The City Museum is one of the most unique places in the world. Located in downtown St. Louis,
this place has elements of playgrounds, amusement parks, history museums,
arcades, and aquariums. This place spans multiple-levels both indoors and outdoors.
I’ve been here three times and I know I still haven’t seen everything. There isn’t another
place quite like it and in this review, I’ll explain why it should be on your bucket list.
Artist Bob Cassilly founded the City Museum in 1997. Cassilly converted a former shoe
factory into this eclectic exhibition of art and activity. This was his brainchild.
The museum has constantly evolved over the past 2.5 decades adding new exhibits, areas,
and features. Today, the museum spans 10 stories and also features two outdoor areas- Monstro City
by the main entrance and the roof section. Cassilly tried to recapture the magic with
Cementland. This park in northern St. Louis would feature giant concrete structures
and old machinery turned into art while also incorporating interactive exhibits,
but Cassilly tragically died during the park’s creation and it has since gone abandoned.
Ever since 2019, the City Museum has been owned by Premier Parks,
who are most well-known for operating amusement parks such as Magic Springs in Arkansas and Elitch
Gardens. I dreaded how a major corporation could potentially modify this supersized playground,
but thankfully much of the magic remains. The City Museum is located roughly 1 mile
from the famous Arch. The museum charges $10 to park in their lot and there are a
few other lots nearby, plus street parking if you can find it. Tickets hover around $20
and then the roof is an additional surcharge. The museum is open yearround, but the roof
is only open March through October. Both the rooftop and MonstroCity are weather dependent.
They will close in any rain. And you may want to wait a day or two after the rain clears
because several of the outdoor slides will remain closed until they fully dry.
What you wear to the museum is important. There are four considerations.
First, security. The museum spans 10 floors and you will be climbing and sliding about.
It’s a royal pain to find your way around, so the last thing you want to do is lose something. The
City Museum has lockers, but I typically suck up my pride and wear a fanny pack.
Second, comfort. You are going to be doing a lot of crawling and sliding. The gift shop sells knee
pads and I can certainly see why. While you can enjoy several exhibits if you aren’t physically
active, I’d say over half of them are like a giant playplace. And it’s worth noting it can get hot
and stuffy in the museum as you’re moving around. Three, speed. The first time I visited,
I kept getting stuck on the slides when I wore cargo shorts and sweatpants. I’ve since
learned quick dry athletic wear is the best attire if you want to fly down the slides.
Speaking of slides, that is what the City Museum is most well-known for.
Their signature slides are the 10 story slides.
These reconfigured shoe chutes, are these frighteningly tall and twisted spiral slides.
The slides last forever and you can build up some serious speed in the right clothes. Just know
this slide does have super tight turns, so you are going to bash against the walls on the way down.
There’s also a shorter 5 story slide in the same area.
These slides can be a bit tricky to find and to be honest, I still struggle to find them. There’s a
passageway near the caves you need to take, but if you ever get lost, you can find a staff member and
they’ll try their best to point you in the right direction. This place is a 3-dimensional maze.
To contrast, you have plenty of straighter slides that you can build up some appreciable speed on.
The first you may see is the Monster Slide. This multi-colored slide finishes right by the lobby
and it’s accessed from the main stairwell. MonstroCity has a few similarly paced slides
like the Dragon Slide and the Teepee Slide fixed to the building. The Roof has the iconic praying
mantis slide. And then indoors, you’ll find the 15th Street Slide running on the edge of the
building plus the Shadow Room Slide that starts with a twist before zipping a few floors down.
Then there are all sorts of smaller and milder slides. Some are specifically for kids
while others are for the less daring. Then you have a few slides with near
vertical drops. The skate park area doubles as both climbs and slides.
Then you have two that are specifically slides. The pump room slide travels down this steep,
claustrophobic chute and then rockets you over a bunny hill. So you can go airborne!
Then the aluminum slide is outdoors and it’s one heck of a drop. However, both of these slides were
closed for my 2021 visit and the employees were unsure if and when they would reopen.
These are the two most extreme slides and I can very well see how someone could potentially get
hurt on the pump room slide, so I wonder if Premier Parks is looking to modify these.
To go down, you must first go up. You can stairs or ramps, or you can climb up a treehouse,
navigate a series of caves, or climb through these rebar pipes that look like giant slinkies.
The latter are my favorite. You have to contort your body in some weird ways,
but it brought me back to my childhood climbing around the playplaces at Fast Food restaurants.
The craziest are the outdoor ones high above the ground.
Just watch your knees on the horizontal bits since the rebar is very unforgiving.
Or you can climb onto the spider web, which is a giant cargo net. I just caution you if
you’re an adult to avoid the crawl tunnels. You’ll regret going in there immediately.
Then there are all sorts of random things to explore.
The aforementioned skate park feels like a parkour course with the ropes and climbs.
My favorite thing there is the half pipe that feels like the warped wall obstacle from
Ninja Warrior. And you also have the world’s largest pencil in there for good measure.
The museum is filled with all sorts of random sights like this.
Some are pop culture related. Some are record-breakers. And others are historic.
You have a retro arcade on the third floor. The lighting and sounds perfectly capture
the feel of a classic arcade. You have several pinball machines plus a few other rare games.
Just make sure to bring quarters if you want to play these.
That third floor is also home to a circus with shows daily.
Like I said, this museum has random things. Need more proof? The outdoor areas feature plenty
of photo opportunities as you climb through a castle or even go into a cockpit of a plane.
But the best is the school bus perilously hanging off the side of the roof.
Growing up around Boston, that reminded me of one of the pranks MIT used to do.
The roof also has a classic Eli Bridge Ferris Wheel that offers fantastic views of St. Louis.
The wheel itself may only be 40-50 feet tall, but when you’re on top of a 10 story building,
you can beat the view on most wheels, especially being in a downtown metropolis.
Every corner of the museum has something new to find. In my most recent visit, we found an
aquarium I had no clue existed. There were a few exhibits with my favorite being the cleaner fish.
Give yourself plenty of time at the City Museum so you can explore every nook and cranny.
What’s special about this place is that you can go in with no plan and find
something fun and creative around every corner. So do I recommend the City Museum? Absolutely!
This place feels like a giant fun house crossed with a playground
and art exhibit. This place is so unique. And it’s especially amazing if you’re active.
But anyone can appreciate the beauty of this place how exhibits and attractions organically
expanded outwards from one man’s dream. This is the highlight of any trip to St. Louis for me.
So those are my thoughts on the City Museum. What are your thoughts on this museum?
If you’ve visited both before and after Premier Parks took over,
let me know what changes you’ve noticed. If you enjoyed this review, I’d appreciate it if you
gave this video a like and you considered subscribing since there will be a lot
more roller coaster and amusement park videos here at Canobie Coaster. Thanks for watching!