As escape rooms, family entertainment centers and virtually every other form of “experience” reopen, how quickly will consumers return in pre-pandemic numbers?

The early returns are promising as pent up demand is spurring attendance that so far is meeting or surpassing many operators’ forecasts. But for marquee and flagship locations that rely heavily on tourism and travel to drive consumers through the doors or gates, the recovery may be slower, forcing operators to initially rely on content and programming with “strong local appeal and repeatability,” says Jenefer Brown, EVP and Head of Global Live, Interactive and Location-Based Entertainment (LBE) at Lionsgate Entertainment.

Adapting to New Reality
For the returning customers, the face of LBE is changing as  facilities adopt COVID-19 protocols to a post-pandemic world.

For example, Egan Escape Productions, which operates the three-year-old 10,000-sq.-ft. Saw escape room in Las Vegas and plans to open a 5,000-sq.ft. Blair Witch version there in late July, will continue with hand sanitizers and frequent cleaning in every room. Egan also has eliminated some features such as a “claustrophobic tunnel” in Saw that used air bags to “squeeze” visitors, but could be a potential source for spreading germs, says Jason Egan, CEO of Egan.

Changed Environment
“There is going to be increased demand for immersive and experiential events because entertainment itself is changing,” says Egan. “There has been a lot of problem solving quickly and learning on the fly.  There are certain things I will never use again such as props and displays” that could be prone to spreading germs. “There are many new things you will have to think about and take into your designs.”

Digital technology also is likely to play a “more prominent role” in LBEs given consumers embraced “virtual entertainment” during the months-long global shutdown, says Brown.

Among other experiential developments:

• Operators returned to market expecting two things: More available locations and lower rents, given the shutting of thousands of retail stores during the past year. For the time being, only the former is holding true, says Brown. “There is greater availability due to closures but there also is more competition as potential tenants look to seize opportunities to move into these previously unavailable highly desirable locations,” says Brown. “I imagine in certain areas prices may be going down but we haven’t seen it with respect to key properties in high traffic areas.”
• Merlin Entertainment, which was taken private in 2019 by a group of investors that includes Lego’s founding family, is pushing ahead with experiential projects on several fronts, many focused on Lego. Construction on the $550 million Legoland Shanghai, which includes a 250-room hotel is underway with an opening set for 2024. It also opened Lego Mythica: World of Mythical Creatures on May 29 at its Legoland in Windsor, UK, and Legoland New York in Goshen, NY, the latter delayed from the original July 4, 2020 date. It also plans to open several Madame Tussaud galleries this year inside Legoland parks in China and is adding a new Legoland  in Budapest, Hungary in early 2022 as part of agreement with Dorottya Experience.
• Every Disney theme park is fully reopened for the first time in 17 months, with the return of Disneyland Paris and nearby Walt Disney Studios Park on June 17. The park in Paris added a new “Cars Roadtrip” and this week is opening a new Disney’s Hotel New York – The Art of Marvel. All 12 of Disney’s parks were closed at some point during the pandemic.
• Rembrandt’s Amsterdam, under development for about three years, opened on Saturday (June 19) as a reconstruction of the studio where the artist created his last works. Inside the museum, created by licensee Citysauus, Experiences and Impact, guests will “meet” Rembrandt’s wife Gendrickje, son Titus and daughter Cornelia. Located in Leidseplein, Netherlands, the facility uses video projectors and special effects to re-create 17th-century Amsterdam.
• The struggling American Dream megamall in Meadowlands, New Jersey is showing signs of life. Merlin opened the Sea Life Aquarium and Legoland Discovery Center on June 15, the latter delayed from April 2020. American Dream was closed by the pandemic on March 16, 2020, just three days after its grand opening. The mall also features a Nickelodeon Universe and DreamWorks Water Park which opened in late 2019, but shut down for COVID for more than six months before reopening Oct. 1 .
• Mattel Adventure Park will open in late 2022 as part of the 48-acre Crystal Lagoons entertainment district being built in Glendale, AZ. The facility, which will feature a Hot Wheels-themed rollercoaster and indoor go-karts and a Thomas & Friends indoor area, is Mattel’s first branded park. (Thomas also is licensed to Edaville Family Fun Center for an 11-ride, 11.5-acre area in Carver, MA – a holdover from before Mattel bought HIT Entertainment.
• Construction has resumed on Universal Orlando Resort’s 750-acre Epic World, which will feature a Super Nintendo World when it opens “in a couple years,” NBCUniversal CEO Jeff Shell said last week. Universal Studios Hollywood, Los Angeles, CA, also opened at full capacity June 15 for the first time since being shutdown by the pandemic a year ago.  “There’s pent up demand and clearly for those of us who have been in the house, we want to get out and do all sorts of things and we’re seeing that, Shell said.