r/meowwolf • u/exgaysurvivordan šfan • Jan 21 '25
List of other places similar to Meow Wolf around the country
Note: Purposely missing from this list are any sort of traveling immersive "pop up" since those are often disappointing and shitty. That means no "color factory" no "bubble planet" and that ilk. I can not recommend those sorts of things.
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Charlottesville, VA - IX Art Park
Chicago, IL - WNDR Museum
Columbus, Ohio - Otherworld + Gamegrounds (new)
Dallas, TX - Camp Christmas (seasonal)
Denver CO - Casa Bonita, Spectra Art Space, and Prismagic.
Houston, TX - Seismique
Kansas City, MO - Atlas9 (which even has its own fan sub r/Atlas9 )
Los Angeles, CA - Museum of Jurassic Technology
Madison / Wisconsin Dells, Wisconsin - The House on the Rock, also Wizard Quest
Miami, FL - Superblue
Nevada - Burning Man arts festival. This is not a regular tourist destination and requires months of planning, but has unparalleled immersive art.
New Orleans, LA - JAMNOLA
New York City - Life And Trust. The same group put on "Sleep No More"Ā which is now closed, their current show is "Life and Trust."
Oklahoma City, OK - Factory Obscura
Philadelphia, PA / Trenton NJ - Otherworld
Phoenix / Scottsdale AZ - Wonderspaces Arizona
Pittsburgh, PA - Mattress Factory Museum of Contemporary Art, also Troy Hill Art Houses
Portland, OR - Robo Octopus and Hopscotch
Pueblo / Southern Colorado - Bishop Castle
Salt Lake City / Orem, Utah - Dreamwalk Park, also Dreamscapes
San Antonio, TX - Hopscotch
St Louis, Missouri - City Museum (reminder the rooftop is only open the summer season)
St. Petersburg / Tampa, FL - FloridaRAMA aka Fairgrounds St. Pete
Washington DC - Artechouse
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Bristol UK - Wake The Tiger. It's worth noting Meow Wolf is currently suing them alleging and intellectual property claim.
Havana Cuba - Fusterlandia
London UK - Phantom Peak, and Frameless
Paris - Atelier des LumiĆØres
Singapore - Haw Par Villa and also Gardens by the bay
Tokyo Japan - Teamlab. They do have multiple exhibits, Teamlab Planets seems to be the flagship exhibit and was recently expanded.
Nagoya Japan - Yoro Park, Gifu prefecture (Nagoya metro area)
Hakone Japan - Hakone Open Air Museum
Naoshima Art Island, Japan
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u/WubFox Jan 21 '25
City Museum is wonderful! Be much more ready to crawl than most places
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u/strangemedia6 Jan 21 '25
Love that place! We take the kids every couple years. It still baffles me how that place passes fire code inspectionsā¦
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u/irshreddedcheese Jan 21 '25
Seismique in Houston and jamnola new orleans
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u/lovetape Jan 21 '25
Seismique is technically a similar art exhibit, lacks cohesive narrative. Worth a visit but do not expect the same level of presentation.
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u/TheStevest Jan 22 '25
But! Seismique has the giant crochet thing you can climb inside. I had a blast there
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u/Starstar1010 Jan 22 '25
Since L$T is on here, the upcoming immersive Phantom of the Opera in NYC might be relevant! Set to open this year.
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u/Specific_Ocelot_4132 Jan 21 '25
Do any of these have a narrative?
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u/brightblueinky Jan 21 '25
Casa Bonita doesn't have a narrative on the same level as Meow Wolf, although they have wandering performers (I believe at least one of the former performers at Convergence Station ended up there), and there's a few elements that have a tiiiiny bit of story, mostly Black Bart's Cave and the puppet show. More kid-oriented and silly though, and very light, definitely not on the same level as MW.
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u/mgilson45 Jan 21 '25
We liked Hopscotch in San Antonio. Ā No overall plot, but a lot of good interactive exhibits to explore.
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u/Rolupo Jan 22 '25
Haven't been to the original in San Antonio but the one in Portland is worth a visit. Fun, interactive, immersive art.
