Inside The Real Unreal

15 primers and tips to get your money’s worth at new Meow Wolf in Grapevine

The portal is finally open. After more than a year of build-up, the immersive art sensation Meow Wolf opened its fourth location nationwide and first in Texas at Grapevine Mills mall on Friday, July 14.

Dubbed “The Real Unreal,” Meow Wolf Grapevine is (in simplest terms) a 30,000-square-foot walk-through attraction, designed and crafted by artists, that lets visitors ogle, explore, and interact with the installations to solve a mystery. Or not. You choose your own adventure on this trip.

Imagine entering a carnival fun house and falling down the Alice in Wonderland-style rabbit hole, into a Willy Wonka factory inside Hogwarts on the set of Stranger Things. But it's all art.

That’s Meow Wolf, and there’s nothing else like it in Dallas-Fort Worth.

There’s also nothing else like the ticket price, which has been the subject of much social media chatter around DFW since tickets went on sale in late spring. Adult admission is $50 ($45 for kids and military) - more than daily admission to Six Flags and a season pass to all 24 days of the State Fair of Texas.

It’s an investment, and investments need advisers to help yield the best return.

So, here’s some advice - essential background, tips, and things to know to get the most out of your experience at Meow Wolf “The Real Unreal.”

About the experience

Background and context: The concept of Meow Wolf started in 2008 in Santa Fe, New Mexico as an art collective by six self-described "misfit" artists who wanted to reintroduce art to the public in new and cool ways. The first Meow Wolf immersive exhibition opened there in 2016.

One of the founders, Matt King, was from Dallas-Fort Worth and is credited, in part, for bringing Meow Wolf to the Metroplex. Sadly, he passed away in 2022, but there are tributes to him throughout "The Real Unreal," including the name of the event space, the Neon Kingdom.

Meow Wolf locations - or "portals" - also exist in Santa Fe, Las Vegas, and Denver, with Houston on the way in 2024. Each has its own design and theme. Meow Wolf at Grapevine Mills, created by 40 Texas artists and 150 Meow Wolf artists and fabricators, is the result of a multimillion-dollar renovation of an old Bed Bath & Beyond store.

"When choosing Grapevine, we looked at many criteria and were motivated by the large, diverse population and the thriving arts community," organizers say. "An attraction to the nostalgia of hanging out in a mall inspired us to create an experience at Grapevine Mills."

Meow Wolf Grapevine The Neon Kingdom is named for Meow Wolf's late co-founder Matt King, who was from DFW.Photo by Ashley Gongora

Why the weird name? “At the first meeting of the collective in 2008, everyone present put two words into a hat," the creators say. "We then picked two random words out of the hat and got 'Meow Wolf;' thus, this wild experiment was born!”

What you do there: Whatever you want, sorta. Guests enter “The Real Unreal” portal through the front door of a family home. Inside, there are more than 70 installations, rooms, portals, secret passageways, and wormholes to explore, layered with interactivity.

"The more you get curious, the more it pays off," they urge. "You will discover as much as you seek."

Go ahead and crawl inside the fireplace, shimmy into the washing machine, and step inside the refrigerator, and see where they all lead. There's no right or wrong path to take. It's meant to be a nonlinear adventure.

Meow Wolf Grapevine Go ahead, crawl into that washing machine and see where it takes you.Photo by Ashley Gongora

What it's about: At the entrance to the house, guests will get a story prompt. The story, written by LaShawn M. Wanak, centers on a blended family in Bolingbrook, Illinois, in an unspecified year. Their little boy, Jared, has gone missing from their house - to someplace real or imagined - and their quest to find him has unknowingly unlocked portals to a different existence. (Shades of Stranger Things, maybe, but spoiler alert: Monsters won't eat you.)

Meow Wolf Lead writer LaShawn M. Wanak talks about the storyline, which begins at the front door of this house.Photo by Ashley Gongora

How to work through the portal: There likely will be three kinds of visitors to Meow Wolf Grapevine: 1) those who want to follow the story and solve the mystery of Jared's whereabouts; 2) those who just want to immerse themselves in the cool experience; and 3) those who go there for the art.

