Xenses por Xcaret - mini trip report from the Riviera Maya

[Foxen]

Hello!

I just got back from a trip that calls out for a trip report, but seems off the beaten path for the DISBoards. Hopefully the Just for Fun board is the right place for this.

(photo via)

What the heck is this? Xenses, a sensation-based theme park that focuses heavily on visual and sensory illusions, located in the Riviera Maya part of Mexico, part of the Xcaret resort/park group.

What the heck is *that*? I was pretty unfamiliar with this before this trip, so some additional background if you're like me. The area roughly between Cancun and Tulum on the east coast of the Yucatan peninsula brands itself as the Riviera Maya. It has gorgeous beaches, snorkeling, diving, cenotes, and jungle, but it also tends toward flashy resorts and tourist attractions and a kind of "this is the Orlando of Mexico" kind of feel (with no offence intended towards either Orlando or Mexico - all levels of touristy-ness can be fun, I just tend to be skeptical of extremely curated experiences until proven otherwise). There is a lot of extremely genuine natural beauty (think remote caves and coral reefs), and also a lot of high-end constructed experiences (think luxury resorts and Cirque du Solei), and a lot of overlap between the two. For most of our trip we did cenotes and beaches, but we made an exception for Xenses and I'm now kinda sold on maybe trying the whole Xcaret thing. What's the whole Xcaret thing? A group of theme parks and resorts that have grown into a rather Disney-esque ecosystem of parks and hotels, with a central theme of Mayan culture. We didn't go to any of them other than Xenses, so I don't have much to say about the rest of it, but I got the impression you could have a vacation entirely within their system (stay at one of the resorts, get basically-park-hopper passes, take their shuttle-buses between parks, etc) and have, not a particularly authentic experience, but definitely a fun one that appeals in the same way as a Disney vacation.

Enough background = Xenses!

Xenses is pretty coy about explaining itself in advance. Their website provides some information, but it's mostly trippy photos and "At Xenses, nothing is as it seems" with most "for more information" links eventually just leading back to "buy tickets." I swear (although I can't find it now) that one of their FAQs straight-up said "it's better if you go in not knowing what to expect" for the people (like me) trying to drill down into but-what-do-you-actually-do?? They're probably not wrong about that, so if you're intrigued but don't want "spoilers" I'll mark when the spoiler-full account starts below. Before that, some general information and tips:

Travel: You're probably flying into Cancun. If you're staying at an Xcaret hotel there are shuttles, but if you're staying elsewhere driving is pretty easy - there's basically just the one road down the coast and all major attractions have clear road signs that would be hard to miss. Parking was easy and free/included. When we were there (late August) the vast parking lots were *very* empty - maybe 20 cars in a lot that could hold hundreds - but the park itself wasn't as empty as that would make you think (clearly there are a lot of shuttle and taxi visitors). There was a very nice iguana, whom my husband and I named Richard, acting as a parking attendant. There was also a security guard with an automatic rifle, which is fairly common (if disconcerting) in Mexico, and a sign (in Spanish) to report anyone trying to sell you things in the parking lot - both of which felt unnecessary: there was no one at all in the parking lot besides rifle guy, there's nothing else nearby, and it felt very safe.

What to wear: Treat it like a waterpark. There are things that don't involve water, but it's not easy or worthwhile to traipse back and forth to the lockers between things, and it's much better just to wear waterpark attire throughout (and if you're there in the summer it'll be hot enough that you'll want to jump in every water opportunity possible). A bathing suit and things that can get wet. DO wear shoes - water shoes or sandals to protect from the hot paths (and there are shoe cubbies available to stash your sandals for rides where they're not allowed). If you're carrying a camera or phone around with you, it does *really* need a waterproof case (as a side note: I didn't have one, so I will largely be relying on other people's photos in this report). A locker is included with the admission price (I think one per person, although my husband and I opted to share one), and it was fairly big - big enough to hold towels, change of clothes, shoes, etc. for two, at least.

What to expect: Really mind-bending optical and sensory illusions. Very *different* - and cool - experiences to traditional park rides. Where there are more traditional rides (waterslide, zipline), they are incorporated into an atypical experience. Mainly I wish there were more of it! They (accurately) describe it as a half-day park, and you can go through everything in 3-5 hours. Everything was pretty consistently in English and Spanish, and the staff generally speak both languages. The park is organized around two "paths" (which you don't need to choose between; that confused me before we went, but they're basically just different areas/routes that you do in whatever order you choose) off of the central "pinwheel." If you want to stick with the teaser-ish overview of the attractions they provide, this page has the most information. Otherwise, on to the trip report (in the next post, this already feels long)!

