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Alcatraz East Crime Museum

Alcatraz East Crime Museum

Alcatraz East Crime Museum
4.5
10:00 AM - 9:00 PM
Monday
10:00 AM - 9:00 PM
Tuesday
10:00 AM - 9:00 PM
Wednesday
10:00 AM - 9:00 PM
Thursday
10:00 AM - 9:00 PM
Friday
10:00 AM - 10:00 PM
Saturday
10:00 AM - 10:00 PM
Sunday
10:00 AM - 9:00 PM
About
Alcatraz East is a crime museum featuring an in depth look at American Crime History which includes artifacts from Alcatraz, but this is not a Museum dedicated solely to Alcatraz.Explore American History from a different perspective. Five unique galleries burrow deep into the studies of criminal intent, criminal profiles, the penal system, victims, crime prevention, forensic science, law enforcement and the Judiciary Branch of government. The museum is 25,000 square feet spread over 2 floors and includes over 100 interactives.
Duration: 2-3 hours
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  • Vanessa L
    16 contributions
    4.0 of 5 bubbles
    Very Interesting, but People Happened
    The audio tour was very informative, but people don’t care about letting you read the information or come right up on you as you’re there. It says “no flash photography” very clearly, and there are points where you can take pictures, but to see the amount of people who walked through with their camera on was crazy. A lot of interesting stuff to see if others don’t ruin it.
    Visited October 2023
    Traveled as a couple
    Written October 15, 2023
  • Sweetness01
    Saint Matthews, South Carolina89 contributions
    5.0 of 5 bubbles
    Interesting Museum
    Interesting place to visit. Learned a lot of things that I never knew. The highlight was seeing the actual cars (OJ Simpson, Ted Bundy, Dillinger, and Bonnie & Clyde). You can learn and participate while there. The price for admission is a bit high, even with $2.00 coupon off the price. I always visit Tennessee every year, but I never visited this place until this year. It's not worth $26.95 (actually $28.95) in my opinion.
    Visited November 2023
    Traveled as a couple
    Written December 1, 2023
  • Jeremy
    Memphis, Tennessee8 contributions
    4.0 of 5 bubbles
    Decent. It was okay
    The place is decent. Looks interesting on the outside. Had to park quite far from the building but that was expected. Inside, the workers were nice, the place was absolutely packed with information. Some of it could have been learned on line. The main thing I was looking forward to were Dahmer’s & Gacey’s belongings, also the bronco with OJ.
    Thank you for your feedback! As a history museum, most of our visitors come to see the unique artifacts from our collection and are hopefully inspired to get a book, watch a documentary, or do a deep dive online. Even so, most of our visitors spend two to three hours reading and exploring our exhibits. Crime and law enforcement history is a big topic to cover in 25 exhibit spaces in 25,000sq ft, but we do our best with the hundreds of artifacts on display. We hope you enjoy the rest of your visit to Pigeon Forge!
    Written February 2, 2024
    This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.
    Visited January 2024
    Traveled as a couple
    Written January 6, 2024
  • Kswett
    Flint, Michigan1,355 contributions
    5.0 of 5 bubbles
    Any crime history buff should visit
    I loved every bit of this, from the interactive things to the murder history. I’m an avid murder documentary watcher and I still learned new things in this exhibit. Walk thru took about 2 hours to really get a look at everything. There are some interesting finds in the gift shop as well. My favorite was Oj Simpsons white bronco was featured!
    Thank you for your review! We appreciate your feedback. We are happy to know that our museum provided you an enjoyable experience. Thank you for coming to visit. Hope you will visit again soon.
    Written March 20, 2024
    This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.
    Visited February 2024
    Traveled as a couple
    Written March 10, 2024
  • PhlegmMaster
    Phoenix, Arizona4,735 contributions
    5.0 of 5 bubbles
    Thought-provoking info on crime related history
    A bit pricey, but there's a lot to see here. We enjoyed taking our time reading all the placards at each station. If you are not much of a reader, it may be worth it to buy the audio tour. We spent 3 hours here, and learned a great deal.
    Thank you for your 5 star review! We appreciate your feedback and hope that our museum provided you an enjoyable experience. Thank you for coming to visit and we hope to see you again.
    Written May 14, 2024
    This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.
    Visited March 2024
    Traveled as a couple
    Written May 9, 2024
  • Craig B
    6 contributions
    4.0 of 5 bubbles
    A fun time for adults and teens with interesting exhibits
    This was a fun attraction with lots of interesting artifacts and exhibits. The museum is much larger than I thought it would be, which was great value. There was a little too much reading involved with the exhibits, so the audio tour might have been a better option. We watched several people having fun doing the scavenger hunt. We purchased several pictures and some neat merch in the gift shop. Overall a fun time for adults and teens.