Following the story will take the longest but could yield the most satisfying experience. Easter eggs and clues are given on things like iPads and signs. Keeping track of characters and following the story can get pretty complex. It's perfectly fine not to get invested in the story - taking in Meow Wolf merely as a colorful, crazy, sensory-overloaded experience can still be a fun and wild time.

A tiny warning for those who want to deep-dive into the art: It's kind of tough, at least as the exhibition gets started. Unlike at art museums - where a brochure, tour guide, wall signage, or app tells you about each work - no information is given on site here. To learn about the artists and their works - say, the cute little sea creature named "Skuttles" in the Glow-quarium - you use a touch-screen kiosk in the cafe. Organizers say the art information will be on the website soon, and an app is in the works. It's possible they'll hold special events with artists occasionally too, they say.

Meow Wolf Grapevine A touch-screen kiosk in the cafe teaches about the art and artists behind Meow Wolf.Photo by Ashley Gongora

Can’t-miss rooms and features: (Warning - skip this part if you don’t want any spoilers.) Whether you're following the story or just exploring for fun, do not miss stops in: BRRRMUDA, an intersection of refrigerator portals from various dimensions that's a dance party, too (look up, up, up, at the "disco ball'). The Mystical Forest with its magical light, musical fungus, and Baba Yaga's treehouse nestled in its branches. Lamp Shop Alley bustling with city antics and doors, one of which leads into a cool Video Arcade with lots of games to play. Glow-quarium is a neon wonderland where creatures abound, high and low. Technicolor Party Inside My Head is by local muralist Mariell Guzman, inspired by the chaos of natural things. And in the Lightning Collection Room, brace yourself for a lightning storm. (Scroll the photos above to see even more.)

Meow Wolf Grapevine Coolest dance party ever in the BRRRRMUDA.Photo by Ashley Gongora

What it’s NOT: While there’s a mystery to solve and various ways to get in and out of rooms, Meow Wolf is not an escape room. And while it’s the most Instagammy place on the planet, it's not a selfie museum - or any kind of museum. It’s not an amusement park with rides, shows, live animals, or playground equipment, either.

How it compares to the original Santa Fe Meow Wolf: Someone who's been to both says, "Those who have had the opportunity to visit the original Meow Wolf in Santa Fe will notice a lot of similarities. Both start by entering a seemingly idyllic suburban house, with the layout being nearly identical, right down to the portals to other areas. This is clearly by design, perhaps to make the stories of the two experiences more connected, but visitors who've been to both might find themselves disappointed that more was not done to differentiate the two. The areas beyond the house have a familiar feeling, as well, although the details of the various nooks and crannies offer new, enchanting, and often baffling visuals. Because both Santa Fe and Grapevine are exhausting, never-ending, detail-oriented experiences, there's still plenty to enjoy here without feeling like you're doing the same thing over again."

Know before you go

Where it is: The "Real Unreal" is located on the east side of the Grapevine Mills near Neiman Marcus Last Call, Rainforest Cafe, and next to the new Arhaus furniture store. There’s not much signage to direct drivers there from the street or parking lot, but the exterior is brightly colored and says “Meow Wolf.”

You can park right in front of it, but all Meow Wolf visitors must enter through the mall and go through security metal detectors. (Leave your weapons and vapes at home.) Use Entrance 2 next to Rainforest Cafe, hang a right, walk toward the big sign that says “Come Find Yourselfs,” and look for the bright pink arches.

How the ticketing works: All tickets are sold online only and timed, 40 minutes apart. The number of visitors in each 40-minute time slot will vary depending on the time of year and time slot, organizers say. For those who show up without tickets, QR codes outside and attendants will help facilitate ticket sales on site.

Meow Wolf Grapevine Kids will enjoy pounding on these piano keys and seeing what happens.Photo by Ashley Gongora

Age and mobility considerations: The exhibitions are intended for adults and kids of all ages, and with many opportunities for hands-on exploration, Meow Wolf is a family-friendly destination. Parents of little ones, note that strollers are not allowed inside. There are public restrooms and changing rooms available.

