Candytopia – a Sugar Fiend’s Paradise, or a Cavity Waiting to Happen?
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Insta-Musuems, as I like to call them, have been popping up all over the place in recent years. Whether it’s full blown traveling exhibits, like the Museum of Ice Cream, or the popular museum infinity exhibits by Yayoi Kusama, social media is definitely having an influence on the museum and art pop up industry. There are a lot of feelings to discuss about that, but first, let’s talk about the latest insta-museum to grace the United States. Candytopia. Have you heard of it? Well, if not, YOU’RE ABOUT TO.
If you’ve been following me for at least 10 minutes, I’ve probably somehow incorporated my love for candy into a conversation. So imagine my delight when I was surprised with tickets to this new museum in Santa Monica for a mid-day date. It was my last day in town, so heck yeah let’s do it. Honestly, I was convinced from just the name. So, Candytopia, what’s the scoop on that? Well, it’s literally just a “museum” full of candy. Yanno, exhibits made of candy. That’s the gist of it.
So getting down to the nitty gritty of pricing. Here we go. You have to get your tickets online and they are time slot tickets. Their hours are Monday – Saturday : 10AM to 8:30PM, and on Sunday : 11AM to 8:30PM. The cost for adults is $30 each, children 4-12 cost $23, but kids under 3 are free. And again, ya gotta get your tickets in advance and you can buy a maximum of 12 tickets per person. So that 13th friend you have will have to get their own.
When we arrived, there is a line at the door, and someone to scan your mobile ticket (or paper ticket…if you’re someone who prefers to print them). It’s a super quick and painless process. I went to the Candytopia in Santa Monica, which was located at the Santa Monica Place Mall. You should plan to arrive at least 15 minutes early, but if you are more than 30 minutes late, you will be denied entry. That would be sad, so…be on time! If you need to change your time for any reason AFTER you’ve already purchased your ticket, you can try calling the ticket number they give you in the email. I was able to change my time slot with no hassle (I woke up late and was prob gonna be late).
A few things to note, Candytopia IS wheelchair/ADA accessible, so that’s rad. I’ve never gone to the Color Factory or the Museum of Ice Cream, but this is how it works at Candytopia. The group of about 15 people all start at once. Then you are guided through the exhibits room by room. There is a semi steampunk theme throughout the museum. I don’t know why. But hey, I like steampunk so alright let’s just go with it.
Who would have the will and the way to create such a SWEET place? Well, none other than Jackie Sorkin, who holds the title of celebrity candy stylist. If I had known that was a career path, I would have changed my major in college. She is a Los Angeles-based artist and TV personality as well, and has her own TLC show “Candy Queen.” You know Katy Perry’s entire California Gurls tour? Yeah. THAT Jackie Sorkin.
Jackie Sorkin collaborated with design expert Zac Hartog and retail veteran John Goodman to bring her fantastically sweet dream to life. In an interview, Sorkin said, “I want them to be happy and crazy. I want every sense to be in overdrive. I’m kind of known for being this happy and crazy person with a lot of energy and I wanted to really infuse that heart and soul into this.”
WELL JACKIE YOU ARE SERVING IT TO ME!!
Honestly, I just wanted to eat all the candy. But as far as instagrammable spots go, it was pretty good. Then again, I’m not very creative photogenically so maybe y’all could work it better than I could. I was the only person not there with a child…so…idk what that means. Everyone else in my tour group had a kid under the age of 5 with them. Maybe it was because I went on a random weekday at lunch and all the other childless adults were at work earning money. Or maybe word hasn’t spread too much to the young adult crowd? I hadn’t seen anything about this place on facebook or instagram. Whatever the reason, they do have candy samples in all the rooms, which was a plus.
I get highly uncomfortable around kids, so I kept to the back of the group. I would recommend this strategy for a couple reasons. One, you won’t have rando stranger children climbing over your toes. Two, you get more time to hang back and really take in the details. Three, and most important, you can grab multiple sample candies without the other parents judging you. For a lot of the beginning rooms, I felt like the lighting was a little…eh, not the best. Not as bad as the Alive Museum in Seoul, but they were much cooler in person than these photos. The following pictures, however, are from the brightest and most colorful room.
If I had paid more attention, maybe I would know what this room was called. BUT ALAS. I didn’t. You’ll instantly be able to recognize it by its colorful walls and bright props. Basically, this was the photo op room.
The group spent the most time here, of course, which leads me to something else unique about this museum. It has it’s own photographers. I don’t mean the staff (though they are happy to take your picture for you!). But the actually have super helpful *stand here* points and a camera will take your photo then email it to you! For free! I had never seen that before in a museum, so I thought it was pretty cool.
If you look up Candytopia online, you’ll PROBBABLYYY see some not so good reviews posted. Let me set the record straight for them. BASICALLY, from what I gathered, Candytopia was scheduled to open on a certain day. There were some permit issues or whatever, and Candytopia had to push back their opening. That upset a lot of people because they had already booked their tickets and whatnot. I’m sure that was beyond frustrating trying to get new tickets or reimbursement, and that’s valid. New museums and attractions can definitely have their fair share of rocky starts.
I’m happy to report that when I visited, everything ran smoothly.
The above picture is a good example of those automated picture spots. Basically you just click go on a screen and it gives you a countdown. For some reason, I thought it would be a cute idea to hula hoop. The staff really got some good laughs that day.
Okay, so I’m running out of things to say here. The tour doesn’t take too long. If you’re an extremely thirsty person, I guess you can take a bottle of water, but it’s not longer than 45 minutes really. There’s a pretty cute gift shop at the end with merchandise and – of course – candy.
So overall, would I recommend it? WELL, Imma say yes cuz I love candy. If you’re not into candy, but enjoy fun quirky insta-museums, still a yes. If you have kids, definitely a yes. Maybe skip it if you’re on a tight budget and prefer more classical art museums. But overall, go! And it makes for a fun date spot! Again, I visited Candytopia while they were in Santa Monica, California. I believe their next location will be in New York City, then San Francisco. Candytopia will open in New York on August 15th! Check the Candytopia website for updates and subscribe to their newsletters for all the latest sugar!
If you’re not a fan of PopArt, I recommend the Chihuly Garden and Glass Museum in Seattle, Washington for a more traditional (but still not just paintings) art exhibit.
SO WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR?!? JUMP INTO THE CANDY!!!
