Emptyland, formerly Empty-earth, is a location accessible through the Portal. It is made up of several territories that can be accessed one after another. The portal to Emptyland is a reward from a series of quests, which can be found in the Companions tab in your Quest Book and are marked with a key on a green shield. The quests can be found in the Companions tab in your Quest Book and are marked with a theme: Rebuild the Portal, access Emptyland, A Hole in the Universe, A Matter of Principle, Surprise for the… These lands are needed to build the Gardens of Babylon and some recipes also use the first 5 lands for materials. Emptyland and Dwarfville are extra lands that can be unlocked and used. When you unlock them, you can free up your main land.
Knights & Brides is an Energy and Resource management Adventure game developed by Vizor Interactive Ltd. This guide is based on the Plinga version of the game and is an independent product of fan labor. The game has 375,115 likes and 1,499 talking about it. The official fan page for Knights & Brides is 375,115 likes and 1,499 talking about it.
The game also includes a FAQ section, where players can ask questions and find answers to frequently asked questions. The game also features three portals, Purple, Sienna, and Mint, which provide special resources needed for upgrading buildings. The portal to Emptyland and Dwarfville is earned in the Questline with a key on a green shield.
📹 This $12 Million Dollar Waterfall Mansion Has Secret Underwater Tunnels
Based within the state of Kansas is the city of Lake Quivira. There, is the location of a unique property that caught the eye of the …
📹 Evermore: The Theme Park That Wasn’t
The word of the video is “theoretical.” References and further reading: https://www.jennywebsite.com/evermore-references Special …
It’s like a mini-Disneyland Sleeping Beauty Castle with a gigantic grotto scuba diving pool to die for, no pun intended. When Dennis Langley, the owner didn’t survive a fall pruning trees on his estate his widow, Lyn put it on auction. Built for an estimated 30 million dollars it sold in auction for an astonishing loss at 2.5 million dollars. These kinds of homes aren’t the type that people rush out to buy. Whoever bought it is going to make up the difference in cost with the upkeep which I’d guess might run a million a year.
Cant believe I’m just seeing this article!!! This is literally 10 mins away from me in Shawnee, Kansas. The massive home is located in the outskirts of a private lake called Lake Quavira. After the man passed in 2017 there was many talks of how the house would sell and I still don’t know how much it sold for or what the use for it is now. Awesome article!!
A lot of great content here but where do you pull out these cost figures from?? “Experts say…” that this scuba grotto with massive waterfall, hi-tech pumping system etc can cost upwards of $50,000. I don’t know who your talking to, but where I’m from in New York, $50,000 will buy you a nice “ordinary”-ish pool with a modest patio area. Granted cost in Kansas will be cheaper, but no way that thing is just $50k.
So, if someone buys this for $3-5 million or whatever, does it get reassessed in terms of tax value? Because it would be ridiculous to charge someone as if the house was still worth $30 million, it’s clearly not. On the other hand… if someone bought this huge mansion for $5 million, then paid property taxes on it as if it were a $5 million house, that would actually be a pretty sweet deal. Sucks for the original owner, they kinda get screwed every direction, but the second owner would get a huge house without the crazy taxes. Anybody know how this works?
Man to friends; “I just bought a beautiful multimillion dollar mansion, with a swimming pool and waterfall so elaborate you can scuba dive in that sucker. You guys are welcome to visit whenever you want, my door is always open.” Friends to man; “Sounds perfect! Where is it located?” Man to friends; “It’s in Kansas.” Friends to man; “… ” And they wonder why they had to drop the price. 🤣🤣🤣🤣
This is wondrous, but in the middle of Kansas, I don’t think so. ( I lived in Wichita.) In the Florida Keys, sure. On the east or west coast of Florida, sure. Otherwise, not so much or any at all. I read the posts below this prior to offering my opinion. I agree with you. This is fairly certainly the result of corruption. So, vote better or show other people how to do so.
Why not open it to public to visit and put and entrance fee to it…its good for sight seeing.. Its a good place to explore i can pay entrance fee just to visit this property…just saying because the tax you paid every month is alot to say + the people maintaining this property sure is alot to pay dollars…
$13k a month taxes?? If i was rich enough to own a house like that it wouldn’t be in the USA. Seems to me you’re only renting it off the government, being charged taxes like that in a country with no shortage of land?. Hong Kong or Singapore maybe for house like that but in the Mid West US? gtfoh with that.
Being afraid to quit your job where you’re being abused, overworked, and endangered for little to no money cause you don’t want to risk making a suicidal park guest you’re forced to talk to everyday feel abandoned is genuinely one of the scariest and most horrible things I can imagine a person having to live with.
Building a Satyr version of the springlock suits from FNAF, causing an employee to get severely wounded in the legs, and then releasing a company email telling employees to blame the Dark Elves and ending with a bad joke about the performers injury is still one of the craziest things that I have ever seen.
I’m a photographer, and last year we photographed a wedding. It was held in the hobbit house in the back. They had elderly and out of town guests. Just getting them to the proper building in the back. The guests were wandering and lost, and a lot of them started asking me questions because the event person sat in the very front building almost the whole day. My partner and I probably walked at least 5 miles that day lol The bathroom and the restaurant are at the front. So some of the older guests were having to hike back and forth and getting lost on the way. The worst was the issue with the restaurant. After we did group photos and formals, they walked to the restaurant, and guests were still sitting around waiting to be seated. Apparently there was not communication to The restaurant that there was a wedding and they did not hire enough staff. The staff was running around so stressed I felt bad. And they also had the regular guests eating. So basically we were waiting for the dinner to wrap so we could get ready to photograph the reception. This usually takes about 30-45 ish minutes on most of our wedding. 2 hours later, some people were STILL waiting to be served. So the parents of the couple and some family actually left, went and got food at another restaurant down the street, ate and came back and some of their family was still waiting. The couple had to start the reception because it was getting so late that it was getting dark. I think some people went to get food outside the park and didn’t bother to come back.
As an actress, thank you so so much for mentioning your concerns with the actor’s mental health. Characters in parks is still, in the history of theme parks, relatively newer and its important that we have more conversations about boundaries and mental health with such performers, as all too often its overlooked as part of the job or not mattering as long as guests are happy.
