Located in the mountain town of Pigeon Forge, Tennessee, Crave Golf Club opened 2017 with a roster of mini-bowling and two candy-themed 19-hole mini golf courses. Now, the 18,500sft venue has welcomed two new escape rooms – installed by Creative Works.
Creative Works met Chucky Blalock, owner of Crave, TopJump and Lumberjack Feud, back in August 2016 at the LaserTAG360 conference, where attendees learn all aspects of operating an FEC. Shortly after, Blalock purchased a Hologate Virtual Reality system from Creative Works for their TopJump trampoline park.
After working with Blalock at TopJump, Creative Works has continued to provide solutions. At Crave, there was a milkshake bar that the team felt was an underutilized space. To maximize the ROI and create a high throughput in this small footprint, Creative Works provided two 30 minute autonomous escape rooms.
Autonomous escape rooms are self-guided and auto-resetting, which makes them easy to operate and maximizes efficiency. “We like the autonomous self-resetting rooms because it keeps our labour costs low, and our guests don’t have to wait for someone to reset the rooms,” explained Crave VP of Marketing, Josh Mayberry.
“The 30 minute escape room fits better with everything else we have here at Crave Golf Club,” added Mayberry. “Our courses normally take around 45 min to complete, and bowling is normally 20-30 minutes depending on the family size. Although the 60 minute experiences are great, the 30 minute rooms require less of a time commitment, and they have a lower price point for the guest.”
Crave chose two different themes, Mayday and Zombie Research Lab. In Mayday, participants embark on a submarine adventure but soon face danger when a system malfunctions and they must solve clues to escape before the freezing water floods and sinks the submarine. In Zombie Research Lab, players must find an antidote to the Zombyte virus before the infected horde overruns them.
“We wanted to have 2 very different types of rooms so they would attract different people. The combo of them makes it easy for customers to do both rooms and have a different experience in each.”
The new escape rooms have been a hit at Crave. “We have received great reviews from our customers so far,” said Mayberry. “If you have an FEC and want something that has a small footprint, but can create great revenue, I would recommend these 30 [minute] escape room experiences.”
