Visiting Museum of Ice Cream San Francisco
/Real talk, getting these MOIC SF tickets almost gave me a mini panic attack. It was almost like I was back in my festival days sitting in the unknowing misery of queue. But you know, most ticket sales with a competitive wait line... always have a good reason why the tickets are such a hassle. MOIC was no different and it made for the perfect girls night out.
Is MOIC worth the hype? What's it like inside?
Scroll down below, and I'll take you room-to-room, without skipping a beat on the highs and lows.
TL;DR Version for my skimmers ...yes, of course it's worth it! Biggest suggestion? Get tickets for Monday-Thursday either morning, early afternoon, or a later evening shift to avoid the big crowds of people. Basically avoid 5-7 commuter hours and weekends.
Entering the Ice Cream Vault
Before getting the full Museum of Ice Cream experience, we had to pass a mini trivial quiz to enter the ice cream vault. In small groups of 15 people, we were whisked away by history facts on how modern day ice cream came to be!
Pro Tip: Make sure to pay close attention! Once you get inside, you'll be so distracted by the photos that you may miss the fun facts along the way. MOIC did a great job at giving us the full scoop on fun facts early on, then set us up for what's inside, and slyly filled us in on the ground rules without raining on our parade.
Pro Tip 2: Go to the bathroom before you arrive. Your next chance won't be until half way through the visit.
Come one, come all...
Once our group of babes passed the trivia questions, the first room we gazed into was a carnival themed room with a ring toss game on whipped cream cans. The walls were lined with pink toys, carnival tickets and pinwheels! Here is where you'll find the first of two video booths in the museum.
Pro tip: Take your time in each room. As groups trickled in behind us every 10 mins or so, we felt pressure to move on quickly. Since it is a one-way museum, be kind to those around you, take the time you need, and share the space! Once you move on, there's no going back.
Ice Cream Social
We walked right in to this 1950's styled diner covered in millennial pink. Sit at the counter and you'll be handed a strawberry It's It, a Bay Area legendary ice cream sandwich.
Pro Tip: The room's interactive depth takes it a step further with a working jukebox with some really good songs. Also, pay close attention to pink records hung on the wall, or you'll miss the punny pop star names!
You're my type.
Remember using letter magnets to write words on your kitchen fridge? Now picture that type of silliness but instead of on the fridge... on every inch of the wall with all cotton candy pink letters. We wrote our heart out on the walls, and maybe spilled some tea while we were there too. This is the chance to get creative, and let it out. Some keep it sweet and simple, but there were plenty of fun, colorful phrases on the walls when we arrived.
Pro tip: explore what's been left up on the walls before you mix it up and start you're own. Also, don't forget to grab some mochi ice cream before you walk to the next spot.
Photo: Jessica Villanueva
Photo: Jessica Villanueva
Cotton Candy Queens
We made a quick pit stop here after the magnets in this tiny blush colored hallway. We were greeted with cherry flavored cotton candy... and had edible sparkles on top! Ahh. You'll get the cherry reference very soon!
Pro Tip: the cotton candy is the best, savor each bite or you'll end up sad like me! 😔
Cherry Skies
Told you it would soon make sense! Here is where the MOIC experience starts to ramp up. Welcome to the room with pink skies and floating cherries! With cherry cotton candy in hand, you'll be fully immersed into what I consider the cherry on top of a good day.
Candyland in real life
After the sugar rush begins to kick in, we stumbled into a childhood board game brought into real life. Pink hills with lollipop trees and gummy bears crawling around the candy dunes. You'll have a hard time keeping a straight face.
Pro tip: You can't touch much in this room, but don't be shy to sit on the pink hill for this photo opportunity!
Keepin' it cool
Time to pop on by to the popsicle room. It's almost like giant popsicles fell from the skies. Let the risqué jokes commence in here... trust me avoiding it is harder than you think. ...Oh wait. 🙊
Pro tip: The second (and last) video booth is here! Snap a quick video and make sure to email it to yourself.
Rock (candy) climbing
If you're up for the challenge, boulder up the rock candy wall. Our girl Jackie was quick to climb, and made it look easy af. From my one-time experience attempting bouldering, I can say it's definitely not easy. lol. Once she managed to get down, we took a few pictures in the rock candy cavern. The cast member in the room was the best hype woman we could have asked for and gifted us each with candy cane pop rocks!
Pro Tip: after this room you finally get your one chance to visit the restrooms.
Unicorn Prism Power!
*cue the sailor moon transformation*
Dance through small hallways of iridescent prisms and rainbow portals and you'll spiral into the long awaited rainbow room, equipped with a unicorn and pink dipped ice cream cones!!
SIsterhood is Powerful Shirts from Shop Luella
...While many waited to hop on a unicorn ride, I crawled into the disco ball room and had a ball of my own.
Sprinkle me.
The true treat and every kid at heart's dream finally arrives up next.. an entire pool made of sprinkles! We had a short period of time to enjoy, so we came in with a master plan. Though it's a short and sweet dip into the sprinkle pool, this keeps the flow of visitors moving successfully.
Pro Tip: make the most of your picture opp. Have the lifeguard take your photo, and once you get in the pool take your group shots first. Pair up with a pool buddy and take solos/duos of each other so everyone gets a fair chance to their ice cream selfie!
The whistle blew, and the lifeguard prompted us to hop out of the pool. "Head to to the sprinkle showers! they exclaimed. So we did. We made sure to shimmy until they were gone, and we used the air showers to shake those little sprinkles off. They end up EVERYWHERE.
Photo: Jessica Villanueva
This Sh*t is B-A-N-A-N-A-S
Once you've made it to the banana swings, you officially survived the Museum of Ice Cream San Francisco! Take a moment to sit back, swing a bit, and enjoy the last moments of your silly visit!
The visit ends with one last chance to eat ice cream, play ping pong, rest your feet or shop for mementos in the gift shop!
Pro tip: Sealed with a kiss and sent from the Sprinkle Pool. Before walking out of MOIC, I made sure to buy a postcard and write a letter to someone special. I encourage you to do the same. Put it in their pink mail box and MOIC will send it off for you!
