Top Upcoming Attractions in Dallas for 2023

Summer 2023 has lots to offer the residents of Grapevine and Dallas. LEGOLAND Discovery Center Dallas/Fort Worth will reopen the pirate beach. That’s not all! Meow Wolf is opening its fourth permanent installation at the Grapevine Mills mall. And if your kids love soccer, what better way to spend the day than at TOCA Social, where they can have food and drinks as they test their kicking abilities in the dynamic TOCA playrooms? 

Pirate Beach at LEGOLAND Discovery Center Dallas/Fort Worth 

Pirate Beach one of the twelve fun attractions you and the kids can enjoy this summer. It’s a great place to cool off after enjoying the LEGO rides, 4D Cinema, and making friends in heart lake city. 

This outdoor water playground has over thirty interactive playing gadgets, all pumping and splashing water. Your kids will love climbing onto the LEGO pirate ship as they dodge water jets and climb the water slides. And once they reach the 20-foot-tall mast, they must stay alert as a 50-gallon bucket of water can come down at any second. There are more LEGO bricks to create and test while playing with the LEGO pirate models and palm trees. Bring your towels and bathing suits for a day of splashing at the pirate beach. 

Ways to Visit 

SCHOOLS 

Expand your students' imaginations with educational play that harnesses the limitless creative possibilities of LEGO® bricks! Our age-appropriate workshops incorporate LEGO® Education to create a unique learning experience and hands-on environment that increases student engagement. 

GROUPS 

We offer discounted rates for organized groups including: daycares, summer camps, day camps, youth groups, YMCA, Parks & Rec Associations, kids clubs, sports teams and more! 

BIRTHDAY PARTIES 

Our LEGO themed birthday package includes admission for your guests, food, beverages, LEGO take home models, a private party room and more! 

Meow Wolf Interactive Art Experience 

Meow Wolf is a scene that began as a creative outlet for artists trying to do away with rules and the hierarchy in conventional art establishments. Established in 2008 by Sante Fe-based artists, Meow Wolf is a public benefit corporation that believes in supporting social and innovative art projects. The OG installation in Santa Fe, titled “House of Eternal Return,” came to life thanks to funding from George R.R. Martin, the “Game of Thrones” author. 

There are three Meow Wolf venues currently: Denver, Santa Fe, and Las Vegas. However, Meow Wolf intends to open a permanent installation in Grapevine at the Grapevine Mills Mall Summer 2023 and will make Texas the fourth state with an exhibition. According to the CEO Jose Tolosa, Texans comprise the highest number of visitors of Meow Wolf than all other states where the exhibition doesn’t exist, which was why the company chose Grapevine. Other reasons included its cultural diversity and spirited art scene. 

Meow Wolf intends to have local artists work on the incoming art installation, which the founders describe as multidimensional and interactive spaces with portals, maximalist exhibits, and secret passages. These artists include Tsz Kam and Dan Lam. The permanent installation will be inside a 40,000-square area that was initially a Bed Bath & Beyond shop and will have thirty rooms. The CEO, Jose Tolosa, also added that choosing Grapevine Mills Mall was motivated by the fact that it’s a hub of family-friendly activities thanks to its multiple attractions. These include LEGOLAND Discovery Center Dallas / Fort Worth, Peppa Pig World of Play, The Escape Game, and SEA LIFE Aquarium. 

The existing Meow Wolf exhibitions are non-linear, with thrilling audio-visual elements amalgamated with technology bound to cause tingling sensations to people of all ages. And each space tells a story and has a puzzle that some visitors can choose to solve if they wish to immerse themselves in a deeper sense. 

Haven’t encountered Meow Wolf before? Here’s a look at the current installations to give you an idea of the type of immersive experience to expect at the 2023 Grapevine exhibit. 

House of Eternal Return at Santa Fe 

This location is the original and smallest, occupying about 22,000 square feet. The secret doorways created in random household items are one of the many intriguing features. As mentioned earlier, each Meow Wolf location has a puzzle to solve, and this one is no different. 

Clues are everywhere, from the front porch to the household appliances. To solve the puzzle, you must understand the backstory. The Selig family is nowhere to be seen after an experiment with interdimensional time travel goes wrong. The government uses an art exhibit to hide a time and space anomaly caused by the family’s experiment. It’s therefore upon you to see if you can solve the mystery of the family’s disappearance. This activity can be a fun way to bond with the kids. Also, it improves one’s observation skills as the clues are sometimes not in plain sight. 

One thing adults and older kids will appreciate is the level of intricacy. For instance, the weaver hanging above the arcade may appear like a simple décor element. However, this piece is an interdimensional spider referenced in the science fiction novel, “Perdido Street Station ” by China Miéville. The preserved greener pastures found in the mammoth cave also reference a book titled “The Center of the Earth.” 

Omega Mart in Las Vegas 

The Omega Mart installation is yet another family-friendly exhibit. It sits in a 55,000 square feet space and is a playground for all. Note that there are a few eerie elements. Thankfully the staff at Omega Mart offer sensory bags for the younger kids who might experience a sensory overload.  

