I Beat the Most Enchanted Escape Room Ever!

Escape rooms have become a huge trend within the last five years or so. In a culture that's becoming increasingly more dependent on technology, it's getting harder to find recreational activities that don't involve staring at a screen. That's probably why escape rooms have gotten so popular. They give people an opportunity to go out with their friends and exercise their critical thinking skills in a more physically active environment than watching a movie or playing a video game. When the escape room craze began, it was usually horror-themed and required the players to escape a zombie or a serial killer or a bomb or something along those lines. While that may be some people's cup of tea, it isn't that much fun for a princess fan like myself. Fortunately, the craze has gotten so popular that it expanded to many other themes that aren't always about avoiding a gruesome demise anymore. After doing a little research, I discovered Maze Rooms, a company with several locations in Los Angeles and Austin that does a variety of fantasy and adventure-themed puzzle rooms. Among the wide list of options, the one called Magic Kingdom immediately piqued my interest.

Not to be confused with the more famous Magic Kingdom, this fantasy-themed escape room gives you an opportunity to star in your own fairy tale adventure story. The ancient tree that powers the realm is dying, and you have 60 minutes to restore the enchanted water to the well and save the tree before all is lost. Without the threat of something trying to kill me like other escape rooms, the experience was transformed into something far more fun and engaging. Before entering the room, my husband and I were offered Harry Potter robes to wear on our quest, but I turned them down because I'm not a huge Harry Potter fan, and they looked like they had been worn a hundred times and never got washed. Things got more interesting from there when our game master led us to the wooden door that opened into the magical forest and told us the story of the Magic Kingdom. Next to it was a door to a space shuttle for the Space Odyssey mission. I thought it was a nice touch how well each door was themed to what awaits inside. They reminded me of the different worlds in Kingdom Hearts. After we acknowledged our mission, we entered our portal, and she locked us inside and left us to solve the puzzles that awaited.

We were gifted with two magical items in case we got stuck on our quest. One was an enchanted communication device that would allow us to contact the outside world in case of an emergency, and the other was a bag of tiny cheese balls that to bribe a talking mouse to give us hints. We had no need to communicate with the outside world, and I found the talking mouse far more interesting. She was a greedy little rodent that always asked for more cheese if I really wanted a hint, but that was okay because I had plenty to spare. The mouse also served as a timekeeper and let us know how much time we had left to save the tree in exchange for each piece of cheese. The room looked small at first, but as we continued to discover its secrets, we unlocked more passageways with surprises hidden in each one. I was amazed by the technology behind each test. The magic wands were hidden in treasure chests that appeared to require a key, but further observation revealed secret ways to open them that made it feel like we had actually traveled to another realm. The magic inside the wands only worked on the well after we solved additional puzzles to activate them. Waving the wand over a charger would cause it to light up and show us that it was ready to feed the well. Each time we waved a charged wand over the magic well, it would change the atmosphere in the room by creating beautiful projections of the sun, moon, and stars on the ceiling and walls.

As we made our way further into the kingdom, we discovered other creatures that were kind enough to help us on our quest. There was a talking deer head, a giant, and even a hidden faery! The puzzles were incredibly fun to figure out. Each time we solved one, the whole room would light up with music and images to let us know that we got it right. It was amazing how certain compartments containing key items would unlock on their own after completing the correct task without a key or lever. I have no idea how they did it! It was as though the room was actually enchanted. My husband and I saved the tree within 36 minutes and were treated to a lovely ending as it woke up with fiber-optic lights and revitalized magic. As soon as our tasks were complete, the game master opened the door to congratulate us and offered to take our picture. She also asked us if we would like to try another room while we were there. They had roughly ten rooms at that location. It's amazing to think that portals to such enchanting realms exist in such an unassuming shopping center above a KFC.

If you are in the Los Angeles area and want to go on an amazing adventure with a small group of friends that isn't too scary, I highly recommend Maze Rooms. The Magic Kingdom felt as though it was custom-made just for me, but many of their other rooms look like a lot of fun as well. They have a Greek Mythology one that I would be interested in trying next as well as an illusion one, a wizard one, a pirate one, an ancient Egyptian one, and more. Even though I had done other escape rooms before this, I can honestly say that Magic Kingdom was like nothing I had ever experienced before. It felt like I was actually inside of a video game. The sheer level of delight I felt when we won made it all worthwhile. It was the closest I've ever been to feeling like a real fairy tale princess.