There's something strange in this Chicago-area neighborhood
Ghostbusters, Zombieland, Jumanji, and other movie-themed attractions featured in new Wonderverse
With stores closing as more and more customers satisfy their retail cravings online, many shopping malls are becoming shells of themselves. Some, however, are filling the voids left by departed Macy’s, JCPenny, and other anchors with attractions. What’s bad for the retail industry is turning into a boon for park fans like us.
Case in point: Wonderverse, Sony Pictures Entertainment’s first immersive location based entertainment venue, recently opened in a former Sears store at the Oakbrook Center mall just outside Chicago. The 45,000-square-foot complex isn’t an indoor theme park per se, but it does offer park-like things to do and experience. Drawing on the movie studio’s vast library, its attractions incorporate compelling themes, including “Uncharted,” “Ghostbusters,” “Jumanji,” and “Bad Boys.”
Perhaps the highlight at Wonderverse is Ghostbusters VR Academy, which is actually two attractions. In The Arena, four players outfitted with goggles, “proton packs” (which, I believe, actually hold the virtual reality electronics and–sorry!–are not mini nuclear accelerators), and “neutrona wand” particle throwers, train to be Ghostbusters so that they can protect the good folks in Chicagoland from the no-goodnick, giant Stay Puft Marshmallow Man and other specters. It looks like a fairly standard VR attraction, albeit with a “Ghostbusters” overlay.
More intriguing is the adjacent Blitz, in which guests board “Ecto One hovercrafts” and pilot them. The second Ghostbusters attraction also uses virtual reality goggles, but features motion base vehicles that move in sync with the VR imagery. As in The Arena, guests are supposed to blast ghosts and rack up points as they hover above the city.
Other attractions include Zombieland bumper cars. Compared to traditional Dodgems, the stakes are a bit higher at Wonderverse. Passengers that get bumped by a car which is designated as “patient zero” get infected and become zombies. They, in turn, can set their sights on some juicy brains and infect other riders by bumping them.
There is also a Jumanji VR game, racing simulators that are tricked out so that guests can go head to head in Bad Boys Racing Club, and Uncharted: The Pursuit, a series of three escape rooms. It’s no coincidence that the attractions all incorporate group game play. It’s part of a trend to create adult-focused family entertainment centers that offer interactive attractions along with good food and an elevated bar scene. Also known as “competitive socializing,” examples include the chains Puttshack, where guests can have a ball playing ultra-sophisticated mini-golf, and Brooklyn Bowl, at which guests can try their hand on high-tech bowling lanes and catch name acts performing on its stages.
There are adult beverages to be had at Wonderverse. The Ghost Trap is a “hidden speakeasy” that serves “Ghostbusters”-themed drinks along with haunted high jinks. There is also a pop-up 21 Jump Street Bar on tap according to Wonderverse. In addition to the booze, the lounge will send adults back to school with cocktail chemistry classes and “paint and sip” events. The Commissary Bar and Restaurant dishes out tasty meals along with drinks.
Other studios are getting in on the game. Lionsgate, for example, offers The Official SAW Escape (what a perfect theme for an escape room) and The Hunger Games: The Exhibition, both in Las Vegas. China’s indoor Lionsgate Entertainment World, billed as “the world’s first vertical theme park,” features attractions such as a “Twilight Saga”-themed dark ride and a roller coaster based on “Gods of Egypt.”
Would you and your gang want to go a place like Wonderverse? What attractions appeal to you? What do you make of the “competitive socializing” trend?
I can see the draw for these types of experiences, as the pandemic really forced a lot of adults into becoming more isolated. I know personally I've had to make a concerted effort to stay engaged socially after moving to remote work. Since that time I've had the opportunity to do some fun competitive socializing events like high-end laser tag and even a giant Nerf gun battle, and they were always a blast.
I'm a HUGE Ghostbusters fan so I'd definitely be all over those VR experiences. I had the opportunity to experience the Ghostbusters VR experience at Madame Tussaud's in NYC nearly a decade ago, and it was really incredible. While VR is a bit less of a novelty now than it was when I first experienced that attraction, I'm hoping these types of places will have the resources to keep it on the cutting edge.
It's going to be interesting to see how these non-park entertainment complexes fare. Really looking forward to getting out there and experiencing some of them.