    Thank you for your review! We appreciate your feedback. We are happy to know that our museum provided you an enjoyable experience. Thank you for coming to visit and we hope to see you again.
    Written May 22, 2024
    This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.
    Visited May 2024
    Traveled with family
    Written May 17, 2024
  • Malin N
    1 contribution
    4.0 of 5 bubbles
    Epic place to go
    This museum was incredible. There were so many exhibits and so many things to see. The museum is skillfully grouped around such as serial killers, robberies, assassinations, mass shooters, and the Wild West are some good examples of this. There were a few spelling mistakes on the placards for certain artifacts but do not take away from the artifacts themselves. Similarly, there are a few factual inaccuracies in the serial killer portion of the museum, but nothing too drastic that takes away from the information. I went today and I'm on crutches which was a pain, but I still thoroughly enjoyed myself and found it educational.
    Thank you for your 5 star review! We appreciate your feedback. We are happy to know that our museum provided you an enjoyable experience. We will review our description boards for misspellings. Thank you for coming to visit and we hope to see you again.
    Written June 14, 2024
    This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.
    Visited June 2024
    Traveled with family
    Written June 11, 2024
  • Cougar140
    Boardman, Ohio61 contributions
    5.0 of 5 bubbles
    Jail break
    Family of four with teenage boys thoroughly enjoyed this activity. The cool displays with the stories attached made it captivating. There’s a coupon in the coupon books for this activity. Would definitely recommend especially if you need something to do due the weather.
    Thank you for your review! We appreciate your feedback. We are happy to know that our museum provided you an enjoyable experience. Thank you for coming to visit. Hope you will visit again soon.
    Written July 1, 2024
    This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.
    Visited June 2024
    Traveled with family
    Written June 29, 2024
  • msgrum
    Columbia, South Carolina5 contributions
    4.0 of 5 bubbles
    Unhappy about leaving driver's license with staff for audio equipment
    This was a very good excursion and comes highly recommended, BUT I would not recommend the audio option ... simply because I had to leave my driver's license with the staff at the front desk. These are the measures they take to ensure the return of audio equipment. I was unmistakably unhappy about this arrangement. I'd already paid, so grudgingly left my ID with the front desk staff member. It was locked away in a type of cash box, but this arrangement actually still bothers me after the fact. Why should I trust a bunch of strangers with ALL my personal information when identity theft is a dime a dozen? I'd paid with a credit card, so don't understand why a deposit wasn't taken, or that my credit card would be charged for any equipment that was not returned. The museum has tons of excellent information readily available, so purchasing the audio option is not necessary.
    Thank you for your review. We hope that you enjoyed the artifacts, pictures, information we have on display, while learning about many other areas of our Nation’s crime and justice history. We are so sorry you were disappointed with the way we manage our audio tour devices. We hope you enjoyed the rest of your visit to Pigeon Forge!
    Written July 1, 2024
    This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.
    Visited June 2024
    Traveled with family
    Written June 30, 2024
  • Kirsten S
    Gouverneur, New York35 contributions
    4.0 of 5 bubbles
    Great but crowded
    This is right up our alley as a family. We were very excited to visit this museum. I think we arrived about 11:30 on a Friday and realized everyone else had the same idea. It was very crowded. We enjoyed the exhibits and liked reading each of the exhibit labels (when we were able to linger in front of an exhibit). We believe part of the crowding was due to the offering of a scavenger hunt that almost every adult was doing. They were looking for answers for thier hunt while we were just trying to experience the exhibits. Would recommend getting there at opening time or later in the day when the crowds might be less.
    We are sorry that you had a less than 5 star visit. We hope you were able to explore and learn about crime in a new way through our museum. We hope you enjoy the rest of your time here in Pigeon Forge.
    Written August 7, 2024
    This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.
    Visited July 2024
    Traveled with family
    Written August 4, 2024
These reviews are the subjective opinion of Tripadvisor members and not of TripAdvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews.

