Photo: By Wendy Awai-Dakroub
museum-of-aloha-gummy-bear-leah
A sticker-covered gummy bear is one of the attractions at Museum of Aloha's "The Experience."
Editorʻs Note: We tried the Museum of Aloha while it was at Pearlridge Center in June. It moved to Ka Makana Ali‘i in July and now is open at Ala Moana Center. We've updated the information below.
What: Museum of Aloha’s “The Experience”
Who: A mom; daughter, age 10; and son, age 8.
When: Friday morning on the opening day of the exhibit at Pearlridge Center.
It’s hard not to notice the giant bubble gum balloon display from the second floor of Uptown in Pearlridge Center. As my kids and I approached the center of the mall last Friday, the exhibit below was like a magnet for my kids who joyfully headed in that direction, full speed ahead.
Once I caught up with my children, who already were standing in line, I couldn’t wait to get a glimpse of what could possibly be behind those beautifully painted walls.
We were the first in line to get a personal tour of Museum of Aloha’s “The Experience.” Our guide, David Nagamine, the creator and visionary of this interactive, pop-up exhibit, is like a kid himself. The retail owner of Razor Sports and lover of all things fun wanted to create an “experience” that kids would relish, and for 20 minutes, he delivered just that.
Our tour started with four minutes of playtime in the first part of the exhibit called the “Na Lei” room. Garlands of brightly colored, plastic flower leis hung overhead in a maze of colors. I watched my children dance like crazy and re-enact scenes from the movie Grease, while I took lots of pictures.
You just can’t help it.
There were eight of us in the small room, which was just enough to feel comfortable but not overcrowded. The display is delicate, so Nagamine kept reminding us all not to run or pull on the flowers since visibility in this exhibit is limited, and older children might get hurt if they’re not paying attention.
The next four minutes of the tour was spent in utter bliss. If anything, this was the best part of the exhibit, and one of the kids wanted to repeat it over and over. The "Confetti Volcano" room was pure magic and madness, all wrapped up in one room. Scooping up large amounts of tissue confetti, stuffing it into a volcano, then watching it shoot upwards into the sky was pretty awesome. I watched as parents stood by watching their children play, taking more pictures and quietly wishing they stood under that colorful downpour of confetti. The confetti is replaced daily.
Photo: By Wendy Awai-Dakroub
museum-of-aloha-confetti-volcano
At Museum of Aloha, a volcano shoots confetti into the air.
About eight minutes later, we had to beg the kids to leave the confetti volcano room to move on to the next display, which involved a whole lot of stickers and one giant gummy bear. Some of us even got carried away and stuck the stickers on ourselves. You just can’t help it.
At the end of the exhibit, the gummy bear will be lacquered and displayed at the Razor store for everyone to see the artwork of “spots” they contributed to and created.
Finally, we spent the end of the tour taking photos at the “Angel Wings” exhibit. If you stand in front of the wings painted on the wall, and take one step forward while leaning toward the camera with your hands out, your photo will turn from 2D to 3D.
David explained that little trick to us. The original “Wings” artwork, displayed at the end of the exhibit, is painted by Patti Bruce.
After we were done, deciding which picture to post on social media was hard since we had so many beautiful photos. Whatever you do, remember to charge the battery in your camera or you’ll miss “The Experience.”
Our 5 Tips
1. Supervise young kids. Although staff members guide participants through the exhibits and supervise children who are unaccompanied by grownups, we recommend parents stay with children ages 8 and younger. Once the volcano of confetti starts shooting, the place can get rowdy.
2. Enjoy the investment. It costs $8 to $15 for the 15- to 20-minute interactive experience. It is pricey and there are no refunds. However, this is a temporary pop-up so you only have a few weeks to try it out.
3. Take the kids for free. At Ala Moana Center, one kid gets in free with each paying adult on the opening weekend, Oct. 20 and 21, and on Halloween from 4 to 9 p.m.
4. Consider joining your kids. Parents who choose not to pay and step into the exhibit with their kids may regret not being able to take photos inside the exhibit.
5. Play nicely. Advise children not to run, yank on the leis, and be rough.
6. Post photos. Follow Museum of Aloha on social media and hashtag #moaloha.
Museum of Aloha’s pop-up exhibit is in Ala Moana Center, street level at the Center Court near Big Island Candies and Jungle Fun. It is open daily through Jan. 13, 2019. Mall hours are Monday to Saturday from 9:30 a.m. to 9 p.m., and Sunday from 9:30 a.m. to 7 p.m. Admission is $15 for adults and $10 for kids, kama‘āina rates are $10 for adults and $8 for kids, free for children under 2. The timed experience runs approximately 15 minutes. kamakanaalii.com and facebook.com/MuseumofAloha/.
Wendy Awai-Dakroub is a Hawai‘i-based writer, founder of pintsizegourmets.com, photographer, traveler, and mom to kid-foodies Leah and Jaffer.
