Northeast D.C. just got a lot more colorful!
Tucked inside a stretch of Rhode Island Avenue that used to be home to a Big Lots and a Forman Mills, an entire 20,000-square-foot retail space has been gutted and rebuilt into something that looks like it fell out of a fever dream.
That something is Bubble Planet, a viral immersive experience that’s already pulled in over 4,700 reviews since landing at Rhode Island Center, and it’s turning one of D.C.’s most overlooked shopping plazas into an actual bubble universe.
5 September 2026 19:30 + more dates
Just minutes from a Metro station and a straight shot from Capitol Hill, this sprawling installation packs more than 10 different themed rooms into a space that used to sell discount furniture and clearance sneakers.
Here’s everything you need to know before you go float away!
From big-box retail to bubble wonderland
Rhode Island Center has been sitting at the center of one of D.C.’s biggest neighborhood transformations for years now.
The plaza, once anchored by big-box tenants, sits right across from the Rhode Island Avenue-Brentwood Metro station, and it’s been steadily swallowed up by the massive Bryant Street redevelopment happening around it.
While apartment towers and a future Alamo Drafthouse rise up next door, this particular 20,000-square-foot storefront took a different path.
Instead of becoming another gym or grocery store, it got hollowed out and turned into a sensory playground that’s already gone viral in cities like London, Milan, and Brussels before finally landing in D.C.
Walk in and there’s no trace of its retail past left. Just room after room of oversized bubbles, soap, and light.
What’s actually waiting inside
Picture stepping through a doorway and immediately losing your sense of scale.
That’s basically what happens the moment you cross into Bubble Planet.
The full experience spans more than 10 distinct rooms, each one built around a different sensory theme, and it’s designed to hit you on every level, sight, sound, and touch included.
A few of the standout stops:
- A bubble bath ball pit deep enough to make grown adults forget they have jobs
- A balloon-filled ocean room where oversized spheres drift under shifting colored light
- An infinity mirror room that stretches every reflection into forever
- A dedicated VR zone where you can strap in for a simulated flight through a dreamlike bubble landscape
Socks are required for the bubble bath room, which tells you exactly how seriously this place takes its own weirdness.
Reviewers keep describing the same thing: they walked in expecting a quick photo op and ended up staying close to two hours.
One mom wrote that her four-year-old “had so much fun,” while another visitor called the whole thing “therapeutic after a long week.” That’s a strange thing to say about a room full of balloons, but that’s kind of the point.
Getting there and locking in tickets
Bubble Planet is currently running daily inside Rhode Island Center at 524 Rhode Island Ave NE, just a short walk from the Rhode Island Avenue-Brentwood Metro stop on the Red Line.
Standard entry tickets start around $22.90 for adults, with kids’ tickets typically running a few dollars less.
VIP packages start closer to $38.90 and come with fast-track entry, the VR experience, and a souvenir poster if you want the full deal.
Tickets can be booked directly through Fever, and booking ahead is worth it since weekend sessions tend to fill up fast.
Plan to spend somewhere between 60 and 90 minutes inside, and don’t forget the socks.
