UNDEAD IN THE WATER makes their first appearance in 2018 aboard the WWII 1945 American Victory ship in Tampa Bay. While home to haunted attractions previously, there is a new team involved for 2018 bringing UNDEAD to life. The creative team has done a lot of work to bring their vision to life, and hopes to continue expanding and developing it as the season and years continue. They have laid a good foundation to begin building upon and polishing into a great haunt. Board the ship in order to survive the zombie outbreak of Tampa Bay, however, it seems it may be too late, as some zombies have rumored to find their way onboard already.
Cast for UNDEAD IN THE WATER supports a broad demographic, including many young actors and a few more advanced performers (including the Captain and his zombification, and a young man on the open deck featuring neat airbrushed makeup on his face and bare torso, providing aggressive scares with strong follow through). Since a lot of the performers were local volunteers with minimal haunt experience, more advanced scare tactics are still being developed and directed. A few performer bags and personal items were visible while walking through the attraction, and could be hidden or covered better to maintain the illusion of the story and themes. Frequently scares would lack follow through, and character would be dropped after the initial jump scare was attempted, and the performers would reset before Guests had exited the room. There are of course instances where performers did have strong follow through and aggressive performance, providing good scares, including the first few rooms with strong performers behind large nets providing dynamic scares. The young lady in the first room welcoming Guests aboard does a great job of providing story, realization, and panic, though needs to continue until Guests have completely moved to the next room and are involved with the next actor(s). The team at UNDEAD IN THE WATER indicated that performer count was low on the night Team Giraffic Shark visited, so it seems as though there would be less dead spots when all performers are present.
UNDEAD IN THE WATER had some nautical costumes to match their theme, but there were plenty of generic costumes as well, and some pieces that stuck out, including a pristine white ‘Under Armour’ branded shirt, and other items breaking the illusion of character. Makeup was well done, featuring airbrushed detail with UV effects, including some neat transformative makeup applications, which react differently under the ambient light vs the UV flashlights.
Customer Service was high quality at UNDEAD. Between the security staff, ticket staff, and everyone else, the entire team was informative, friendly and helpful. A portion of the creative team was stationed at the exit thanking Guests for attending, and gathering feedback, initial thoughts, and gauging scares upon exit in order to continue improving their attraction.
Any raised thresholds, stairs, and other potential trip hazards have been adequately lit, painted, and marked to keep Guests safe aboard the ship. Parking is paid, and not designated for the haunt only. Most reasonable parking seems to be at the Florida Aquarium lot, at $6, but other garages, street parking, and other options exist, though they can be hard to come by, especially on nights with other nearby events. Note that the ship is docked behind the aquarium, as it can be difficult to locate, though some signs have been placed around the area, labeled ‘Zombie Escape Ship.’ Portable restrooms and paid concessions are available on location as well.
UNDEAD has the perfect setting, as it takes place on an actual ship, fully visible before boarding, with screams and sounds echoing onto the dock before you enter. In the future, more lighting could be added (including more on the side of the ship) along with a more robust soundtrack to provide a spooky setting on the dock to increase anticipation prior to boarding the ship.
UNDEAD, besides its visually exciting finale scene, relies on simple effects and scenes to add to the architecture of the ship in aiding the theme. UV reactive paint has been added all over the ship creating fun things to illuminate with the UV flashlights, including threatening messages along with messages of distress, and splatters, smears, and other painted effects. Some physical scenic pieces have been added on the deck of the ship, though this could increase to give performers more places to hide and work with when scaring.
The kitchen featured a cool concept with a translucent plastic tarp wall splattered with UV plant, undulating in the breeze, however the recycled snack jars with UV liquid could be amplified with other props to develop a story or theme, though fun to look at as they glow bright in the center of the room. After discussing with some of the creative team, it seems as though they have big ideas for adding to the concept and execution for next year, including more effects, details, and scenic pieces to add to the experience.
SFX Effective at Scaring, Entertaining (35% of score): 8.25
Could Tell What Theme Was Without Asking (15% of score): 8.75
Theme Well Executed, Believable (25% of score): 8.75
Location Authenticates Theme (10% of score): 9.75
How Scary (15% of score): 8
UNDEAD establishes their theme very well with well-produced videos placed throughout the queue, though upon entering the attraction, the story doesn’t seamlessly continue through the entire attraction. These videos do provide good story as well as something to enjoy while waiting in the queue on the dock and once boarding the ship. Cast could be provided with more detailed, and story-based scripting to help continue the theme, including details outlined in the queue videos to create a more cohesive experience.
UNDEAD has several good scare moments, taking advantage of the effects they have added to the ship along with the natural layout and features to provide scares. As Cast continues to develop, scares will improve, and with more performers added, actors can be placed in more corners, rooms, nooks and crannies to add to the intensity of the walk through, adding to the feeling that there may be something in any of the rooms and around every corner, as far too many were vacant to create the anticipation needed. More automated sound effects could also have this same effect, and perhaps more fog and disorienting special effects to make up for amount of performers available, should staffing challenges continue.
As it currently stands, UNDEAD IN THE WATER is a great attraction for families with older brave kids, providing some good scares, while being a fun walk through with tense moments and anticipation for all.
705 Channelside Drive, Tampa, Florida 33602