The Marvelous Meow Wolf in Santa Fe, New Mexico!
I’m sure the first question on many folks’ minds after they read this title is, “What the heck is Meow Wolf?” Well, you are not alone. I thought the same thing when I first read about it. So, let me explain it as best as I can.
When you were young you may have gone to a fun house. Fun houses vary widely but all have quirky, unique things to push, pull, view (like crazy mirrors), climb in or on, or slide down down. You may have seen them at an amusement park or a fair. Anyway, Meow Wolf, in my mind, is a mixture of a fun house and an interactive art exhibit. I would say it is more geared towards teens and adults than younger kids, but your younger kids or grandkids may enjoy it. Just make sure you keep the adults and the young kids together, though. You don’t want to get separated, which is fairly easy to do.
Santa Fe is the home of the first and original Meow Wolf attraction. When you enter the building there is a ticketing area. I recommend you purchase tickets online ahead of time at: ⬇️
There are now six Meow Wolf interactive art museums in the United States. They are each unique and you can find a link to each of them at the website above. ⬆️ Cities with Meow Wolf attractions include Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Houston, Grapevine (Texas), Denver, and (of course) Santa Fe - as mentioned previously.
But first, some things you should know:
There is a restaurant, restrooms, and a large gift shop in the entry area of the Santa Fe Meow Wolf. After you have had your tickets scanned, you are ushered into a large somewhat dark room with a two-story house in front of you.
I confess I had not done my homework on the attraction ahead of time (I had only seen some photos) and was a little startled to see that. I don’t know what I expected, but a two-story house was not it. I saw a mailbox outside the house that people were interacting with and seemed to be amused by and an older gentleman in overalls rocking eerily on the porch. I timidly walked in the house (past the guy on the rocking chair who I couldn’t tell if he was real or not) and found myself in a dining room/living room.
I immediately noticed three things:
The room kind of looked like a typical older-style dining room and living room combo but people were milling around trying different knobs, doors, etc… Weird… Again, I was a bit perplexed/startled.
I also observed I was the oldest person in the room (neat) before noticing an older couple who were seated on the couch looking through a large binder. A little relieved, I asked if I could sit next to them and see if they could shed any light on what I was supposed to do in this house. They were a bit confused too, but were looking through a manual for tips. Meanwhile, people are coming in and out of doors, climbing in and out of the large living room fireplace 🤯, and excitedly exclaiming each time they “found” something. It was very confusing to a newcomer. I browsed through the manual, although it really wasn’t a huge help because I didn’t see any of the items mentioned nearby.
So, in the end, I just put on my Explorer hat and “just winged it.” I saw someone entering a small closet door under the staircase and found myself in a small kids’ play area with a door on the other side. So I kind of crouched down (low ceiling) and went through the door on the other side.
I was in the kitchen. No one else was there at the moment so I tried to see if the sink did anything special. Nope, nothing extraordinary anyway. I peeked into oven to see if it might lead to a secret space, but “nope” on that too. Then I tried the refrigerator door and found it led to a whole different room.
I walked through the door and discovered I was in a room that looked like the inside hallway of a ship with several doors arranged in a circle around the outside of the room. “Okay, so…” I opened up one of those doors (I guess it’s called a portal) and discovered a totally unique and immersive art-themed room. Slightly stunned, I admired that room and its artwork and decor for a while and opened another door. A totally new room and scene appeared before me. And so it continued… I put my “little kid” hat on and just started exploring everything around me. Some parts of rooms were humorous, some were serious, some were confusing, and some were downright delightful. It reminded me of the sense you get when you are reading a good fantasy or science fiction novel. I totally felt like Kindergartener exploring my new world. I have to admit I loved it and was soon totally into it. 👏👏👏
I really have no idea how many different “rooms” or areas there were. I wondered if I would ever find my way out. But I was seriously too delighted to care. All the art styles were captivating and (of course) I admired each area and took lots of photos for personal use. (I inquired if that was ok and was told that photos were ok for personal use only. The photos in this blog post are press photos, which their marketing department directed me to.).
I probably spent 2-3 hours wandering through the house and exploring the various rooms. Because I was short on time, though, I did not make it to the second floor of the house. I do believe I saw most of the art areas, though. Some rooms I saw numerous times, as I would open a door and realize I had been there before and I was likely exploring in a circle.
To sum things up, I LOVED it!!! You do need to rediscover the art of exploration and play to really enjoy it, though. Make sure you plan ahead and allow yourself enough time to explore everything. Also, recognize that some parts of Meow Wolf may be a little overly-stimulating for some folks (and especially kids). Once I realized what the heck you were supposed to do, I just tried to “go with the flow’” and have fun.
Below are a few photos of the experience. I am not including all of the attraction, though, because I want you to go and explore if you ever have the opportunity - even if you are clearly the oldest person in the room. The younger people were friendly and would pass along tips. I offered to take some couples’ or families’ photos in various rooms and it all led to a light-hearted and jovial atmosphere. We were all explorers and age did not matter in the least. 😁
No, I didn’t go through this portal ⬆️, but I wondered how people were dropping out of nowhere in some of the rooms! 😂
And once again, here is the website so you can purchase tickets for one of their six locations!