The new Museum of Ice Cream in Downtown Los Angeles is practically built for social media— the tour guide even prompts you to have your phone out and ready to go before you start your walk through the building of creamy goodness.
Though the museum is without a doubt an enjoyable mini afternoon day trip for local friends and family or out-of-towners, not everything about it is peachy — but don’t worry, we will break it down for you so you know what things to look forward to and also what to prepare for!
The Good:
Lots of fun ice cream and candy samples! As you walk through nearly every room, a very friendly museum employee will give you a variety of yummy samples, ranging from the scoop of the day (ours was early grey biscuit ice cream), mint-flavored mochi, and black cookie dough on a cone.
The Bad:
The lighting. Set in a bright pink warehouse in Downtown Los Angeles’ Arts District, the museum may be made for cute instagram photos, but the lighting inside this building often poses difficulties for getting a flattering, bright photo. In many of the rooms, the lighting is too either too flourescent or too dim, so make sure you choose your angles accordingly for this place to get the best photos (especially with iphone quality)!
The Good:
Let’s not forget the title “museum” — there is some very enticing artwork! Between the rooms of giant gummy bear statues and enormous colorful popsicles plastered on the walls, each room offers something slightly strange but also intriguing to look at. One of our favorite rooms was the banana-themed room, which has swings, scratch-and-sniff wallpaper and 10,0000 hanging bananas!
The Bad:
The length of time you’re allowed in many of the rooms. Given the popularity of this museum since its arrival in Los Angeles, no matter what day of the week you choose (we chose Monday), the place is absolutely jam-packed. Unfortunately, this makes it feel like you are a little rushed out of each room, giving you less time to enjoy your surroundings (or take the perfect photo).
This is especially difficult in one of the most well-known rooms in the museum, which houses the sprinkle pool, a 4-foot deep pit filled with sprinkles. One of the best places for adorable photo opps and a playful time with friends, each group that goes in only gets two minutes in the pool before the next round has to come in.
The Good:
The Los Angeles-themed room. One of the earlier rooms in the museum is completely “Los Angeles,” decorated with pink palm trees with waffle cone trunks and street signs depicting the intersection of “Strawberry Boulevard” and “Vine Street.” Stars cover the floor as comical ice-cream replicas of the stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, ranging from “Dwayne the ‘Rocky Road’ Johnson” to “Strawberry Short Drake.” This room is definitely a fun one for native Angelenos and for lots of fun Instagram-worthy photos.
The Bad:
The price is a bit high for the length of the museum. The museum takes about 45 minutes to an hour to walk through entirely, and for $29 per ticket, this might not be to everyone’s satisfaction.
If you’re willing to buy the ticket, the Museum of Ice Cream is definitely worth a one-time visit to spend time indulging in your guilty pleasure of photo shoots and sweets.
images courtesy of Sarah Ahern and Kayla Hausmann