There’s So Much Extra to Do When You Visit the Ark Encounter and Creation Museum

• Discover programs. These programs at the Creation Museum explore dinosaurs, carnivorous plants, astronomy, fossils, forensics, creepy crawlies, and so much more. They are included with your general admission and are designed for families to enjoy together. Guests of all ages love them!
• Presentations. Our talented and engaging speakers present daily (excluding Sundays and occasional other special days) at both the Creation Museum and Ark Encounter. You can dive deep into a specific apologetics topic during one of these sessions and often even meet the speaker afterward.
• Animal encounters. At both the Ark Encounter and Creation Museum, our talented zoo staff offer engaging programs with some of our “animal ambassadors.” Meet Luna the Eurasian eagle owl, hedgehogs Lily and Tulip, a very fluffy bird-eating tarantula, and KuneKune pigs Amos, Festus, and Eli—and so many others—during these exciting programs. You never know who you will meet when you come!
• Concerts. Our resident artists, Grammy-nominated Steve Hess & Southern Salvation, perform daily concerts at the Ark Encounter most Tuesdays through Saturdays. These concerts are very popular with our guests of all ages.
• 4D Special Effects Theater. See the six days of creation come to life in 3D during this exciting experience at the museum. The 4^th dimension is your seat, which has some special surprises in store as you watch the program!
• Ararat Ridge Zoo and Eden Zoo. Meet a variety of fascinating animals such as lemurs, camels, sloths, and more at our zoo at the Ark Encounter. You can even walk with the kangaroos in our kangaroo walkabout. And get up close and personal with alpaca, a wallaby, goats, donkeys, and more at Eden Zoo at the Creation Museum.
• Playgrounds. Each attraction has a state-of-the-art playground, designed to be inclusive for children of all abilities. Kids absolutely love these playgrounds (and parents appreciate how much fun their kids have as they run off all their extra energy!).
• Botanical gardens and grounds. The Creation Museum has gorgeous botanical gardens with 11 sections, including a rainforest area, koi pond, butterfly gardens, waterfalls, a suspension bridge, and more. Be sure to take time to wander through these gardens and enjoy God’s incredible creation. And the grounds at the Ark Encounter are very beautiful as well. Our grounds and horticulture crews go above and beyond in making these attractions beautiful places to visit.

Now, everything I just mentioned is included with your general admission. But that’s not all you can do! The following require an extra paid ticket but are definitely worth it:

• Ziplines. Both attractions feature a zipline and aerial adventure course. Zip over the lake at the Creation Museum or over the treetops at the Ark. And, if you’re especially daring, try one of their free-fall experiences.
• Virtual reality experience. Truth Traveler lets you go back in time to watch Noah working on the ark, meet the animals (including dinosaurs), and even go under the floodwaters (don’t worry—you come back up!). This high-tech experience—with VR glasses, seats that move and shake (and even poke you), and authentic scents—is immersive and very much feels like a “ride.”
• Camel encounters and rides. Meet a camel close-up, and get an opportunity to feed or ride on the back of one of our friendly camels at the Ark Encounter.
• Stargazer Planetarium. Experience the night sky in high definition with one of our programs in the state-of-the-art laser projection planetarium at the Creation Museum.
• Add to your visit with a full-day Explore Day program (or even a week of day camp) or extend your visit into the evening with an astronomy program. These events are available select days and quickly sell out, so be sure to reserve your tickets in advance.
• Mining Sluice and Fossil Find. Both of our attractions feature a sluice during our busy season where you can pan for fossils or gems—and take home whatever you find.

We offer a wide variety of enhancements (with more coming!) to ensure your visit is both equipping and fun.

Whew! That’s a lot! As I said, we offer a wide variety of enhancements (with more coming!) to ensure your visit is both equipping and fun. Now, it’s a lot to think through, so here are my top two tips for ensuring you don’t miss anything we have to offer.

1. Look at the daily schedule you are given right when you arrive so you can map out your day. We have various programs and presentations at both attractions throughout the day, so be sure that you check the schedule and highlight what you don’t want to miss.
2. Get an annual combo pass for your family. We offer so much each day you’ll want to come again and again. With an annual combo pass, you can visit both attractions (and enjoy free parking) as many times as you want for a full year. This is a wonderful way for families to attend all our Discover programs, hear a variety of presentations, catch all our animal programs, play on the playgrounds, enjoy the grounds in all different seasons, and even experience our 40 Days and 40 Nights of Gospel Music event starting in August. There’s so many reasons to purchase, or upgrade your ticket to, an annual combo pass.

Plan your visit and learn about combo pass options at CreationMuseum.org or ArkEncounter.com. Oh—and one more thing! All kids ten and under receive free admission for all of 2021. There’s no limit to how many children you can bring for free. (Though, of course, the children must be accompanied by at least one paying adult.)

Thanks for stopping by and thanks for praying,
Ken

This item was written with the assistance of AiG’s research team.