The building is the first exhibit

Ripley's Orlando Odditorium leans. The whole building appears to be sinking into a Florida sinkhole — a deliberate design that starts the weird before you've bought a ticket. Inside: roughly 650 exhibits across 14 galleries, in place on International Drive since 1992.

Photo Finds: Inside Ripley's Believe it or Not Odditorium - Feb. 5 2013

Attractions Magazine

Attractions Magazine's Photo Finds series takes a slow walk through Ripley's Believe It or Not! Odditorium on International Drive, starting with the building itself, which leans like it is sinking into a sinkhole. Host Kevin points out a Pepper's Ghost effect near the entrance, a Wall-E figure, seashell folk art of Captain Jack Sparrow, a mannequin-in-an-oven oddity, and recreation after recreation of genuine human oddities. His main advice: the exhibits are packed tightly together, so go slowly or you will walk right past half of them.

Key takeaways
  • The building is the first exhibit — it appears to be sinking into a sinkhole
  • Exhibits are densely packed; slow down or you'll miss things
  • The mix runs from genuine artifacts and recreations to folk art like the seashell Jack Sparrow

The Inside Scoop on Ripley's Believe It or Not!

Fun Across America

Fun Across America tours Ripley's Believe It or Not! on International Drive with the attraction's manager, marking the Orlando Odditorium's 30th anniversary (it has been there since 1992). The museum packs roughly 650 exhibits into 14 galleries of the strange — everything is 100% authentic except a handful of pieces guests are challenged to judge for themselves — and it runs an educational scavenger hunt for the school and daycare-camp groups that make summer its busiest season. The host even gets his own shrunken-head portrait made.

Key takeaways
  • About 650 exhibits across 14 galleries; everything is authentic except a few deliberate 'believe it or not' judgment pieces
  • A classic Orlando rainy-day pick: fully indoors and air-conditioned, pitched as a break from the theme parks or the heat
  • School and camp groups get an educational scavenger hunt that ties the exhibits together

Marilyn Monroe's $5 Million Happy Birthday, Mr President Dress - Ripley's Believe It Or Not Orlando

MouseSteps / JWL Media

MouseSteps visits Ripley's Believe It or Not! Orlando for a close look at one of its headline exhibits: the dress Marilyn Monroe wore to sing 'Happy Birthday, Mr. President' to John F. Kennedy, which Ripley's bought at auction for $4.8 million before putting it on display.

Believe it or not, it's almost all real

Fun Across America's manager-led tour, filmed for the attraction's 30th anniversary, lands the house rule: everything is 100% authentic except a handful of pieces guests are challenged to judge for themselves. The mix runs from genuine artifacts and recreations to folk art — a seashell Captain Jack Sparrow, a Pepper's Ghost effect near the entrance — packed densely enough that the Photo Finds walk advises slowing down or you'll miss half of it. School and camp groups get an educational scavenger hunt version.

The headline pieces

  • Marilyn Monroe's 'Happy Birthday, Mr. President' dress — bought at auction for $4.8 million and displayed here, in MouseSteps' close look
  • The matchstick dragon — Patrick Acton's roughly 272,000 matchsticks bent and glued over some 2,000 hours, with light, sound, and motion-sensor animation, unveiled at Ripley's Orlando warehouse in the 2016 episode on this page
  • Artwork sculpted entirely from sugar — by an artist who can no longer eat it

The rainy-day case

Fully indoors, air-conditioned, and pitched by its own guides as the break from theme parks and heat — Ripley's is the classic Orlando rain plan that's been doing the job for three decades.

Sources: the five videos on this page — two full tours, a headline-exhibit feature, and two Attractions Magazine pieces — summarized from their entries in our catalog.

Watch: Ripley's Believe It or Not! Orlando, guided

2 videos · summaries from the actual guides

Ripley's unveils artwork made entirely of sugar at Orlando Odditorium

Attractions Magazine

A short Attractions Magazine clip from Ripley's Orlando Odditorium, where an artist presents artwork created entirely out of organic sugar. A devoted superhero fan who can no longer eat the stuff, he turned his sweet tooth into sculpture and walks through his first sugar piece at the exhibit unveiling.

Key takeaways
  • The artwork is sculpted entirely from organic sugar
  • Superheroes are the artist's favorite subject
  • A past special exhibit spotlight at the Orlando Odditorium

Attractions - The Show - Christmas in July; Ripley's Warehouse; latest news - July 28, 2016

Attractions Magazine

This July 2016 episode of Attractions Magazine's The Show gets a rare look inside Ripley's Entertainment world headquarters warehouse in Orlando — normally closed to the public — for the unveiling of Patrick Acton's matchstick dragon: roughly 272,000 matchsticks, most bent into shape before gluing, built over about 2,000 hours, and the first of his 23 Ripley's models to add light, sound and motion-sensor animation. The tour roams the warehouse floor past 17th-century elephant armor, a 14-foot King Kong carved from car tires, a genuine roughly 150-year-old Jivaro shrunken head, an Oprah Winfrey portrait made from thousands of coffee beans, and the world's biggest barbed-wire and rubber-band balls — all waiting to ship out to Ripley's Odditoriums around the world.

Key takeaways
  • The matchstick dragon took ~272,000 matchsticks and ~2,000 hours over nine months; it flaps, swings and growls via motion sensor and was headed for display at the Orlando Ripley's
  • Nothing stays in the warehouse long — pieces are bought to exhibit in Ripley's ~32 Odditoriums across 10 countries
  • One-of-one pieces on the floor included 17th-century elephant armor (the only set in North America) and a real Jivaro shrunken head

More Orlando essentials