As a fan of immersive theming and escape rooms, as well as someone who considers Back to the Future one of the best films ever made, the Back to the Future: Outatime experience at Universal’s Great Movie Escape caught my interest from the moment it was announced. Now having finally experienced the attraction with seven friends, I can provide insight on the puzzles, if the experience is worth the cost, and all the small details for the most devoted time travel fans. There will be no spoilers in this article, because I knew almost nothing going in, and I think that’s the optimal way to experience this adventure. There will be photos of the rooms provided by the Universal Orlando website, but there are no major giveaways shown.
First things first, this is not an escape room. It is a walkthrough experience consisting of about 7 different rooms, each containing puzzles and challenges. When most people think of escape rooms, they have the perception of being locked in a single room with various ciphers and locks, with the goal of getting out in time. Universal’s Great Movie Escape does things a little differently, you’re guaranteed to finish the experience and everyone makes it out. However, there are 15 success levels, and depending on how many puzzles you complete, you are scored out of 15. (My group got 14/15, but if we had been given a few more seconds in one of the rooms we would’ve gotten a perfect score. Guess I have to go back!) The guides there told us that the average is between 6-8, so we did pretty good.
The rooms are each highly themed, and felt directly out of the movie. Well, really, they felt like great recreations on a soundstage, except for a few instances where I actually felt like a part of a movie. This isn’t a detriment though, and it’s still immersive enough to earn the Universal name. The team from Halloween Horror Nights reportedly worked on the set design, and that makes total sense, the sets are incredibly detailed and there are many easter eggs and clever design aspects. The puzzles are unique and fun with only a few feeling repetitive, most are puzzles I’ve seen before with a unique spin on them with just enough story attached to elevate it beyond just a regular puzzle.
The major glaring issue for me is that eight people was too many. We made a private booking because with the general ticketing the max is six people. However, the risk of that is that you will be placed with strangers, which I also think would detract from the experience. I think 4-5 is the perfect amount, there were at least 2 people in each room who stood there without anything to do. This is especially apparent in rooms with specific hands-on puzzles, where there would only be 4 handles, or 3 buttons to press. It was okay for my group, because we were all friends and would be encouraging/making fun of each other while some did the puzzles, but if we were only 3 and paired with 3 other people, things would’ve gotten awkward and uncomfortable when it came to choosing who did what. There is an upside to this though, because with more people, odds are at least someone would know what to do. There were some puzzles that I had no idea how to even begin but others did, and some that were glaringly obvious to me, but my friends needed further explanation.
The story is entertaining, and I had a blast getting into each of the puzzles and seeing how they served the overarching plot of the experience. The plot of the adventure is as follows: “Guests are transported to a museum in 1993, where they learn Back to the Future’s antagonist, Biff, is up to his antics and has stolen Doc Brown’s newest time travel device to sabotage the space-time continuum. Guests must work together to uncover Doc Brown’s clues as they travel through time to track down Biff and save the past and future before they run ‘outatime’.”
With each new room we entered, I felt it was unique and added to the story, nothing felt repetitive or too similar. There are some very cool special effects inside the rooms, and although the rooms aren’t very large, they are extremely detailed and don’t feel like empty space. I had a grin the entire time I was in the adventure, and the soundtrack is perfectly used and sets a great ambience. I was also lucky because I got a very special job, to carry something of great importance from room to room, and it made me feel like a big part of the story. The scenic design is incredible, there are so many small details that I wanted to stand and look at for longer, but we had a job to do. The rooms feel high-tech but also seamless, all the tech puzzles felt well integrated into the story and I never felt like I was just doing a task that had nothing to do with the game. As a movie fan, I was absolutely loving being enveloped in this world that I have seen on the screen for hours and hours, but this time in a brand new original story.
Overall, I think this experience is worth it if you are a group of 4 or 5, or want to pay for the private booking. An individual ticket ranges between $50 and $60 depending on the time of day, and a private experience will run about $360 ($45 per person with the full 8). I do think it’s worth asking for a time slot without anyone else currently booked into it, because I think experiencing it with two strangers is not the ideal way to go about it. If you are a fan of immersive entertainment, puzzles, and especially Back to the Future, you will want to be stuck in the time continuum forever so you never have to leave.
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