Most Recent: Reviews ordered by most recent publish date in descending order.

Detailed Reviews: Reviews ordered by recency and descriptiveness of user-identified themes such as wait time, length of visit, general tips, and location information.

Popular mentions

4.5
4.5 of 5 bubbles1,869 reviews
Excellent
1,192
Very good
420
Average
163
Poor
55
Terrible
39

WeLovetoTravel1023
Sardinia, OH20 contributions
3.0 of 5 bubbles
Feb 2020
My husband and I stopped in on a random weekend trip and were excited as we had wanted to visit in the past. It was nice that we were warned about the temperature inside and they provided lockers for your coats for only $0.25 which was nice. There is a lot to see inside and they do offer add-on's. With the amount of information it does involve a lot of reading at each site which can be a little frustrating when there are a lot of other people going through. As you can imagine it got a little backed up in a lot of spots with people trying to read through all of the information. All and all the experience was okay I am not sure we would want to pay that price again though.
Written February 24, 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Hi Thanks so much for the great review! We hope that you were able to take in everything the museum has to offer, and then some! We do hope to see you again soon, as we are always updating and adding to our collection. Our museum also features two areas reserved for temporary exhibits that rotate annually. Be sure to visit us again soon to check those out! -Candice
Written March 1, 2020
This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.

tumbleweedchris
Richland, WA1,018 contributions
3.0 of 5 bubbles
Jul 2020
My friend wanted to see the OJ chase vehicle, so we stopped in and paid the $30ish admission fee. The museum is very polished and has a decent amount to look at. My main concern here is related to the pandemic. I get that this area of the country doesn't necessarily believe in being a responsible citizen. I can, for the most part, avoid it, but not here. Despite whatever response they might give to this review, there was no measuring of capacity. They put in whoever wanted to pay. This resulted in many rooms being overly full with maybe 5-10% of people wearing masks. It's good for business, but a bad look for any visitor wanting a responsible experience. As a result, I skipped a few exhibits that I would've been otherwise curious to explore. The content here is probably a 4 out of 5 normally. There are a few too many signs without a corresponding artifact/exhibit for my taste, but the artifacts/exhibits that they do have are generally interesting. Normally, I would recommend checking this place out even if it might be a smidge overpriced. Right now, however, I would suggest anyone that is remotely concerned with civic responsibility to avoid visiting.
Written July 6, 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Lincoln
4 contributions
2.0 of 5 bubbles
Aug 2020 • Family
We came here on a weekday and it was very crowded. A couple walked in before us and the cashier asked him to put on his mask which he promptly removed as soon as he walked away. Several groups did not have masks on and it wasn’t being enforced. Large groups in smaller areas lined up and packed waiting to see certain exhibits. Many sanitizer stations empty. We enjoyed seeing a lot of the things but we felt they should have timed it or not allowed so many in at once.
Written August 31, 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Hi lincolnway2- Thank you for your feedback. I hate to hear you had this kind of experience at the museum. We do our best to enforce the requirements, but do not have staff located everywhere in the museum to patrol currently, so we appreciate you letting us know. We will be sure to address these areas at our next staff meeting today. We apologize that this was the experience you had during your visit and hope you will consider returning another time.
Written December 10, 2020
This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.

Ken N
Toms River, NJ389 contributions
3.0 of 5 bubbles
Jul 2022
This is one place you do not want to go on a rainy day. It will take forever to get in and it is so crowded you can not see everything because there are so many people. Even if you buy your ticket in advance they still make you go back to the end of the line. The displays were interesting since there were a lot of authentic pictures and items, but the price was really high.
Written September 29, 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

d k
15 contributions
3.0 of 5 bubbles
May 2021
The museum is great in some areas, but a lot of reproduction items on display. A little pricey for admission and the line to get in was very slow due to only having one person running the register. Definitely worth checking out though!
Written May 28, 2021
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

