Fun Across America’s Wildest Double Feature Yet
by Barry Zelickson
This month’s Fun Across America highlights two attractions that couldn’t be more different – and yet both prove the same thing: the best FECs and attractions in the country are those built by people obsessed with the guest experience.
Our host Nate took us first into the fog-choked corridors of Universal Horror Unleashed inside Area 15 in Las Vegas, a year-round haunt experience from the same creative minds behind Halloween Horror Nights. From there, we traded jump scares for joysticks at Dig World in Katy, Texas, a construction-themed adventure park where kids (and let’s be honest, plenty of adults) get behind the controls of real, safety-engineered heavy machinery.
One destination is built to terrify you. The other is built to hand you the keys to an excavator. Together, they’re a reminder of just how wide the world of location-based entertainment really is – and why we love covering it.
Universal Horror Unleashed – Las Vegas, Nevada
Unlike Halloween Horror Nights, which come and go with the season, Horror Unleashed is Universal’s first permanent, year-round horror experience. It’s a 110,000-sq.-ft. haunt inside the Area 15 entertainment district featuring four fully immersive haunted houses, live-actor scare zones, horror-themed dining, and a retail shop that Nate called “one of my favorite parts of our experience,” adding that the merch “is really just like a little treasure trove of good finds.”
Our tour guide, Alex Olive, the manager of marketing and sales at Horror Unleashed, walked us through all four houses: Scarecrow: The Reaping, a Dust Bowl-era original story; Universal Monsters, tracing Dracula, Frankenstein, the Mummy, and the Creature from the Black Lagoon through Gothic corridors; The Exorcist: Believer, based on the Blumhouse film; and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, a linear walk-through straight into the Sawyer family dining room.
“The entertainment team really has carefully selected not only performers for our shows and dancers, but also seasoned actors – that’s why we have people delivering lines, but also interacting with the guests as well,” said Alex, manager of marketing and sales for Universal Horror Unleashed.
What struck us most was the level of craftsmanship packed into every room, from the dust-storm show effect inside Scarecrow to the operatic monster showcase inside Universal Monsters.
“With that house, I love how it’s really like a journey through Universal Horror,” said Fun Across America host Nate Reinhart.
The night wrapped with a live circus-horror stage show hosted by Jack and Chanty at Jack’s Alley Bar, complete with audience participation and a talent-contest twist – and Nate made sure to give credit where it’s due.
“I really have to give credit to all of the live performers throughout this entire place,” Nate said. “There’s so many of them and the commitment to their craft is obvious and impressive. You can tell they really enjoy what they’re doing here, and that commitment bleeds through to the audience.”
Horror Unleashed hasn’t slowed down since our cameras stopped rolling. The venue has rolled out a full 2026-2027 event calendar aimed at making it a true “horror lifestyle destination” rather than a seasonal stop. Highlights include a spring Feaster Grievings overlay, a summer Resident Evil takeover. During this horror experience, guests were immersed in fan-favorite moments, solve interactive puzzles, met legendary characters and witnessed epic battles against the undead. Those brave enough could step inside the living nightmare and test their survival skills. This event ran July 9-Aug.30 (to illustrate that they are constantly evolving their experiences), and plans for the venue’s first brand-new haunted house since opening, along with a new anime horror experience, both landing in 2027.
Dig World – Katy, Texas
From haunted warehouses to actual construction sites – Dig World is exactly what it sounds like: a theme park built entirely around letting kids (and grown-ups) climb into skid steers, mini excavators, UTVs and boom lifts and drive them, safely, all day long. Founder Jacob Robinson personally walked Nate through the park, from the dig pits – the park’s marquee attraction – to the Lego-crane precision course, the Ducky Derby, and gem mining.
“So, here we are at our dig pits. This is our most desired attraction, right? Our biggest one here at the park… this is where we see truly kids and kids at heart,” said Jacob Robinson, Dig World’s founder. “I love this section just as much as my five-year-old daughter.”
Every piece of equipment is re-engineered with proprietary safety technology that limits range of motion and runs on a timer, which Jacob explained is by design.
“Safety’s number one here at Dig World,” said Robinson, “so all these machines are re-engineered with our technology on it… that way we truly make it safe for all ages.”
Dig World first gained national attention on Shark Tank, striking a deal with Robert Herjavec, and the park has since landed a partnership with YouTube giants Dude Perfect, whose trick-shot-style challenges are now baked into the boom lift experience. Nate got in on the action himself, going four-for-six on trick shots from the lift – including a sky hook, a dart throw, and a no-look toss.
“So far, the lift that takes you up and you get to shoot the balls into the buckets down below has been the best experience for me so far… Dude Perfect, if you’re looking to hire, come around,” said Nate.
But the real story behind Dig World isn’t the machinery. It’s Jacob’s son, Pierce, whose fight with bacterial meningitis at not-quite-two years old inspired the entire park, right down to the snack stand named in his honor.
“He’s non-verbal, epileptic and deaf, but he is the happiest kid that you’ll ever meet. Joy radiates from him,” said Robinson. We wanted to create something, my wife and I did, where we really could just bring people together – an experience that lets people come together, escape the world for a little bit, and create memories that last a lifetime.”
Dig World also runs on our partner Semnox’s platform, managing everything from wristband and card sales at the kiosk to attraction entry and CRM data on the back end.
Since our visit, Dig World has officially expanded beyond Katy. Its second location opened in July 2026, at Grapevine Mills Mall outside Dallas. It’s the first Dig World to fully showcase the Dude Perfect partnership, including a dedicated Dude Perfect Zone with construction-themed trick-shot stations and interactive family challenges. The Grapevine park also debuted with Caterpillar signed on as title sponsor in a new multi-year partnership, and Pierce’s Post, the snack stand named for Jacob’s son, has made the trip north too.
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Make the Trip!
Universal Horror Unleashed is worth the trip because it’s simply not replicated anywhere else. It’s a permanent, professionally produced haunt experience with the production value of a full theme park event, available 365 days a year, with rotating overlays that mean no two visits are ever quite the same. Horror fans, or anyone who wants to see what a full-time “scare campus” looks like, needs to put this on the list.
Dig World is worth the visit because it delivers something genuinely rare in family entertainment: real, hands-on empowerment. Kids aren’t watching from behind glass – they’re operating actual machinery, building confidence and independence one dig, one Lego crane pull, and one trick shot at a time, all wrapped around a mission that’s deeply personal to the people who built it.
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None of these adventures – or the stories we get to bring back and share with all of you – would be possible without the partners who power Fun Across America and the family entertainment industry every day. Thank you to Rhode Island Novelty, Roller, Semnox and Do The Beach for your continued support. We’ll see you at the next stop.
Barry Zelickson, is the co-creator of Fun Across America, a YouTube channel travelogue show. Zelickson has worked in the entertainment field for almost 30 years and has been awarded several IAAPA Brass Ring awards including one of the association’s highest honors, Family Entertainment Center of the World. His other projects include commercials, infomercials, feature films, documentaries, live events and entertainment centers.
Nate Reinhart, host and co-creator of Fun Across America, is a content creator for NalterDeeds and NalterCards on YouTube and content consultant for creators and businesses alike. After a shoutout from MrBeast, Nate has accumulated over 250,000 subscribers on his YouTube channels.