Museum of Illusions Philadelphia — Attraction in Philadelphia

The craziest illusion you’ll see here is the lack of value for how much you pay to get in.

When we walked in, the workers at the desk immediately show us a sign they have saying you can save money if you get your tickets online rather than paying at the desk. The sign says you can spend about $23 a ticket instead of $30. Sounds great until the site blindsides you with two extra Ticketmaster-esk fees, which made the cost of each ticket about $28.66 for my group of 3. Nowhere near the savings they boldly claim at the desk.

For how much you’re paying for these tickets, and the fact that they give you a map, we got the expectation that this would be a fairly large area of illusions, possibly with multiple floors for how big the building is that they’re located in. Instead, you realize that’s also an illusion since it is just a medium sized square area on a single floor, with all their illusions being crammed together. Their site claims about 60 minutes of experiences or more, but that’s being very generous. Even with us having to wait to see a good portion of the illusions, we were in and out in about 40 minutes.

So even if there isn’t much to see, you would think the museum would be kept in good condition, right? Sorry to break that illusion too, you’ll instead find letters missing on plenty of the signs, dirty floors which either break some illusions or make you not want to pose for them, and some illusions outright being closed out of the only 40 some they have.

Some of the illusions were neat, but certainly not worth the cost of admission. In my opinion, this should have only been $10 per person, and no extra fees to make people think they’re getting a deal when they’re...

It gave the illusion of being worth $50+ for a child and 1 adult.

You certainly have to buy your tickets ahead of time. If you don't you'll be waiting in the entrance/lobby/gift shop that can hardly hold 10 ppl. Anything more than 10 ppl and you'll be bumping into each other. Additionally it's cheaper to buy them online. I did not know this and wasn't told even tho I asked were there additional discounts. I could have purchased my tickets online in the 35 mins I had to wait to enter.

Soooooo many children screaming and running around which is to be expected on a Saturday night. I just hadn't thought of that bc mine doesn't behave this way.

As for the illusions/exhibits... Most of them are to be explored with your party alone. It seemed there were more ppl in the museum space than there should have been. People were consistently in other people's photos bc they walked into an exhibit space while a family was already in there.

The overall experience was underwhelming. 3 or 4 of the exhibits were not working. Some of the hands on items were terribly beat up.

I booked my hotel based on its proximity to this museum and one other. Thankfully the other musuem was worth it. Much more to explore and more than half the price.

I certainly would not recommend this to anyone from out of town. Spend your time and...

There doesn't seem to be a lot of things to do in Philly if you're not a history buff. But we were in town specifically to visit Max's Steaks (HIGHLY recommended, by the way) and Reading Terminal Market (also HIGHLY recommended) anyway and needed to find something to pass some time. A family member recently visited the NYC location so we gave it go. Our group of four adults (30/40's) thoroughly enjoyed this experience and there is something for all ages to enjoy. Along with the optical illusion exhibits, there are puzzle games that are sure to keep you occupied for awhile. The five-star rating is mostly due to the excellent customer service and engagement of the staff. Kudos to all! It is obvious they love working there and they were a major contributor to our overall positive experience. Their excitement was contagious and impressive. I would definitely recommend this activity for out-of-town guests of mixed ages. We visited on a Friday afternoon and there was no wait. We were able to scan a QR code at the entrance and purchase tickets within 2 minutes, but you can also purchase tickets in advance at the website. One quick scan at the entrance desk and you're in. You can explore at your own pace and the staff are ready to assist if you're having trouble using some of the exhibits or a puzzle has you...