Posted on: December 8, 2024, 01:41h.
Last updated on: December 8, 2024, 01:41h.
One new attraction recently opened at AREA15, the four-year-old entertainment hub jamming with rides, arcade machines, VR experiences, bars, restaurants and shops. And new intel has just dropped about two more planned for a 20-acre new expansion that AREA-15 calls “District 2.”
AREA15 previously announced The John Wick Experience, an interactive attraction based on the popular Keanu Reeves action movies, and Universal Horror Unleashed, the 110K square-foot anchor tenant of a new 20-acre expansion that will mark the first permanent horror experience created by Universal Studios outside its theme parks. Both are expected to open sometime next year.
Interstellar Arc
Opening: Fall 2025
Felix & Paul Studios broke ground just last week on a 20,000 square-foot venue to house the spaceport for a spaceflight simulator that will whisk adventurers away on what it describes as a “26th-century deep space mission across the far reaches of the cosmos.”
Felix & Paul was also behind Space Explorers, which won an Emmy in 2021 for Best Interactive Program. The largest immersive production ever filmed in space, that attraction is currently docked in Houston, after having toured China, Singapore and Charlotte, North Carolina.
Since Space Explorers and its predecessor, Artemis Ascending, were both virtual reality experiences, Interstellar Arc is expected to follow suit.
“I have followed the work of Felix & Paul Studios for the past decade,” said Vince Kadlubek, chief vision officer and co-founder of Meow Wolf, whose Omega Mart art project anchors the original AREA15 warehouse. “I am thrilled to welcome like-minded creators as they bring their visionary storytelling to our shared space of boundary-pushing experiences.”
Superplastic’s Dopeameme Institute for Pleasure Research
Open now
Operating for two weeks, this attraction brings to life the countercultural vinyl toy brand masterminded by Paul Budnitz.
Superplastic has achieved TikTok superstardom via quirky videos starring Janky (a mischievous, cat-like creature) and Guggimon (a tall rabbit with a shark-toothed grin).
The AREA15 attraction blends art and technology into a 30-minute adventure in which visitors engage with Budnitz’s animated universe via a series of connected rooms boasting high-tech visuals and challenges engineered to stimulate actual dopamine rushes.
Tickets, $35, are available here.
What Else?
During an interview with KNPR’s “State of Nevada” on Friday, AREA15 CEO Winston Fisher revealed that the plans for District 2 also include a “psychedelic carousel” drop ride.
Unfortunately, he didn’t elaborate on that experience, but said to expect 20 acres packed with “micro amusement rides and experiences.”
Fisher and his brothers (Ken and Steven) bought the 80 acres in 2005 that they plan to fully develop in collaboration with New York-based Beneville Studios.
So far, AREA15 takes up 15 of those acres. And, even after the company’s 20-acre 2025 expansion, that still leaves 45 acres for additional entertainment and the 585 multifamily housing units, 418K square feet of retail and dining, 320K square feet of office space, and the 200 hotel rooms Fisher expects open by the time the Immersive District reaches full capacity in 2037.
In August, the Las Vegas City Council voted to designate these 80 acres as the world’s first immersive tourism district. The district is expected to welcome 3.5 million guests each year, with $796 million in annual on-site spending.
“I really see it as a spark that’s going to bring that area of Ward 3 to life, and further revitalize it,” councilmember Olivia Diaz, who represents the ward, said at the time.
Despite the optimistic projections, however, AREA15 announced layoffs just last month, “to address evolving marketplace conditions,” according to a company statement. In addition to the layoffs, Dan Pelson, hired as its New York-based chief operating officer in 2019, left the now Las Vegas-based company.