Those with mobility issues should know that you can enjoy the experience without crawling through portals and climbing stairs. Three elevators help navigate the levels, as well as places to sit down inside. The entire experience is wheelchair accessible.

Service animals are allowed; emotional support animals are not. Heads up that strobe lights and loud noises are used in certain rooms.

What to wear: Wear comfortable clothes and shoes for over an hour of walking, climbing stairs, and (if you choose) crawling, climbing, and ducking under things. Heels and short skirts would be ill-advised. (Basically, dress like a mall walker.)

While there aren’t security restrictions on purses and bags, it’s best to keep them small, light, and hands-free. Lockers are available for rent for shopping bags and personal items visitors don’t wish to carry inside.

How long it takes: This depends on the kind of experience you want (see "How to work through the portal," above) but in general, allow at least an hour-and-a-half for the full experience. Some of the rooms are vast, and some are quite small. If they get crowded, keep moving and come back, as there are various ways to move around all the different rooms.

Meow Wolf Grapevine Even the mannequins in the retail store are over the top.Photo by Ashley Gongora

Food, drinks, and merch: An on-site cafe serves snacks and non-alcoholic drinks from 15 local purveyors. Concessions include chicken pot pie ($12), empanadas ($6), chips & salsa ($5), ice cream bars and cups ($5-7), and a variety of pastries, including macarons and “cake-sicles” ($3 and up). The cafe is more like a snack bar, not a full-service restaurant. (Sorry, girls' night out groups, there’s no bar.) A retail store sells everything from Meow Wolf onesies to hats, T-shirts, and puzzles.

Event space: Neon Kingdom, the most colorful room in the whole exhibition, is a 300+ capacity event room with a raised stage area and dance floor. It will host special Meow Wolf events and will be available for private rentals and buyouts beginning in September. Organizers say they hope to see local bands, poetry slams, and other kinds of community events take place there.

Meow Wolf Grapevine The Neon Kingdom event space will be ready for private rentals in September.Photo by Ashley Gongora

Photo by Ashley Gongora

Magical stairs in the magical forest. (Don't worry, there are elevators, too.)

For more information and tickets, visit the Meow Wolf Grapevine website.

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Alex Bentley contributed to this story.

Grapevine Mills Meow Wolf The Real Unreal families galleries

Graceful exit

Ben Stevenson, legendary leader of Texas Ballet Theater, dies at 89

Photo courtesy of Texas Ballet Theater

Ben Stevenson, O.B.E.

UPDATE 4-2-2026: Ben Stevenson's memorial service will be held privately, but the public may join the livestream to celebrate his life and legacy. The service will take place at 3 pm Saturday, April 4 (which would have been his 90th birthday). The livestream link will publish to his obituary page, found here, shortly before the memorial begins. Once published, it will be displayed above the "Service Schedule" section.

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Ben Stevenson, OBE, the longtime artistic director of Texas Ballet Theater and a legendary ballet dancer and choreographer, died March 29, 2026 - just days shy of his 90th birthday, which would have been April 4.

"Stevenson’s profound impact on dance spanned decades and continents, shaping countless careers and elevating ballet companies to global prominence," reads a statement from the Ben Stevenson Trust. His cause of death has not been made public.

Stevenson served as TBT artistic director in Dallas-Fort Worth from 2003 to 2022, when he transitioned to a new role as artistic director laureate - a lifetime appointment. He continued to work with North Texas dancers in studio, set the choreography for his legendary ballets, and attend performances; he was spotted in the audience of the company's most recent mixed-rep program just weeks ago.

“Ben Stevenson is one of the great storytellers of ballet who has brought magic to the stages of Dallas and Fort Worth," Anne Bass, then-TBT board of governors chairman, said when his appointment as artistic director laureate was announced in 2022. "It is impossible to overstate his importance in elevating our company to the internationally acclaimed ensemble that it is today.”

