Museum of 3D Illusions

Museum of 3D Illusions at Fisherman's Wharf is exactly what the name promises: an entire museum designed to make your family look like they're defying physics in photographs. Every room is a different optical illusion installation where the right camera angle makes subjects appear to be flying, falling, hanging from cliffs, walking on ceilings, or causing general gravitational chaos.

For families with school-age kids and teenagers, this is genuinely fun in a way that transcends typical museum fatigue. The 'how do we need to stand to make this work' puzzle of each installation engages kids creatively, and the photos themselves are legitimately impressive — the kind of images that get immediate likes when shared and that kids screenshot to send to friends.

The 'Smash It' interactive room is a separate experience that's consistently the biggest kid pleaser — a virtual reality-adjacent setup where participants appear to smash and destroy objects in a way that photographs dramatically. It provides a kinetic outlet that the static illusion rooms don't.

At 642 reviews averaging 4.4 stars, the museum delivers reliably on its core promise. The main complaints in reviews relate to pricing (it's not cheap for what is effectively a photo experience) and crowds — which makes timing your visit important. Weekday afternoons are significantly better than weekend mornings at Fisherman's Wharf.

If you frame this as 'paying for a dedicated photo session in creative installations' rather than 'paying museum admission for educational content,' the value calculation shifts substantially in its favor. The resulting photos are genuinely outstanding.