Larger than life: Selfie studio to open at Ocean City with oversized shoes, thrones, other props

Ocean City tourists will have another method this summer to remember their beach trips in addition to key-chain telescope photos and waterfront family portraits.

Selfie Fantasy, an interactive venue where visitors can pose for selfies with props amid whimsical scenery, is expected to open near the boardwalk in time to welcome summer tourists.

The space is preparing to debut in May in the former Ocean City Screams building at 14 Worcester St.

“We’re changing it from a haunted house into a fantasy,” said Jason Tillman, a partner in the business.

Tillman is partnering with wife-and-husband team Stacey and Mark Warner to open Selfie Fantasy. The space is under construction.

Tillman said the venue will be decked out with “backgrounds and scenery and [an] atmosphere that’s like a fantasy. You would not be able to find those in normal life.”

One room, an “upside-down room,” will be decorated with furniture and props on the walls. Other rooms will house over-sized shoes, thrones or sea creatures.

“We have giant everything,” Tillman said.

In homage to the top spot where selfies are taken, one room will be decorated as a bathroom scene.

Visitors will be able to pay $20 (with discounted rates for children) to spend 60 to 90 minutes making their way through each room and taking as many selfies as they can manage.

Tillman, a driving school owner, also owns Rage Room of Maryland in Glen Burnie, where visitors can pay to smash glassware, office appliances and other items.

“I like to have interesting businesses and something that’s unique,” Tillman said. “It sounded like a really fun idea and something that is geared toward the millennial.”

Selfie Fantasy bills itself as “Ocean City’s first interactive Instagram-worthy experience,” but the interactive photo studio concept is not new to the beach town. Flashback Old Time Photos, which has two locations in Ocean City, has for years allowed customers to dress in historic costumes and pose with props for portraits.

But those photos are not selfies.

Selfie Fantasy is aiming to open on weekends beginning the third weekend in May, with daily hours starting the second week of June.

Pics or it didn’t happen.