rhaltn56
Murfreesboro, TN245 contributions
3.0 of 5 bubbles
Apr 2021
The museum itself was very good and informative. but overall the way that they are handing COVID restrictions is terrible, you have to wait in line even if you purchase tickets on line and for a specific date and time, because they only let a certain amount of people in at a time, and once inside stand in line some more, cause they only have one cashier working. I suppose the staff is pretty tried of it also as they are rude and don't answer questions. It was definitely a let down as I had higher hopes for this stop. They make people wait to go in but groups catch up and you are then in a crowd, some masks on, some half off, etc. The museum keeps your interest and has interactive displays that children will really like and enjoy doing. It would have been better if staff was accommodating to the visitors more. Now that I have seen it, will have no need to return, really disappointed. I guess I just expected more than what was received in general.
Written April 14, 2021
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Debbie N
United States3 contributions
3.0 of 5 bubbles
Apr 2021 • Family
We read the reviews so we were prepared for a lot of reading just not this much reading. There is a ton of very interesting information and artifacts. With so many artifacts, this place has the potential to be outstanding. The artifacts are surrounded with pictures and paragraph after paragraph of information to be read. Some displays were not well lit, some were very low or very small print and some were just too close together. I went in with the intention to read everything, but after 45 minutes of just standing and reading I had to start skipping most of it. I decided to look at all the pictures and artifacts but just read a line or two of the material presented. When I got to the 911 display I was excited to see a video in a viewing room. I sat down expecting to re-live some if the emotions from that day, but that's not what we got. We got more bullet points being read to you!!! There were short video clips, pictures and a basic audio presentation. We were all disappointed with this. My 12 year old son was disappointed that there was not more presented about Alcatraz. My daughter who is studying Forensics and Criminology loved the interactive question kiosks but thought videos would have added a lot. We paid extra for the audio tour for my son. He enjoyed it but got bored very quickly. The rest of us did not want to walk around the whole time holding something to our ear and looking for numbers to punch in to hear audio for that room.

Overall the stuff in this place is pretty amazing, but there are ways to present it that would make you want to come back time and time again. We were ok the first time, but we have no desire to go back again.
Written April 10, 2021
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Krystal
Murfreesboro, TN1 contribution
1.0 of 5 bubbles
Dec 2020 • Family
Terrible overall. Do NOT waste your money or time. You could look up, read about, and see pictures of everything that was at Alcatraz East on the internet. There were not much for artifacts that actually pertained to the displays. We bought our tickets online and still had to wait over a half hour in line outside the building. There was no point in buying them ahead of time for a specific time. When we entered we were told for our group of 4 to stand as close together as possible throughout our visit. It was SO packed it was hard to see the exhibits and there was no social distancing at all. I would not have enjoyed how packed it was in pre-COVID-19 times. Paying extra for the audio tour is unnecessary because the first 4 audio blurbs I heard did not add anything to the tour and said the same things that could be read. About 1/4 of the way into the tour, all 4 of our audio handsets stopped working. Staff was also not friendly when we entered or exited. When we told the staff that all of our audio handsets stopped working (we tested all of them as instructed before starting the tour) she smiled, laughed and said, "Oh, I wish you would have brought them back." We just promptly left. My question is how should we have done that when the place was packed and we were told to go one way? Would not recommend or return.
Written December 27, 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Joe C
Hope Mills, United States8 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Dec 2019
We really liked the place, you need at least four hours to see everything. I would tell all to go and explore. I only wished they had a snack area, you could rest and go back to looking around. There is so much to read and see. A rest, snack area would boost the people I think. We heard a lot of people leaving because they were hungry and need to take medicine to complete the museum. We thought it was really great information and history.
Wsfd
Written January 14, 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Hi E3443ZRjosephc! Thank you so much for such a positive review! We're so happy to hear you had a great experience. While we hope that you enjoyed our museum to the fullest, we hope you'll come back another time, as we are always updating and adding to our collection. Our museum features two areas reserved for temporary exhibits that rotate annually, so be sure to visit us again soon to check those out! -Candice
Written January 15, 2020
This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.

Angela R
Chicago, IL192 contributions
4.0 of 5 bubbles
Jun 2021 • Family
It was a great learning experience, but it wasn't really captivating. There were a lot of posters with an encyclopedia of reading. The issue is if you're really into stuff like that and you want to learn about it, you won't here because you have a hoard of people closing in on you, pressuring you to move on before you've had a chance to finish talking it all in. The place is MUCH bigger than it looks from the outside, and therfore requires at least 2.5 hours to visit. The replicas of the cars were actually quite terrible. The little touch screen quizzes along the way were way too long. We had to skip most of them. I would not recommend to families with small children or teenagers. They would most likely not enjoy all the reading. Would I go again, probably not. However, I would recommend if a person were to go, be the first in line in the morning during the week (between Tuesday and Thursday) so you can really take it all in.
Written June 8, 2021
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

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Alcatraz East Crime Museum - All You Need to Know BEFORE You Go (2024)

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