So I actually got to see Josh Steadman, the Director of Show Design (that guy on the podcast at the end of the article) present at a panel about themed entertainment at ComicCon this past year. Not two minutes into his introduction, he mentions working on Evermore and says “but I guess people would rather listen to girls wearing elf ears on YouTube than actually visit the park, so…” with the added bonus of showing THE SAME MAGIC TREE CONCEPT ART. I’m so happy I watched the girl with elf ears first 😂
Gambling Goblin should carry a set (or two) of loaded dice, as well as a variety of trinkets–bracelets, necklaces, rings, that sort of thing. Then, when he makes his “bets” with the other guests, he should say things like “I’m usually quite skilled at gambling” or “I’ve been having a bad streak lately, but I feel my luck is about to change.” Then he bets against the dice. And loses. Every time. It’s a fun experience. It can be a quest. The guest is guaranteed to get some sort of prize out of it, but they feel like they’ve bested the Goblin in some sort of way.
I’ve been conceptualizing a Franz Kafka theme park for a while now, and I think that Evermore provides the perfect model. Quests with no discernable purpose, characters providing conflicting or erroneous information, the impression that everything that happens is part of some larger story that no one is actually privy to… It’s genius.
the unfinished chapel is BAFFLING to me. there are so many extremely cheap ways to finish it enough to make it not break immersion, without even having to finish the inside. just off the top of my head, and drawing from the research I did for making my own halloween props: option 1: paint the plywood black, so it at least gives the impression of a dark interior. also slap some grey paint over the logos visible on the exterior option 2: board up the windows with cheap 2x4s so it at least looks “spooky old building” boarded up instead of “ran out of money” boarded up. all it takes is water, paint, and paper towels if you want to put in a little more effort and weather the boards. you can get wooden pallets for literally dirt cheap option 3: same as the first option, but assuming you have a little more money, you could put red, orange, or green lights inside so that they shine through the boards and look spooky and nefarious all the wasted potential and misplaced effort is so frustrating. the chapel is the first thing you see when you walk in! its fine if it’s just for show, just make it look good! their order of priories is just baffling. I wish I could visit the version of this park that exists only in that buzzfeed article
As a person who works for a University (for now) and has to deal with a lot of higher-up Tech-People: Most of them are 1. Evil, in the sense that they dont understand basic human limits/rights and 2. Always pitching something, then letting a team try to fullfill it as best as possible under limited time and resources. Those people are “idea-weavers” promising anything to get that first “Go”, even if the result is bad…They usually move on to the next idea without even supervising past project developments. This guy is the classic example of a (probably) nerdy kid whose special interests paid off once by being in the right circles early on and now he thinks he can do anything…The pitch for the park sounds amazing, but thats where it ends, cuz this is where it usually also ends for those type of people. He has the idea, wants others to make it great, then take the recognition for it.
**AUGUST 2023 UPDATE**\r \r I paid a Saturday visit during August 2023 for the Mythos event. This is a list of the changes that have been made, or have not been made since this article was published\r \r Upgrades Made (probably in response to this article)\r \r -The Drakenhaven building is complete and is well decorated. \r -Two permanent maps of the park have been displayed!\r -Bow and arrow safety training is now mandatory! (In fact, it is so exhaustive and thorough that most patrons chose to walk away without shooting rather than endure it, including me. It’s seriously like 10 minutes long.)\r -I didn’t notice any exposed wire!\r -Axe throwing & bow and arrows are permanently included with the cost of admission\r -The aerial performers have moved to a more visible location\r -Evermore installed a pre-recorded audio storyline/mystery that visitors can engage with by pushing buttons throughout the park. (It has great potential, but it’s impossible to follow the story or solve the mystery because several buttons don’t work. But this is a step in the right direction!)\r -The Skype aspect of Louden’s Rest (the crypt building) has been removed! It’s now just a cool portal to take selfies with. (There’s also a quest button next to the portal that doesn’t work)\r -The lower level of the Louden’s Rest was open. (Nothing happens, but it is aesthetically stunning)\r -The summer lantern festival featured a handful of lanterns!\r -The fairies had wings!\r -I didn’t witness any cast members openly weeping or using pyrotechnic effects.
Update: As of a few days ago, the park is confirmed as permanently closed. There were some special events planned (like a thing at Vander’s Keep, a School Prom, etc) that were cancelled around the time of the announcement. They shut down a forum to prevent rumours from being spread. Alot has happened. Bob at Evermore has a pretty good article on it.
My brother sculpted the vast majority of the creatures there including the baby dragon, the boar and the goblin carrying the pumpkins. I did designs that fleshed out their empty buildings with rides and extensively thought out stories with interactive environments. Obviously they were not utilized. I still have some of the concept models, they are on display at the Unworldly Exhibit in Layton, Utah.
I’m 90% sure I was your waitress at Vander’s Keep! I didn’t even recognize you. I was also an actor during late 2019-2020. I have been abruptly let go three times from this company— the most recent being when the restaurant was abruptly shut down October this year leaving both my husband and I jobless with a brand new mortgage. The only notice any employee received was a text the morning before our last shift. I was involved with the restaurant from the beginning (joining them just after the evermore mass firing) and the Vander’s Keep saga is a whole ‘nother side of this story that wasn’t even touched. If you want to make a part 2, I am still in contact with 80% of the restaurant employees and we are all willing to share our stories.
Hi, former Evermore actor here. I was part of the initial cast all the way to the Covid shutdown and a season or two after. I am the actor in the green robe shown at 3:29:30. Random “fun fact” about that scene: after it ended with three beloved characters dying at Maxwell’s hands, I was personally subjected to harassment and abuse from park guests who were too deep into the story. And no, Evermore never had counseling available. We just had to deal with it. It was a great start. We all did believe in the vision for the park. Like you said, I gave so much free time to make what I believed was my dream job work. But over time, the abuse, mistreatment, and being strung along with promises of full time employment made me incredibly jaded. That was not just mine, but many former employees stories. Another anecdote: I went for Halloween this year to support friends still working there. The CEO was serving hot chocolate and hot cider. He looked me dead in the eye, and did not recognize me. He should, because I did days of volunteer right alongside him. Just goes to show how little we mattered.