The Omega Access Card allows the kids to tap into whichever screen they find intriguing. Also, the countless colorful products throughout the store will keep them engaged. For instance, a bag of chips isn’t what it appears to be once you get closer. The freezer passage is a crowd favorite and a great place to take family selfies. 

This grocery store exhibit has several small rooms, each with its design and story. The story in Omega Mart centers around Dramcorp. In 1969, Walter Dram took over a failing store called Alpha Mart after winning a poker game. He then renamed it Omega Mart. In 1970, he decided to explore the desert and came across a group of technology-adverse farmers who grew the best produce he had ever tasted. 

He later married a woman from this community who also became the face of a new line of produce titled Plenty Valley. The success of Plenty valley led to the expansion of Omega Mart. And in 1977, Walter established Dramcorp, Omega Mart’s parent company. 

The Omega art installation has four main sections; the grocery store, factory, dessert, and headquarters. Visitors can then decide whether to solve the mystery of Cecilia’s disappearance, Walter’s daughter or immerse themselves in extraterrestrial art. Whatever you decide, Omega Mart has something for everyone. 

The Convergence Station in Denver 

The Convergence Station is the third permanent art installation. Located between highway I-25 and Colfax Ave, the Convergence Station sits in a 90,000-square-foot space, the biggest of the three. Like the other Meow Wolf spaces, this installation will trigger your senses. The kids will face otherworldly creatures from the multiverse, battle robotic rats, hitch a ride in a robotic spider, and navigate a maze of mirrors. There’s undoubtedly lots of ground to cover, and it will take almost half a day for your kids to explore every nook and cranny. 

So, what’s the story behind the Convergence Station? This art exhibition has a sci-fi theme and about eighty portals and passages. A cosmic event occurs in four different worlds resulting in an intersecting multiverse. The Quantum Department of Transportation, led by a clandestine council of conductors, handles movement across this multiverse. 

Due to this intersection of multiverses, citizens can’t return to their homes. Also, due to a memory storm, citizens have lost their memories, and many are lost. Some like the new reality, while others want to regain their memories in the Convergence exchange. If you decide to delve deeper into the story of the Convergence Station, you will need to solve a disappearance, find out what the conductors are up to, and what led to the multiverse. 

If you are visiting with young kids, they might enjoy the audio-visual experience more than the puzzle-solving as the storyline is quite intricate. However, their older siblings will enjoy playing detective. You will need a QPASS to tap on the screens placed in various sections of the exhibition that reveal clues about the multiverse mystery. The Meow Wolf Staff are also helpful, so talk to them for some easter eggs. 

TOCA Football 

Soccer has always been popular in Texas, and some could probably attribute this to Dallas Burn, now FC Dallas, the first Dallas soccer team established in 1995. 

Thanks to Dallas’ cultural diversity, primarily the Latin American population, TOCA football is putting down roots in Texas. From its website, TOCA Football describes itself as a company that “provides a one-of-a-kind, tech-enhanced soccer experience for players of all ages and skill levels.” In 2022, TOCA Football opened several indoor training centers in Dallas-Fort Worth. 

This year, TOCA Football plans to launch TOCA Social, an ‘eatertainment’ center that fuses tech-combined soccer with food in the Dallas’ Design District. Prepare for a world filled with eateries that masterfully blend menus with games like pickleball and golf. 

TOCA Social will be in a three-story building with four bars and thirty-four TOCA boxes where visitors can play soccer. These training boxes will have playfields, balls, and proprietary screens that track these soccer balls interactively, providing accurate data. Each TOCA box will have four dynamic games with different difficulty levels. The beginner stage includes games like ‘Shooter,’ ‘Eliminator,’ and ‘Atom Splitter.’ There’s also a TOCA challenge with fifteen target levels whose difficulty rises with each successful shot. Note that players can only use one ball for each step. 

Also, expect an eclectic menu thanks to the in-house Michelin-trained chef. TOCA Social has only one other location, in London, attracting over twenty thousand goers monthly, resulting in five million soccer ball kicks. Its founders believe that the new Dallas venue is perfect due to accessibility. 

Prepare for Fun at LEGOLAND Discovery Center Dallas/ Fort Worth This Summer 

LEGOLAND Discovery Center Dallas/Fort Worth offers various ticket options, including standard ones, annual passes and groups of ten-plus tickets.  

We recommend taking advantage of our combo tickets so you can take the kids across the mall to see breath-taking sea creatures at SEA LIFE Aquarium. Also, they can enjoy a meet and greet with Peppa Pig and her family at the nearby Peppa Pig World of Play attraction. Food and drinks are available at our LEGO® coffee shop. And the kids can grab a few souvenirs at the LEGO® products shop. Alternatively, they can walk to the staff to trade their old LEGO® miniatures for the latest models. Book a birthday package today and prepare your swimsuits for endless fun and learning at LEGOLAND Discovery Center. Visit our website to learn more about our offerings.