Ripley’s Believe It or Not Baltimore: Review and Coupon

October 26, 2014 by

We spent Saturday night in Baltimore, Maryland – one of our favorite places to go for a quick family getaway. There is so much to see and do in Baltimore (see Ripley’s Believe It or Not Odditorium before, but had not had a chance to visit. The kids are huge Ripley’s fans, so when we were offered tickets in exchange for writing this review, we jumped at the chance. We were not given any special treatment (none of the staff we encountered knew about this review), and were not asked to write anything specific (or even positive) about our experience.

Location of Ripley’s in Baltimore

The location of Ripley’s is right in the heart of the Inner Harbor, close to many other attractions like the Maryland Science Center and the Aquarium. It is in a building that houses several restaurants (we loved Noodles & Co for a quick and inexpensive meal). We didn’t even realize it when we booked our hotel (Hyatt Regency Baltimore), but we were directly behind Ripley’s and within very easy walking distance.

What Attractions does Ripley’s have in Baltimore?

The Ripley’s Believe it Or Not! in Baltimore is different than others that we have visited because it has 3 different attractions that can be purchased in one ticket or separately.

• Odditorium

The only place in Baltimore where you’ll find shrunken heads, a 12ft tall Transformer sculpture made of scrap car parts, the fiji island mermaid, one-of-a-kind artwork, tons of hands-on interactives, and sculptures made out of matchsticks!

• Ripley’s Marvelous Mirror Maze

Hey! Who’s that good looking person in the mirror? That’s you! You’ll come face-to-face with your cute mug over and over as you attempt to find your way out of our labyrinth of mirrors and LED lights. Don’t worry, we send search parties every half hour.

• Ripley’s 4D Moving Theater

It’s going to be a bumpy ride! Better hold onto your seats for this seriously realistic 4D Moving Theater experience. Our state of the art theater with digital effects and motions seats will have you feeling like you’re in the movie!

Bump, dip, and shake your way through our Rats Race and Winter Wipeout adventures. There’s a good reason why we advise expectant mothers and people with certain medical conditions not to ride this ride.

Ripley’s Attractions – Reviews

The Odditorium

This was the favorite attraction of my daughter, husband, and me. There are tons of really interesting artifacts. Really, I could have spent a lot of time here reading all of the signs and learning more about each item. There are ancient artifacts like mummies and shrunken heads, things you would normally find in a more typical history or natural sciences museum. What makes this place different is that it is actually very fun and interactive.

There is a Hogwarts Castle made of 500,000 matchsticks! My kids are massive Harry Potter fans, so they loved seeing this. There is also a Harry Potter portrait made out of candy, and a disappearing woven Hagrid (you have to see it to understand what I mean….it’s really cool!). One of my favorite parts of the Odditorium were the various works of art made out of unusual things like junk mail, ants, printed words, and so much more. Some were optical illusions that blew my mind.

Another great thing about this Odditorium was that it was very interactive. It wasn’t just about looking at things, but also touching and moving around. There were tunnels that the kids could crawl though, buttons to push, and (daughter’s favorite) a rainbow shadow room. She could have danced in there for hours! Overall, we thought that this Ripley’s was more interactive than the others we have visited.

The Mirror Maze

This was much more fun than I had at first anticipated. We went through it a few times because it doesn’t take all that long to find the end. My son came up with a trick for figuring out which walls were mirrors without touching them (I’m not divulging the secret here, you have to try for yourself!). You can spend a lot or a little bit of time here, depending how much time you have and how many times you want to go through the maze (and how skilled you are at getting out in the first place!). They gave us plastic gloves to wear so that the maze did not get all gross and fingerprint-y. I liked that idea because it kept the mirrors very clean, which made the maze look even cooler and shinier.

The 4D Movie

The 4D movie was my son’s favorite part of Ripley’s in Baltimore. The only complaint was that it was too short. There were 2 different mini-movies that were focused on an action-based theme. I don’t want to give away the ‘plots’ of the movies, but one was a car race and one involved sledding. Both were cute and lots of fun. It reminded me of some of the 4D attractions that they have at Disney or Universal. We did not find the movies to be particularly scary, but I could see that some parts may be scary for younger children. The focus was more on the cute aspect of things though, rather than the scare factor.

Overall

I’m really glad that we got this opportunity to go to Ripley’s Believe It Or Not! in Baltimore. I would suggest it as a fun family activity when you visit the Inner Harbor. The kids absolutely love everything about Ripley’s, so they are certainly doing something right!

Here is my original post for how you can get discounted tickets:

We spent last weekend in New York City, and next weekend we will be in Baltimore. Life is good. One of the things that we did in New York & have planned for Baltimore is a trip to Ripley’s. I am surprised myself by how much we have loved the Ripley’s Believe It Or Not locations we have visited. It was an unexpected positive experience. My husband even said “that was a tourist trap worth getting caught in” (he’s very clever). I have a review of our NYC trip in the works, but I came across this as I was researching our upcoming Baltimore trip, and wanted to share.

Believe It or Not!, Ripley’s is now located at the Baltimore Inner Harbor. Come see over 15,000 square feet of the odd and weird world of Ripley’s Believe It or Not! where truth is stranger than fiction. See a real shrunken head, Hogwarts Castle made of matchsticks and much much more! Along with incredible artifacts and artwork from all around the world and over 100 “interactives” take a ride on our 4D Moving Theatre and get lost in our Marvelous Mirror Maze. You can also take home your very own wax hand that you create. Ripley’s has been proudly freaking out families for over 90 years. Why just say it, See it!

My daughter is a huge Harry Potter fan, so I’m sure she will love seeing Hogwarts Castle! You can find the deal for the tickets here. It is an offer for buy 2 tickets and get 1 free.

You can find my previous post about Baltimore here:

• Baltimore with Kids: 17 Things to Do