Escapology--Mansion Murder

During our Orlando trip, we tried out an escape room for the first time as a family (I had done some stripped down versions of escape rooms at the Dice Tower Convention 2018). We went to a place called Escapology which had several different rooms available. We signed up ahead of time so we knew which room we'd escape from and what time to show up. Being early risers, we went for a 9:30 a.m. challenge.

The venue

Before going into the room

The folks inside were very nice. They encouraged us to use the bathroom since we'd be locked in for an hour. The place also has a bunch of puzzles in the lobby and riddles on the bathroom walls. I figured out some of the riddles while the kids played a maze puzzle.

A warm-up puzzle

For our escape room, we signed up for Mansion Murder. We played as the grandson of the ninth earl of Kildemorie who is celebrating New Year's Eve 1999 at the remote Kildemorie estate. Grandpa is killed and naturally we are the prime suspect as the sole male descendant. Of course we are innocent but only have an hour to prove it. The first room had all sorts of puzzles and some features that maybe were or maybe were not part of the game. After solving a couple of puzzles, one of the walls opened up and there was another room inside! We had another round of puzzles to solve, sometimes using stuff from the first room.

Occasionally we'd have trouble with a puzzle. One of the pictures on the wall was actually a screen which showed our timer and how many hints we had left (we start with three free hints; others cost two minutes). Occasionally the game master Mina (who was watching us through some cameras) gave us free hints when she saw us struggling. The game is designed for six to eight adults to play, so we probably didn't have as much brain power as a typical group. She helped a lot and we unlocked the door with barely a minute left!

Back in the lobby we were treated to water and a fun photo op.

Custom water bottle

Our successful team

We treated ourselves to lunch out at Miller's Ale House. We bought a pretzel appetizer since we love them so much. We were not disappointed.

Yummy pretzel

I was a little disappointed in the beer selection. They had maybe ten taps which were all big name, national brews. I had a Yuengling.

One of the sides of coleslaw had a bit of the plastic cabbage bag still in it! The manager came and apologized profusely. He gave us the meal free and also a free Captain Jack Ice Cream Cake. The cake was awesome and made up for the poor beer selection.

Captain Jack's Ice Cream Cake

As a family, we loved doing the escape room and are on the lookout for other ones near us.