Okay so my roommate knows I love this article and she’s from salt lake and has been to evermore. So as a jokey Christmas present she ordered me an evermore tshirt and sticker. The thing is, in typical evermore fashion she never received a shipping confirmation. So months after she ordered it, she told me what she got me and how it wasn’t here yet and so I encouraged here to get a refund. So miraculously evermore does actually refund her, but yesterday March 6th the god damn evermore tshirt mysteriously shows up, sticker missing. It was just baffling how thoroughly they messed up just sending a package, but now unlike Jenny I do have an evermore shirt and I technically got it for free. So uhm yeah this really just hit home how mismanaged they are.
As someone who lives in Utah, I’m honestly so pissed about the guy at 3:38:45 saying that people here don’t understand the arts. 1) Utah has a really impressive art scene, with some really good art museums and local/contemporary artists. 2) Utah has a really big nerd culture, especially among young adults. People here love nerdy things like Lord of the Rings and DnD, exactly the things that Evermore was supposed to sell. The fact that Evermore failed in Utah is a testament to how poorly they ran the park. In theory, Utah would be one of the best places to try this out. The park runners failed on their own merits.
took me to the end to realize that the puppets were just on-screen readings of Evermore statements. I genuinely thought that the way Evermore communicated important information with everyone was through puppets. had me going: “Huh. Well that’s one way for a company to tell it’s employees that they don’t know when they’re getting paid”
that wen weaver clip is so incredibly bizarre, i can’t stop perusal it. truly could not imagine walking through a park because you think dragons and fairies and mermaids are neat, and accidentally stumbling across a woman scream-crying at what, to you, appears to just be a random guest just like you, while a seemingly fully unbothered man is just on his knees kissing her hand, and she’s just sobbing and yelling, “TELL ME WHAT TO DO, KIRSTEN!! THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT, KIRSTEN!! DO YOU WANT ME TO FUCK THIS MAN?? SHOULD I FUCK THIS MAN, KIRSTEN???!!!!”
My fiance and I went to the park last year for Valentine’s Day. We went in, walked around and decided we wanted to ride the train before we left (it was in February and right before close and very cold). The employees were very young, but nice. The employees said we couldn’t use the caboose. They saw someone and got immediately skittish – turns out it was that same CEO guy. He held up the train for 20 minutes to show his date a special hidden room inside the initial tunnel the train goes through. When he’s done, he goes to the back of the train AND GETS IN THE CABOOSE. Yes. That’s why you can’t use the caboose. ITS FOR HIM ONLY. Then we go to leave and almost can’t get out of the parking lot because he parked his Porsche in the middle of the ONLY EXIT to the parking lot. Seems like a great guy who’s really fun to be around.
an update on their website, as of december 2023 (which is now at least semi complete, there ARE buttons in completely random places and atrocious graphic design elements but oh well) -admission is now free! however if you wanna do anything except shop and take a photo with santa you have to buy passes -furthermore on that, prices seem to have been lowered, as the xmas carol adventure is only $15 and the combo pass is $29 -they have now included reptiles in their wings of evermore show, and have knife throwing alongside axe throwing -they host corporate events and weddings now, allegedly. -their calendar straight up doesnt work -theyve got a full map posted now, with completed locations, although there are no markers for anything other than bathrooms -they have an FAQ now -they no longer have blurbs describing any of their attractions
Hello! As a former actor of the park I would like to thank you for making a article like this. I worked at the park from the opening in 2018 to the mass firing in January/Feburary of 2021. I have played characters from Tip Top, to the elven ranger leader, to a simple townsperson. I wanted to simply add pieces of my story with this park. To start, though I loved playing Tip Top the Automaton, it caused some very painful and seemingly (via several doctor’s appointments) irreversible damage to my back and my body as a whole. It was not built as readily for a person of my height, though I only came to learn that after playing the character for two full seasons. Based on some of my other fellow actors that have played Tip Top they have also mentioned some rather annoying, and in some cases, painful repercussions from the suit. Aside from any physical damage caused to me or my body, I also experienced some rather intense versions of parasocial relationships getting out of hand. I will not go into detail as to protect myself and those that know my story, but I was in a rather dangerous situation with a stalker that got way to out of hand. No physical harm was enacted, but the mental turmoil and general feeling of unsafety after the fact was beyond anything anyone should ever have to experience. Overall I love the friendships I have made from working at the park, but the overall trauma of the situation is not something I would ever wish upon anybody.
I think the GRID section 00:51:34 is my favourite part of this whole article. It’s such a perfect example of what I call “tech bro hype brain”. Bretscheider isn’t really interested in making something as cool as what he’s describing; he’s interested in boosting his own image and ego. He wants you to think about how cool he is for coming up with this idea and (theoretically) putting it in place. Some of it is certainly a ploy to get investor funding, but plenty of it is just to make himself feel special.
As a gardener, I have a bit on a unique perspective on this. Disney never gets enough credit for their stunning commitment to authentic, grown in landscaping. I once visited a reclaimed tree yard where they care for very old, large trees with unique character, with their root systems entirely in large wooden containers and watered on a drip system. The owner of told me Disney had spent TWO MILLION DOLLARS on ONE SINGLE TREE at one of their parks. TWO MILLION DOLLARS FOR ONE TREE. They wanted a specific size, shape, and age for their tree, and they put down the money for it. This reclaimed tree yard was in SoCal, and Disney was a frequent customer of theirs. The amount of care and attention to detail put into their landscapes in astonishing, plus all the actual maintenance and irrigation that goes into maintaining the landscapes, all of which happens during the hours the park is closed so the guests are none the wiser! Omg, and the idea of turning your theme park into a Botanical garden because it’s an easier, cheaper option is HILARIOUS to me. Clearly an idea conceived by someone who has never worked for a public garden. Just wow.
one horror story i don’t see anyone mentioning is that some of the regulars/super fans would camp outside of the park gates for HOURS after close, trying to corner the actors getting out of character. this happened EVERY night, and the performer exit and guest exit are right next to each other, so there was no way to try and avoid them. i was a specialty performer (aerial silks, figure skating, fire spinning) there for about 3 years and every time i left work there would be a group of 15 or so super fans trying to corner me or my coworkers after a shift to, i dunno, deepen their parasocial aims?? it was really strange and always made me really uncomfortable. to my knowledge, no actions were taken by management to protect actors from potential harassment or discourage this behavior. as far as i know it still continues to this day!