Louella Martin, Ben Stevenson, Donna Arp-Weitzman, Betty Jean Willbanks, tutu chic Ben Stevenson with Betty Jean Willbanks, Donna Arp-Weitzman, and Louella Martin at a TBT Tutu Chic Luncheon. Photo by Andy Keye

Tim O'Keefe, who took the reins as TBT artistic director from Stevenson, said of his passing on Sunday, "Ben was more than a mentor to me — he was family. His artistry, his generosity, and his vision shaped not only my own journey as a dancer and leader, but also the very heart of Texas Ballet Theater.

"I will miss his wisdom, his humor, and his boundless passion for storytelling through dance. While my heart is heavy with grief, I am profoundly grateful for the decades of inspiration and love he shared with me and with this company. His spirit will live on in every performance, every dancer, and every audience moved by his work."

Before his tenure with TBT, Stevenson served as artistic director of Houston Ballet, beginning in 1976. Over 27 years, he transformed the company into one of the world’s leading ensembles and founded Houston Ballet Academy.

A ballet giant, Stevenson's choreography, from Cinderella to Dracula, is performed by companies around the globe.

Texas Ballet Theater's annual presentation of Ben Stevenson's The Nutcracker is a holiday tradition across Dallas-Fort Worth. The company's next performance will be Ben Stevenson's Swan Lake, May 1-3 at Winspear Opera House in Dallas and May 15-17 at Bass Hall in Fort Worth. "Ben Stevenson O.B.E.’s masterful two-act production offers an elegant yet approachable retelling filled with passion, drama, and grandeur," reads the description.

Texas Ballet Theater presents The Nutcracker Texas Ballet Theater annually presents Ben Stevenson's The Nutcracker at Bass Performance Hall and Winspear Opera House. Photo by Amitava Sarkar

TBT's announcement of Stevenson's death on social media Sunday night brought hundreds of comments, many of whom were from former dancers in his productions who underscored the impact he'd had on their life and careers.

Details on memorial services will be announced at a later date.

Below is the full obituary prepared by the Ben Stevenson Trust:

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BEN STEVENSON, OBE, decorated and acclaimed ballet dancer, teacher, choreographer, and artistic director, passed away March 29, 2026.

A native of Portsmouth, England, Stevenson was born April 4, 1936. As a child, Stevenson received his dance training in London, England, at Arts Educational School. Upon graduation, he was awarded the prestigious Adeline Genee Gold Medal, the highest award given to a dancer by the Royal Academy of Dancing. At the age of 18, he was invited by Dame Ninette de Valois to join the world-famous Sadler’s Wells Royal Ballet (currently The Royal Ballet), where he worked with Sir Frederick Ashton, Sir Kenneth MacMillan, and John Cranko. At Sir Anton Dolin’s invitation to London Festival Ballet as a principal dancer, Stevenson performed leading roles in all the classics.

In London’s West End, Stevenson performed the juvenile lead in ”The Music Man”, and appeared in the original casts of ”Half a Sixpence” and ”The Boys From Syracuse”. On British television’s “Sunday Night at the Palladium,” Stevenson danced in musical numbers 52 weeks a year with Judy Garland, Ella Fitzgerald, Shirley Bassey, and Cleo Laine.

In 1967, he staged his first ballet for English National Ballet, a triumphant production of “The Sleeping Beauty” starring Dame Margot Fonteyn. His arrival in the United States one year later marked the beginning of a journey spanning the remainder of his life. Rebecca Harkness appointed him as the Director of the Harkness Youth Dancers in New York City where he created two of his most celebrated works: “Three Preludes” and “Bartok”. After Harkness, Stevenson’s next position was as the Co-Artistic Director with Fredrick Franklin of National Ballet, in Washington, D.C. where he choreographed “Cinderella” and a new production of “The Sleeping Beauty” for the inaugural season of The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.

After a brief association with Ruth Page's Chicago Ballet, Stevenson was appointed Artistic Director of Houston Ballet in 1976. During his tenure of 27 years, Houston Ballet grew from a small provincial ensemble to one of the largest and most respected ballet companies in the world. At Stevenson’s invitation, Sir Kenneth MacMillan and Christopher Bruce joined the Houston Ballet in 1989 as Artistic Associate and Resident Choreographer respectively, thereby establishing a permanent core of choreographers whose works contribute to the diversity of the Houston Ballet’s repertory.

