Expedition Escape
Expedition Escape is an escape room company with multiple locations in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania.[1] It was co-founded by Lola Schantz, Marisa Capobianco, and Skylar Zarzecki and is currently owned and operated by Capobianco and Zarzecki.
History[edit]
Expedition Escape opened its doors to its first location in King of Prussia, Pennsylvania in April of 2016.[2]
Founding[edit]
In October 2015, Lola Schantz went out to Clive, Iowa to learn about board art for her paint-your-own-pottery studio. While there, she learned about escape rooms and found them interesting. When she returned home she decided to bring her family and try The Office at Escape the Room in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in December 2015. After playing the game, she walked out, turned to her daughter, Marisa Capobianco, and her daughter's boyfriend, Skylar Zarzecki, and said, "We need to do this and we need to do this closer to home."
Early Stages[edit]
They began by purchasing puzzle plans from New Escape Room Designs (N.E.R.D).[3] These plans included PDF documents of the puzzles and how to implement them into a game. The puzzles that were purchased from N.E.R.D. at this time were Aunt Edna's Condo, Egypt Tomb Escape, Bank Heist, and Baker Street Mystery.[4] These provided the starting point that was needed.
The first game that was built in the King of Prussia location was Bank Heist. They renamed Egypt Tomb Escape to Pharaoh's Curse and opened that room one week later. Aunt Edna's Condo opened another week later. Finally, Baker Street Mystery opened in the Summer of 2016.
N.E.R.D eventually released a new set of puzzles, Quest for the Throne, and with competition getting stronger, they decided to purchase it and replace their Pharaoh's Curse room. Quest for the Throne then opened in October 2016.
Expansion[edit]
By December 2016, Expedition Escape had expanded with a second facility in Montgomeryville, Pennsylvania. In order to not allow others to purchase puzzles within the same area, they purchased more games from N.E.R.D. at this time which included Lost Teddy and Escape The Mad Scientist's Lab.[4]
Da Vinci's Office was purchased from A.J. Hughes, Ticking Time By Design, and was the first room to be completed at their second location.[5] The List was purchased from a fellow escape room owner through a Facebook group. When play tested, the game was too short with guests escaping in around 30 minutes so they got to work in building and adding additional puzzles to create a full 60 minute game. It was the second game to completed and both Da Vinci's Office and The List debuted at the opening in December of 2016. Escape The Mad Scientist's Lab from N.E.R.D was only a 30 minute game which was developed into a full 60 minute game by them. Lost Teddy was the next game to open and was the first children's escape game in the area.[6] The Candy Shop is the most recent room to open in June 2017. Their next room, Lost in Space, is still currently under construction and is planned to be completed by Summer 2018. Both The Candy Shop and Lost in Space were completely designed and implemented by the owners.
Plans are currently in the works for a third location.
They have expanded to sell their games/puzzles they've created under Escape Room Sales.[7]
Plans are currently in the works for expansion into selling props for other escape rooms.
Awards[edit]
TripAdvisor[edit]
Expedition Escape's location in King of Prussia is the #1 Thing to Do on TripAdvisor.[8]
Expedition Escape's location in Montgomeryville is the #1 Thing to Do on TripAdvisor.[9]
Expedition Escape's location in King of Prussia earned TripAdvisor's Certificate of Excellence for 2017.[10]
Expedition Escape's location in Montgomeryville earned TripAdvisor's Certificate of Excellence for 2018.[11]
Montco Happening[edit]
Both locations won Montco Happening's Best Amusement category for 2017.[12]
Both locations won Montco Happening's Best Celebration Location category for 2018.[13]
Both locations were finalists in Montco Happening's Best Amusement category for 2018.[14]
Both locations were finalist in Montco Happening's Best Group Outing category for 2018.[15]
References[edit]
- ↑ "Escape Room - Philadelphia's Top Escape Room - Expedition Escape". Escape Room - Expedition Escape. Retrieved 2018-05-25.
- ↑ "Fall 2017 YC Magazine". Issuu. Retrieved 2018-05-25.
- ↑ "New Escape Room Designs, Inc". New Escape Room Designs, Inc. Retrieved 2018-05-25.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 "Products". New Escape Room Designs, Inc. Retrieved 2018-05-25.
- ↑ "Ticking Time by Design an Escape Room Design and Consultation Company with Escape Room Games for Sale | Ticking Time By Design". www.tickingtimebydesign.com. Retrieved 2018-05-25.
- ↑ "Family-Friendly Escape Rooms Near Philadelphia". 2017-04-24. Retrieved 2018-05-25.
- ↑ "Welcome". Escape Room Sales. Retrieved 2018-05-25.
- ↑ "The 10 Best Things to Do in King of Prussia - 2018 (with Photos) - TripAdvisor". www.tripadvisor.com. Retrieved 2018-05-24.
- ↑ "The 10 Best Things to Do in Montgomeryville - 2018 (with Photos) - TripAdvisor". www.tripadvisor.com. Retrieved 2018-05-24.
- ↑ "Expedition Escape (King of Prussia) - 2018 All You Need to Know Before You Go (with Photos) - TripAdvisor". www.tripadvisor.com. Retrieved 2018-05-24.
- ↑ "Expedition Escape (Montgomeryville) - 2018 All You Need to Know Before You Go (with Photos) - TripAdvisor". www.tripadvisor.com. Retrieved 2018-05-24.
- ↑ "2017 Places: Amusement - Montco Happening". montco.happeningmag.com. Retrieved 2018-05-24.
- ↑ "2018 Places: Celebration Location - Montco Happening". montco.happeningmag.com. Retrieved 2018-05-24.
- ↑ "2018 Places: Amusement - Montco Happening". montco.happeningmag.com. Retrieved 2018-05-24.
- ↑ "2018 Places: Group Outing - Montco Happening". montco.happeningmag.com. Retrieved 2018-05-24.
External Links[edit]
This article "Expedition Escape" is from Wikipedia. The list of its authors can be seen in its historical and/or the page Edithistory:Expedition Escape. Articles copied from Draft Namespace on Wikipedia could be seen on the Draft Namespace of Wikipedia and not main one.
