Visit: Ripley’s Believe It Or Not! {Times Square, New York City}

The weird. The odd. The creepy and icky. Let’s visit Ripley’s Believe It Or Not! in New York City…

It stands to reason that if we can possibly go to one of the Ripley’s Believe It Or Not places, we will.

Because I know it’s Nick jam.

Ripley’s. Weird facts. Guinness Book of World Records.

The kid is a walking treasure trove of that type of stuff.

So, of course, when I saw a Groupon for the Ripley’s in New York City, a location we haven’t yet been to, I had to get it.

I mean. Really.

I bought it a few months ago, and waited and waited and waited to use it.

Mostly because I hate the cold and the thought of traipsing around the city on a blustery Northeast wintery day did nothing for me.

So I waited until the weekend the Groupon expired, in the hopes that it would be warmer, and, of course, it poured buckets.

And I hate rain almost as much as I hate Winter.

Because flooded basement. Always. And my favorite sneakers have holes in them, so they, um, get a little squishy when it rains. And I would happily toss them in the trash, but I can’t find a solid replacement pair.

#pitypartyofone

But we persevered and set off to the city, planning to meet Sarah, her kids, and Joanne.

And no one knew anyone else was coming, and surprises were had by all.

I’m good like that. Madeline adores Joanne, so I knew that would be the biggest surprise of all.

Nick brought a friend with him as well.

Which means everywhere we went, in the THRONGS OF NEW YORK CITY PEOPLE, we counted.

One, two, three, four, five.

One, two, three, four, five.

One, two, three, four, five.

Which reminded me of when Kate Gosselin used to count her kids every time they went somewhere.

Although we had a couple less.

I was responsible for three.

And I wasn’t planning on losing any.

We took the train in, and then a cab to Times Square. I would have happily walked, my Fitbit and I, if it wasn’t raining.

The staff outside of Ripley’s remind me of the ones at the other locations we have visited. They’re kind of like carnival barkers, beckoning passersby to come right in.

All the Ripley’s are slightly similar, but very different. Filled with the creepy and unusual. The weird and the not-so-wonderful.

And most of it jaw-dropping or ew-inducing.

The NYC Ripley’s had more interactive exhibits than the others we’ve visited have had. Which is great for the kids. Not that there is any shortage of things to see, but even better when there are things to do as well

We put our heads in these glass jars (hello photo opp!), laid on the floor for cool effects, walked on a glass floor and more.

Although we’ve seen the head-to-toe tattoo guy in another Ripley’s location, this one had a video of him as well. And another piece of the Berlin Wall, which I love since it’s a bit of history mixed in with the weird.

Zoltar fortune teller machines will forever remind me of the movie Big.

There was an outer space section, a room that was akin to a mid-century torture chamber, and even a pinball machine.

This food blogger/recipe developer would never survive in Outer Space with these as my rations.

And at the exit? A pressed penny machine. Score.

If you don’t stop and read every.single.thing, it takes about ninety minutes or so to get through all the exhibits. Which is pretty much perfect for five kids.

If you happen to be in the area, or have a Ripley’s fan like we do, which means you visit them all, do check out the one in Times Square. Next time, we’ll hit up the wax museum next door.

Ripley’s Believe It Or Not! Times Square
234 W 42nd St, New York, NY 10036
Telephone:(212) 398-3133

Hungry for more Ripley’s?
You can check out our Baltimore visit here, and the Atlantic City one here. We’ve got another one already lined up for Spring Break.