
Meow Wolf’s Magic Kingdom - jedwhite
https://story.californiasunday.com/meow-wolf
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dgzl
I lived in Santa Fe when Meow Wolf started becoming an mass attraction. It is,
without a doubt, the most fun I've had at an art venue. The story and
experience is so thoughtfully and creatively presented, that you feel like
you're in some kind of warped interactive Disney space exhibit. There's
endless little touches and Knick-knacks to keep you saying "oh wow, what _is_
this exactly?"

Concerts are held there too, which can be incredibly wild. I saw an
underground rap show there once. At the end of the show, the rapper encouraged
a mosh-pit, ripped off his shirt, dumped an entire jar of honey on himself,
then jumped into the crowd to join the mosh, which absolutely erupted.

The Meow Wolf team uses many microcontrollers, arduinos, RPis, etc. to control
various lights, doors, action/reaction events. On the second floor of the
"House", there's an office computer setup with a version of Ubuntu, which is
delightful every time I see it. I haven't found any videos online that
successfully conveys the beauty of this place.

Santa Fe is largely white, Spanish and Mexican, with a heavy emphasis on
artistic attractions for seasonal tourists. It also features a large older
population, and lacks very many fun and affordable things for young people to
do. Albuquerque is a fairly undesirable City, and although the Sandia
mountains and northern New Mexico are very beautiful and peaceful, there's
still a lack in activity. On the other hand, the desert EDM rave scene is
alive and well.

I highly recommend both Meow Wolf and Santa Fe, for someone traveling through.

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whichdan
"It is, without a doubt, the most fun I've had at an art venue." Same! I so so
wish I could have experienced it as a kid.

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wafflesraccoon
Meow Wolf reminds me a lot of City Museum in St. Louis, they are a living work
of art. I stand by City Museum being the coolest thing in STL and would highly
recommend it to anyone.

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/City_Museum](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/City_Museum)

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dgzl
City Museum is indeed very cool, and you might be right about it being one of
the coolest things in STL. However, that might also be it's biggest problem.

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patient_zero
i guess _I 'll_ take up the mantle of 'that guy'.

I disliked meow wolf. not the installation per se, but the crowd. any joy of
discovery was robbed by the constant stream of tourists moving through it. I
don't know how one can enjoy the art and wonder in there when there is a mob
of children waiting for you to move out of the way.

clearly people do though, so i guess I'm just a grump.

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jhbadger
I haven't been to meow wolf in particular, but that's a problem with museums
in general, especially the ones that attract a lot of children -- science and
natural history ones -- you often can't stand in one place long enough to read
the captions or use the interactive exhibits. But I don't know what can really
be done about that.

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zeveb
This sounds _really_ fascinating, and I'd love to go visit sometime. I
sincerely wish them the best of luck.

I do have a pair of downer thoughts, though. The first is that I wonder how
much repeat business they can do (yes, dreamcompiler comments that he's
visited half a dozen times). Maybe if they figured out how to update it over
time? But that might be tricky, with a relatively small physical plant.

Also, this seems like the sort of business which is _very_ sensitive to the
overall economic outlook. This article seems like the sort of thing we'd read
in 2028 and think 'man, 2018 was awesome, but we had no idea what was about to
happen.' But then, the first Portlandia aired seven years ago, and … the dream
of the 90s is _still_ alive in Portland.

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Deckard256
I've gone back at least ten times. The story element took that long to piece
together between repeat visits and online discussion. Also, they've managed to
pull some exceptional music performances that normally would have never come
here, which has made it worth going repeatedly.

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darthvigil
I live south of Albuquerque, NM and have taken my family to Santa Fe several
times with the sole intent of going to Meow Wolf. I've enjoyed the experience
each time. If you are anywhere near the area its definitely worth the price of
admission.

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supernovae
I love meow wolf. I hope they have huge success in Denver and I hope Austin
gets an installation too. Spotify has some of the soundtracks and musician
cd's available to listen online - great way to put your mind back into the
magic.

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codezero
I had a blast at Meow Wolf. This short video sums it up for me.
[https://instagram.com/p/BfmE-lVHHV-/](https://instagram.com/p/BfmE-lVHHV-/)

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dreamcompiler
Meow Wolf is quite a thing in New Mexico. I've been there half a dozen times
and I always find some new room or closet full of wonder that I missed before.

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spurcell93
Meow Wolf in combination with George RR Martin's theater (cafe, bar, writing
space, purveyor of miniatures and other goods) has made me seriously consider
going to Santa Fe for a few weeks as a sabbatical... just a lovely town.

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mberning
Went there when I was in Santa Fe. Great experience.

