supposed to be in and they added some additional decorations to help with the theme.

Understanding of the Mission: Solve the clues going through 4 rooms based on different horror movies, find the key and escape before the monsters get you!

Did We Escape: Yes, by the skin of our teeth (bad pun intended)

Time Remaining: About 45 seconds

Our Suggested Party Size: They say up to 8 can do the room, but we had only 4 (which was supposed to be 6), and that was sufficient.

Did the room challenge the entire team? Yes, there was plenty for all of us to do.

Members of our team (other than the ERG): Steph

Worth the time and money? Yes!

Where to Eat/Drink Before/After: We’re not familiar with Laurel, so we’re going to have to leave you to Google for a recommendation.

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