Escape the Room AZ

Twelve of us stepped into the room.

Wood panels covered the floors.  Tan sections of pew sidled up to each wall.  Farther into the room, a metal teller’s cage separated the room into two sections.  Behind the cage stood a mannequin dressed as a bank teller and large iron safe.  

“I’m locking the door and you will have 60 minutes to break into the safe and steal the bank bonds.  Good luck!” The man shut the door behind him and turned the key in the lock.

Right now you are either thinking, JoAnn this is crazy or THIS IS THE MOST AWESOME THING EVER!  I have to agree with the latter.  

The twelve us immediately broke apart and started searching the room for clues.  I crawled on the floor and looked under the benches.  My sister, Jamie and college roommate, Heather, started pulling out drawers located in the middle of the room.  My brother-in-law searched the maps on the walls for any clues on how to get out of this place.  In a matter of minutes, we found our first break.  Two of the drawers had pictures of keys inscribed on them.  Each key had a number written under it in a black sharpie.  One had a 3 – the other had a 6.  

A collection of over 50 mailboxes decorated the north wall of the bank.  Three of these mailbox doors hung open while the rest remained firmly shut.  Every single box had a number.  We checked box number 36.  No luck.  Locked.  We checked box 63.  Nope.  We needed a key.  Moments later, Heather’s husband, Tony, found it.  We tried both boxes and 36 jettisoned open.  Inside, lay our next clue.  But… it didn’t make sense.

We brainstormed.  We experimented.  We searched the room again.  Nothing. After 5 minutes at an impasse, a ding echoed through the bank.  It’s the mirror!!

All 12 of us rushed towards the door.  The mirror was actually a TV screen.  During our entire Escape the Room experience, our room attendant – the guy who locked us inside – watched us over security-like cameras.  Any time we were completely stuck (or if we were about to destroy a prop in our search) he would feed us little clues.  This clue read, “Take a seat and think about it for a little bit.”  

The benches!! We searched both pews.  We crawled under them and finally found two numbers inscribed underneath.  We used these to open another mailbox.  The remainder of the hour had us cracking combination locks (which my husband and cousin are very good at!), shooting a bank guard and blowing up a safe.  So did we make it?  Did we Escape the Room?

With a little under 10 minutes to spare!  

Escape The Room AZ is located in Old Town Scottsdale.  It is within walking distance of many amazing eateries and bars.  We started our night at BratHaus and then walked a few blocks to the location.  We chose to solve the Western Bank Heist, but there is also The Apartment and Escape from the 80’s to choose from.

So… Who wants to Escape from the 80’s with me?

I’ve checked one of my goals for my year of adventure off my list!

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