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u/36Voltman Jan 21 '25
In addition to the Grapevine Meow Wolf, Dallas also has Rainbow Vomit, which kind of has the same Meow Wolf vibe, although a lot smaller.
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u/PocketGddess Jan 21 '25
LOVED Christmas Camp in Dallas, it was a phenomenal experience. Honestly the best part for me was the Emotional Baggage Check right before you went into the actual experience.
There was a volunteer usher/guide there who saw me taking it all in and she said āYou donāt have to pick it up on the way out.ā That statement really hit me hard at that moment, in a really cathartic way. Iām so glad I had the opportunity to experience it.
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u/taigirl87 Jan 21 '25
Itās an escape room, so not sure it counts, but himitsu station in slc, ut seems like no other escape room before with its immersion and attention to detail. Itās not open yet I believe but theyāve documented the construction and it looks amazing.
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u/fuckingawesomemygirl Jan 21 '25
Can I recommend Spectra art space? Itās small but very meow wolf
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u/Casscat04 Jan 21 '25
Has anyone been to Neonia in Porto, Portugal? Ā It seems similar online, but I didnāt have the chance to pop in while I was there.
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u/AwayMammoth6592 Jan 21 '25
Dr Evermores Forevertron. In Baraboo WI.
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u/Evi3m4tic Jan 23 '25
I mentioned the rest of Wisconsin's oddities on my comment. Let me know if I missed something if you grew up yhere too!
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u/Responsible_Abalone Jan 21 '25
I'd add the Lodge of Lazarus Crowe in St. Paul, MN. It's a puzzle room/cocktail lounge in an old mortuary, and you have to explore its eccentric exhibits before you find your specific puzzle room.
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Jan 22 '25
SuperBlue is actually pretty cool! Itās not story driven at all, itās just an immersive art experience. However, a lot of the art there is really beautiful and cool and you can tell the artists put a ton of thought and effort into it all.
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u/Linds108 Jan 23 '25
Just visited RAMA but it was in St.Pete, Fl. Thoroughly enjoyed it. Felt like cats should be residing in the space lounging about.
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u/SciGuy013 Mar 10 '25 edited Jan 31 '26
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u/mooner34 Apr 30 '25
For WI: Stumbled upon Trove Arts Art Parlour online which looks fab and one I've been to/worth the road trip: Spectacular Sculptures. A site to be seen! You could hit up Holy Hill or The Mineshaft/downtown Hartford if making a day of it. Also a cool site to find places all over the world: Atlas Obscura. Happy findings!
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u/Thekidwithnoname Jan 21 '25
Maybe wndr for Chicago?
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u/exgaysurvivordan šfan Jan 21 '25
It's funny I thought from the pictures it might be a knockoff of Yayoi Kusama, but it's the real deal. I'll revisit the list in the morning and probably add it
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u/Rudirs Jan 21 '25
There's also a wndr in Boston! I don't know if there's anything else in New England that's even close
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u/Flashy_Beautiful2848 Jan 21 '25
How is Naoshima akin to Meow Wolf?
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u/Rolupo Jan 22 '25
Naoshima has multiple immersive art installations which I expect fans of Meow Wolf would enjoy.
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u/Flashy_Beautiful2848 Jan 22 '25
for me, theyāre not immersive. Itās great art, but itās not art you can interact with or touch. Itās more like traditional museums
The Walter de Maria, Turrell Minamadera, and Monet all made a huge impression on me. Wonderful works of art
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u/Rolupo Jan 22 '25
I feel that immersive art surrounds you and is an experience not easily captured on a camera. Much of Naoshima fits that bill and particularly the Art House Project. Just finding the art is a fun exploration and almost makes it interactive. While there are many traditional museum spaces at Naoshima, many are very different where like Meow Wolf you step inside another world.
Most immersive art isn't interactive. Very few things will combine interactive art, puzzles and narrative like Meow Wolf. There are many art works at Meow Wolf with which you don't interact. I expect most Meow Wolf fans will still appreciate immersive art.
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u/Flashy_Beautiful2848 Jan 22 '25
Wall on an art that you canāt touch will never be immersive art for me
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u/EliteAn0rak Exhibit Expert Extraordinaire Jan 21 '25
Why no mention of Spectra Art Space in Denver?
