At the edge of the East River sits a warehouse that has the power to transport you through time and space to the year 1984 in the town of Hawkins. Co-produced by Netflix and Fever, Stranger Things: The Experience is an immersive adventure where participants will have a chance to interact with some of their favorite characters, visit iconic locations from the show, and maybe discover some latent psychic abilities.
Co-produced by Netflix and Fever, the event is hosted in the Duggal Greenhouse, which is a retrofitted WWII ship facility with 35,000 sq. ft. of space and has been impressively transformed into the Hawkins National Laboratory where the MKUltra experiments opened the portal to the Upside Down.
“The rift is open, and we’re excited that our Stranger Things fans will get to jump into the magic once more,” said Greg Lombardo, Head of Experiences at Netflix. “This time they will take on the challenges themselves and work alongside Eleven, Mike, and the rest of the gang to fight the evil monsters plaguing Hawkins. As Dustin would say, you always say we should never stop being curious, to always open any curiosity door we find.”
So what will happen to you if you do decide to brave a visit to the Lab?
Become a Test Subject
Well, you will join other “Test Subjects”, as visitors are dubbed, and be led into a small intake area where you receive wristbands denoting your test group. From there a Hawkins Public Relations officer will get the group settled and introduce the doctor who will go over the sleep study—apparently there’s been an uptick in nightmares and sleep-related issues in Hawkins, and the lab is dedicated to getting to the bottom of the mystery as to why. The presentation will occasionally be interrupted by technical difficulties caused by Eleven, but it’s all quietly brushed under the rug as everyone is shuffled off to a testing lab.
Discover Your Latent Abilities
In the laboratory, the test subjects are split into three groups, and their problem solving skills will be challenged with different types of puzzles. A technician leads the testing and will ask the groups to perform tasks using only their minds. Through some impressive feats of physical and video trickery you’ll make things move, collapse, and appear around the room. Satisfied that there are psychically sensitive individuals among the test subjects, Dr. Brenner will appear and inform you that you’ve been selected to do something more “interesting” than just a simple sleep study.
The technician will lead you to another room to await your new program. As you mill around wondering just what it is they have in store for you, Dustin and Erica will arrive to ask for your help. Something is terribly wrong at Hawkins Labs and, not only will you need to escape, but you’ll have to rescue Max and Eleven. The kids will guide you to a control room where, using your newfound psychic powers, you’ll have to help them infiltrate the security systems.
Here’s where the experience really kicks it up a notch. Demodogs are loose in the facility and the glass security doors can only hold out against them for so long. Once again tapping into your mind powers, you’ll need to rip a hole in reality and enter the Upside Down to escape.
The Upside Down
You need to push your way through the strange membrane between universes in an unexpectedly visceral moment during the adventure, but once through you’ll find yourself in the creepy forest of the Upside Down. Here you’ll need to help defend Max from Demodogs and worse in a 3D action sequence that really makes you feel as if the creatures are coming straight for you. Thankfully, Eleven will use her powers to help fight the star-faced beasts and, with your combined powers, close the rift between worlds.
Now Time to Buy Some Merch!
After your narrow escape from the alternate dimension of doom, you’ll be released into a retail hub where you can buy merchandise, enjoy snacks like a USS Butterscotch sundae at Scoops Ahoy, take pictures at iconic locations, play arcade games, and perhaps have an up close encounter with the Demogorgon.
The visual and practical effects used within the experience are very well done and, so long as you can suspend your disbelief (avoid looking up as the open ceiling will remind you that you are in a warehouse and not a psychic with insomnia trying to escape a laboratory filled with interdimensional dogs that want to eat your face), the experience really does an excellent job of providing an immersive trip through the weird world of Stranger Things.
Tickets to the NYC Stranger Things: The Experience are limited and prices start at $54 per person and can be booked at strangerthings-experience.com/newyork. You can expect the show portion of the experience to take about 45minutes. Fans can follow @strangerthings.experience on Instagram for more photos and info about the experience.
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