Day: September 17, 2010

World-famous statues are linked

to more than 2,000 pregnancies – so proceed with caution!

Atlantic City, N.J. – (May 5, 2010) – Ripley’s Believe It or Not! Odditorium in Atlantic City will host the return of the world-famous Ripley’s Fertility Statues for public viewing from June 4 to June 29.

Please Don’t Touch – Unless You Want a Baby!

More than 2,000 women have reported that they became pregnant shortly after touching the wooden statues. Many of them had been told by doctors they would never be able to conceive.

Some are very serious about touching the statues, believing in their powers to help them conceive. Others want to avoid touching the statues – for the very same reason!

The five-foot tall wooden statues were acquired from the Ivory Coast of West Africa in 1993 and were placed in the lobby of Ripley Entertainment’s corporate headquarters in Orlando. Within months, 13 women, including staffers and office visitors were pregnant.

The Real American Idols

Following a December 1995 story in the Wall Street Journal chronicling the phenomenon, the demand to touch them became international news. In the ensuing years, the edifices made three trips around the world.

They were retired to the Ripley warehouse in 2001, but due to great demand, they were put on display at the Ripley headquarters in Orlando, where women routinely made special visits just to see and touch the statues.

“For years, we were inundated with requests to make these statues available once again, so we’ve brought them out of retirement and they are proving to be very popular during this world tour,” said Edward Meyer, VP of Archives & Exhibits for Ripley Entertainment.

The statues are back in the U.S. after wrapping up the European leg of their three-year world tour. They have been seen by thousands of people during crowd-pleasing stops at the Ripley’s Believe It or Not! museums in New York’s Times Square, Grand Prairie, Texas, Williamsburg, Virginia, Orlando, Florida, Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, Wisconsin Dells, Wisconsin, San Francisco, California, London, Blackpool, England, St. Augustine, Florida, Newport, Oregon, San Antonio, Texas and Branson, Missoui.

How to Reach Out and Touch the Statues in Atlantic City

The statues will be on display in the lobby of Ripley’s Believe It or Not! Odditorium in Atlantic City from June 4 through June 29. Would-be parents are invited to come in and touch them for FREE during regular business hours. Museum hours and location:

Monday – Friday:  10:00 a.m. – 9:00 p.m.

Saturday:  10:00 a.m. – 10:00 p.m.

Sunday:  10:00 a.m. – 9:00 p.m.

1441 Boardwalk

(609) 347-2001

After Atlantic City, the statues will spend several months touring the Ripley’s Believe It or Not! Odditoriums around the U.S.  The current schedule is:

Ocean City, Maryland: July 2 – July 27

Gatlinburg, Tennessee: July 31 – August 29

Niagara Falls, Ontario: September 4 – September 26

Panama City, Florida: October 4 – October 25

To set up an interview with a mother who touched the statues and became pregnant, contact Tim O’Brien at Obrien@ripleys.com.

For more information, including high resolution images and video, please visit www.ripleysnewsroom.com.

About Ripley Entertainment Inc.

Ripley Entertainment Inc. (www.ripleys.com), keepers of the venerable Ripley’s Believe It or Not! brand, is a global leader in location-based entertainment, entertaining more than 13 million annually at its 80 attractions in 11 countries.  In addition to its 31 Believe It or Not! Odditoriums, the Orlando, Florida-based company has publishing, licensing and broadcast divisions, best-selling books and the popular syndicated cartoon strip, Ripley’s Believe It or Not!, that still runs daily in 42 countries. Ripley Entertainment is a Jim Pattison Company, the third-largest privately held company in Canada.

Contacts:

Chris Connelly

GM, Ripley’s Believe It or Not! Atlantic City

Office – (609) 347-2001

ripacac@aol.com

Tim O’Brien

VP Communications

Ripley Entertainment Inc.

Office – 615-646-7465

Cell – 615-496-5949

obrien@ripleys.com

Oh Baby! New Jersey woman latest to share success story as statues continue their U.S. tour

Atlantic City, N.J. – (June 23, 2010) – A New Jersey woman is the latest to join more than 2,000 women worldwide who say Ripley’s Believe It or Not! fertility statues helped them get pregnant.

Rachel and Jon Taylor, stationed at Fort Dix Army base, had been trying to start a family for about three years but had no luck in getting pregnant. Fertility specialists told Rachel there was no way she would conceive on her own.

The couple was running low on hope when Rachel’s mother read a news story about the Ripley’s fertility statues on the internet.

The five-foot tall wooden statues were acquired from the Ivory Coast of West Africa in 1993 and placed in the lobby of Ripley Entertainment’s corporate headquarters in Orlando. Within months, 13 women, including staffers and office visitors, were pregnant. The statues were put on public display around the country and the number of people who say the statues helped them get pregnant has grown to more than 2,000.

Rachel and her mother made a special trip to the Ripley’s Believe It or Not! Odditorium in Wisconsin Dells while the statues were there for a month during their international tour.

“I was desperate and willing to try anything to get pregnant,” said Taylor. She and her mother rubbed the statues, spent a couple hours shopping and then got on a plane back to New Jersey.

BBEFORE – Rubbing the statues in Wisconsin

In November, Rachel found out she was pregnant – just weeks from before turning to in vitro fertilization treatments. She gives credit to the statues. “I can’t come up with any other explanation,” she says.

Neither can her doctors. To this day, Rachel says they have never figured out why she became pregnant.

She’s due to give birth in August to a baby boy named Maxwell.

Would she call on the statues for help getting pregnant again? “I would,” says Taylor. “But I’ll have to convince my husband first!”

She and her mom paid the statues a visit during their current stop at the Ripley’s Believe It or Not! Odditorium in Atlantic City and shared her success story with others calling on the statues for some good conceptual karma.                             AFTER – Mom and baby-to-be visit the statues in Atlantic City

The statues will be on display at Ripley’s Atlantic City through June 29^th.

Their next stop will be Ripley’s Believe It or Not! Odditorium in Ocean City from July 2 to July 27.

As always, the statues are on display in the lobby of the Ripley’s museums and can be seen – and touched – for free.

For more information, including the statues’ tour schedule, high resolution images and video, please visit www.ripleysnewsroom.com.

To set up an interview with Rachel Taylor, contact Tim O’Brien at obrien@ripleys.com.

About Ripley Entertainment Inc.

Ripley Entertainment Inc. (www.ripleys.com), keepers of the venerable Ripley’s Believe It or Not! brand, is a global leader in location-based entertainment, entertaining more than 13 million annually at its 80 attractions in 11 countries.  In addition to its 31 Believe It or Not! Odditoriums, the Orlando, Florida-based company has publishing, licensing and broadcast divisions, best-selling books and the popular syndicated cartoon strip, Ripley’s Believe It or Not!, that still runs daily in 42 countries. Ripley Entertainment is a Jim Pattison Company, the third-largest privately held company in Canada.

Contacts:

Chris Connelly                                                                                                   Tim O’Brien

GM, Ripley’s Believe It or Not! Atlantic City                                          VP Communications

Office – (609) 347-2001                                                                                  Ripley Entertainment Inc.

ripacac@aol.com Office – 615-646-7465

Cell – 615-496-5949

obrien@ripleys.com