 

[dizneegirl]

Way to sell it!

 

[Foxen]

Way to sell it!

I feel like a shill, but I promise this isn't paid. It just seems like a really cool thing that this community would like!

 

[Skippy918]

We went last summer and went to all the parks. It was epic!

 

[Foxen]

One more logistical thing: buying tickets ahead of time on their website does seem to be the way to go. They hard-sell you on packages (discounts when you buy tickets to multiple parks, photo pass, etc.). My advice is to do your research and look for packages for exactly what you want, and otherwise resist all upsell attempts. You can also probably find discount codes online (right now 15% off seems pretty standard).

One other note: Photos. The photo package is *expensive* - about the same cost as an additional ticket. Accounts across the internet seem to vary from "it's a must-have" to my more lukewarm take, but here's the info. The package includes ride photos and a lot of photo ops where the visual illusion basically requires a photo (and their camera is placed exactly where it needs to be for the illusion). If you're going to get the package, there's a discount for buying it in advance, so it's a good idea to decide that ahead of time. The photo ops are well-integrated into the park: there are little mosaic-ed eyeball statues that contain the camera and a "escanea" heart mosaic that you escanea a wristband to trigger a photo. You can see both in this photo (photo eye above, escanea heart reachable from the ride track):


(via)
It's a well done system, and kinda fun to collect all the photo ops they've set up. With that said, we didn't get the photo package and didn't feel like our experience was worse off for it (just less documented and less instagram-able, the horror). And if you want to take your own photos, you can.


Ok, *now* on to the trip report! Consider this spoilers from here on out, I guess.


(photo via)

We arrived (parking, man with big gun, iguana are all past this sign and to the left). The outside entrance gives strong pyramid vibes while mostly being just a white building. There's a pool with some tethered rubber duckies and a big red orb:


(possibly the only photo I will include that I actually took, since my phone was promptly locked in a locker after this. This is us with an ominous orb.)

Redeeming our tickets at the counter was straightforward. They give you a paper wristband to show you're allowed in, a rubber escanea-able wristband to collect photos from the photo-eyes (whether or not you purchase the photo package up front), and a third bracelet with the key to your locker. Thoroughly be-braceleted, we proceeded into the Pinwheel.

(via)

The Pinwheel is the central hub of the park, and all of the paths depart and return from a spoke of the pinwheel. (The middle is, of course, the gift shop.)

Here's a map:

(via)

There's *something* off of every "spoke" of the wheel (save the several that are taken up by entrance and exit lanes to the park). When it's not the entrance to a new area, it's a little gallery with a photo op illusion or weird art piece. The most involved is a mirror maze that connects to... uh, this thing:


(I lied, this pic is by me, too)

This trippy effect is

Spoiler

done with a series of smooth, white-walled rooms with different colored flood lights in them

, and we thought looks like a D.A.R.E. poster.



After exploring the Pinwheel a bit, I dropped our stuff off at the lockers. Getting to the lockers involved the first really vertigo-inducing experience of the trip. There's a spinning tunnel illusion on the way to the locker area that really makes you dizzy (this gif is pretty accurate). Extremely disoriented and stuff stored, we stumbled into the "Path of Doing" first.

(More to come)

 

[Foxen]

The first thing that greets you on the Path of Doing is the Heartbeat. Honestly, I didn't get this one, or maybe I missed what you're supposed to do. It's a heart in a big, roughly circular chamber. The website says you can "touch, hear, and feel" it, but it was pretty underwhelming.

But then we walked out, through a small waterfall, into The Town. Which is impressive. It's a gravity hill illusion, and wow is it well done. You emerge onto a road leading through a village lined with townhouses, and gravity is all messed up. The road appears to climb upward in front of you (due to clever manipulation of "flat" in the surrounding buildings), but is actually descending. The result is that your eyes think you're going up, but your sense of balance thinks you're going down, and your brain gets very confused. So much vertigo. Fun vertigo? It's *interesting* and it's probably not like anything you've ever experienced before. There are a lot of reviews where people say it made them sick, and I get it. Your brain starts figuring it out and adjusting after a while, but all you need to do is turn around and look down ("down"?) the street the other way for a bit to reset the feeling. (Conversely, if you really need to turn it off, close your eyes for a while.)

This is not uphill. (via)

The street itself is really neat. Lots of photo op spots for sitting on a bench at an impossible angle, etc. And the stream by the side of the road runs uphill. It's worth exploring the side chambers - a surprising number of the buildings have little areas you can enter with a cool photo setup or just another mindbending view. The biggest of these are the upside-down room and a very death-defying staircase (or at least it feels like it), that you'll see in a lot of the photos. Honestly the photos don't do it justice, though. The bodily experience of wonky gravity via visual illusion at that scale is just something else.

