Be the first on your block to explore the meaning and story behind Meow Wolf’s new Texas outpost, The Real Unreal, in Grapevine Mills Mall when it opens on July 14. Credit: Illustration courtesy of Meow Wolf

Immerse yourself. An exciting genre of destinations for all ages of vacationers was born in a vacant bowling alley in 2016. Meow Wolf, the Santa Fe-based purveyor of alternate universes in Santa Fe, Denver, and Las Vegas announced today the opening of a fourth mind-bending playhouse in Grapevine on Friday, July 14. Advance tickets are now on sale.

The Real Unreal fills a former big-box store in Grapevine Mills, a large mall north of the DFW International Airport, with an art-centric wonderland that blends storytelling, technology, and immersive art. The experience encourages visitors to explore different dimensions of perspective and creativity through more than 30 rooms of multidimensional art.

The story thread follows a missing boy, a chosen family, and Hapulusgarrulus Lophoaquaflori. It all begins with a blended family who has unknowingly unlocked portals to a different existence. As participants investigate these portals to the unknown, they explore rooms that are both unfamiliar yet accessible through unforgettable psychedelic art.

The Real Unreal’s story was conceived by author LaShawn Wanak. The Grapevine exhibit brings together 150 artists and fabricators, including 38 from Texas, who have created the artistic installations making up 70 unique and captivating experiences within The Real Unreal.

In addition to the interactive exhibition, The Real Unreal will also include a cafe, retail store, and venue for live events.

Beginning July 14, The Real Unreal will open at 10am daily. Tickets are available for pre-purchase starting at $50 for general admission ($45 for children). All visitors are required to pre-book a time slot for entry.

Meow Wolf’s first exhibition occupying a former bowling alley in Santa Fe (2016) is the award-winning, international sensation, House of Eternal Return, which reveals a multidimensional mystery house with secret passages, portals to magical worlds, and mesmerizing art exhibits. Omega Mart at AREA15 in Las Vegas (2021) is an eye-popping smorgasbord of art in a dreamlike grocery store where other worlds gleam just beyond the frozen aisle. Denver’s Convergence Station (2021) is a maximalist grandiosity of architecture, a quantum transit station that connects to four alien worlds forged together in a post-singularity moment of amnesia. The Real Unreal in Dallas opens on July 14, 2023, with the next location planned for Houston in 2024.

Gerald McLeod has been traveling around Texas and beyond for his “Day Trips” column for more than 25 years. Keep up to date with his journeys on his archive page and follow him on Facebook.

This article appears in May 12 • 2023.

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Gerald E. McLeod joined the Chronicle staff in November 1980 as a graphic designer. In April 1991 he began writing the “Day Trips” column. Besides the weekly travel column, he contributed “101 Swimming Holes,” “Guide to Central Texas Barbecue,” and “Guide to the Texas Hill Country.” His first 200 columns have been published in Day Trips Vol. I and Day Trips Vol. II.