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Twin Cities Kids Club recently attended the ribbon-cutting and grand opening celebration of the NEW Crayola Experience at the Mall of America, with guests including Miss Minnesota and Bloomington Mayor Gene Winstead. The crowd was huge and there were groups of school kids all ready and excited to explore the attraction! "Crayola Experience is an immersive, larger-than-life, creative adventure that we can't wait to share with both locals and tourists," Crayola CEO Smith Holland said. "This is America's heartland, and our brand has been at the heart of American creativity for 113 years. We hope to inspire countless kids and help create colorful family memories that will last a lifetime." The Crayola Experience MOA is actually the 3rd Crayola Experience to open - other locations are in Easton, PA and Orlando, FL. The ribbon was cut as the crowd cheered, and then we headed inside to check it out! When you enter you're given a bag to take home your keepsake creations, and some tokens to get started. The tokens are needed for a few of the attractions and you can easily purchase more inside. I brought my 5-year-old son who was super excited as we went in - it was hard to choose what activity to do first! Finally we started at Art Alive!, where you can create digital works of art and then see them on a big screen. You can even touch your drawing to bring it to life! We then made crayons at Wrap It Up, where you can personalize and print an authentic Crayola label. (There are machines that work almost like magic to put the labels on the crayons!) We then continued exploring the attractions: Be a Star - A coloring page photobooth! Make your own coloring page with yourself in it! Doodle in the Dark - This features THREE interactive dark room activities: 1) Large doodle boards that glow, 2) an Interactive Floor that responds to your motions and, 3) Step in front of a screen and see a Crayola character mimic your moves! Color Magic - Color a real coloring page, scan it into a computer and then see your page come to life! Then you can send the picture - even with you in it - to your email. Drip Art - Load a fresh crayon into a Drip Art machine and watch it drip and melt onto your paper as it spins - you determine how fast it goes! We did so much more - but could have easily stayed the whole day! We had so much fun together - even I enjoyed the attractions myself! Here are 5 things we want to share about the Crayola Experience: 5 Things to Know About the Crayola Experience at the Mall of America There are 25 hands-on attractions and live entertainment, including a live Factory show about Crayola and how they make crayons. It's over 60,000 square feet of fun! Most families spend about 4 hours here, so plan to visit for at least half a day! It really is a destination attraction at the Mall of America, plus you leave with a bag full of keepsakes that you got to make yourself! And if you want to take a break from the attraction and come back later that day, you can get your hand stamped and return! General Admission is $24.99 for ages 2 and up, but it's well worth it for everyone, and you can save $6 with our special link (see info below)! Like many other attractions designed for kids, adults have to pay for their admission too, but there is a LOT that adults will enjoy here. Both my son and I enjoyed making our own crayons, creating coloring sheets with ourselves in them, and all the interactive activities. This is a place for adults and kids alike to play together - and kids love to see their "grown-ups" having fun and being silly with them! Many families upgrade to the annual pass after visiting. For only $10 more, you can upgrade your day pass to an annual pass - which is $34.99. That way you can visit over and over again for a whole year! I think because the price difference is so low, it's well worth it. There really is a lot to do at the Crayola Experience and you and your kids can create new and unique keepsakes each time you visit. The Crayola retail store is amazing to visit by itself (no admission necessary). There are some activities you can do in here, and lots of really cool souvenirs - you can even put together your own box or tin of crayons with your choice of colors! And oh, why not, here's #6, #7 and #8 - there's just so much to share! 6. Did you know there's even a playground inside (called the Color Playground), and an area just for toddlers (called Toddler Town)? 7. And that there's a cafe, and party rooms for birthday parties and more? 8. There's even an interactive map on their website which shows you all the fun activities and features inside - too many to even list here: Discount tickets! Want discount tickets to the Crayola Experience? Here we have a special affiliate link where you can save $6 per ticket! Use access code Econ469 to login! More details are on our Crayola discount info page. Be sure to stop into our membership page and Join the Club to get exclusive deals and discounts only available through Twin Cities Kids Club.