Here are a few other people's photos, to give a sense:

This guy is standing upright. (via)

(via)

(via)

It's really impressive. Also, if you did this in the US you'd have to theme it in some sort of cartoon environment as an excuse to cover everything with padding. It's a little unsettling to be surrounded by so much stone and hard surfaces when you're that dizzy. And there's no alternate route - you have to go through El Pueblo to get to more than half of the park. And once you're there, you have to walk back through to leave. So, be prepared for that, I guess.

At the top ("top"?) of the street the uphill-running stream culminates in an upside-down waterfall and a doorway to leave the vertiginous zone. The next little area is basically a rest area - there's a small pool you can splash in, and hammocks. There's a bathroom off this area and it's generally just an area to recombobulate a bit before continuing on.

(to be continued)

 

[Foxen]

Ok, so after some recombobulation, a tunnel off to the right leads into the main attractions of the Path of Doing. These are a series of activities that you do in a predefined order (any of them can be skipped, though), most of which are located in a series of natural caves.

You walk through a set of dimly-lit tunnels populated by machine-part ants (I couldn't find a picture of these guys, but we liked them! they're creepy). Where you first emerge is a cavern with a safety video, warning that it'll be at least 20 minutes before you next see a bathroom, and cubbyholes for shoes, tshirts, and anything else that you don't want to get soaked and covered in mud. This cycle of activities is the wettest area of the park, so do leave anything that you don't want drenched in a cubby!

From there another tunnel eventually releases you into a path through the jungle. This is basically just a path, but it has plenty of things to see. It was not busy enough when we were there that any of the paths turned into a queue for more than a few minutes, but they clearly anticipate that it might. Macaws (also there were signposts for owls but we never saw them, I suspect they're mostly out during the night-time ticket hours). Sculptures of crocodiles made out of tires, frequently with iguanas lounging on them. Eventually you're climbing a stone tower to the start of the waterslide (the map and website seem to call this tobogan/slip, but I remember it being mostly labelled as something like WATERSL!DE, not that it really matters).

The family in front of us had kids, and the attendants at the top of the slide had job convincing them that "she can mostly swim" was not good enough, and that the parent couldn't wait in the catch pool to get them at the bottom. And the attendant was right - that would not work and the end of the slide is pretty disorienting. So, parents, be aware of that - younger children or anyone who isn't a confident swimmer will need to bypass this one (there is a walking path they'll direct you toward to rejoin the path at the bottom of the slide).

The slide itself is good. It's not the most XTREME slide ever, but it's not supposed to be. It's mostly about not knowing what's coming. It starts open, then becomes a covered slide, and gets darker and faster as you go, and disorientation remains a theme (your vestibular system is also probably still a bit wobbly from El Pueblo, which also contributes). You land back in the cave system, in low light, suddenly plunged into a pool that you couldn't see coming to anticipate. So, yeah, water up the nose, small moment of panic. If you're me, scrambling to put your glasses back on so you can find where to get out of the water and the next place to go.

Not many pictures of this one for obvious reasons. There is a ride photo at the beginning (you swipe your bracelet right before going down). Here's some internet photos for a sense of it:

(promo photo via)

(yeah, this one feels closer. Via this guy's ride video)

 

[Foxen]

After the waterslide you stumble through the cave to the beginning of the process for Bird Flight, the zip line attraction. They put you in a red jumpsuit-contraption and helmet, and then send you off down another long path. Aside from some jumpsuit chafing, this is another pleasant jungle walk that takes you to the launch point for Bird Flight.

This is another really well-done attraction. Every tourist attraction in Central America seems to feel the need to have a zip line, so I was prepared for this to be pro-forma, but (like everything) they make it different. You lay down on a platform and your jumpsuit hooks up to become a kind of sling that you are suspended in. You're instructed to keep your arms out like wings and your legs bet at the knee. And then you fly. The position is really fun and lets you "bank" with your arms like wings and change your experience a bit. All the tracks are also paired, so if you're traveling with someone you can go down together (or race). The track goes down through a kind of channel through the trees, until the end when you fly into a cave. The flight ends in the cave (with some sort of impressive braking system, because you go from "am I going to crash into that cave wall?" to a controlled landing very quickly). Then you disembark into another shallow pool, and another series of tunnels (better lit this time, and no ant sculptures) leads back to the jumpsuit drop-off.

