Onboarding begins with a simple portrait photo. Behind the scenes, AI tools transform each guest into a ghostly Crystal Cove character and place them into framed paintings in the museum’s Haunted Hall. As guests explore, they gradually realise they’re surrounded by spooky versions of themselves. Select portraits subtly animate, and one hides a surveillance station revealed only with the communicator’s UV light or a hidden button turning them into both investigator and part of the mystery.

In the Ghostly Reckoning pre-show, atmospheric projection on hologauze or fog brings the town’s founder’s spirit to life in the museum. He delivers a chilling, story-setting warning before plunging the room into darkness, cleanly kicking off the hauntings and sending guests into the manor with a clear sense that something is watching.

Life-sized conversational character avatars, powered by AI, let guests talk directly with Velma, Fred or Daphne as they move through Crystal Cove, receiving context-aware hints, quips and nudges that keep the investigation flowing. In the museum, subtle animatronic exhibits, a watchful statue, a dusty mannequin,  add another layer of life, moving, speaking or pointing toward hidden clues on proximity triggers or puzzle progression.

Later in the journey, guests bring collected artefacts, each discretely RFID-tagged to a retro Clue Analyzer table where Velma appears on a built-in screen. Placing items on glowing pads triggers animations, audio and deductive leaps as she connects the evidence and steers the group toward the tunnels and final act, turning scattered puzzle moments into one satisfying story beat.

In the Crystal Cove Malt Shop, an old humming fridge turns out to be the entrance to the cold case. Following a clue, guests twist bottles, tap dessert trays and interact with labelled jars in the right sequence. When they succeed, the fridge unlatches with a mechanical clunk and swings open to reveal a hidden stairway below. The use of physical, self-resetting props makes the reveal feel tactile and “real Scooby” without adding heavy operational overhead.

Deep underground, guests discover the villain’s cobbled-together control room. A retro console and CCTV bank showing live feeds of Shaggy and Scooby elsewhere in the attraction. Flipping switches and pressing glowing buttons lets guests trigger on-screen traps and environmental jump-scares in nearby spaces, briefly putting them in the villain’s seat while still driving the plot toward the unmasking.

In the Hidden Circus post-show, guests gather for a Scooby Snapshot, an AR-enhanced camera feed where Mystery Inc. walk into frame and pose alongside them, producing a shareable group photo shoulder-to-shoulder with the gang.

Behind the scenes, the communicator and fixed cameras have been capturing key beats throughout the journey; these are stitched together with animated inserts and music into a Souvenir Mystery Video that plays like a “lost episode” starring the guests themselves, extending the experience beyond the venue and opening an additional revenue stream.