The Crayola Experience is an exuberant, color-crazy adventure! It wasn't too long ago that Keri gave us a look at Crayola Orlando, and now it's Karen here - checking out the newest (much closer) Crayola, the fourth location for this popular attraction. Crayola Experience Plano, Texas' most colorful family destination, opened at The Shops at Willow Bend (6121 W. Park Blvd.) last month, and this place is rocking! If your family enjoys making the occasional drive to the Dallas Metroplex, you'll be happy to have one more family-friendly attraction to add to your list when visiting the area.
A whopping 60,000 square feet await you with 22 hands-on attractions inspired by Crayola products and technologies. Opportunities to be creative abound - with coloring, cutting, pasting, and moving! We visited on a Sunday, and it was a bit crowded - certainly too many people for my preference. Also, the open, busy layout of the space slightly overwhelmed me as I navigated with four kiddos.
Even still, my family was able to engage in many fun activities such as name and wrap out own Crayola crayon (Wrap It Up!), star in a coloring page (Be a Star), and create melted wax spin-art (Drip Art). We also experienced two new attractions that debuted in Texas - Silly Selfies and Kaleidoscope. The entire space is setup as a "help yourself" type of experience, and I did find myself wishing more staff was around to help explain or lead the activities at each station.
Modeling Madness
My older girls (ages 9 and 12) really enjoyed the station where we molded and shaped dough (Modeling Madness). It was a simple sensory activity - you get a packet of colored dough from the vending machine (each child received a token for this attraction upon admission), and you sit at the table and shape. Tables are stocked with all the dough tools we needed - rolling pins, cutters in different shapes & designs, and more.
Color Playground and Toddler Town
For good reason my youngest two daughters - ages 4 and 7, seemed to enjoy the indoor playground most of all! What child doesn't love to play? There's a jungle gym for older kids (Color Playground) and a separate one (Toddler Town) for preschoolers, each filled with creative slides, tunnels, tubes, spinning seats, and more, all colorful and perfect for capturing the attention of little ones. As might be expected, this popular feature was hopping on our weekend afternoon, borderline "chaotic" actually, with far too many children scurrying about! But if you can't beat 'em, join 'em, and that's just what my little wild ones did!
Rainbow Rain
Another favorite was Rainbow Rain, an interactive, augmented reality activity that involves using your projected shadow to manipulate a rainbow of moving colors. Oh what fun! My girls moved and boogied and stooped and jumped to their hearts' content!
Café Crayola
The on-site Café Crayola offers plenty of table seating and sells drinks and basic, kid-friendly meals like pizza and hot dogs, but we saved our money for a more moderately-priced lunch elsewhere.
After a two-hour visit, we exited through a 5,000 square-foot retail store has the world's largest selection of Crayola products and unique souvenirs, such as plush and apparel. 
We visited on a Sunday, and to say this place was "busy" would be an understatement. It really is popular, and may have been a bit busier for my preference, so I recommend attending on the weekday if your schedule allows.
The attraction will be open 365 days a year and also will host private events, group trips and birthday parties. General admission is $20.99 at the door or $18.99 online. Annual Passes are $30.99. Kids under three are free. No outside food and drinks are allowed, and be ready for a bag check. For tickets, hours and info, go to CrayolaExperience.com.