I mean, c'mon. Look at that. (via)

 

[AustinTink]

Meh. I also just returned from Mexico and much prefer a lounge chair on the beach with a margarita in my hand. I’ll leave the Cirque du Soleil vacations to the young folks.

 

[Foxen]

I think after this there is a bathroom opportunity. Just FYI. It comes with an unpleasant smell and a visual illusion (I hope? I didn't stick around to check if it was a real toilet, to be honest) that the toilet you will be using is visible to everyone via mirror. That sounds really weird now that I type it out. I'm pretty sure it's just a visual gag.

The next attraction in the sequence is "Riverlaxing." This is not really like any other attraction I've ever seen. You're in a track like a waterslide, but the current is very minimal. The water is high-salinity, so you float easily, and you just float on you back through blue caverns. You can again go in parallel tracks alongside other members of your party (unless/until the tracks diverge), but it's mostly a solo relaxation experience. You can kinda control your (minimal) speed by pushing yourself along (if you don't, you really do not move much at all). There's a ride photo station somewhere midway along, and I saw some people really getting their instagram on with it, but I really liked just floating.

(via).

After Riverlaxing you enter the Sludgerie. This is basically the same premise and ride system as Riverlaxing, but this time with mud. It is a silty, slippery mud that is supposed to be good for your skin. I'm a bit skeptical of any health benefits, but it's an interesting sensation. Don't go into the Sludgerie with any illusions about keeping anything clean. You are pretty much submerged, and you and your clothes will be coated in the mud. At some point you will give up and submerge your ears so that you can float comfortably. Just give in to it. Periodically there are bubbling jets of mud that you float over.

(via)

Most of the photos online are people playing or posing in the mud. You can do that, but this is more like most of the experience. (via)

This was a little more stressful, just because the mud moves a little faster and the woman in front of me really took her time at the photo spot, so I spent a while trying not to drift into her while the guy behind me occasionally drifted into me. Logjam aside, though, this is really cool. There is also a mud pool at the end of the track, where you can play around in it more.

After you get out of the mud there's an area with strong waterfalls/showers where you can rinse off. (I realized hours later that one of my ears was still full of mud, so, y'know, don't be like me.)

The next few attractions keep on the spa theme. There's more rinsing in Lluvia/Rain, which is a corridor spraying jets of water from different angles, accompanied by colored lights. It's kinda like a human car wash. In a good way. (I did find this video of someone walking a gopro through it).

Then the spa theme continues with a long sauna walk. This is more tunnel corridor, but heated and humid. Not excessively so (which is good, it's Mexico and it's 90 degrees outside, too), but you get a sauna experience to go with your mud bath.

After you get through the sauna there's another slucing/shower opportunity, with some buckets that collect water and can be released over your head (or the head of your unsuspecting spouse). And then you come back out to the shoe-cubbies and the relaxation area at the top of El Pueblo, having made a full circuit.

 

[Foxen]

Meh. I also just returned from Mexico and much prefer a lounge chair on the beach with a margarita in my hand. I’ll leave the Cirque du Soleil vacations to the young folks.

I mean... that's mostly what I did in Mexico, and I'm not blogging about it. We did this one afternoon as basically our only concession to touristy nonsense, but/and it was really good. But also, this is a Disney forum, so I'm talking about the thing that is kind of like that.

 

[Foxen]

The only other thing on this side of the park is Marblelous, which is on a path back to El Pueblo. It is a cavern room with marble tracks running through it, and as the ball runs down the track it taps differently tuned chimes to play songs. It's pretty neat.

The Marblelous cavern lets you out back at the top of El Pueblo, which is only slightly less trippy going back "down." At the bottom, rather than going back through the waterfall, there's a side path that loops back around to the Pinwheel. On this path there's a tower with a pendulum in it which shows you where true vertical is and just how crooked the El Pueblo buildings are, which is cool to see.

From back at the Pinwheel this left the other side of the park, the Path of Feeling. I felt like this path was really only one attraction, but with a lot of nice stuff along paths around it. But that's ok. You start in the Way of Dwarves and Giants, which is another one that I either wasn't doing properly or is a bit underwhelming. It's a road with doors on either side and one side is supposed to make you look small, while the other makes you look big, without them looking demonstrably bigger or smaller than each other. I didn't really see much effect, but we also went through here fairly quickly and didn't stop to play around with it. Along the path beyond this are scattered a few more photo-based visual illusions (stand here, have someone else in your party stand here, and in the photo it looks like one of you is huge! kind of thing).

