The Diefenbunker Museum and Escape Manor are set to join forces to launch what they’re calling “the world’s largest escape room.”
Escape Manor is a Centretown-based adventure company that provides 45-minute escape scenarios in which groups of up to six people are locked in a room and must uncover clues, solve puzzles, and work together to get out.
The company partnered with the Diefenbunker Museum in Carp to unveil a Cold War-themed escape scenario on March 9.
“The Diefenbunker is a four-storey, 100,000-square-foot museum,” says Escape Manor co-owner Steve Wilson. “It’s massive and intricate, you can get lost trying to find a bathroom. It lends itself perfectly to what we do, so we were absolutely on board when they said they wanted to partner with us.”
Escape Manor will be taking over the third floor of the Canadian government’s former nuclear attack safehouse after the museum closes for the day at 4 p.m., and will run from Thursday to Sunday every week.
The Diefenbunker was constructed in 1959 as part of the government’s reaction to escalating tensions during the Cold War. The purpose of the bunker was to house key members of government and military in case there was ever a nuclear attack on Canada. In 1997, it was turned into a museum for people to visit and learn more about the Cold War.
Tickets for the new room went on sale in mid-February, and every slot until September has already been filled.
“We were hoping this new attraction was going to go well, but this has surpassed any expectations we had,” says Katie Balmer, events and community engagement manager at the Diefenbunker Museum. “We are looking forward to delivering a top of the line product when it opens.”
The set up of the scenario is this: You visit the museum with your friends, stray from the tour, and end up locked in a room. As the night goes on, you realize that there is a spy syndicate using the museum to plan an attack on Canada. You and your friends must make your way to the CBC communications room to alert Parliament Hill and ultimately save the country from the attack.
The format of the new experience will differ slightly from the ones at the original two Escape Manor Ottawa locations on Queen Street and in Hintonburg. The scenario will play out with groups of 12 instead of six, and it will run an hour rather than 45 minutes.
More than 60,000 people visited Escape Manor in Ottawa last year.
“It was a really fun brain teaser, and you bond quickly with strangers by figuring out the challenges with other groups,” says Jen Paul, who has visited Escape Manor on Queen Street. “I really liked it, and I definitely want to go to the Diefenbunker one once it opens.”
The organizers hope that this new experience will get people interested in the history of the Cold War.
“We try to use very new and creative ways to engage the public and try to get an audience who, for the most part, didn’t live through the Cold War, and help them engage with the museum,” says Balmer.
“It’s really a symbiotic relationship between the Diefenbunker and Escape Manor. It brings a new audience to the museum,” says Wilson. “And maybe they’ll come back and visit the museum when they’re not busy saving the world in a panicked frenzy.”.