Visiting the Ark Encounter with your family soon? I am sharing our family trip to the Ark Encounter and tips to help you as you visit with your family!
We visited the Ark Encounter and Creation Museum on our way home from our annual trip to Michigan. It was right on our way and the perfect way to end our traveling. We stayed at Hyatt Place and loved it! Since we were coming from Michigan, we were able to go to the Creation Museum on day one, stay at the hotel and then drive about 30 miles south to the Ark Encounter. From the Ark, we were able to continue our journey home. It was nice not having to backtrack.
I highly recommend giving the Ark Encounter at least 4 hours of your time. We spent 4 hours there and had our 3 kids so of course were not reading every little thing. If your kids are older or you plan to do more reading, watch the videos, you could easily spend the entire day here.
Visiting the Ark Encounter with Your Family
COST
We did the combo tickets for the Ark Encounter and Creation Museum. I highly recommend this because it is such a great deal and if you are seeing one, it connects well to see both! Additional costs at the Ark Encounter were for camel rides, the mining, parking, and food.
ARRIVAL
When you arrive at the Ark, you park in a huge parking lot. You can see the Ark in the distance which instantly sent eicitement into my kids! There were shuttles to take you to the main ticket area if needed. Since we did not have to park too far, we just walked. At the ticket office you can purchase your tickets or if you already have them, head to the bus check in.
At the bus check in you get your wristband and map and then board one of their many buses that take you along the mile drive up to the Ark. Along the ride you here more informatio about the the Ark.
Pulling up to the Ark is pretty incredible. It seems surreal. Our kids were instantly excited. Once you get off the bus, most people headed to a beautiful spot where everyone seemed to be getting pictures. They did a really good job of setting up that spot so that people can get a great picture of the entire Ark or a picture of your family in front of it. Throughout the Ark there are a few spots where you see a camera sign indicating it is a good spot to take a picture, which I appreciated!
After the photo, we headed along the walk to the Ark entrance. Along the way there are some animals to view and a few other great picture spots.
Under the Ark is where you enter a ramp into the Ark’s first level. We did not have to wait in line at all but I have heard of people waiting here.
As you walk onto the Ark, you can have your picture taken by people there and order a print, we passed this by though.
There are three levels of he Ark that you walk along. Every level had restrooms, gift shops, and snack spots. I liked that it was so accomondating. There were plenty of benches to rest on and stroller and wheelchair rentals.
As we walked through each level I was amazed at all of the things I had never thought about with the Ark. It is funny to think that many of us envision the Ark as they show it in storybooks and not the reality of it. I felt like visiting this really helped open my eyes to the incredible parts of this story that clearly show God’s love through it all.
WHAT YOU GET TO LEARN
- All about Noah’s family and what their living quarters were like
- More about what the pre-flood world was like
- The rainbow covenant
- What animals would have been on board
- Why the Bible is true (this is a new exhibit)
- All about the flood and different details of it.
GIFT SHOP
Once you return back to the exit at the bottom, there is a gift shop that is huge. There were also some other shops outside.
FOOD
When visiting the Ark Encounter, you are going to need to eat at some point because you are there for a few hours. There were plenty of food spots to grab lunch or dinner at along with a large restaurant that was a buffet. All along the outside were lots of tables in covered locations to rest and eat at.
ARARAT ZOO
After we toured the inside of the Ark, we had a quick snack and then walked over to the Ararat Zoo where we could see different animals and they kids got to pet the goats. My kids loved this! There are also donkey and camel rides you can go on for an additional cost!
MINING
Just like how there was a mining spot at the Creation Museum, we also got to do a similar activity at the Ark! This time they looked for fossils. We split a bag again and it ended up being a great gift for them!
Best Tips for Visiting the Ark Encounter with Your Familiy
- Allow for a day at each place.
- Purchase the combo tickets.
- Bring a stroller or rent one.
- Bring snacks or plan to purchase some.
We loved the Ark Encounter! There is so much there to learn and read! The Creation Museum definitely had more hands on activities for the kids but there was enough to keep my kids interested at the Ark Encounter. If you are visiting the Ark Encounter with your kids, remember to have grace and know you may not get to read every single little thing. Taking pictures of different things that we wanted to read later was helpful!
I highly recommend taking a family trip to the Ark Encounter and Creation Museum! Visiting these two places was a great way for our family to end the summer! Read more about taking a trip to the Ark Encounter and purchasing tickets.
Love these tips? Share the love and pin the image below for later!
Head over to read the tips for visiting the Creation Museum!
Leave a Reply