Area 15: Getting Lost in a World of Wonder
Area 15 is an immersive entertainment and events complex here in Las Vegas. It’s a giant warehouse/bunker-like space with a variety of attractions, including art installations, restaurants, lounges, and VR experiences. It’s only partially complete – other attractions, such as a Meow Wolf exhibition, will be opening in 2021.
I was initially hesitant about going to check it out due to the pandemic. However, after seeing they were limiting capacity and enforcing masks and social distancing, I felt more comfortable. Once I was there, I realized because it’s such a large space, there is plenty of room to spread out. It was also fairly empty.
The first section we explored was the sculpture garden, which is just outside the Area 15 entrance. This area had some really cool outdoor art installations.
After we finished exploring the sculpture garden, we checked in at the entrance. It’s free to enter and you pre-register for a ticket online. Once there, you only pay for the experiences you’re interested in. If you aren’t interested in any of the experiences, you can still walk around and explore.
On one hand, their pricing model is convenient because you only pay for what you’re interested in. On the flip side, if you wanted to do everything, the costs would definitely add up. That being said, I could see myself coming back and trying out different experiences over time. I do hope they look at bundling some of them.
We spent most of our time walking around and checking out the different shops and art. One of the shops, Rocket Fizz, is a novelty soda and candy shop. There is also some pretty amusing supermarket-themed art outside the entrance of the Meow Wolf exhibition.
One thing that really struck me about this space is how artsy and futuristic everything looks, and how it’s set up to facilitate both solo and group adventures. Also, even though some of the attractions were closed, there were plenty of opportunities to interact with the environment. There were medicine cabinets on the wall that you could open up to discover various works of art. There were also designated selfie spots for taking photos.
There were 5 open experiences in addition to a few restaurants and shops. We decided to check out the Gallerie 360 show ($20, includes 1 drink) and Brainstorm ($8.50) experiences.
The Gallerie 360 room is a projection mapped space with an immersive visual arts and music show. We watched a 30 minute program. I would say the show we watched felt more like a demo intended to show the capabilities of what this space could be.
The Brainstorm experience was pretty interesting. Apparently, this machine scans your brain waves and projects them onto this giant brain. This giant brain “talks” to you and asks you a series of questions. Supposedly, what you see is your brain wave activity responding. A voice told me to smile, and and then told me my brain waves indicated my smile wasn’t real. I was also told to envision what cookie most resembled my personality. I just imagined something sparkly, and then was told to imagine someone telling me I’m most like a Snickerdoodle. I laughed at this, and was told my brain waves indicated I was amused. At the end, you are shown a recording of your brain waves set to music.
Overall, I had a great time, and would recommend checking it out if you’re already living in Las Vegas. However, if you plan on visiting, I would recommend waiting until next year when there are more attractions open (and hopefully not a global pandemic).
