Encountering the Ark…Up Close and Personal
Ark Encounter in Williamstown, Kentucky
The Ark Encounter has a theme park feel- think Epcot. There is definitely an education focus, but the creators of the Ark Encounter have also tried to create a fun/kid friendly environment. The most striking aspect of the Ark Encounter is the size of the ark. It’s huge! The Ark Encounter has enough activities for adults and kids to do that it will most likely take a full day to do everything.
When people arrive at the Ark Encounter, they will walk from the parking lot to the ticket center area. Fun fact- kids under 10 are free! A bus then takes people to the area with the the ark and different activities. Most people walked directly to the ark, including my parents and I. Before walking into the ark, people walk though a beautiful garden area and then there is an area where a photographer takes family photos. Once people walk into the ark, they will encounter a diverse collection of different exhibits on three different decks. Some of the exhibits worth noting…a massive door that gives the visitor an idea of the scale of how big the ark was, a play area, lots of displays with information, exhibits that show how the animals would have been housed, exhibits that show how they would have stored water and food.
Resources
There are resources available at the Ark Encounter that I think would be beneficial to buy before going to the Ark Encounter. I bought one when I got to the Ark Encounter, but honestly there was so much information to take in and things to see that I did not even try to do anything with it while I was there. I would recommend that parents or teachers get these guides ahead of time and plan to do some of the activities ahead of time, some of them while you are there, and some of the activities once you return home. The books below and the pictures of the books come from the following ark encounter website: Ark Encounter Gifts and Resources.
Another resource that I think would be useful, especially for people who are not going to be able to visit the Ark is this book called Ark Signs. This book has all the information that is provided for the exhibits at the ark.
Activities
Like I said earlier, the educational guides have before, during, and after trip activities (see examples below).
Some of the other activities that young people would enjoy are the Children’s Playground, Ararat Ridge Zoo and Petting Zoo, Camel Rides (costs extra), Fossil Find (costs extra), Zip Line Tours (costs extra), and Aerial Course (costs extra), Virtual Reality Experience (costs extra).
A tip from someone who has been there
If your family or class is digging really deep into Genesis, they might enjoy also visiting the Creation Museum, which is about 45 minutes away. The Creation Museum is owned by the same people who own the Ark Encounter, so there are combos available that include both the Ark Encounter and the Creation Museum. I think that trying to see the Ark Encounter and the Creation Museum would be to overwhelming. It might be wise to see the Creation Museum on a different day.
