The Gate is Open at Evermore
So, Evermore Park. You know the one. That park that people in Utah have been seeing and hearing about on the outskirts of nerdom and yet no one really knows what it is? Yes, that one. It's finally open! And I have officially been. Okay, I only went to the soft opening, but it was enough of a teaser, that I am legitimately curious and I plan on going back.
A couple things I wish I had known and that all guests should know:
1) You don't have to dress up - buuuuut, if you do dress up, you'll finally get to wear those awesome earrings that you've been holding onto because they're too wild to wear to work. And it just makes the experience feel more fun. Not that I really dressed up...unless you count Viking hair and make-up. #VikingHeritage
2) You don't have to be in character - thank heavens, because even though I attempted to dress up (and I mean this loosely...I did my hair and make-up and wore a poncho hoodie), I do not have a fantasy character on retainer in my repertoire.
3) You do have to assume the characters/actors are actually residents of Evermore - while I appreciate that I didn't have to talk in an accent all night (that would have been disastrous), you do have to talk to the workers like they are actually their characters. The workers are really good at not breaking character, even when visitors get a little snarky (I'm looking at myself here...I'm not good at this LARPing thing, okay?). But I actually know one of the girls who works there and I got all excited and went to talk to her...she shut me down fast and totally stayed in character the whole time, which was impressive.
4) My key phrases for navigating Evermore - Asking the characters who they are is always an easy ice breaker. Make some small talk with, "How are you doing?" "What do you think of what's going on here?" And basically just try to get them to tell you their little snippet of backstory. Then go in for the key phrase that saved me a lot of bumbling, "I'm so sorry it's been so hard. Can I do anything to help?" And bam. You've got your quest.
5) It's really fun to wander, but know that you might be walking into the middle of a quest - Evermore is a beautiful park with great scenery and by golly, there were several times we'd be walking and I'd see something and we'd have to deviate. This might be because I'm impatient and curious all wrapped into one. The point is, it's okay to do that, no one is going to get mad or anything, but chances are you'll be doubling back later when you realize that there's actually a specific quest to go talk to the vampires in the catacombs and you missed that quest earlier because you decided that walking into a creepy building seemed like a good idea.
6) Hit up the archery fast - that place gets a line fast, probably because its the easiest thing to navigate. Oh, and it's just fun. Time it right, though, and you can shoot several times and even get pointers from the Ranger who runs it.
7) Try to remember the names - maybe write them in your phone? Morgan and I were taking lots of videos, so we could go back and reference them when we needed to. However, I did make the mistake of calling Sloan the Satyr by the wrong name (can we all agree that Faldo the Faun has a better ring to it, though? I knew it had alliteration, I just went with the wrong term...), and boy, he seemed irate about it. Also, people you meet will reference people you've already met or people you should meet, so it gets confusing if you don't take a moment to refresh on names occasionally.
8) Smile and laugh - seriously, you're going to attempt to get in character and say something ridiculous, like, "His blood probably does taste weird because he's been drinking some weird stuff." Just go with it. You'll have fun if you just laugh. Don't worry too much about doing every little quest, just do what seems fun to you. I saw some people have been complaining about how expensive it is (we paid the early bird pricing of $29 a ticket), but for the experience, that's actually pretty cheap. I mean, a lot of haunted houses are that expensive. Goodness knows, there are plenty of theme and amusements parks that far MORE expensive. So let go, laugh, and go back. I know I plan to.
Best Lines of the Night
"Why did you give me earrings that attack me?"
"She has Viking heritage. That's why her hair's so awesome."
Morgan: "She has good ears on her."
Me: "Can you even see her ears?"
"That dead guy wants to dance with you."
