What’s more romantic than tripping out after dinner and drinks?
Nothing, apparently. The Valentine’s Day couples who wandered, mouths agape, around Denver’s Museum of Illusions on Feb. 14 had plunked down $20 to $28 for a night-out activity within a stone’s throw of their dinner reservations. And there were dozens of them.
During their 45- to 60-minute sessions, they found mind-bending rooms tilted by mirrors and wonky floors, a whirling walkway of purple light, holograms, tiny tunnels and general disorientation. My kids, ages 7 and 11, had the same reaction as the adults, amiably bumping from exhibit to exhibit.
The four-month-old Denver outpost of the Museum of Illusions chain seems to have more momentum than nearly any business clinging to the 16th Street Mall, pitched as it is between funhouse, museum and selfie-backdrop. Apparently, that’s what gets audiences off the couch these days.
Lucy Wenzel (left) appears much larger than her older (and taller) brother, Tom, in the Perception Room at the Museum of Illusions Denver on Feb. 14, 2024. (Photo by John Wenzel, The Denver Post)
That’s not a complaint; rather, it’s a sign that Denver’s immersive entertainment options have ascended to the level of cocktail bars, concerts and sporting events (or, as the case may be, started to merge with them). And yet, immersive experiences are not all created the same.
The Museum of Illusions’ “edutainment” concept first opened in Zagreb, Croatia, and now counts more than 40 locations in 25 countries. It does not take programming risks, nor is it all that educational. It’s miles away from, say, David Byrne and Mala Gaonkar’s immersive “Theater of the Mind,” produced by Denver Center for the Performing Arts’ Off Center. That was art and science, and it put all of their names on the line with an experimental, theater-technology hybrid that also toyed with perception — and notably, took place in-person.
Apples to oranges, perhaps. But like “Theater of the Mind,” Museum of Illusions offers an immersive group activity that dips and soars on facial expressions — yours and others’ — and pleasing twists. When my son Tom’s head popped up from an otherwise floating hole, his body concealed by mirrors, I nearly fainted. When my daughter Lucy stood in a corner of a seemingly square room, towering over her older brother in the other corner, I thought, “Everyone in my family needs to see this.” I couldn’t wait to get home and text the photos.
It’s an update of those painted boards at tourist traps, where you insert your face into an oval for a quick snap as a zoo animal or beach-going beauty. It doesn’t matter who you are. It matters where you’re standing.
Exhibits at the Museum of Illusions are divided into three categories: installations, images and “illusion rooms,” all of which wind around the compact space at 16th and Curtis streets. Semi-circular foot traffic flows easily, although if you want to get a pic of your kids hanging off the side of a two-story brick building (a simple but effective illusion, thanks to a giant mirror), you may have to wait a few minutes for your turn.
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Museum of Illusions Denver and its “edutainment” exhibits are also eye-popping selfie backdrops. (Provided by Museum of Illusions)
Like Meow Wolf Denver, Boulder’s immersive-theater The Catamounts, or other truly in-person experiences, you can’t appreciate this simply from a screen. And yet, nearly all of these illusions translate well to photos and video, which is a nifty (albeit clearly deliberate) feature. The fare is not sinister, as with some of Meow Wolf’s dark-psychedelia undertones, and my kids responded to it as they might an IMAX movie or roller coaster, with giggles and wide eyes.
One of the illusion rooms on the website that interested my kids was closed when we were there. They had wanted to hang upside down in a train car — the main illusion-room that’s advertised online. It was disappointing to miss, especially since you walked right by it, but as with a funhouse, you’re also encouraged to push and pull on a few doors that conceal other mirrored rooms. You wouldn’t know they were there otherwise.
If you can ignore the know-it-all dudes trying to explain how everything works to their dates (and that’s easy to do outside of Valentine’s Day), you’ll be consistently surprised and delighted by this modest but densely populated attraction. And if you can snap a photo of your kids that’s so cute it becomes what I call a Grandma Ruiner, well, that’s even better.
IF YOU GO
Museum of Illusions. All-ages attraction at 951 16th Street Mall in downtown Denver. Hours: 10 a.m.-8 p.m. Sunday through Thursday, and 10 a.m.-9 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays. Timed reservations are available, but not required. Tickets are $20-$28. moidenver.com