The main attraction here is the Xensatorium, and I really loved this. Before you get there, there's another shoe cubby station. You don't get particularly wet on this side, but you do need your shoes off for the Xensatorium, so stash them there. After stashing your shoes there's a short walk to the only place in the park where we really experienced a queue. There's a foot-washing station and then the queue is on a series of zig-zag benches. You queue while sitting on these benches (Disney, are you listening?) while a safety video loops on one wall. When the queue moves forward, everyone just moves up a few seats and then sits back down again.

The Xensatorium is unlike any other attraction I've ever seen. You're barefoot and walk forward in pitch blackness, using mostly feel to know where to go, and you walk through simulations of different biomes: jungle, swamp, prairie, caves and mountains. They have about eight tracks that one person can use, and they monitor your progress on an infrared camera (so they can see you, but you can't see anything; the safety video includes instructions to wave your hands above your head if you need rescue). When you get to the front of the queue and attendant will send you to track number whatever, and off you go. This is a solo activity - everyone goes in and through alone, and you can meet up again afterward. Per the safety video, they let kids older than five participate, and that's wild to me - I can't imagine a five year old not being terrified, but ok. There was some irregularity in who they instructed to go in, when - they pulled me and another woman from further back in the queue up early and I don't understand why. If you're going with other people, I would recommend you try to start at roughly the same time as the rest of your party, so that you can find each other more easily on the other side (you'll see why...).

Here's the launch area:

(via)

As you go through, the biomes are created through sounds, smell, temperature, and foliage. You just put one foot in front of the other and keep your hands out for leaves, grass, rock, etc. to guide you. I found it really peaceful. You're just there, with yourself, figuring out the world around you without sight. You pass through shallow streams. The mountain biome is particularly well done - it's not just a mountain, it's a cliffside, and they do a good job of making you feel like you're clinging to a cliff with nothing but a long cold drop beside you. I could definitely see how this could be stressful or scary, and maybe I'm just too trusting, but I never felt unsafe (even climbing across a blind cliff face), and the illusion was really well created.

You come out into more dimly lit tunnels in the natural cave system. The transition from the attraction to the path out of the attraction is pretty gradual. At some point you see a dim light ahead of you and you walk towards it. In my case it was extra vague because I had to put my glasses back on in order to see what the lights were. The tunnel from here progresses the gentle, quiet effect of the attraction, and you walk through tranquil caves. Eventually the tunnel opens out into a partial cave cenote that is really beautiful. You walk around the perimeter of an island. Then it transitions to a more nature-park area with waterfalls into an open cenote and display areas for flamingos and a macaw/owl area (again paired up, and again I only saw macaws). You continue on into a citrus grove with some frog sculptures, iguanas, and the Xitric Garden, where two lemon trees directly dispense lemonade (watch for bees).

(via)

And then the path eventually leads you back to the other side of the shoe cubbies (yes, you've still been barefoot this whole time). The park kind of parses this long path out into different "attractions" in marketing, but it's really just one long walking path (which I think is better). There's no particular transition between areas or indications or signage to say these are different things. And everyone on the path when I was there, myself included, were still a bit subdued and relaxed from the Xensatorium, so everything was very quiet and meditative. I loved it.

My husband may have had a slightly different experience. He started the Xensatorium well after I did (since they pulled me out of line to go early for some reason), and apparently got himself into a wrong corner somewhere in the dark and got turned around. He waited for a while (not waving his hands for help, he thought the barrier he was up against was a signal to wait because someone was ahead of him - it was not, it was probably a staff access passage or something), and then actually ended up going backwards for a bit before getting straightened out. I think he still liked it, but it was a bit less tranquil and stress-free than my experience. The gradual exit path and our staggered start times also meant that we didn't meet up after the Xensatorium part like we were supposed to. I spent a long time loitering in the caves and tunnels, waiting for him to catch up with me. When he didn't, I started wondering if there were multiple exit paths and he was waiting for me somewhere else (in case you're in the same situation - there aren't, the whole exit path is the same for everyone). I didn't mind loitering (it's a very pleasant place to loiter!) but just a note that it can be difficult to meet back up with your party, and there isn't really a designated waiting/meet up point until all the way back at the shoes, so keep that in mind. I eventually got all the way back to the shoe cubbies, saw that his sandals were still there, and turned around and backtracked for a bit before we actually met back up near the lemonade trees. Even with this, though, I think we both really liked the cave and nature path walk and the whole Path of Feeling experience.

And that's pretty much it! We headed back to the Pinwheel and finished poking around there. We considered doing the whole Path of Doing cycle again (which you absolutely could), but ultimately decided not to. So, we retrieved our things from the locker, handed back our plethora of bracelets, retrieved our car from Richard, and headed out. It was a great trip!