I have to say, I would be so deeply uncomfortable to be walking around and witnessing some of these scenes. All these actors screaming, crying, people on their knees, begging others, like…I wanna have a quest and see some magic fights, not like…medieval soap operas where some of the guests are apparently so close to the actors they get to participate in what I can only describe as “me and my friends RPing in private message boards in middle school”
3:19:31 Regarding the off-site costuming: It’s a terrible idea to drive a car when you have a mask or significant prosthetics on, and a cop would absolutely feel justified to pull you over. Even if it’s not blocking your peripheral vision at all, most people don’t drive in costume (especially outside of halloween), and a cop might jump to the conclusion that you’re trying to obscure your identity. This is a small American suburb, so there probably isn’t public transportation, and it sounds like they weren’t providing private buses. Your only choice is to drive or get a ride with other people who are probably also in costume. Their poor logistical planning put their workers at risk of anything from a ticket to police brutality, for absolutely no reason. This is a minor point, given everything else, but it still makes me frustrated.
whenever i watch this article and get to the part in attractions with the guy you speak to through the portal i feel the most insane level of distress, i don’t know why but the level of secondhand embarrassment i feel is just impossible to ignore, if i experienced this myself i’d have to dig a hole beneath myself and never return to the surface. i feel so sorry for the actors being put in such an awkward position here because there’s quite literally nothing you can do when you’re working with absolutely nothing, as the actor or the player involved. dear god help this park
Jenny’s articles are so comforting, she really knows how to suck you into her own world. Its like how she talks about theme parks being immersive and having convincing sightlines, she does that level of imersion with her articles. I feel fully transported out of my own reality when I step into a Jenny article, I fall asleep to her articles nearly every night.
So, actor safety is actually a huge, huge issue at places like historical villages (which have a similar vibe to this). A lot of times, you’re put into buildings alone and no one checks in on you your whole shift. And you’re explicitly told not to make a big deal if there is a safety concern because you don’t want to alarm the other guests. From personal experience, I worked at a 1890-1910 historical village as a school house teacher. The only way I was supposed to indicate that I was unsafe was to put an “Ice Box” sign in my window and hope someone saw it as they walked by. One of the regulars did end up developing a crush on my character and started harassing me, which resulted in them waiting until I was in the school house alone one day and attempting to @ssault me. The place I worked at is fairly well known in the area and has been open for at least 40 years. So it does not shock me that there is zero precautions taken for actors at Evermore.
So when “Evermore Went Dark”, were there no people sitting in a tavern for the past 2 hours waiting for their food, now having to evacuate? Was there no food currently being cooked by a famously patient and understanding chef, who definitely didn’t mind having his proudly made food go cold and wasted because of a sudden nonsense event? Was someone cooped up in a toilet, hearing screams outside but unable to just suddenly stop doing what they were doing, so they just bunkered down in their toilet stall waiting for the police to come and save them, only for no police to come? That entire happening was just.. incomprehensible. Someone came up with this idea, nobody gave it a second thought, nobody stood up and said, “yo, what the f–k?”, everyone agreed to do it and then did, seemingly not even trying to calm confused bystanders down, just pouring fuel onto the fire. Insane.
As a long time fan and former Evermore employee, this was a surreal but very therapeutic article to watch. I was hired as a puppeteer the first year, so hey! That’s me in that big monster! I wasn’t supposed to talk originally, but Evermore being Evermore, last minute I became an improv actor. I’m guessing I’m not the only one who was thrust into doing improv. This place really was chaotic in every sense of the word, and I think it largely stemmed from relying on creative people who never quite broke away from that Blue Sky phase. That’s why things like that cute dragon puppet can exist, but simultaneously those puppets also (allegedly) weren’t designed to be used at length, and (allegedly) caused repetitive stress injuries in the actors that used them when they were first introduced! There are genuinely just way too many stories. Thanks for covering it so thoroughly though! This is a seriously impressive undertaking.
Trying to realize Ken Bretschneider,’s chaotic stream of incredibly random “ideas” has added 20 years to his appearance. Not to mention leading to an explosion in failed corporate ventures all over the map for no reason. “Stick with what you know” is hard when someone believes they know EVERYTHING. LOL.
I recently found out the oldest theme park in Andalucia, Spain closed during the pandemic. The workers there have been keeping the lights on and according to the best sources they have actually found a buyer willing to invest in the park and get it off the ground again. It’s not a very impressive park by any standard but I was quite upset that a pretty big cultural landmark and considerable part of my provinces history was gone.
I love imagining a fictional universe where Taylor Swift’s ninth studio album Evermore puts the Utah based theme park Evermore entirely out of business and then Taylor Swift just stops making music, reveals that this was her clever ruse the entire time, and fully withdraws from public life, satisfied having induced the final kick to the ribs of a dying theme park.
“In the lobby they have these massive marble columns. And when you knock on them, you hear that they’re hollow. The marble pattern is just a print laid over wood or plastic. And you know what I think about that? I think, there’s a building that’s got all its walls” underrated worst burn of this article
I came here from a swiftie Reddit post where people wondered why her website says “Taylor swift evermore shop” for the album’s merch instead of omitting her name and someone said probably because of evermore park and linked your article. So needless to say I have never heard of this! I clicked and was like wow I’m never going to watch 5 minutes let alone three hours. Well I did watch for one hour, and this theme park is the most hilarious, elaborate epic fail I’ve ever seen from every aspect. You are a wonderful storyteller and i love your commitment to stalking and visiting this random theme park. Thanks for the literal days-week(s) of your life you must have spent on this article
Can you imagine how actually kind of cool it would be if Evermore started as this sort of central hub, then a new area was added each time a “new portal opened” in their ongoing storyline? It could have really provided the feeling of different realms converging on this place as the park continued to grow. Really a shame that they went with a rennfair construction zone instead
I work in film in Utah and about every other person in that industry has horrors stories about this place. We’re talking ridiculous hours, bullying, refusal to pay the already meager wages, etc. I’ve been there to film a couple of commercials and there were no smoke detectors or fire extinguishers to speak of. Also, the construction quality of all the buildings was incredibly suspect. Like, stage production set quality.
