Ripley’s Believe It or Not! is an American franchise founded by Robert Ripley, which deals in bizarre events and items so strange and unusual that readers might question the claims. Originally a newspaper panel, the Believe It or Not feature proved popular and was later adapted into a wide variety of formats, including radio, television, comic books, a chain of museums and a book series.
The Ripley collection includes 20,000 photographs, 30,000 artifacts and more than 100,000 cartoon panels. With 80-plus attractions, the Orlando, Florida-based Ripley Entertainment, Inc., a division of the Jim Pattison Group a Canadian global company with an annual attendance of more than 12 million guests. Ripley Entertainment’s publishing and broadcast divisions oversee numerous projects, including the syndicated TV series, the newspaper cartoon panel, books, posters and games.
When Ripley first displayed his collection to the public at the Chicago World’s Fair in 1933, it was labeled Ripley’s Odditorium and attracted over two million visitors during the run of the fair (in an apparent promotional gimmick, beds were provided in the Odditorium for people who “fainted” daily). That successful exhibition led to trailer shows across the country during the 1930s, and Ripley’s collections were exhibited at many major fairs and expositions, including San Francisco, San Diego, Dallas, and Cleveland. In New York City, the famed Times Square exhibit opened in 1939 on Broadway. In 1950, a year after Ripley’s death, the first permanent Odditorium opened in St. Augustine, Florida. The Odditorium is housed in the Castle Warden, built in 1888 by an associate of Henry Flagler, President of the Florida East Coast Railway.
As of September 2022, there are 28 Ripley’s Believe It or Not! Odditoriums around the world. Odditoriums, in the spirit of Believe It or Not!, are often more than simple museums cluttered with curiosities. Some include theaters and arcades, such as the ones in Gatlinburg, Tennessee and Wisconsin Dells, Wisconsin. Others are constructed oddly, such as the Orlando, Florida Odditorium which is built off-level as if the building is sinking.
Asia:
Shanghai, China (closed) – This Ripley’s museum was located at Huangpu River.
Victoria Peak, Hong Kong (closed) – There was an Odditorium in The Peak, opened in 1998 and closed on March 20, 2005.
Jakarta, Indonesia (closed) – This Ripley’s museum, called the “Fun Odditorium”, was located in the Pondok Indah Mall complex. It was the largest Ripley’s Odditorium in the world (2,000 m2; 22,000 sq ft). It opened on September 28, 1995[43] and closed in the late 1990s.
Kuwait City, Kuwait (closed) – This Ripley’s museum was located in the Hadiqat Al Sheaab Amusement Park.
Genting Highlands, Malaysia – This Ripley’s museum was located in the First World Plaza. It reopened as Ripley’s Adventureland located on level 4 in SkyAvenue.
Mandaluyong, Philippines (closed) – This Ripley’s museum was in the Shangri-La Mall in Ortigas.
Jeju Island, South Korea (closed) – This Ripley’s museum is located at the Jeju Jungmun resort.
Pattaya, Thailand – This Ripley’s museum is in Royal Garden Plaza in Pattaya. It appears as if an airplane has crashed into it.
Dubai, United Arab Emirates – This Ripley’s museum is located in Global Village features a mirror maze and a moving 4D theater.
Australia:
Gold Coast, Australia – This Ripley’s museum is located at the popular tourist destination Surfers Paradise. It reopened in the new Soul Centre on January 22, 2010, featuring a band of human oddities playing songs at the entrance.
Europe:
Copenhagen, Denmark – This Ripley’s museum is a smaller one located close to the city hall and next to a museum of Hans Christian Andersen.
Amsterdam, The Netherlands – The Ripley’s Believe It or Not! Amsterdam museum opened on June 23, 2016, at the Dam Square, Dam 21, in a building that belongs to the Heritage of Amsterdam. It has more than 500 exhibits.
Blackpool, United Kingdom – Located at Blackpool Pleasure Beach, this Ripley’s museum is based in the popular holiday destination of Blackpool. It was located further north in the 1980s at a location adjacent to Central Pier.
Great Yarmouth, United Kingdom (closed) – There was an Odditorium in Great Yarmouth on the east coast of England. It opened in 1993 and closed in 1997. It is now an indoor miniature golf course that uses some of the leftovers from the Odditorium as scenery for the holes.
