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"The Repository" VR House

Considering most house walk throughs are under 5 minutes these times sound about right to me for a more deluxe experience.
 
30 mins does seem short for $50.

But, I think this was meant to be far more than just a HHN experiment. I think this was Universal testing the waters for more "premium" experiences like Wild Africa Trek or Discovery Cove. Wild Africa Trek is $250 for "3 hours" (according to Disney), which is about $42 per 1/2 hour. Roughly the same price...
 
Also if you consider that 9 houses at 5 minutes each would end up being 45 minutes and a general admission ticket is $105 that's a little over $2 per minute for HHN itself.
 
30 minutes sounds pretty short. but then again how long can most people stand having that headset on? it makes me wonder if it has anything to do with that (Besides wanting to cram as many people as they can)
I've seen new people spend a couple of hours in Vive. Since modern VR won't make most people sick, it comes down to how comfortable they make physical headset and how long they want an experience to be.
 
I've seen new people spend a couple of hours in Vive. Since modern VR won't make most people sick, it comes down to how comfortable they make physical headset and how long they want an experience to be.
My expectation is that you will walk through physical sets during this. With that being the case the time limitation makes sense, they can only build so much.
 
So... This is entirely based on speculation, but I've known for a while this would be fairly small.

The first 10 minutes is looking at props in a room and asking a curator questions about what the props are.

The second 10 minutes is walking around an area the size of a living room with a VR headset on that mimics going through a portal.

The final 10 minutes is an escape room (which is typically 60 minutes itself elsewhere). Structurally, it's likely a recreation of the first room (or even the same first room) where you have to remember what you were told before the VR section in order to get out. Ironically, clever guests will likely get out in less than 5 minutes thus shortening the entire experience. The curator likely gives you the solution at ten minutes to "save" you.

This will very likely be a love it or leave it thing for most people. It'll like be way more interactive than less-researched guests are expecting, since they've been advertising it as a "VR Experience" and not a interactive escape room with VR. All that's going to do is really slow things down. These sorts of things thrive on engaged participants playing and interacting with each other. I'm not sure if the typical HHN goer, who has only ever experienced a passive haunt, will be prepared to enjoy something so active.

This could be a disaster in the making...
 
So... This is entirely based on speculation, but I've known for a while this would be fairly small.

The first 10 minutes is looking at props in a room and asking a curator questions about what the props are.

The second 10 minutes is walking around an area the size of a living room with a VR headset on that mimics going through a portal.

The final 10 minutes is an escape room (which is typically 60 minutes itself elsewhere). Structurally, it's likely a recreation of the first room (or even the same first room) where you have to remember what you were told before the VR section in order to get out. Ironically, clever guests will likely get out in less than 5 minutes thus shortening the entire experience. The curator likely gives you the solution at ten minutes to "save" you.

This will very likely be a love it or leave it thing for most people. It'll like be way more interactive than less-researched guests are expecting, since they've been advertising it as a "VR Experience" and not a interactive escape room with VR. All that's going to do is really slow things down. These sorts of things thrive on engaged participants playing and interacting with each other. I'm not sure if the typical HHN goer, who has only ever experienced a passive haunt, will be prepared to enjoy something so active.

This could be a disaster in the making...

That doesnt sound good.
 
That doesnt sound good.
That's basically how Universal described it. I'm just speculating on details. It could arguably be amazing, and people interested in participating will likely get a lot more out of it.

My major concern is how it's been marketed. It's like they're selling a two hour movie solely on one ten-minute fight scene while the rest of it is just talking. It's not wrong. It's not outright lying. It's just disingenuous.

But I actually hope I'm wrong. Those of you who are doing it, I hope you're prepared to engage, not just do.
 
I'm all signed up for The Repository, sounds like it could be fun! What should I be expecting, more like a maze or a horror video game? Anybody know or will I have to wait until September 29th?

It will be a three part experience with one part having VR, to avoid spoilers.
 
Heard feedback from the employee preview tonight... best part is the preshow buildup, nothing was scary except the hype, bad VR graphics, overall a "lame experience." Confusing flow, no one understood why the VR was on, etc. People "died" and were escorted out of the experience without explanation. Sorry to report, hopefully they can make some major last minute tweaks.
 
Heard feedback from the employee preview tonight... best part is the preshow buildup, nothing was scary except the hype, bad VR graphics, overall a "lame experience." Confusing flow, no one understood why the VR was on, etc. People "died" and were escorted out of the experience without explanation. Sorry to report, hopefully they can make some major last minute tweaks.

Hearing this from Twitter or from closed channels?
 
Can't say I'm that surprised. Everything about this felt somewhat last minute and, again, poorly marketed.

Obviously, the media and average guests are the only opinions that matter, but if these Preview reactions are accurate (especially if there's really that much confusion during the experience) they likely would have done better with a straight-up extreme house.

Seriously... Why can't they just license out Nyctophobia?
 
Every one who's gone through has had to sign NDAs. We'll see if that changes with the first official guests.

But if you were waiting for reviews before booking it may be prudent to keep waiting.
 
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