Crayola experience

[phoj69]

i saw a video on the
Crayola experience at the Florida mall and wanted to get people's opinion? How far from disney is it? How long to go through? Prices and things like that. Tia

 

[AlexandraF2015]

Its located inside the Florida Mall.
It's 25-30 min away from our hotel (Animal Kingdom).
One time ticket is $16 for an adult or a child. Annual pass will cost you $30 per person.
I think 4 hours is enough. We spent there 3 hours 20 min, but didn't see everything.

 

[phoj69]

Does that include the stuff when you get inside like when you make a
Crayon wrapper because I saw them using a coin didn't know if that was part of the cost? Thanks

 

[AlexandraF2015]

It includes everything (unless my husband paid something extra and didn't tell me).

 

[Gina-Gina-Bo-Bina]

Attractions Magazine featured a segment about the Crayola Experience on their show last week. You might want to check it out:

 

[glassslippergirl]

We just went on Wednesday and really enjoyed it. You get two tokens each with admission and can buy more. There's really only two things that require tokens-- the personalized crayons and modeling clay. Everything else is included in admission, which is steep but worth it. We spent a good six hours. I was just showing the bag of projects to DS's grandmother, and it was amazing to me how much there was. DS3's favorite souvenirs are the "meltdown" project which uses melted crayons in a Spirograph, and the "melt and mold" which uses melted crayons to mold little figures. You can make a picture and cut it into a puzzle, make watercolor art, design a car or dress and project it on the big screen, play with a giant "Light Brite," etc. There's two play areas-- one for little kids and one for big kids-- though these could be better monitored. There's a giant house made of chalkboard paint with dry erase board dog and other items that kids can draw all over. My favorite was taking pictures of ourselves and inserting them in coloring pages. Skip the silly putty show (boring) and bring your own snacks (food was expensive and looked old and dried out).

If we lived closer, we'd have gone for the annual pass which pays for itself in less than two visits.

To correct PP, one-day admission is $20 at the door, but you can get a reduced price online. Area McDonalds also have $4 off coupons right now-- that's what we used. Unlike a lot of other places, you have to pay for 1 and 2 year olds, which made it seem more expensive than we are used to. But if you have the time in Orlando, I'd seriously recommend it.

 

[Princess Melody]

Depending on traffic I'd allow 30-45 min from Disney. How long it will take I think depends a lot on how crowded it is and who is in your party. It is geared primarily towards children from about 3-10 but the nice thing about it is the adults who go along will enjoy doing a lot of the activities along with them. Price is very reasonable for this age group & the adults accompanying them. I don't think it holds as much appeal for teens & adult only parties & would see it as overpriced for them & they'd probably only need about 2 hours to do everything unless it is very crowded (which it often is right now on weekdays before 3 due to lots of summer camp groups being there). Also, you pay full price for 2 year olds and would be very limited in what a young 2 yr old can do so I think it's a little overpriced for them as well (under age 2 is free).
That said, I have a 4 yr old and she LOVES it! She could spend all day there & I have let her stay as long as 6 hours. Average family with kids in the age bracket it's geared towards I'd say 3-4 hours. It's indoors & air conditioned so great on hot & rainy days. They have 2 small playgrounds (one for 4 and under, one for 3 and up although nobody polices ages) as well as tons of art activities. I recommend seeing the show once (it's a 15 min show about how crayons are made, nothing to do with silly putty). While it's not on the level of a theme park show it's very informative & what Crayola is about & my 4 yr old doesn't find it to be boring at all while I see it as a good educational opportunity for her. You get 2 tokens every time you enter (even with an annual pass) and there are 2 activities that require 1 token so you can do each once. You can buy additional tokens for 50 cents each but I've never needed to.
The food they serve is very limited and not that great but the official policy is no outside food (not that they check bags). You can leave and re-enter so we just go to the mall food court, which has lots of choices & is a really short walk away (you can enter & exit from either the parking lot or directly in the mall).
I'd recommend it to anyone with young kids, especially if you get stuck with a really rainy day or need a break from the heat. Gatorland is about 20-25 min from the mall on the same road so you could always do a morning at Gatorland, afternoon/evening at Crayola (it closes at 8) to make the drive more justifiable.

 

[Mamato2cutekiddos]

Is this the same mall that has the M&M store?

 

[Upatnoon]

Is this the same mall that has the M&M store?

Yes. They also have an American Girl store.

 

[Mamato2cutekiddos]

Yes. They also have an American Girl store.

Oh sweet baby Jesus... I had no idea.

Welp- time to add "American Girl spending money" as a category in our Disney budget

 

[Miumiu4me]

Depending on traffic I'd allow 30-45 min from Disney. How long it will take I think depends a lot on how crowded it is and who is in your party. It is geared primarily towards children from about 3-10 but the nice thing about it is the adults who go along will enjoy doing a lot of the activities along with them. Price is very reasonable for this age group & the adults accompanying them. I don't think it holds as much appeal for teens & adult only parties & would see it as overpriced for them & they'd probably only need about 2 hours to do everything unless it is very crowded (which it often is right now on weekdays before 3 due to lots of summer camp groups being there). Also, you pay full price for 2 year olds and would be very limited in what a young 2 yr old can do so I think it's a little overpriced for them as well (under age 2 is free).
That said, I have a 4 yr old and she LOVES it! She could spend all day there & I have let her stay as long as 6 hours. Average family with kids in the age bracket it's geared towards I'd say 3-4 hours. It's indoors & air conditioned so great on hot & rainy days. They have 2 small playgrounds (one for 4 and under, one for 3 and up although nobody polices ages) as well as tons of art activities. I recommend seeing the show once (it's a 15 min show about how crayons are made, nothing to do with silly putty). While it's not on the level of a theme park show it's very informative & what Crayola is about & my 4 yr old doesn't find it to be boring at all while I see it as a good educational opportunity for her. You get 2 tokens every time you enter (even with an annual pass) and there are 2 activities that require 1 token so you can do each once. You can buy additional tokens for 50 cents each but I've never needed to.
The food they serve is very limited and not that great but the official policy is no outside food (not that they check bags). You can leave and re-enter so we just go to the mall food court, which has lots of choices & is a really short walk away (you can enter & exit from either the parking lot or directly in the mall).
I'd recommend it to anyone with young kids, especially if you get stuck with a really rainy day or need a break from the heat. Gatorland is about 20-25 min from the mall on the same road so you could always do a morning at Gatorland, afternoon/evening at Crayola (it closes at 8) to make the drive more justifiable.

My almost two year old loves the experience and does almost everything. We bought an annual pass, so I skipped a few things with long lines. My daughter loved the place, but I was annoyed to see that absolutely no employees monitor the toddler area and it was overrun with kids in the 8+ range.

They also checked my bag when I went yesterday, so I think they've noticed that people are sneaking food in.

 

[kanw]

Glad to hear people liked it. I am thinking of taking my 6 year old daughter the same day my husband is taking our son to Universal. I thought we could take Uber down there and hang and then have lunch somewhere.