The Walking Dead Escape finally shambled its way into New York City on October 12th. My brother-in-law (conveniently named Glen) and I decided to test our steel against the undead. Interestingly, I ran this while sick, so I got to test Brad Pitt’s WWZ invisibility theory…like I need to tell you that he was wrong, but anyway…he was.
We took the train into Grand Central, which turned out to a be great warm up with plenty of questionable folk to dodge on our way to the course. Granted the nerdly powers of the cosmos had aligned to create an even stranger scene than usual in NYC. Not only were people in Rick costumes (some gold spandex) roaming the streets, but you also had metal heads for the Five Finger Death Punch show dodging grown men and women in Sailor Moon costumes who had just left NYC Comic Con. All in all it made for a fun atmosphere and definitely one where I felt that I wouldn’t be judged for being a grown man and father who was preparing to flee from hordes of pretend zombies. Besides, this could kind of count as field research for the next Zombie Youth installment…maybe even warrant a tax write off? (Zombies as a tax write off? Â Yeah I really feel old now…)
I can claim him as a dependent, right?
TWD Escape made sure to tell everyone arrive 45 minutes early, which seemed a bit much and was, but the time in line made for some interesting people watching. Honestly, we expected to see more people dressed up in character – especially with Comic Con going on right around the corner, but nonetheless we still had out share of Ricks and Shanes. Even a few ultra militant survivors that longed for their Air Soft firearms could be found. Our group even had its very own Tyrese, complete with a framing hammer made out of tin foil, black duct tape and a turkey baster (I know, it kind of sounds like something kinky from 50 shades). But who knows, maybe zombies are terrified of turkey basters?
A few of our fellow survivors at TWD Escape…some more prepared than others.
Spirits were high in line, but the closer survivors got, the quieter they got. We passed through the metal detectors in an eerie silence.
The hour we had in line proved entertaining. All survivors had plans or strategies. Some joined up in groups and promised to stay together ‘no matter what’, but everyone was in good spirits. Later in the night I watched one of these plucky bands of survivors completely abandon both their promises and leader as he was pushed into a wall and attacked by three Walkers.
Having a real ‘Glen’, I felt we would do ok on our own and we opted not to join up with any other survivors. Besides, every online zombie survival quiz I’ve taken seems to indicate that my people skills border on those of a sociopath, so they were probably better off without me.
As we waited in the shadow of the USS Intrepid all we could talk about was how cool it would be have part of the course on the deck of the aircraft carrier but how that would never happen. We all felt fairly certain with it being a museum and our government being ineffective and shutdown, that there was no way we were going to be allowed up there.
 
It began to get dark and our wave was called up to sign in for our boarding passes. The storyline for The Walking Dead Escape is basically that we are in the early days of the outbreak, the government is trying to evacuate NYC and we need to get processed before being loaded onto a ferry and taken to safety. The EVAC passes were an unexpected and cool bit of nerd swag to get, especially with the map of the aircraft carrier on the back.
EVAC Pass and Map
After being processed we were loaded in a chain link corral where “FEMA” workers detailed the plan and dangers that would face us. They also had a few Walkers, tied up of course, to show us what the infected would look like. Of course those tied up Walkers got loose and began attacking people. Panic unused, people began shoving and screaming, the fence fell or opened and it was time to run.
On a side note, the Walkers’s make-up, while not as good as those on the show, was still far better than anything found in your typical haunted house and more than enough to make the zombies believable. Furthermore, the people who signed up to be Walkers had to show up at least 2 hours early for make-up and Walker classes.
The obstacle course was split into four different sections, but none that really stood out as being distinct from the others, aside from one, but we’ll get to that. Now this is not to say that the course was somehow a let down because it most definitely was not. Some survivors, dressed in their Saturday night best, had shown up with the expectation that TWD Escape was going to be little more than a light hearted TWD themed haunted house and clearly had plans to hit up a few bars after it was over. They were wrong, oh so very wrong.
From the first leg where we were wind sprinting out of the FEMA enclosure it became apparent to everyone that this was not going to be your basic zombie run or laughable haunted house. It was dark. People were screaming. Soldiers were yelling that you were going to die. There were machine guns, sirens and oh yeah, zombies. Those aspects were more than enough to convince me to run. Now sandwich all of the aforementioned insanity between obstacles like Walker filled school busses, giant five foot metal stairs, blood and limb filled cages to crawl through and everything else you could think of and TWD has created one hell of an obstacle course.
Scrambling through the first tunnel-like cage, I had the joy of sliding around on blood soaked cardboard, which made for the very uncomfortable debate between Glen and I over how much of the blood was fake. Eventually I smelled it, it was sweet and we cautiously agreed that it had to be corn syrup.
After working our way through a few more legs of the course we were directed up a large set of stairs. Reaching the top we realized that the third leg of the course took place on the actual deck of the USS Intrepid. I have no idea how they go permission to do this, especially with the shutdown and all, but we found ourselves dodging Walkers and running like hell across the top of an aircraft carrier, complete with jets and helicopters.
Running across the Intrepid with the NY nighttime skyline as a backdrop was amazing. It was difficult to not stop and take it all in, but the Walkers gave you plenty of motivation to keep moving. This part alone made the entire experience worth it. Unless TWD Escape returns to NYC, which I certainly hope it does, I feel pretty damn confident saying that no other zombie obstacle course, even other TWD Escapes, will include a real life aircraft carrier leg.
Following the aircraft carrier leg of our run we were directed into the decontamination tent where government scientists yelled and flashed lights while checking us for signs of infection.
No one was really sure how infection was determined. Maybe the Walkers had something on their hands that showed up under the black lights? Maybe it was just totally random? Either way, I survived somehow and was directed to run through a morgue area where Walkers were spilling out of bloody body bags. Glen was not as lucky.
I waited outside the tent for Glen. He had been marked as infected, taken into a side room and shot in the head. He emerged from the tent in good spirits, but now sporting a giant bloody hole in the center of his head.
Glen will be mourned and his bravery forever remembered…
After collecting my recently ‘sanitized’ brother-in-law we were given limited edition TWD Escape NYC posters. The survivors were also given a chance to sign on as Walkers for the rest of the night. Being sweaty and bloody (some real, some not) we opted to head home. But trust me when I say that if you get the chance to run through TWD Escape do it! It’s a little pricier than your usual Halloween haunted house, but completely worth it!
Limited Edition TWD Escape NYC Poster.
Twenty minutes of video have been cut down to seven because let’s be honest, no one wants to listen to me curse and wheeze for any longer than that. The video was filmed from a chest mounted camera, not a head mount, so no, I don’t move my head like the dad from Growing Pains while running, at least not that I’m aware of. Enjoy!
