OREM, Utah — Utah has a new immersive experience. Dreamwalk Park at University Place in Orem opened just a few weeks ago, but it's already making waves on social media. "We wanted to have one word that identified what we, who we are, and that word is transport," said Dreamwalk Chief Creative Officer and Co-founder, Ben McPherson. "Our whole goal here is to transport you to another world."
Dreamwalk is where sci-fi, mythology, and filmmaking combine to create an otherworldly experience. Around every corner is something new for your senses to engage with. "I'm a filmmaker and we would build these really amazing sets for movie productions, but as soon as we finished the production the sets would get thrown away and I always thought that was such a waste," McPherson said.
A few years ago, Ben McPherson and local entrepreneur John Pope combined Hollywood ideas with local talent. After three and a half years of hard work their portal is now open.
"We're telling ourselves we love this place, we're super into it, we love being here, is everyone else going to love it? And yeah, we felt like they absolutely would," Pope said.
They were right. Dreamwalk is already sold out some days, and the local sci-fi community has already adopted it as a second home.
"We had this 50-year-old man huge sci-fi fan and he saw our initial portal entry and he actually cried," McPherson said. "He said I've watched all of this sci-fi and I never thought I'd be standing in what I thought was a real sci-fi environment."
Even if sci-fi doesn't bring you to tears, Dreamwalk is still nearly a half-mile of wonder. "You have a portal jumper card that allows you to trigger little readers along the way and then we have a UV decoder wall that basically reveals little clues on the walls," McPherson said.
With another 25,000 square feet of building space, this experience is just the beginning of their dream for Dreamwalk. "Our vision for it is to continually add to it, and refresh, and give something for all ages, bring something they can come back to and enjoy," Pope said. "Every dollar that comes in we're putting it right back into more in this venue."
Dreamwalk is open Monday through Friday 12:00 p.m. -9:00 p.m. and Saturday 9:30 a.m.-9:00 p.m. At University Place in Orem. If you'd like to get tickets you can buy them online at dreamwalkpark.com or buy at the door.
