Meow Wolf’s Magic Kingdom | Hacker News Reader

Meow Wolf’s Magic Kingdom

story.californiasunday.com

79 pointsjedwhite20 comments

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.

"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.

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

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.

That was exactly my thought too when I went. They're both amazing

Great place. And if I recall open late for the late night crowd too :)

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.

I loved it when I went a couple years ago, but this was a problem for me too. I'd like to take my kids, but they're small (6 and 3) and I worry that the stream of people will be a problem for them too, so I keep thinking of trying to go on a weekday. But I haven't yet.

I love meow wolf. It's one of two or three reasons I'll go to Santa few (from abq), but really only for shows now so I can get in later. Even then, my wife and I have had horrendous experiences there because Santa fe is a total piece of shit city.

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.

Go during off-peak hours?

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.

You're assuming the economy in NM gets better, but luckily we've been remarkably upturn-resistant, at least throughout my life.

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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

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