On our recent trip to Orlando, we were locked up in the President’s bunker with only an hour to stop nuclear Armageddon and it was amazing fun! We were guests of The Great Escape Room for this experience. All opinions are our own.
We arrived at The Great Escape Room in Orlando and were greeted by the friendly Samantha. I checked us in by signing waivers on the iPads. We were the only guests there so we didn’t have to wait, but we were given time to use the restrooms before we went in to our room. In the waiting area, there were lots of puzzles and a chess board so even if we had had to wait we would have been occupied. We were to be playing the President’s bunker room, but there were also other rooms to choose from.
When we were ready to play we were taken through a door. We found ourselves in a room with a bed in one corner, shelves along the wall and a table in the middle set up for a game of poker. Samantha explained that she would be in the room with us the whole time and was able to help us out and give us clues if we found the clue disks. She put on a video for us to watch to set the scene. The video explained that the command center for the nuclear missile program had been compromised. We had 60 minutes to regain control before nuclear Armageddon is unleashed.
Then the clock started going down and we set to work. We hunted for clues and started to find puzzle pieces. The room was great in that there were a variety of puzzles, some more complicated and some involved finding hidden jigsaw pieces or playing cards. This meant there was plenty for everyone to do so we all felt we were playing a part. Samantha was on hand to offer support or help when we needed it. For us it was often the things we weren’t so knowledgeable about with American presidents being the subject and us being English.
Some time into the first room, we managed to unlock a door into the second room. This room, set up like an office with a desk contained more puzzles to solve. I liked the fact that some of the puzzles in the first room couldn’t be solved until we had access to the second room and we had to keep moving between the two.
We managed to stop the missile launch and break out of the room after getting stuck a while on the last puzzle, my son eventually pointing out the answer that had been staring us in the face all along!
This escape room was really fun and we all had a great time. What made this escape room stand out from others we have played was the fact that Samantha was in the room with us. This is actually a really good idea. The presidential link made it more challenging with us not being American but then we did chose to play this particular room and Samantha was there to explain what others may find obvious so it didn’t spoil the experience at all, in fact it made it more interesting. It was very cleverly made and we were given just the right amount of help.
Samantha took a photo for us before we left. We would like to thank Samantha for putting herself forward to supervise our room when she heard who we were. She is a credit to the company.
The Great Escape Room with an autistic child?
If you are going to do any escape room with your autistic child, choose this one! Samantha is brilliant. She has much experience working with autistic children and knows how to handle anything that might come up. She explains clearly and gives enough thoughtful help to stop frustration. She is also more than capable of dealing with meltdowns or any other situation that may arise. When you book you can request that Samantha be supervising your room and they will arrange a time with you that she can be in the room with you.
Obviously every child is different so the level of enjoyment they would get from an escape room experience and how much they could take part would depend on the individual child. I wouldn’t rule it out if you don’t think your child would be able to join in as they could still be there with you and be given jobs, things to look for, hold etc. However if your child is good at working things out, numbers, puzzles etc then they could really get involved.
The President’s bunker room didn’t have much you couldn’t touch. It was quiet and calm. Even though it is an escape room, you can open the door and exit into the lobby at any point and re-enter when you want to.
There is no street parking immediately outside but there is a multi storey car park a short walk round the corner. If your child can’t handle the car park or walk then I’d suggest dropping everyone off at the building and the driver going to park the car.
To access the escape rooms you need to climb a flight of stairs.
The Great Escape Room is located at: S Le Jeune Rd, Ste 200 Miami, FL 33134. You can call for reservations on:
(786) 322-66192315.
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