I visited the Egg House back in April when it first opened with my sisters. I saw it from @feedyourgirlfriend's Instagram and it looked cute so I figured why not, I was going to be in the city for the day anyway.
The ticket fee was $18 which isn't terrible, but I think it's a little expensive for what it was from my experience. I didn't hate it, but I didn't love it as much as I did the Museum of Ice Cream in LA. In my opinion, it felt a little like a Walmart rip off version of MOIC. The egg pool is akin to the sprinkle pool, as the hanging spatulas are to the hanging bananas, and the cracked egg swing are to the ice cream sandwich swing. There were some cute original aspects though like the floating balloons and the clouds to make it look like a sunny side up egg, and the giant carton with giant eggs.
The Egg House is set up like a "house" per se, but it's an open space for the most part with one extra room and a basement downtairs. It's the living area of an egg called Ellis. But it was kind of more like an egg studio apartment than a house. The areas are all open to each other so you can see everything at a glance. MOIC is set up so you walk room to room and monitored so no one room overcrowds to ruin the experience. Although these tickets were sold in batches, it seems they didn't stagger the number of visitors enough and the space is relatively small so the experience felt a little cramped and it felt like a one conveyor belt line to experience everything and take photos. The pool was one of the more popular pieces of the show so that took the longest to get to, as well as the fact that it's located towards the back. And once there, of course, everyone wants to take their time and get as many photos as possible so that further boggles down the line. This is the problem with some pop-up ideas. They spend too much time making one idea great and half ass on others. I would rather the pop ups give equal effort into each "room" and make it all equally amazing. But of course, you never know what people will love more than others until you put the idea into motion and see what happens.
My favorite was the giant egg carton. It was more unique to this exhibit and really cute. The egg pool is cute but I wish you could sit in it a little deeper for some reason. The egg swing and the rocking egg is cute too.
I went on a Saturday and I would have to say I regret it. I know people who went on a weekday and during a less busier time like lunch and had the place all to themselves. I felt a little rushed trying to get my pictures in and didn't have time to think so I just went into auto-pilot of basic easy poses for photos. It probably would've been better had I went on a weekday and been able to take my time and take as many cute pics as I wanted and a better experience as well with the place being more 'clean' in a sense that they would've had it all tidied and ready to go for the next guest. Since it was a Saturday and busy, it was like a conveyor belt getting one person in and one person out so they never reset up the pool for the next guest. You just jump in. And sometimes you're sharing the pool with another guest. I would've liked a picture with the entire pool in the frame and all by myself. Yes, I'm already aware I'm vain. This is nothing new.
And they also had Eggloo available to them from what I saw from other visitor's photos on Instagram. When I went, the Eggloo vendor was not available so no waffles and ice cream for me. Only cold egg tarts that weren't very fresh. That's the other thing about the price. For $18, it should be the same experience all around. the Eggloo vendor was something I was looking forward to and I was disappointed it wasn't included in that day's admission. Luck of the draw, I guess but they should've had something else to substitute to make up for it.
I don't mean for my post to be a negative review of the pop up, because I did enjoy it. I just feel there's room for improvement and changes to make it a better and more similar experience from guest to guest in terms of quality. But this is also a lesson the original MOIC in NY had to learn and it helped to make the LA one amazing. So hopefully they take any feedback they receive and make it even better. It would be really cool to see them do a new and improved Egg House 2.0! Like a version of Ellis when he moves up in money in the world and gets a nicer estate. The Egg Mansion, hahaha.
These new pop-ups and interactive exhibits are on the rise and I am definitely loving it, as a person who's always looking for something to do since I don't like to party or drink, but rather take fun photos and explore around NYC with my friends. So these are right up my alley. I do enjoy this trend and going from pop up to pop up. And since they're pop-up dessert shops opening up and being more aesthetic and designed with the gram in mind, with flower walls, tons of cute decor on the tables as well as super cute furniture and other gimmicks to draw you in. This is probably going to be that kind of summer as I eat my way through NYC from dessert place to dessert place. My sister laughed at me the other day as she realized that now that I'm maintaining my weight and physique and no longer trying to lose, what I've been doing is pumping my body full of poison on these days where I adventure through the city, and then spending the next 3-4 days working it off at the gym. It's a roller coaster of eating and then undoing the damage only to go back and do it all over again. But at least now I have it under control and I don't waste my cheats on the stuff I can get anywhere. I save my cheats up especially for exploring for the gram, hahaha.
Hopefully you guys enjoy as I eat my way through Manhattan this summer and review every new spot and pop up.
If you visited the Egg House, what did you think? Or sound off below if you're planning to go in the future. Do you enjoy pop-ups too?
