I am a lover of immersive art experiences. I consider 29Rooms (PLEASE make a comeback to NYC!) to be the holy grail godmother of them all and have since used that experience as a template for subsequent experiences. And a lot of these immersive art "pop-ups" tend to be a kitschy, gaudy "oooOoOO-look-at-me" overpriced sideshow affair masquerading as a main act. Ballon Museum hits right in the middle. My sister really wanted to come here and when I first saw the prices for this place (damn near $70), I assumed I'd be underwhelmed and opted out. But she brought it up again that it was the final week, I hadn't been to an immersive art thingy in awhile, AND I scored a sweet 50% off discount code, so I decided now or never on the FINAL day of the NYC experience.
Right off the bat, you're looking at unusual circumstances. The coat check is OUTSIDE. I watched a young girl whip off her coat revealing nothing but a thin crop top underneath in below 30 degrees temps BY THE PIER and said godspeed but no thanks and kept mine on my person. You'd think maybe this isn't such a big deal, that you'd just check your coat and hurry into the exhibit hall but noooOOoOoOOOo. The "intro" to the museum is still outside. There were a flurry of giant, inflatable structures hanging out outside with inflatable benches, NONE OF THEM HEATED. And once you passed those, ANOTHER LINE to actually get inside the place. Glad I kept my coat.
Once you finally make it inside the Pier 36 building, there are no immediate restrooms. And I was banking on immediate restrooms. The only ones I found were at the END of the whole experience. Additionally, we were instructed to put on these weird little shoe-coverings (like in a hospital) to "protect the floors". So anyone who coordinated their little outfit (like my sister) had to be prepared to crop out their feet.
Now, the installations ARE pretty cool. That first colorful mirrory room of wonder. The cute little giant owls breathing hoots out at you. The glow-in-the-dark room of "Gingos" (?). The party ball pit room is BY FAR the best part. The mix of the 360 panoramic visual screen display and the BIGGEST, DEEPEST ball put I have EVER experienced. The balls were soft and pliable, and you could literally dive in and sink in. I clutched onto my phone for dear life. But there is a time limit on this room and one of the workers rushed you out in quite a callous way once your time is up.
The "bubble room" was also pretty neat, though I'm not sure why they listed it as a "Quiet Room" to experience the "effects". It was NOT quiet. But very cool that somehow the bubbles weren't "wet". You finally dispose of your shoe coverings after here I think, so I guess they don't care about the rest of the floors. The room with the GIANT floating rolling ball balloon that you could punt across the room was also VERY cool and I loved the interactive aspect of that. There was also an inflatable maze that I really felt they could have done more with, because it wasn't much of a maze and really became something for kids to just jump all over. There were a few other general exhibits as well.
Near the very end there's about 10 scenic backdrops, purely for your Instagrammable purposes, BUT, every one had a line that an elderly millennial like myself would not go for, so I bypassed that completely. And, I'd been smelling the scent of popcorn the entire time, and when I finally reached the concessions, they had the weirdest system where you couldn't just go up to the counter and order your food. You had to stand on a SEPARATE line, get some sort of TICKET, that you would THEN go back to the counter to wait for the food. But once again, the line just to GET a ticket was another one my elder millennial self couldn't be bothered to stand on just for some popcorn. On my way out of the exhibit, the outdoor concession stand was free and clear, and I grabbed my popcorn fix there, no ticket-system or nothing.
So, yes, it was enjoyable, but more crowded than I expected on the last day, and if I'd paid full price I don't think the value would have been worth it. It's a solid experience with great potential to be so much better if the team makes improvements, adjusts the limit for how many folks can be inside at one time, employ some kinder staff, and make general structural improvements. read more