For my third and final
cultural report I decided to take place in the zombie apocalypse. Weren't expecting that were you? By way
of zombie apocalypse I mean that I took part in an event that recreated moments
from the popular TV show the Walking Dead. The event was call the Walking Dead
Escape Tour and it took part at Reliant Stadium in Houston, Texas. The event
only comes to a state once before it moves on to another so I knew this would
be a one in a lifetime experience, and it was!
So my report today is going to be
over the destination and the experience more so than the actual journey. Since
the location I went to is a rather common attraction destination, I feel it is
not pertinent to this report to detail the forty-five minute drive up I-10 to
Reliant Stadium. For those who have never been to Reliant Stadium it is
situated in downtown Houston right next to the Astrodome, the former stadium of
Houston. The building itself is over 1.9 million sq. feet consisting of several
floors.
For the event, I brought my
girlfriend, Shannon, with me so that we could both share in this experience. We
had purchase tickets to take part as a “Walker” or zombie for the duration of
the event which lasted several hours. As a “Walker” we received a zombie
makeover from the professional makeup artists from the TV show. Once we were
all made over we were given a safety speech in which it was stated that it
would be frowned upon that we actually bite someone however they informed us
that if we scare someone so badly that they actually throw up then we are doing
a good job. Once the event started the roughly 300 people who registered to be
a walker were split up into groups and spread throughout an immense obstacle course
that covered much of reliant stadiums interior. The course from end to end was
1.2 miles of walking distance, so there was a lot of walking involved. Once the
event started our objective was to infect by touch the survivors or non-zombies
as they attempt to make it through the course. While there were only around 300
walkers in the first way there was well over 2000+ survivors as anyone could
buy a ticket for a survivor at the front gate of the stadium. That being said
there was a lot of people running through this course and it was interesting to
see how dedicated people were to this event. You had people who were dressed up
in full army gear/military gear as they ran through the course. Many people had
head cameras to film the entire event as they ran through the course as well.
Overall the event was an amazing
experience and if it ever comes back to Texas I would highly recommend it to
anyone who is a fan of zombies. The event was for all age groups so anyone
could participate.
