Was It Worth It?
The Ark Encounter

​Posted October 26, 2025, by Janet Wolfe

What It Is

A biblically-based, full-size replica of Noah’s Ark.

Where It Is

Williamstown, Kentucky (about 1.5 hours northeast of Louisville)

When We Went

July 2019

What We Did

Took a self-guided tour of the inside of the Ark.

How Much We Spent

Our tickets show we paid $16.43 per child and $51.41 per adult for a total of $135.68 in tickets plus parking.

How Much Time We Spent There

We stayed about three-and-a-half hours, but we could have easily stayed longer.

What We Liked

​We loved seeing the bible come to life.  For me, reading about “cubits” in the bible makes it hard to visualize how truly enormous this boat was (510 feet long, 51 feet high, and 85 feet wide in modern measurements).  Being able to stand in this replica’s presence and walk its three levels was both overwhelming and impressive.  

We loved the very rustic and authentic feel given by the tons of timber used to build the ark.  Some of the animal replicas surprised us in their size, appearance, and in some cases, inclusion, but they were all well done.  We were also intrigued by the Ark Encounter’s answers to how the animals would have been housed, how Noah’s family would have cared for them, and how Noah’s family would have lived onboard, questions I didn’t realize I had until we stepped foot inside this massive boat.

What We Didn't Like

We definitely didn’t give ourselves enough time to fully explore and enjoy the exhibits.  We stayed in a hotel in Williamsport the night before so we could be there when it opened (9:00 a.m.), but we had two more stops planned for that day—Churchill Downs and the Louisville Slugger Factory in Louisville—so we left the Ark Encounter at 12:30.  We easily could have stayed longer and probably should have, considering how much money we paid for this one stop.


Was it worth it? 

Yes.  It was definitely a little pricey, especially for the amount of time we spent there, but we all agreed that it was worth visiting.  My only regret is that we didn’t give ourselves more time.  We zipped past a number of exhibits and barely spent any time outside.

For more information, visit https://arkencounter.com/.