HOW A HIT EXPERIENCE WAS CREATED DURING A GLOBAL PAUSE

It’s 2020 and a global pandemic has brought everything to a standstill, leaving everyone asking the same question:
what do you do when the world shuts down?

COVID-19 hit like a lightning strike. In a matter of days, the world was turned Upside Down, and that’s exactly where this story begins. Because during a global pause, Stranger Things found a way to come alive.

Netflix saw an opportunity to reimagine live storytelling using one of their most beloved IPs, and Redrock Entertainment was tapped to bring it to life. The Stranger Things Drive-Into Experience was a creative solution that redefined what was possible for live entertainment during lockdown…all from inside the safety of your car.

With strict mask mandates and distancing rules in full effect, safety was at the core of the project. Every creative and production decision had to balance safety with immersion. The safest way to protect guests was to keep them inside their vehicles, so that’s where the concept took shape. This was not a drive-in, nor a drive-through. It was a theme park-level ride as a car-based experience. Guests didn’t just watch the story unfold. They drove into it, becoming the center of the experience itself.  

Located in Downtown Los Angeles, the Stranger Things Drive-Into Experience transported fans from a shutdown Los Angeles straight into Hawkins, Indiana circa 1985.

The experience began with guests being invited to attend the Hawkins High School reunion at the new Starcourt Mall. ‘In-world’ actors roamed between cars while a DJ spun ’80s new-wave hits. Guests ordered corn dogs and Scoops Ahoy sundaes seamlessly through a QR code and played interactive games using their headlights and horns. This first act served as both an introduction to the story and a nod to the audience’s own long-awaited return to connection.

From there, cars rolled into the parking structure for the main experience; a three-act, drive-through production that merged environmental design, multimedia and live performances. Every detail was intentional. Casting, costuming, lighting and sound design were meticulously aligned with the series, ensuring fans felt as if they had entered the Stranger Things universe rather than merely observed it.

Every beat of the show was choreographed to keep guests safely within their vehicles while feeling completely immersed in the action around them.

Logistics required cars to enter the experience in groups, however that presented a creative challenge: how could every guest experience the story simultaneously and seamlessly?

The solution blended theatrical ingenuity with nostalgic technology. Staying true to the show’s 1980s roots, each car tuned in via their existing stereo system, receiving audio perfectly synchronized to its position in line. With this solution, we transformed the automobile from a simple safety measure into a storytelling device. Depending on where guests were located in the group, they tuned to different frequencies, giving every car its own perspective and every guest a front-row seat to the story unfolding around them.

What began as a short-term project quickly evolved into a seven-month residency.

The Stranger Things Drive-Into Experience resonated because it delivered exactly what people needed most – escapism, nostalgia and shared experience in a moment of isolation.

For the fans, it was more than an event, it was a rare chance to reconnect through story. For the industry, it became a case study in reinvention, proving that live experiences could thrive even under the most restrictive conditions and that creativity doesn’t pause, it adapts. Even when the world turns Upside Down.