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An Outrageous Candy Exhibit at the Mall of America Is Ready to Flood Instagram Feeds

Candytopia creates an influencer’s dream set-up with rooms of sugar fantasy

by Joy Summers
Photography by Derrick Koch
Candy, confetti, and crazy lights all built to maximize the photography opportunities
Derrick Koch/Eater Twin Cities

Candytopia is now open at the Mall of America with $28 tickets for adults and the eyebrow-raising $20 tickets for kids. The photo-op that sugar built arrives in Bloomington after turns in Santa Monica, San Francisco, New York, and Atlanta. Located near the second floor entrance on the West side of the mall, the experience begins by walking through a gated entrance into room upon room of candy-celebrating and candy-built rooms. One room features a giant dragon, trippy clocks and another is a jungle scene with a swinging blue monkey made out of shallacked gummy bears and other candies. Each room is staffed by eager workers, each offering to take pictures, facilitate pictures, or help download an app to deliver pictures of optical illusions.

The ridiculousness is the work of Jackie Sorkin (who runs a candy-themed Los Angels events company and stars in TLC’s Candy Queen!), CEO John Goodman, and production designer Zac Hartog.

Included in the ticket price are a few tubs of candy for sweet lovers to pocket

There are pig butts that loudly fart giant amounts of confetti, an ode to art (and Prince), and all culminates in a massive ball crawl pit of fake marshmallows. It takes literal tons of candy

The exhibit’s sensory overload includes bright then dim lights and bursts of sound
Each candy sculpture is handmade by a team of artists and take hundreds of hours to complete.
This dragon took over 500 hours and 125,000 pieces of candy to build
Animals are built from hundreds of different types of candy, including gummies, sours, hard candies, jelly beans, licorice, and more
Each room has a different theme from pure whimsy to jungles, to ocean landscapes
An art room includes portraits and replications of famous faces and works
Cardi B took 104 hours to complete
Don’t lick the Van Gough
Because of course
The guitar is made with 17,000 pieces of candy and took 85 hours to complete. The Prince portrait is made with 1,500 pieces of candy and took 62 hours to create.
This is actually a giant swing that attendees are encouraged to hop onto.
The silly fun also comes with a tub of candy in each room where attendees are encouraged to “take a couple.” No more, no less.
There are over 250,000 foam marshmallows in the marshmallow pit. Easy to jump in and kind of hard to leave. The pooping unicorn is also an interesting addition.
You can pose inside this candy and gummy covered shark that was put together with 20,000 pieces of candy.
Don’t get greedy on taking free candy after spending almost $30 to walk through here.
The pig-butt confetti is powerfully fired, loudly, into the room and has already made its way throughout the rest of the mall, falling from attendee’s various crevices.
Various stations can take pictures of you with created effects from being swalled into a candy vortex or swimming in a chocolate pool like Augustus Gloop.
The whole thing ends in a gift shop with more candy and candy-related products for purchase.
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Mall of America

60 E Broadway, Bloomington, MN 55425 (952) 883-8800 Visit Website

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