Unspecified/General

Directly opposite the historic Alamo Mission on Alamo Plaza in downtown San Antonio, Ripley's Believe It or Not! San Antonio is one of the most heavily visited tourist attractions in the city's historic district. The 20,000-square-foot complex opened in 1988 as one of the larger North American outposts of the international Ripley's Entertainment chain, founded in the 1930s by the American cartoonist and adventurer Robert Ripley whose syndicated illustrated newspaper feature documenting genuine and apocryphal oddities ran for decades in hundreds of American newspapers. The complex actually comprises several attractions sharing a single multi-storey building. The flagship Ripley's Odditorium occupies the upper levels and houses some five hundred individual oddities arranged across more than a dozen themed galleries. The collection includes the classic Ripley's favourites such as a wax recreation of Robert Wadlow, the tallest documented human in history at 8 feet 11 inches; an authentic shrunken human head from the Jivaro people of Amazonian Ecuador; a tin sculpture of a 1949 Chevrolet built entirely from used Coca-Cola cans; and a detailed scale model of the Alamo built entirely from matchsticks. The companion Louis Tussaud's Waxworks museum on the same property displays more than two hundred wax figures of celebrities, athletes, politicians and historic figures, with a particular emphasis on Texan figures from the Alamo defenders including Davy Crockett, Jim Bowie and William B. Travis to the contemporary celebrities Willie Nelson and George Strait. The Guinness World Records Museum on the same property displays a curated selection of artefacts and recreations related to current and historic Guinness records, with sections covering everything from the world's tallest and shortest people to the longest fingernails and the fastest land speed records. A separate Ripley's 4D Moving Theater on the property runs short, immersive films enhanced with seat motion, wind, scent and water effects, while a Mirror Maze and the popular Tomb Rider 3D Adventure interactive ride add active entertainment for younger visitors. Combined tickets covering all attractions on the property are available at a substantial saving over individual admissions.

Type: Tourist Attraction

Address: 307 Alamo Plaza, San Antonio, TX, United States

Telephone: 210-224-9299

Website: ripleys.com/sanantonio

Opening Date: 01/01/1988