Harry Potter Escape

Marina’s interest in Harry Potter has been growing all year. And since we both enjoy escape rooms, I signed us up to try a Harry Potter Escape Room today. Marina decided to wear her Hufflepuff uniform.

It was located at a nearby high school not far from our house. We arrived early and signed in. A little while later, the other participants in the game showed up. We all talked about our interest in Harry Potter and other escape rooms we’ve tried. Since we were all there, we got started early.

The room was made to look like a parlor. It was filled with books, potion bottles and cabinets with locks. When we got started we all spent time looking around the room and figuring out what was there. Marina found the first clue. It was Harry’s acceptance letter to Hogwarts. Throughout we found clues in books, suitcases, posters and even a vial of troll snot. We ran into a snag where one of our clues wasn’t where it was supposed to be.

We came very close to finding the hidden crystals. We were working on a lock and triggering a lever in a picture frame when time ran out. It was frustrating to come so close but not quite escape. Despite that, we had fun trying to figure it out.

Exploring Wonderland

About six months ago, a new hotel opened not too far from our house. This summer, they were having a Summerfest featuring Alice in Wonderland. Marina and I were interested in checking it out. Marina decided to wear her Alice costume.

We had to get up early this morning for Breakfast in Wonderland. We arrived at the hotel and found the restaurant easily. It featured a buffet breakfast with Alice, the Mad Hatter and the White Rabbit. We filled our plates and sat down. Shortly after we did, the White Rabbit came by our table. Marina had a nice interaction with him and at one point he ran off with her purse causing her to chase him. Alice and the Mad Hatter also stopped by to visit.

After breakfast, we found the pool area to take part in the Cheshire Cat’s Scavenger Hunt. We found a few of the clues along the way. The hotel is huge and some of the clues we got help from the employees to find. Once we got them all, Marina received a prize – a fun light up necklace.

We were signed up for the Mad Hatter’s Escape Room at 2:00 pm, so we found a quiet place to sit for a while. We ate at the sports bar for lunch and then waited for our time I the escape room. We were the first to arrive but soon we were joined by two families.

The escape room was set up like a tea party with hats everywhere and clocks all over the wall. The Mad Hatter joined us and set us looking for puzzle pieces to solve a riddle. Marina and two girls found three keys and used them to open a complex lock. That produced a blacklight, which she used to look for the riddle. It took about half an hour to solve the riddle.

After we escaped the room, we were ready to go home.

The Last Defender

For Marina’s birthday last year, we tried an escape room. We both enjoyed that, so we decided to try another one. This one was called The Last Defender. It was set in the Cold War era. From what I read, we would be given a series of puzzles to solve to try and save the world.

We arrived a bit early, so we sat and waited. As the rest of our group arrived, we chatted with them. We ended up with eight in our group. The other people seemed really nice.

To start the game, we each were assigned a name and a locker. I was “Mainframe” and Marina got “Heavy Duty.” We had to put on flight suits then we got into an elevator. We didn’t seem to move until I spotted a small door in the elevator. I pulled out a cartridge and a set of keys and then the door opened.

We went into a technical looking room. Each of us was assigned a part of the room to look around in. I went to Storage. Marina and I were both in the Engineering Department, and we were assigned a series of tasks that had us running around the room. Then we watched a video which gave us our real mission.

Marina figured out how to get the numbers for a code. Those numbers were for a safe I saw in storage. We found the manual with the cartridge I gathered earlier. Then we unlocked all the puzzles around the room. While those were assigned, I worked with two of the guys to unlock the control panel.

Marina had a task in the sleeping quarters and I went back into Storage to find the goggles. The goggles led me to a piano where I had to play a code. That opened a secret room where I h

ad to put metal balls into slots to determine the code. Marina helped me sort that out.

We were running out of time, but the team only had two codes to find. Marina and I went to help on different ones. Unfortunately, we ran out of time. We were all disappointed because we were so close to solving it. Despite that, we all had a great time.

After the game, we picked up some cold drinks and walked to the train. We didn’t have to wait too long before it arrived. It was a fun evening, but we were wiped out by it.

Birthday in Wonderland

An escape room near our home offers a game called “Alice’s Magical Wonderland.” Marina wanted to try it for her birthday this year. Marina wore her Alice costume, of course, and Ainsley was the White Queen. We arrived early and looked around the place as we waited for Marina’s friends.

We were all excited for the game. We were searching for the crown of the Queen of Hearts. It took us a while to get our first clue unlocked. As the game went on, everyone contributed to moving us along. At times we got stuck and we asked for clues. With 15 minutes left, I was concerned we wouldn’t figure it out in time.

However, the last 10 minutes we made some good progress and I knew we were close to finding it but we were running out of time. When we were offered an additional five minutes we took it. And with two minutes left, we unlocked a trunk by the door and the girls screamed as Marina pulled the crown out. She wore it as the host took our photo.

After our adventure we went to a sandwich shop nearby for lunch. I had preordered a sandwich platter which was ready when we arrived. They had a semi private room in the back so we went there and I quickly set up for the party.

After lunch we sang “Happy Birthday” to Marina and had cupcakes. Then she opened her presents. Then everyone hugged and left.