It just seems odd that someone so into Halloween and with such a locally renowned Halloween experience that he didn’t just lean into that and pattern themselves somewhat on Thanksgiving Point and do some sort of Halloween Town and make it a set of varied levels of Halloween themed areas, one which might be full of thrills and jump scares like the general amusement park haunted houses, and one which is more kid/family friendly, and then something that is like a murder mystery or escape room but on a comparatively massive scale. Once established and with the goodwill of the fans and positive reviews open an attached Park that explores the other aspects of the seasonal stories and themes they wanted to explore.
I was employed as one of the original 4 SFX artists hired in late 2016 and started working in February 2017, and the stories I could tell you… your article would be so much longer. There was not mental health support in any way, in fact I did not continue working there because when I reported the hostile workplace SH I was experiencing, they fired me for being a “liability” The chronological timing of some of this article is a bit all over the place… Even the “behind the scenes” was done over 2 years into the SFX shop being open after the Evermore project was picked back up in 2017, when the land was purchased. You do actually need the creature shop open way before the park is set to open, honestly, it takes time to sculpt, mold, produce, paint, and catalogue 97+ costumes, masks, prosthetics, and characters. I have a ton of insight from the inside 2017-2018 staff meetings. The initial money mostly went to Ken’s MASSIVE shopping spree in Europe of “antiques” like a carved chair that came from a tribe of people eaters… but I saw that chair just sitting in the dwarf house. You wouldn’t believe how much each of the REAL headstones imported from Europe cost to buy, and ship. Ken also stored his personal and other company stuff in the evermore buildings. The creative shop was over 1/2 full of racks upon racks of Ken’s PERSONAL storage. The trinket trade was planned, the original storyline would have been something to change the more times you entered the park, there was going to be rfid “Gems” that you could put in a staff or a wand or a sword etc.
Thank you so much for providing formatted subtitles. I crave for content like this but autosubs just take extra brain energy for a deaf viewer. I mentioned to my partner about this Evermore and turned out they wanted to visit for years. You can imagine the struggle to respond after this article essay 😅
Top 5 moments in this article 1. Jenny’s bone dry sarcasm discussing how Buzzfeed would never present the park in a misleading light. 2. The email about the guy who fell over. 3. The promise of the “bathroom experience.” 4. “Oh please… say to me… you’ll let me be your DWARF” 5. The fiance murder apology.
I worked at Evermore for 2 seasons in 2019 pre-pandemic, and I’m floored out how well-researched and thought out this article is. A lot of Jenny’s complaints were things I witnessed first hand as an actor. Especially the part about parasocial relationships. You’d have very real-feeling, genuine interactions with both guests and other actors that could get VERY heavy. And then you’d walk out of the park, change into your street clothes, and move on with your life as the real you as if it never happened. Felt really weird to try and separate real interpersonal emotion from artifice.
Making a new comment so this doesn’t get buried: I’ve been trying to decide if I should tell a specific story but I think it’s important for people to know the worst stuff that happened at Evermore. Here’s the story of the night I decided I hated Ken Bretschnider. Disclaimer: this is all my own personal experience so take it as you will. For those who haven’t seen my other comment, I was an actor at the park for Pyrra and Lore 2020 and I played Baroke the goblin artist. I can’t remeber exactly when it happened, but one night during Lore, as we were all getting ready to clock out, I came across a friend of mine (who i will not name) who was working the Haunt who seemed unwell, and I was told the following: Apparently, during the show that night, there was a gas leak in the Burrows (the hobbit house) where the last portion of the Haunt was stationed. There was a storage room in the back and someone had stacked two propane tanks on top of eachother despite warning labels explicitly saying not to (according to my gf who had worked there since 2018, this happened the first year too). When this had been discovered, our director had evacuated the haunt actors (mostly dressed as creepy dolls) onto the winding path leading to the Burrows, right near that expensive archway Jenny mentions, and told them to perform their scares there until the problem was fixed. As I heard it, Ken came through shortly after as he liked to micromanage the Haunt given how big of a Halloween Guy he was (he wrote it too and we only had a week to prepare it because he took so long but thats not important).
3:09:23 “In the lobby, they have these massive marble columns, and when you knock on them, you hear that they’re hollow. The marble pattern is just a print laid over wood or plastic, and you know what I think about that? I think ‘Now there’s a building that’s got all its walls.'” This is the line that stuck with me the most from this article. I love the way your critiques show the ridiculousness of the decision-making of this park’s management team.
I worked at Evermore in late 2020 as a barista. I loved my job, but I was frustrated by the unpredictability and instability Ken caused and it trickled down to even me. However I was working hard, loving our guests and giving it my all because I believed in the vision and loved how even I had some creative freedom in creating our menu with the management. I loved the park, the people, and the job itself. I was earning valuable skills and experience. I believed I would be able to put in a few good years there, but in January 2021, the entire concessions department got laid off. I was gutted not only for myself but everyone that I grew to be friends with in every department. I can’t believe Ken hasn’t given up the ghost but he doesn’t have the skills, knowledge or experience to run a park and doesn’t listen to criticism very well, so he refuses to hand it off to someone who will take his awesome vision and make it successful. Edit: I’m so disappointed that the food went downhill but not surprised. When I was working there the food was great! Croque Monsiers/Madames, amazing fries, The Hunter’s Hovel had really good soup and sandwiches and they served freshly roasted bratwurst. In the Kettle Cafe where I was we had coffees but also wonderful pastries and cookies made by a local baker and we had sandwiches and quesadillas. In the barista area I really hated the espresso machine. It contained milk in a container in its own tiny fridge that pumped through the heating element into the cup and didn’t have a steam wand, so if you ordered coffee with a different milk it’d be cold.
can I just say, as someone who has worked two seasons at an actual ice rink, THANK GOD EVERMORE DOESN’T HAVE AN ACTUAL ICE RINK. you are basically strapping knives to your feet and zooming across a surface as hard as concrete – they can be so incredibly dangerous even when run by experienced staff who know what they’re doing. a rink run by Evermore would be a death trap 💀
I don’t know what I’ve watched to make the YouTube algorithm lead me to this article because it is nothing like i usually watch, and i have never watched a YouTube article longer than 45 minutes… But… I loved this! I like hearing about random stuff like this and she is adorable! Brought me back to my high school years when I was in the medieval club. I will definitely be perusal more articles on this website.
that broken statue is such a symbol of Evermore to me. something that could have been very beautiful, and once was closer to that reality. but it broke, and instead of repairing it, which should be feasible, it was just left blatantly unfinished. if the sword was too heavy, could they not have made it from a lighter material and just painted it to match? you’re far enough below that a color matched foam sword would look very believable! but no, might as well leave it unfinished, cuz why not.
