The car wouldn’t start. Who knows why, but it was pouring, and it we weren’t going anywhere. Unfortunately for us, we were also on a long, lonely road, with no one else in sight. One of us took a quick glance under the hood, and under the car itself, and noticed that the fuel line was cut. That didn’t bode well for anyone. But then we remembered the house up the road. Maybe there was someone there that could help us? And whoever it was that did this to our car…well, hopefully they wouldn’t be back.
And so began our visit to The Cromwell Estate, the newest escape room in Anaheim, CA. I had been hearing about the room for a while, from Drunken Devil’s Matt Dorado. I eventually was able to meet the room’s creator, Evan Gregory, at one of those great Theme Park Adventure nights at Don the Beachcomber (which you should attend if you haven’t already). The more Evan told me about the room, the more excited I was to check it out.
Which was how I wound up staring at the door to #813 on Saturday evening with my family and friends. And we had an absolute blast during our visit to The Cromwell Estate’s DEN room.
One of the biggest strong suits of The Cromwell Estate is that it looks deceptively simple. There isn’t a lot of overboard theming like some other escape rooms may have. Instead, it looks and feels like you are in someone’s home. However, this home is chock full of innovative puzzles, and lots of twists and turns.
From the second your time begins to count down, you are immersed in the Cromwell Estate, with one of the cleverest “openings” of a room I’ve ever experienced. Being in someone’s home, with their personal effects, family photos, and more strewn about definitely adds to the whole feeling of you “trespassing” into a place you probably aren’t supposed to be, and ups the danger factor.
The puzzles themselves are multi-layered, making use of everyone’s strong suits in order to complete them. There was a nice, natural progression between them, with one leading into the next in a way that made for quite a few “Aha!” moments from our team. And of course, the deeper and deeper you make your way into the house, the more darkness behind it that is uncovered.
Being located in Anaheim, there was also a great puzzle that made the whole room feel “connected” to the real world, blurring the lines between fiction and reality, and almost made you say “Oh no, this actually COULD be real!” Kudos to the puzzle makers for that!
The actors were spot on within the room as well, definitely bringing the creep factor way up, and creating the perfect balance between playing their role and gently nudging us in the right direction when needed. There are two versions of The Den, and we apparently played The Den Remastered, which is a little more intense than the normal one. However, don’t let that scare you away. My mother, who absolutely hates being scared, was able to handle it quite well, so I definitely think everyone is capable of surviving the more “extreme” version. Don’t worry, the actors can’t touch you.
All in all, The Cromwell Estate quickly shot up to one of my favorite rooms for its ingenious design, fantastic puzzles, and creep factor. On top of that, Team HorrorBuzz made the leaderboard, and set the record for fastest escape time, with 25:16 left on the clock! (Take THAT Russell and Mike of My Haunt Life!)
If you’re looking for a great new room to try, or you’re visiting Disneyland, I definitely recommend taking an evening and visiting The Cromwell Estate. Evan and his team really knocked it out of the park with this room, and have me looking forward to whatever they have up their sleeve next.
For more information, visit them online at: thecromwellestate.com
Team HorrorBuzz, setting records yet again!