London, United Kingdom (closed) – This Ripley’s museum was the world’s largest and it opened on August 20, 2008, at the London Pavilion, 1 Piccadilly Circus, and closed on September 25, 2017. It housed over 500 exhibits. It was famed for its large collection of Marilyn Monroe’s personal belongings and interactive exhibits over five floors, including a mirror maze and illusion tunnel.
North America:
Cavendish, Prince Edward Island, Canada – This Ripley’s museum is located in a concentrated area of tourist attractions adjacent to the Prince Edward Island National Park. A lighthouse (the top broken) features the Ripley’s sign. The museum is adjoined to a wax museum and also features a mini-golf attraction.
Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada – This Ripley’s museum is shaped like a toppled over Empire State Building with King Kong standing on top of it. This is the second oldest Ripley’s Museum in the world and is one of three in Canada. The museum was closed for major renovations between November 2015 and May 2016. The newly updated museum is the largest and most valuable museum for the company. Located across the street is a Ripley’s 4D Moving Theatre, and up the street there is a Louis Tussaud’s Wax Works which is owned by Ripley’s.
Toronto, Ontario, Canada – The Ripley’s Aquarium of Canada opened in October 2013 next to the CN Tower and Metro Toronto Convention Centre. The 150,000-square-foot (14,000 m2) structure boasts the longest underwater tunnel in North America. The aquarium was originally set to open in Niagara Falls, Ontario, near Great Wolf Lodge in 2007, but relocated to Toronto.
Guadalajara, Mexico – Opened in 1994, this Ripley’s museum is a small one like Mexico City’s location. It is near downtown.
Mexico City, Mexico – Opened in 1992, this Ripley’s museum is shaped like a medieval castle and has 14 exhibition halls within it. This was the first of three locations to open in Latin America.
Veracruz, Mexico – Opened in 2011, this Ripley museum is small and available in a mall with the associated Veracruz Aquarium and Wax Museum, has 150 figures on display, and features a mirror maze and rotating tunnel.
Cancún, Mexico – Opened in 2021, this Ripley’s museum is located in La Isla Mall and features a mirror maze and laser maze.
Buena Park, CA, USA (closed) – This Ripley’s Museum was located in Buena Park’s E-Zone district on Beach Boulevard, close to Knott’s Berry Farm. This is the location where Steve Sindad broke the world record for consuming ranch dressing, drinking 61 bottles worth (about 7 gallons). It opened in August 1990 and closed on March 30, 2009.
Hollywood, CA, USA – This Ripley’s Museum is on Hollywood Boulevard.
San Francisco, CA, USA – This Ripley’s Museum is located near Fisherman’s Wharf, San Francisco.
Key West, FL, USA (closed) – Opened on April 15, 1993, in the former Strand Theatre, this Ripley’s Museum was located on Duval Street. It then relocated to the former Planet Hollywood building nearby on July 6, 2003. It closed permanently in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Orlando, FL, USA – Opened in July 1992, this museum is located on the busy International Drive tourist corridor, and is built to appear as though it is dropping into a sinkhole.
Panama City Beach, FL, USA – Opened in June 2006, this Ripley’s Museum is at the intersection of Front Beach Road, Middle Beach Road, and Thomas Drive on Panama City Beach and is designed to look like a 1950s luxury cruise liner that has run aground on the beach. It also has a moving 4D theater.
St. Augustine, FL, USA – This is the oldest Ripley’s Believe It or Not! museum, located in the Castle Warden. It was purchased shortly after Ripley’s death in 1949 and opened in 1950. Before becoming home to his vast collections from his many travels, “The Castle”, as it is known, was once a hotel which played host to many famous guests, including Ripley and author/owner Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings. It was originally a Moorish Revival style mansion, built in 1887 by millionaire William Warden as a winter home. Its popularity and success led Ripley’s associates to open new establishments throughout the United States and the world. Perhaps not surprisingly, it is rumored to be haunted. Segments of the most recent Ripley’s TV series were filmed here, including the opening credits. Among the attractions here are a mummified cat, a 1⁄12 scale model of the original Ferris wheel made out of erector sets, life and death masks of famous celebrities (including Abraham Lincoln), and shamanistic apparati from cultures around the world.