As someone who’s lived in Utah for many years, it’s baffling how out of the local cultural conscious Evermore is. Neither my friends nor coworkers mention it ever, and even driving past it you get little idea of what it’s supposed to be. It’s not from a lack of interest; we have a theme park that’s twice as old as Disneyland with world-class rollercoasters, the third largest comic convention in the United States, and some of the most active D&D / tabletop / TCG communities there are. Perhaps even more baffling is that Evermore could cover a majority if not all of their operating costs simply by being a venue for weddings, photography, cosplay, conventions, and private LARP groups.
So I was a scare actor. A similar position where as long as I did my job of scaring people, I was pretty free to improv. Granted, this was on a trail, instead of free-roaming. We also had roughly 900 guests per night, give or take 200. Some rules we had to prevent issues that Evermore had (things guests would know ahead of time have *) 1. No touching. Guest-initiated high fives and fist bumps are ok. But anything beyond that is off limits.* 2. Anyone who is clearly intoxicated, violent, or harrases the actors is immediately escorted out by security.* 3. If someone is having an emergency, we break character, call security, and get them to the nearest exit. 4. All actors had a group chat to communicate. And could check our phones as long as guests couldn’t see us. 5. We had the number of the owners, security, and water-guys who could run food, snacks, or first aid to designated areas if needed. It worked because we had little tolerance for horseplay and the guests knew it.
The five stages of hearing about the Night Evermore Went Dark: 1. “Weird decision; most guests won’t know the story so it would be confusing.” 2. “Lame decision; people will be mad you’re trying to close the park early on them.” 3. “Irresponsible decision; kids would be separated from their parents in the scrum.” 4. “Horrible decision; everyone will assume it’s a mass shooting!” 5. “Indefensible decision; this is the exact recipe for a human crush or stampede!” I went through all five stages within a minute of perusal that part of this article; I can only assume the park managers thought about this decision for less than that minute.
Not part of the cast, but I was hired on as food staff for Pyrra 2020. The red flags were basically immediate but the place was so cool looking I did not heed them. Our introductory bit where we were taught how some foods are made ended in a two hour period where we just had to weed an entire area because the park soft opened next week and it hadn’t been done. Well, eventually the park has it’s soft opening and I’m swapped around three separate times because they don’t know where to put me and there are no radios to communicate or anything in this pretty sizable park. I work normally I’m events and operations management and our location is much, much smaller and we still use radios to prevent the massive amounts of miscommunication that was happening everyday. There were days where I’d come in when I was scheduled and I would get in trouble for showing up early, only to explain I was scheduled at this time where they just huff and send me back home to come back later. It happened so often I barely knew when I was actually scheduled or not, or if I even was as there were two days I was sent home because I “Wasn’t scheduled”. Anyway, day one, no one knows where I go because they didn’t schedule me in any specific place so I’m put on more weeding duty. Like… Clearing fields of weeds type weeding. I mentioned before at least twice I had back surgery and cannot do physical labor for extended periods of time and shouldn’t be doing it at all unless necessary. I repeat this. They say it’s not that hard, give me a pair of old, crusty gloves and a big trash bin and tell me to get going.
Shout out to all the people that look disappointed and miserable, like the young woman in pink and blue sitting on the fountain, and the young man with the beard quietly weeping, and the character actor that had to come up with an in-character reason for why Jenny and friends don’t know why they’re visiting him…
why are so many ppl commenting wondering where she’s at or if she’s okay literally all her articles tend to have MONTHS between them, she has a twtter and patreon if you wanna keep up w her more consistently (? ig) she isnt pumping out long articles every other week or even monthly which is a good thing imo bc her vids seem to have a lot of effort put into them and tbh i can only imagine how long articles like this take to script research edit etc esp w costume changes
22:03 that just seems like the actors being smartasses to me. I used to go to a LARP camp as a kid, and there’s a skill to fantasy roleplaying beyond being a good actor, especially when the people around you are kids, or not really that into roleplaying themselves. That rule is basically uh: you have to know how “in character” you should be. Like if you’re at one of those places and someone asks you where the toilet is, do you say “well good sir, what’s a toilet? A porcelain bowl? What witchcraft is that??” Like no lol, you say “it’s over there”. People are willing to suspend their belief in different ways at different times. Receiving a “quest” is always a bit immersion breaking because uh.. you don’t get quests in real life. You just have to roll with whatever the person says and try and Segway into what your script says.
gentle note if for some reason the Evermore people see my comment: The Texas Renaissance Festival, which does some of the stuff Evermore seems to want to do, has the following stuff that Evermore could have with like, minimal effort: – Costume rentals for guests who want to come in costume but don’t want to spend a small fortune on fun costuming – Walkaround characters who will talk to you, with a clear designation between “we work for the Texas Renaissance Festival as performers” versus “we are vendors or workers of some kind” versus “we are the people you talk to if something has gone Wrong”. The last group does not wear costumes typically, but often safety vests and are usually really easily to grab. – Outside vendors with their own shops rented out every season, which are built into the park. – Only seasonal opening, with a cool venue that is rented out to music festivals during off-season for free money – Cheap and themamatic rides, like the “dragon boats” that work by the riders pulling on ropes to swing back and forth that are very low-tech. – Face painting. Seriously. How hard is it to have face painting, Evermore? – The folks working there are in character and keep up with the lore of the festival, HOWEVER it is understood that if you work there, you can give relevant information in character but in a wink-wink nudge-nudge sort of way. Example- “We accept Master Card and Lady Visa, or the Paper of the Realm!” “Yes, we will take your card, and give it back again, huzzah!
