Mind-Bending Fun Returns: Dallas' Museum of Illusions Is Expanding

Feed-perfect illusion rooms, puzzling hands-on interactive installations, perplexing holograms and optical tricks are just a few of the more than 50 attractions the Dallas Museum of Illusions has offered since its inauguration in September 2019. A self-proclaimed “edutainment” venue, this museum invites visitors to enjoy mind-blowing experiences and fun photo opps — while unlocking the mysteries behind the science of optical illusions.

After a lengthy timeout for remodeling, a bigger and reimagined array of illusions will arrive in Dallas in March, when the Museum of Illusions reopens for Dallasites and tourists.

Just like the pioneers of cinema used persistence of vision to create the illusion of movement by showing a series of still images in quick succession, everything at the Museum of Illusion hilariously takes advantage of the slight disconnect between the eye's perception and the brain's understanding.

Visitors here learn that nothing is quite as it seems (a good lesson for those still falling for AI catfish scams). They can explore installations such as the Ames Room, a slanted room that creates the illusion that people and objects are larger or smaller than they actually are, or the mind-challenging Vortex Tunnel (which might make you a little bit dizzy).

The first of its kind in the U.S., the Dallas Museum of Illusions is part of a much larger family — a brand that started in 2015 in Croatia and quickly expanded into a collection of locations around the world. Today, the Museum of Illusions has over 50 locations across 25 countries and four continents.

Texans seem to especially be into defying perspective and spiral-eye reactions: versions opened in Austin and Houston in April and September 2023, respectively.

“Our MOI in Dallas opened in December 2019, right before the pandemic,” says Subhi Gharbieh, managing partner of Beyond Entertainment, which owns The Museum of Illusions in Texas. “Initially, we weren’t sure how Dallas would respond to a venue dedicated to illusions, but the response from Dallas/Fort Worth and its visitors has been incredible.”

The business is on a roll, and besides the new locations in Austin and Houston, the Dallas Museum now finds itself having to turn away walk-in visitors due to being at maximum capacity. There's a strong demand that Beyond Entertainment is eager to meet. It clicked for them that expanding illusions and new attractions were needed to accommodate all optical tricks aficionados.

“We realized it’s time to bring in new exhibitions and bring Dallas/Fort Worth a new and refreshed experience,” says Gharbieh.

The museum closed temporarily on Jan. 15 and is aiming for an early March re-opening. You can find sneak peeks on IG, @museumofillusions_dallas. Pre-purchase tickets for the reopening are available on the MOI Dallas website.

Gharbieh says that in the “new and expanded Museum of Illusions — just shy of doubling the existing size of 4,000 square feet — we’ll feature a new twist on some of our most popular exhibitions, while also bringing in several new ones to fit into our expanded and refreshed space.”

The previous experience lasted approximately 45 minutes, but Gharbieh anticipates that visitors will spend more than an hour experiencing the museum.

Museum of Illusions Dallas, 701 Ross Ave. Sunday – Thursday, 10 a.m. – 8 p.m.; Friday – Saturday, 10 a.m. – 9 p.m.