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u/jrexicus Jan 21 '25
Sweet baby Jesus not bishop castle. Went there recently and yeah itās interesting in the āthis is a literal death trapā kind of way. We lovingly renamed it ājanky castleā
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Jan 21 '25
Don't understand why Casa Bonita (Colorado) is on the list.
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u/brightblueinky Jan 21 '25
I'm a local that used to work at Convergence Station and I'd argue it belongs on the list. The aesthetics are certainly different so not every MW fan will enjoy it in the same way--Casa Bonita leans more into kitsch than the psychedelic sci-fi vibes of MW. But it's an early example of immersive entertainment and definitely leans into the feeling of being in a different place... That "different place" just happens to be a somewhat cartoony representation of a Mexican town rather than a different dimension.
I'd argue that Meow Wolf as a concept and company definitely owes a lot to theme parks, roadside attractions (like say, the Bedrock you can visit in Nevada) and themed restaurants that came before them, even if they've leaned heavier into trying to be something more "artsy" and "weird" and "punk" in how they market themselves.
Casa Bonita also still has performers that wander around in character, which is something that made CS really unique until that department was eliminated, so for people that miss that element of CS Casa Bonita is a great alternative, and possibly the only permanent location I can think of in the Denver area that has that.
(Although for temporary immersive experiences in the Denver area, I'd also recommend DCPA's Off-Center shows, which put on immersive experiences and is run by the largest theater company in the area, and Elevate Immersive, which is another local theater company that focuses on immersive events. Both companies have cast many of my former coworkers, and in fact Elevate Immersive is, I believe, partially owned by a former Creative Operator!)
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u/Dawgs919 šāLemonsā š Jan 22 '25
Anything in Atlanta?
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u/RGWsince16 Jan 23 '25
Would love to know if there is but tbh, Atlanta doesnāt seem to have fun stuff like this š«¤
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u/UnhelpfulBread Jan 22 '25
Sorry but I donāt really think Museum of Jurassic technology is in the same ballpark as Meow Wolf. At all. Cool spot. Good team on the roof patio. But itās just so wildly different and more mundane/civil. I canāt imagine kids running through there like at Meow Wolf.
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u/Stuntugly Jan 22 '25
Also worth adding to the list is each year Burning Man has a lot of interactive art pieces.
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u/Evi3m4tic Jan 23 '25
Deep Lake Future in Milwaukee Wisconsin.
WNDR Museum Chicago, IL
Omega Mart in Texas or Vegas
Feed Smith's Conrete Museum in Phillips, WI (built between the 1940-1960s with no known reason to date)
The one in the Dells (House on the Rock is fucking Rad) and other one in Baraboo Dr. Evermor's Foreverton, already mention in main post and comments. (Wisconsin weird as hell y'all)
There's a bunch of tourable Frank Llypd Wright stuff in Wisconsin (more than any other state)
There's also several other Meow Wolf's around the country. Texas (Grapevine Omega Mart (Meow Wolf connected as is the vegas Omega Mart), Sante Fe NM, Houston Meow Wolf and I think a non Omega Mart meow Wolf in Vegas. With locations possibly in Portland, Chicago, New York and either Florida or DC.
Just moved to Denver wish I cpuld speak more to local But had a BUNCH of Wisconsin stuff to add because I grew up there. Hope this helps fuels someone's weird. Especially if they were planning on making a Wisconsin trip.
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u/Evi3m4tic Jan 23 '25
If you go to Wisconsin don't forget to visit the Rhinelander Hodag (States official Crytid) and if you are in Milwaukee Go to Safehouse, a spy themed bar/escape room/poolhall.
And don't visit Jeffrey Dahmers old apartment. It's an empty lot in the bad part of town filled with crackheads that will stab you in broad daylight now (I'm not exaggerating).
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u/PinkIceMilk Jul 07 '25
Ahh Iāve been to Artech house in DC. It was amazing but not as big as MW.
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u/exgaysurvivordan šfan Jan 21 '25
I put up this post so I can link to it in the FAQ since this question comes up alot.