This incredible analysis reveals a few key things to me: 1. This park really lives and dies by its actors… And dies by its upper management… 2. Just give Jenny the park. It’s clear to me she has a lot of amazing ideas that would enhance it, it’s sprinkled throughout the entire article. I’m not saying she should buy it, I’m telling Ken he should just- Give her it.
3:05:10 I’m so curious about Jenny telling the CEO to his face that she wanted to buy a t shirt and just cutting off the story there. Like what did he say!? Was he understanding and apologetic about the lack of shirts or did he rudely brush her off? Jenny has actually spoken to Ken Bretschneider and we get no deets!!
The despair in your voice when you said “They lied to us” after they moved the ceremony was so full of all the negative emotions brewing from the awful time there I can just tell. I’m sure it was hot and underwhelming and now the only ‘attraction’ that seemed worth experiencing was unexpectedly moved without anyone saying anything. I felt that, so hard.
What heppened to Evermore is what happens to small businesses all the time. There is only one owner and they lose interest in the project, so they cut all funding, even siphoning any excess money the project makes, but at the same time do not sell the project, so the business gets stuck in a permanent limbo where they have underpaid, uninterested and generally bad management, the staff is overworked with very high overturn and the potential is left to rot because noone actually cares about it.
I’ve been in nerd circles my entire life, I even owned and ran a game shop for a couple of years, and… Look, most nerds are deeply feeling, emotionally open people with a very rich emotional life, and that’s what I love about this community. But that openness and depth of emotion can and does lead to some very unhealthy attachments sometimes. When I heard that there was no system for actors to disengage I immediately flashed back to me, trapped behind the counter of the game shop, spending four to five hours a day listening to the same handful of people update me on every feeling they’ve ever had about the most emotionally devastating situations with no escape route. I swear my entire body reacted like I’d been punched. Give a certain type of geek a captive audience and they will immediately treat it as free therapy. I had to close the shop a year after my husband died, but for the months we were still open after his passing, many people came to me with their own stories of grief and ideation, expecting commiseration and comfort from me, while I was still down in that hell myself. It was absolutely awful. Geeks, nerds, countrymen, I love us as a group, I love how open and feeling we are, but we really do live in a society. EDIT: I don’t want to spam the comments, I really didn’t think more than a handful of people would see this, but thank you all for your kindness!
i was curious about the guy in the interview at the beginning, the one talking about ripper’s cove with the intensity of a cop who has seen the actual jack the ripper, and i found his linked in. he was in unicorn city and skinwalker ranch and other associated films, worked as a warehouse manager for the void, etc. but the really interesting thing was his involvement with something called “karma incarnate” which promises to feed the hungry while also paying you back for your donation…it’s a pyramid scheme founded by his brother and another one of his brothers is the c.o.o. i don’t really know what to do with this information, but i spent a long time finding it, so maybe someone else will also find it interesting. anyway, don’t join pyramid schemes
3:05:00 This interaction in particular is simply infuriating. It seems like such a minor thing, but if the CEO himself can’t find a paying customer some merch to advertise his struggling park for him then why exactly would he expect them to come back? If you can’t figure out some way to appease an enthusiastic guest who’s practically begging you to take their money, what makes you think you’ve earned another chance?
Hi there! I’m that Kirsten from that Wen Weaver clip! Firstly, let me just say FANTASTIC article! Everything was really well researched and I agree with pretty much every point that was made. Honestly that clip haunts me too, but more because I was utterly stunned that it was happening. I was one of those die-hard fans and up to that point, I had never been yelled at by a character (or security fwiw lol!). I’m very good friends with the actors outside of park, and I like to think I had a pretty good reputation of being a respectful guest. So when I brought that character (the one kneeling at her hand) to reconcile with Wen Weaver, and then that happened, I was pretty surprised! After it was done, I went home and I cried a bit about the intense interaction and then texted the actress. As you had surmised, that character was really tough for her to portray and she was generally overwhelmed (from what I recall). We talked it out, made sure we were good, and we’re still friends. I also recognize the weird power dynamic between actors and guests, so I can only hope that that’s actually the case. When Evermore Fans asked if they could put up that clip, I just asked them to make sure to say something about how nobody should have that level of conflict with a character because I don’t think anyone wanted that and I didn’t want to inspire other guests into yelling at characters. I’m also that girl in the red corset and the crown on that first day you were there (sorry i monopolized the wizard haha), as well as the girl from World Walker Weekly Podcast who had the lockpick quest.
I was not prepared for how horrifying the reveal was that these workers are expected to stay in character at all times even when patrons were displaying extremely unsafe behavior. My gut sank once Jenny confirmed this utter irresponsible mandate to always stay in character and humor the guests had resulted in rela harm to the preformers. Its absolutely disgusting how clear it is that the CEO only sees these incredibly talented people as props for his crappy fantasy world.
If you want to do an Op Ed about the whole of Vander’s Keep. Please reach out to me, I was the Sous Chef at Vander’s Keep before it closed its doors. Lots of Drama and lots of crappy stuff that came from the top all the way down. Currently, most of the last of Vander’s staff still talks and hangs out consistently even after the mass lay off 2.0. Sorry you had a bad experience at the restaurant, but I didn’t start working there till after your visit.
To add to the brainstorming, next time there’s a Fae King invasion something or other, turn it into a safe game. Not run and scream, but, say, red light green light? Maybe have a spooky costume actor with a beam flashlight and say “it’s eyes are sensitive to movements, sneak past and stay quiet! I’ll distract him if you get into trouble!” Tense but calm. Encourage walking slowly, give the actors moments to be heros for the guests so the guests can feel like the monster is coming for them without too close a call.
love the fact that Aragog is now co-running the website with Jenny… they have amazing chemistry and them both cosplaying together are just the best vibes.. the sudden costume changes after each segment made me giggle 4 hours straight.. thank you two for this gift of a article where Jenni picks apart every detail of a poorly run theme park while Aragog stares at you with five glistening plastic eyes, demanding your soul to understand on a deeper lever
I just want to congratulate Jenny on what is truly a masterpiece of investigative journalism. The costumes and puppets and jokes are amazing but underneath all that is over 3 hours of well researched, thoughtful, and entertaining reporting. The fact that Jenny is able to maintain the interest and attention of viewers about a topic they would not probably not spend 10 minutes on if presented by another creator is incredible. It’s also clear that a large amount of time, financial investment, care, and creativity went into this project. Honestly give her a Pulitzer!
