Yahoo News We Tried It: Disney+'s 'National Treasure' Escape Room Experience — with the Cast on Hand to Solve the Clues
David Jon Photography
If you've ever imagined yourself in one of the National Treasure films, trying to find treasure while also preserving priceless historical artifacts, you can make that dream come true this weekend at the Westfield Century City mall in Santa Monica, California. To celebrate the new Disney+ series National Treasure: Edge of History, the streamer and PEOPLE Magazine teamed up to host a free escape room experience that will puzzle even the most advanced problem-solvers.
Modeled after the upcoming series (which premieres on Disney+ on Dec. 14) the room is a 20-minute endeavor featuring confusing puzzles, coded locks, hidden maps with key clues, and some tricky artifacts meant to throw you off your game, all while you try and retrieve an ancient relic.
And if you think being a die-hard fan or having an "in" helps in solving the mystery, think again. Even stars of the new show — including Lisette Olivera, Lyndon Smith, Jordan Rodrigues, Jake Austin Walker and Antonio Cipriano, who joined me to kick off the experience on Saturday morning — found themselves stumped by a few of the clues.
David Jon Photography
"I realize that I'm not as talented as [her character] Jess Valenzuela at solving puzzles," the series' lead, Lisette Olivera (above) told PEOPLE after playing the game. "The puzzles in the game are very reflective of the puzzles featured in the series. And so are all the books on the wall."
And all that only makes the overall escape room experience that much more thrilling. "It's incredible to be back here and fully live the experience and the anticipation of the series being released," she said. "To see that they've re-created the world we lived is [so fun] and there's nothing like being here with my castmates and trying to officially solve it."
As a PEOPLE editor, I got to join the cast to solve the clues and escape the room. Lyndon and I started off by solving two of the puzzles you have to complete to get to the next level, which helped us get the first tablet.
The other cast members worked together to get the second tablet, which was pretty tricky to find given that the prop we needed to unlock the second lock was right in front of us. All six of us then combined all the clues we had gathered up till that point to try and get the third and final tablet ... and right as we figured it out, the fire alarm went off and we had to be ushered out! (But hey, we can count that as an escape, right?)
David Jon Photography
National Treasure: Edge of History was shot in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Though the original star, Nicolas Cage, isn't featured in season 1, the show's new batch of talent is equally equipped to solve the mysteries of the ancient world.
Along with the cast who attended the escape room Saturday, the show features actors including Zuri Reed, Breeda Wool and Dustin Ingram — as well as Catherine Zeta-Jones, who will be on hand to help the clue crew. Original stars Harvey Keitel as well as Justin Bartha are also reprising their roles as Peter Sadusky and Riley Poole, respectively.
David Jon Photography
The Disney+ National Treasure Escape Room Experience is open Dec. 10 - 11 from 11:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. at Westfield Century City.
