My daughter is a massive fan of the Ripley's Believe It Or Not! series of books which chart details of all things weird and wonderful in the world so the Ripley's odditorium was one of the places we simply had to visit when we were in Blackpool over Easter.
Who Was Ripley?
Robert Leroy Ripley was born in 1890 and travelled to over 200 countries and reported on the strange things that he found in his newspaper column entitled Believe It Or Not! which was read by 80 million people a day at the height of its popularity. His first book was published in 1929 and the Ripley's series of books are still being published to this day with the 2009 annual proving a massive hit in my household. Collections of the curiosities that he collected are displayed all around the world in a series of odditoriums in the USA,
Canada, Thailand and of course Blackpool.
The Museum
The first thing that we saw when we entered the museum was a fertility statue. It was funny to see the girls step around it but I had to go and rub it's belly and forehead simultaneously as described. Of course it is all hocus pocus, or I certainly hope it is as I only rubbed the statue to wind up my daughter and have no desire to hear the pitter patter of tiny little feet anytime soon. The girls were also fascinated by the floating tap in the entrance which gives the impression of a tap floating in thin air with water flowing from it. My daughter later went onto the internet to work out how it worked but it is a really cool illusion.
When we walked into the first room we were greeted by a life size statue of the worlds fattest man who weighed in at over a tonne at his heaviest. It was hard to believe anyone could reach such gigantic proportions, I had previously seen photos of this man but only a statue can give you the real idea of his size. This room also housed a collection of odd animals including a two headed calf and a furry trout which was a hoax that fooled the world in the 1920s. There was also a small cinema showing some movies.
There is a section devoted to Blackpool curiosities including a life sized statue of the worlds tallest man Robert Wadlow, a huge model church made out of matchsticks, writing on grains of rice which you could read with a microscope and various works of art. There is also a collection of odd items found which have fallen from rollercoasters at the pleasure beach including several sets of false teeth.
The part of the exhibition that interested me the most was the international sections with curiosities that Ripley had collected during his travels. The highlight of this section was a genuine shrunken head. The head of someone from a rival tribe was skinned and all of the bones removed before being filled with sand and hardened. It was a very eerie sight but also made me feel uneasy that some poor persons final resting place was a museum of curiosities where they were being gawped at.
Interactive exhibits included a two way mirror which allowed you to freak out other visitors, a shaky floor, optical illusions, the staircase of knowledge where you could read a fact on each stair, fortune telling machines and much more. All of the exhibits also had really good descriptions about their history which were interesting to read.
Overall
We found Ripley's museum to be an interesting place to visit and enjoyed seeing all the odd things inside. I did find it a bit overpriced though as it cost us £15 for two adults and two children to visit and it only took a little bit more than an hour to go round the exhibition. Although I enjoyed the museum there were a lot of the exhibits like optical illusions that I had seen before and I felt a bit let down by this. I also don't recommend that you take very small children here as I think they would quickly grow bored in here, there are also no toilet facilities which is also something to consider with little kids. The range of exhibits inside Ripley's makes it a nice place to spend some time if you are in Blackpool, especially if you need to shelter from the rain for a while.
General Information
Ripley's Believe It Or Not Units 5&6 Ocean Boulevard, Pleasure Beach, Blackpool, FY4 1EZ.
01253 341033
http://www.ripleysblackpool.com/index-2.html
Although the address is listed at the pleasure beach it is outside the complex and you have to pay separately to enter.
Normal admission prices are £8 for adults and £5 for children but there are vouchers available on the Ripley's website for cheaper tickets.
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