The Magical Museum of Ice Cream
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One of my favorite childhood memories is of the birthday when my mom baked cake in ice cream cones and served them with ice cream on top. I thought it was so amazing and it’s still my favorite cake and ice cream combo ever!
The moment I learned about the magical Museum of Ice Cream I was dying to visit it. To say I love ice cream would be an understatement. A museum dedicated to my favorite treat, yes please! By the time I found out about it tickets were already sold out through August of 2017. Thankfully tickets opened up again and fellow blogger, Debora Dahl and I snagged tickets in September!
A museum full of art installations inspired by ice cream is what a child’s dreams are made of. The Museum makes you feel all the magic of childhood again. I found myself giddy with delight as we moved from room to room.
Founder Maryellis Bunn, who opened the museum with co-creator Manish Vora, was called the millennial Walt Disney by New York magazine. And for good reason! She turned her childhood dreams into a dream for us all. Bunn told Forbes “I designed all the rooms myself. A lot of the ideas were childhood dreams I had. I grew up by the ocean and I thought it would be so amazing if the ocean were full of sprinkles and I could swim in them.”
Its a fabulous interactive experience through 10 rooms with their own unique theme and corresponding treats all designed by Bunn. Tickets for the museum are scheduled in half an hour increments and we definitely didn’t want to lose our time slot! Tucked into an industrial area of downtown LA we arrived with an hour and a half to spare. Thankfully a Stumptown coffee shop was the perfect place to relax before getting in line and checking in at the museum.
It’s magical moment after magical moment as you move from installation to installation. My favorite wall was when we first entered the building. A variety of sweet treat from cupcakes to donuts to scoops of ice cream and more make a tasty and colorful pattern across the wall. In this room you are treated to a Dove chocolate before entering the next room. And don’t you just find yourself wishing this already Willy Wonkaesque moment allowed for eating those cupcakes right off the wall? You are welcome to take your time through the museum but must keep moving forward, no returning to a room once you have left it.
The Magical Museum of Ice Cream
A bright pink room full of old fashioned pink phones begins your journey into this whimsical world of sugar. It took me a few moments to realize there was a voice on the other end of the phone inviting me to “scream for ice cream.” Ooookaaay, I scream, you scream, we all scream for ice cream.
The next room we entered was inspired by California. Bright pink and yellow leaf wallpaper, hanging Venice Cream sign, an Ice Cream sign imitating the Hollywood sign and the walk of fame stars turned into clever ice cream flavors like Marilyn Mintroe and Brad Pittstachio fill the room. Here we were treated to an amazing scoop of pink and blue Afters ice cream, Brownies N’ Cream, made exclusively for the museum.
Next up it’s shiny metallic banana, scratch and sniff, wallpaper, a couple of swings and thousands of pink and yellow bananas. Talk about feeling like a kid again. If there hadn’t been a line we would’ve been on those swings all day. Turn the corner to find yourself in a mint room featuring the smell of chocolate thanks to the cacao soil they have mint growing in to lend the mint a chocolaty flavor. You are treated to a delectable mint chocolate chip My/Mo Mochi ice cream and then you are on to the sherbert room where you can try your hand at winning a prize from a claw arcade game.
You’ve now transitioned into a larger than life installation of giant ice popsicles coming out of the walls and floor. Don’t get melted on! And the larger than life moment doesn’t end there! It’s time to adventure among life sized gummy bears and get treated to a handful of the tasty treat as well.
Most people aren’t a fan of black licorice, however, we were given a tasting treat meant to change the way we think of black licorice forever. We were handed a piece of black licorice, a chocolate cherry bomb and two little chocolate coated malt balls. We were then instructed to first take a bite of the licorice followed by the cherry bomb and finished with the malt balls. The flavors combined in our mouths to create a rich chocolate brownie experience that did indeed make the black licorice taste delicious. Abel Benton’s black ice cream installation echos the artist’s approach to art bringing a dark side even to icecream. But it’s icecream sooo… I’ll leave you to your own conclusions. Personally I’m just imagining how much fun throwing ice cream at a wall could be.
And finally the room we most wanted to see and of course play in, the Sprinkles Pool! Sadly we were quite disappointed when we were only given one minute to be in the pool. We frantically snapped photos with no time to truly enjoy the wonder of the moment before being told our time was up. What?! It was the only bummer of our fun filled day. We hung out in the last room for a while. Complete with a Neapolitan ice cream sandwich swing, pool table, neon Museum of Ice Cream sign and a gift shop you are treated to a bright pink ice cream cone as one last treat before leaving the museum. Compared to Willy Wonka’s chocolate factory, it’s a magical modern day sugarland come to life. Let’s hope this pop up sticks around for the foreseeable future!
xoxo Naomi
