Ripley’s & Palace Of Wax – Grand Prairie, Texas
Five of the most unique and entertaining attractions are in one building. In Louis Tussaud’s Palace of Wax, come face to face with lifelike figures from Hollywood, horrors, the old west, history, childhood fantasy, and the life of Christ.
Ripley’s Believe it or Not!
Ripley’s Believe It or Not! Odditorium showcases eye-popping galleries displaying the most beautiful, bizarre, and fascinating oddities from around the world. Get lost in Ripley’s Enchanted Mirror Maze. Test your skills at Ripley’s Impossible LaseRace. Experience their brand new 7D moving theater and play their two new games, Los Banditos, and Zombies.
The institution originally opened in the Varied Industries Building at Fair Park, Dallas, in September 1963. It was founded by W. Thomas Bolton, John A. Prather, and J. C. Brown. The museum’s exhibits included scenes of western gunfights and many historical figures of the southwest such as Cynthia Ann Parker and Antonio López de Santa Anna. A number of other figures included Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow, John F. Kennedy, and Elvis Presley. The museum also included a collection of firearms once owned by the outlaws and heroes of the Southwest. By 1982 the museum had moved to its Grand Prairie location and was operated there until a fire destroyed it in October 1988.
In January 1989 the owners of the museum, Classic Attractions, Incorporated, announced the construction of a new wax museum on the site of the old museum. They renamed it the Palace of Wax. The new structure also included a Ripley’s Believe It or Not! museum. Both museums are housed in a 41,000-square-foot building fashioned after an Arabian palace. The new wax museum contains approximately 100 wax figures crafted by the museum’s sculptor, Peter Carsillo.
Established in 1918, Ripley’s is inspired by stories of people and places that are incredibly hard to believe, but undeniably true! On December 19, 1918, the first Believe It or Not! Then called “Champs and Chumps” was published and featured a collection of sports oddities Ripley had saved. Soon after, in 1922, Ripley embarked on his first around-the-world trip and published his travel journals, which led to the very first Believe It or Not! book in 1929! On the heels of his fame, Ripley signed with NBC for a 14-year radio run. Believe It or Not. Robert Ripley was the first to broadcast underground and even underwater.
The first Odditorium opened in Chicago, Illinois, at the 1933 World’s Fair. Inside the museum were dozens of Ripley’s famous cartoons, live performers, and hundreds of strange and exotic artifacts Ripley acquired on his worldly travels. The success of his Odditorium led to several more appearances at world expositions across the country, and—of course.
Ripley’s Believe It or Not! began as a newspaper cartoon crafted on a slow news day in 1918 and has since grown into a worldwide phenomenon that includes books, television series, and more. Now, dozens of Ripley’s Odditoriums around the world feature a mindboggling number of unbelievable exhibits, people, animals, stories, art, and more. With each Odditorium different from the last, there’s always more to see at Ripley’s.