Houston Ballet, Sara Webb, The Sleeping Beauty, chor. Ben Stevenson Sara Webb and artists of the Houston Ballet in The Sleeping Beauty, choreographed by Ben Stevenson. Photo by Amitava Sarkar

One of Stevenson’s proudest accomplishments was establishing the Houston Ballet Academy. In touch with his own inner child, Stevenson focused on developing children’s expression through movement, connecting their bodies and feelings to music. Through the Ben Stevenson Houston Ballet Academy, he provided nourishment and education for such artistic expression to grow young dancers who would ultimately become his dancers in the Houston Ballet.

By establishing a school where he could hone his skills as a teacher to develop dancers, his vision was to build a company from the ground up. As a result, Stevenson trained several generations of world-renowned dancers including Lauren Anderson, Janie Parker, Carlos Acosta, and Li Cunxin. In 1990, Stevenson’s promotion of Lauren Anderson to principal dancer was an important milestone in American ballet, making her one of the first Principal African American ballerinas in history.

As part of a cultural exchange program in 1978, Stevenson was among the first to gain entrance into China on behalf of the U.S. government, thus beginning a mutual love affair between China and Stevenson. He returned almost every year to teach at the Beijing Dance Academy. To expose the Chinese students to Western dance forms, Stevenson brought with him teachers of jazz and modern dance, including Gwen Verdon. In 1985, he was instrumental in the creation of the Choreographic Department at the Beijing Dance Academy. Stevenson is the only non-Chinese citizen to have been made Honorary Faculty Member there and at the Shenyang Conservatory of Music. In 2018, he was acknowledged by the Chinese government as one the most influential Foreign Experts in the 40 years since China initiated its policy on Reform and Opening Up.

In July 1995, Stevenson led the Houston Ballet, the first full American ballet company to be invited by the Chinese government, on a two-week tour of the People’s Republic of China with performances in Beijing, Shanghai, and Shenzhen. China’s invitation was a direct result of Stevenson's international reputation. Houston Ballet’s opening night performance of “Romeo and Juliet” in Beijing was telecast live and was seen by over 500 million Chinese viewers.

In July 2003, Stevenson became Artistic Director of Texas Ballet Theater in Fort Worth and Dallas. The company began to experience tremendous growth in budget and repertoire, as well as its education programs, all while attracting dancers from around the world. Stevenson remained Artistic Director until 2023–the longest-serving Artistic Director in the company’s history. Under his leadership, TBT flourished. His strong relationships with current and former dancers allowed him to bring world-class choreography to the company, raising the profile not only of TBT, but of the DFW Metroplex as an arts hub. Like he had in Houston, Stevenson recruited dancers to TBT from all over the world.

Legendary for his storytelling, Stevenson has left his mark on stages in London, Munich, Norway, Paris, New York, Santiago, Brisbane, among many others. He is best known for his compelling stagings of “Swan Lake”, “Romeo and Juliet”, “Cinderella”, “The Nutcracker”, “Coppelia”, “Don Quixote”, the original productions of “Peer Gynt”, “Dracula”, “The Snow Maiden” and “Cleopatra”. His wide range of friendships included ballet luminaries and celebrities from across the globe.

For his contributions to the world of dance, Stevenson was named an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) by Queen Elizabeth II in the New Year’s Honors listed in December 1999. His choreography also earned him numerous awards including three gold medals at the International Ballet Competition of 1972, 1982, and 1986. In April 2000, he was presented with the Dance Magazine Award, one of the most prestigious honors on the American dance scene. In 2005, he was awarded the Texas Medal of Arts.

Devilishly sneaky and intrinsically shy, Stevenson was an introverted extrovert. He shone the brightest in his kitchen, be it at home or a French chateau. Each meal, a feast fit for kings, was a reflection of the importance he placed on communing with dancers, friends and unsuspecting passersby. His generosity knew no bounds. Nourishing body and soul, from the head of his table, he spun tales of his life entrancing all seated around him.

Survivors include Ben’s extended family in Portsmouth, England, and a host of friends and dancers around the world who will never forget him.

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