By Cyrus Guccione
Mail

Offering head-scratching fun for adults and children alike, the Museum of Illusions recently celebrated its first year in Scottsdale.

Located at the Arizona Boardwalk anchored by the OdySea Aquarium and Butterfly Wonderland, the Museum of Illusions welcomed over 100,000 visitors through its 60 exhibits in its first year according to Stacy Stec, director of sales and marketing at the museum’s parent company, LOL Entertainment. Stec says this year the museum is hoping to top that number.

“It’s crazy to think that a year ago we were just launching this and people were just learning about us in the market,” Stec said. “Now I like to think we’re a little bit more of a familiar brand in the Valley.”

One of more than 47 locations worldwide, the Museum of Illusions in Scottsdale is one of a growing number of museums stateside, including in Chicago, Pittsburgh, Las Vegas, San Diego and several more currently underway.

Despite its growing presence, Stec says the company considers itself to be a small business with dedicated teams that run each museum location.

Featuring exhibits like the cloning table and the beuchet chair and illusion rooms like the vortex tunnel, the tilted room and the Ames room that creates an optical illusion (Stec calls it “the big small room,”) visitors enjoy mind-spinning entertainment that has attracted families, teens and increasingly more adults, Stec says.

With wine nights and Halloween-themed events, Stec says the Museum of Illusions has begun to resonate with a growing number of adults looking for a fun date-night or a day at the museum.

“We are really excited to kind of shake it up and bring a little bit of a different demographic over to Arizona Boardwalk, and we feel like we’ve done that,” she said.

Lessons from COVID

Prior to opening the Museum of Illusions in Scottsdale, the LOL Entertainment team signed a lease to build a Museum of Illusions in Chicago in January 2020. Within six days of opening their doors, the city shut down, putting a stop to all public gatherings.

“Building a museum during COVID times really taught us a lot on how we wanted that flow and directionality of the museum to go so people felt more comfortable,” Stec said. “We really designed our Scottsdale museum with that in mind.”

With enhanced cleaning procedures, timed ticketing and a circular one-way flow, Stec says the Museum of Illusions in Scottsdale was built with the safety and comfort of guest experiences at the top of mind.

The Future of the Museum of Illusions

After two and a half years of opening, Stec says the Museum of Illusions will have a “big refresh” when it comes to exhibits.

“Of course, we keep a lot of the fan-favorite exhibits, but we will change out a lot of the exhibits just to make for a totally new experience for even those people who have already visited,” Stec said.

Specializing in “edutainment” concepts and offering new, exciting experiences for guests is what LOL Entertainment seeks to offer, Stec says, a former educator who is passionate about making learning more meaningful and memorable.

“It’s been a year of really introducing ourselves to people and letting them know what we’re all about, and we feel like the community really welcomed us with open arms,” Stec said. “We’re just super thrilled for another year in the Valley.”

The Museum of Illusions is located at 9500 E. Via de Ventura in Scottsdale.

Offering opportunities for school field trips and private and corporate events, the Museum of Illusions is free for children ages two and younger, $24.95 for adults, $18.95 for children ages three to 12 and $22.95 for military and seniors ages 60+.

For tickets and more information, visit moiscottsdale.com or call 480-270-6640.

We invite our readers to submit their civil comments on this issue. Email AZOpinions@iniusa.org. Cyrus Guccione can be reached at cguccione@iniusa.org.