i know several people involved with evermore. incredibly passionate and talented artists who poured their hearts and souls into this park for $12 an hour and insulting “volunteer work.” any storylines that showed up were all written by the actors–including thematic arcs for entire seasons–and they were never compensated for their writing. and many of them didn’t even realize they were being mistreated, because if anyone’s used to being trampled on, it’s nerdy theatre kids. they were actively taken advantage of. also, according to one of my sources, the website was so bad because ken refused to give the passwords to anyone. he’s a con artist, a control freak, and should probably be in jail. allegedly. 🙂
It took me until 17 minutes to realize you were talking about Evermore, the place that I went to in the darkest point in my life and literally brought me to tears because I was so deprived of social interaction that some underpaid workers was the one thing that kept me going. It scratched that fantasy itch for me since I just cancelled a D&D campaign and had to put pause to my online ones. I think it’s because of that I didn’t explore any of the actual services like the plastic ice rink or the train ride. I just explored the third party vendors and bought some of their stuff. Got a few sets of dice and a d20 ornament. But yeah, I ain’t coming back. I’m in a better spot now. I know where the shops of those third party vendors are now (most are in the Provo mall), so I can go directly to them.
Honestly I think it’s kinda telling that several of us (I’m sure there will be more) decided to come here and comment on this article after hearing the news about Evermore’s (permanent) closure. It kinda feels like a letdown Jenny wasn’t brought on as some sort of consultant because things just might have turned out differently had they done that…
What pains me most about this article is how amazing this idea is. A ren faire themepark that operates as an open-world article game? How could you mess that up?! As Jenny points out throughout the article, there are so many easy fixes that could make Evermore something truly special. At this point the only way I can see this park surviving is if it was sold to someone who’s passionate about the genre and has real-world tourism/theme park managing experience. EDIT: I forgot to commend the actors and employees who truly put their hearts and souls into this park. You are what make that experience special <3
This is honestly the most serious and angry I’ve ever seen Jenny on her YouTube. It kind of says something, honestly. Usually what she talks about is very funny and entertaining, and while this was definitely entertaning, when it got to her experience with the park it very steadily got less and less funny until it just became a mix of sad, uncomfortable, and deeply frustrating. I feel so bad for the people who work there, honestly, the place genuniely does seem like a sinking ship.
I feel like I’m going insane but why isn’t there a playground? It seems like the most obvious thing in the world. Just some swings and slides, something to climb on, you know. Probably out where the acrobats and the market were. It wouldn’t have to break the immersion. After all, why shouldn’t this town have a space for their children to play? It could be fantasy-themed. You could have a big wooden griffin for people to climb on, and a giant serpent you could slide down or whatever. It’s not that hard. But little kids get so excited by a cool playground that they’ll beg to go back just because the climbing frame was particularly interesting, or the swings went really high. And it’s an activity. And maintenance costs would be really low.
The CEO’s hoarder mentality is so bizarre 😬 You can’t incorporate what makes these items unique (and expensive) into the lore (“real medieval stuff,” “shipped from England”). I’d much rather have plastic stuff around that makes a hollow sound when I knock on it but tells a cohesive story. Also, holy molly make sure your employees are safe???
“Sometimes people forget that accessibility isn’t only people in wheelchairs.” Yes, THIS!!!!!!!!!! As someone who’s had arthritis for most of my life, I’ve never really been able to go to theme parks due to the sheer inaccessibility, especially never having a place to sit down anywhere (reminiscent of Project Stardust). It’s great to see you calling out these issues.
I was so happy that you delved into the whole fear of possible toxic relationships building up between guests and performers. As a Disney cast member I’ve seen it happen many times, not even just with performers. As just a friendly cast member who likes to chat with guests I’ve been trauma dumped on several times and I of course want to make a person feel better but also am in NO WAY trained to do so. I also used to work at a small very specific Disney store where artists would draw. Because it was a store that had a lot of downtime and a small selection of cast members that regularly worked there, pretty sure every single one of us eventually ended up with people who would come in and try to talk to us for literally our entire shifts and I have no idea what I would do if left on my own like that. I’d develop hand signals with artists if they suddenly needed to have a phone call for them in the back office, we’d play interference for each other. To be alone like that, especially outside in the dark? Terrifying
I worked at Evermore during the opening season. Oh boy do I have some tea. It was a mess. I got some emotional damage and some nerve damage in my feet. When I was there, it was October in Utah and temperatures were sometimes below 15 degrees. I was never given a cloak or anything, and our break area was outside in the cold in a tent that didn’t have a proper floor. It was truly a world of OSHA violations. Our breaks weren’t regulated, and none of us were allowed to have time-keeping devices so I would sometimes be on for almost my whole 8 hours shift with no break in the well-below freezing temperatures, and trying to entertain too many people at once with no information about the actual important plot points. On occasion, there would be a “stage manager” that would come by and tell us to take a break. But it wasn’t enforced. I’ve also got all my old emails from the creative team and I’m sure the chat that was between myself and a bunch of other disgruntled employees. We were, at one point, talking together about possibly taking action for not being paid properly. The original idea that we were briefed on was awesome, and truly could’ve been amazing. But it was just… not.
I feel like Evermore would have done a lot better if they decided to go small in the begining. If they had built 3-5 buildings and went with one theme (fantasy land OR cyberpunk OR victorian horror) they could’ve focused on running the smaller operation well (liquor license, mics on actors, food offerings, gift shop) and then expand if they feel ready
I can see an alternate universe where this is like the coolest Theme Park in the world, full blown Disney World type with characters wandering around town and visitors carrying out quests in exchange for an an in park currency (maybe one that can be exchanged similar to a ticket stand at an arcade). Actors carrying out a set of stories between nights that changes every season, maybe some are shelved for a year or two before coming back, etc. Especially with the model of only being open a few nights a week I could see that model giving ample time for rehearsal and would allow characters not involved in a story to inhabit the parts of the park not involved and still interact with guests.