Chicago, IL, USA (closed) – Opened on November 21, 1968, the museum was located on Wells Street in the Chicago Old Town area until its closure in 1987.
Baltimore, MD, USA (closed) – This Ripley’s Museum opened on June 26, 2012, in the Light Street Pavilion of Harborplace on the Inner Harbor. The museum’s entrance featured a sculpture of a sea monster known as Chessie. It was dismantled and closed permanently in May 2020.[49]
Ocean City, MD, USA – This Ripley’s Museum opened in 2001 and is located on the boardwalk at Wicomico Street. It is a popular destination for tourists and it sits at the entrance to Jolly Roger’s Pier Amusement Park. It features a large model of a shark that appears as if it has crashed through the museum.
Branson, MO, USA – This Ripley’s museum looks like a stone edifice that was cracked by an earthquake.
Atlantic City, NJ, USA (closed) – The Ripley’s museum is on the Boardwalk. It opened in late June 1996. It closed on December 31, 2022.
New York City, NY, USA (closed) – This location opened in Manhattan on 42nd Street in July 2007. This was the largest Ripley’s in the world, housing over 1000 authentic artifacts and interactive exhibits. It closed on November 28, 2021.
Newport, OR, USA – This Ripley’s museum was funded by Jacob Walters and built in 1986. It is at the Historic Bayfront and one of two amusements known as Mariner Square, the other being Wax Works.
Myrtle Beach, SC, USA – This Ripley’s museum looks like a building cracked by a hurricane, located near the center of Myrtle Beach’s Ocean Boulevard. It opened in 1976. Also in Myrtle Beach is a 5D Motion Theater, a mirror maze, Ripley’s Haunted Adventure, and Ripley’s Aquarium of Myrtle Beach.
The aquarium, opened in 1997 at Broadway at the Beach, does scientific research and veterinary care for sharks, turtles and other fish but is not always taken seriously because of the Ripley’s reputation.
Gatlinburg, TN, USA – The original museum was built in 1970. On July 14, 1992, a fire started from a neon light fixture in a neighboring T-shirt shop. It quickly spread and engulfed a total of twelve businesses in one city block and damaged almost every building along the main street. From that Tuesday night to Wednesday morning, firefighters managed to get the situation under control, but the Ripley’s Odditorium was one of the twelve to be completely consumed. Some of Ripley’s most prized and unique possessions were lost in the fire, although some artifacts were able to be salvaged. The museum was rebuilt and opened in 1994 with nearly twice the amount of exhibit space, plus a tribute to the city’s firefighters included among the collections. Artifacts salvaged from the blaze sport decals saying “I Survived the Fire”. As with other Ripley museums, it has an architectural theme by looking as if it has survived a major earthquake, with interior and exterior feature cracks throughout. The Ripley’s Company has since opened several other attractions in the Gatlinburg-Pigeon Forge area, including a “four-dimensional” theater, a state-of-the-art aquarium, a haunted factory, several arcades, two miniature golf courses, and a mirror maze, all of which carry the Ripley’s brand name and logo.
Grand Prairie, TX, USA – This Ripley’s Museum is located at 601 East Safari Parkway in Grand Prairie, Texas. It is west of downtown Dallas on IH-30 and is on the northwest intersection of Belt Line Road and IH-30, 7 miles (11 km) east of Six Flags Over Texas.
San Antonio, TX, USA – This Ripley’s Museum is located across from the historic Alamo. Next door is Louis Tussaud’s Waxworks, and just a short walk down the road is Ripley’s Haunted Adventure.
Williamsburg, VA, USA – This Ripley’s Museum opened in 2006. It has 11 galleries and over 350 exhibits. There is also a 4D theater that shows 3D movies with added effects (air, water, scent, etc.).
Wisconsin Dells, WI, USA – This Ripley’s Museum franchise is owned by Concept Attractions. The exterior of the museum is designed as a temple with a plane crashed into its side. It features 3 floors with 11 galleries with illusions and puzzles. It is located on Broadway, the downtown strip of Wisconsin Dells.