As you plan your visit, you might have some questions about what to expect from your experience at the Museum. If you have a question that we don’t answer here, feel free to email us athelp@drpeppermuseum.com!
Where can I park?
Paid public parking is available in the lot across 5th Street from the main Museum building, which is the yellow brick building. Parking is $10 per day per entry – come and go parking is not available.
Handicap parking is available for free for people with valid disabled parking placards and plates and is located under the red neon Dr Pepper sign on 5th Street. Additional paid parking is available at the First Baptist Church lot at the corner of Webster and 5th and is also $10 per day. Free parking and street parking is available in various locations downtown on a first come, first serve basis.
The entrance to the paid lot is on 5th Street and the exit is on Mary Street. Towing is enforced for vehicles that park overnight, enter the lot through a curb or unapproved entrance, or refuse to pay the parking fee. The alley between the paid lot and the staff lot must be cleared for emergency vehicle access at all times – vehicles that park there will be towed.
RV and bus parking is not available in our paid lot.
Street parking is available on a first come, first serve basis. First Baptist Church offers paid parking for busses and RVs for $20 per day in their lot at the corner of Webster and 5th Street.
The lot across 5th Street from the building with the red neon Dr Pepper sign is staff parking only. Vehicles parked there that do not belong to Museum staff will be towed immediately.
Is the Museum open?
Yes, the Museum is open!
We are open seven days a week and all major holidays except Easter, Thanksgiving, Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, and New Year’s Day.
Unexpected closures due to weather, power outages, construction interruptions, and other unforeseen events will be posted on the homepage of the website, our social media stories, and reflected in our hours posted on Google.
What is there to do at the Museum?
The Museum has two buildings for you to explore. The main Museum building is the historic 1906 Artesian Manufacturing & Bottling Company building, which is the prominent yellow brick building. Purchasing an admissions wristband will gain you access to all three floors of exhibits in this building. The Gift Shop is also on the 1st floor of the main building and is accessible through the courtyard.
The other building is the historic Kellum Rotan building, which is easily identifiable by the red neon Dr Pepper sign on the side. This building has our Soda Fountain, Experience Spaces, and more exhibits. An admissions wristband is required to access the Experience Spaces and the exhibits.
You can visit the Gift Shop and Soda Fountain any time during business hours without paying admission.
Is a free Dr Pepper included with my admission ticket?
Yes! Everyone who pays for admission gets a free Dr Pepper. You can request your free Dr Pepper at the Soda Fountain, or use it as $1 credit towards an upgrade to something else on the menu. Free admission vouchers, free admission events, free child admission (4 years old and younger), and library passes do not include a free drink. You can purchase drink vouchers for $1 at Admissions. You can find more information here.
How long does it take to visit the Museum?
We recommend setting aside 1-2 hours to experience everything the Museum has to offer, including going through the Museum exhibits, visiting the Gift Shop and Soda Fountain, and doing the Make-A-Soda and Taste-A-Soda experiences.
During our busier times, expect to spend 2-3 hours at the Museum due to long lines and wait times.
When is the Museum busiest?
Museum traffic generally follows tourism seasonality, which means we are busiest in March and from May through September. Our busiest day every week is Saturday (no matter the season or month) and our busiest time of the day is 12 PM to 4 PM daily.
If you would like to visit during a time when it will not be busy, we recommend coming between 10 AM and 12 PM during the week.
What accommodations are there for people with special needs?
Both Museum buildings are wheelchair accessible. Ramps leading to the entrances are available, and there are two elevators in the AMBC Building. Parking on the Museum side of the street is available for people with valid disabled parking placards and plates and is located under the red neon Dr Pepper sign on 5th Street.
Accommodations for people with different abilities can be found throughout the Museum, and we are always working on adding more.
Wheelchairs are available for visitors upon request. Ask the admissions staff upon arrival.
At the Doc Alderton animatronic in the Old Corner Drug Store, there is a script available on the bar area for those who would like to read along.
Scripts are also available for all Liquid Lab shows.
The Dr Pepper Museum is pleased to welcome visitors affected by Sensory Processing Disorder and/or visitors who are sensory sensitive. The DPM offers items (sunglasses and earbuds) free of charge to improve the experience of sensory-sensitive visitors. These items are located at the admissions desk and can be checked out upon request. If you require more assistance or information, please contact us ahead of your visit or consult Museum staff upon arrival.
Will I get to see Dr Pepper being bottled during my visit to the Museum?
Bottling operations at the Artesian Manufacturing and Bottling Company Building ended in the 1960s. Today the closest bottling plant is located just south of Waco in Temple, Texas. We have several examples of the bottling equipment that would have been used in the original building on display on the first floor, including the original artesian well that supplied the water for the earliest Dr Peppers bottled in the building. These machines are part of our permanent collection, therefore we only display and interpret them and never use them for bottling.
The Holt Beverage Company Bottling Line is a mock bottling line located in the newly renovated East Wing Building. It was previously on display as a co*ke bottling line at the World of co*ke in Las Vegas, Nevada, but was given a makeover and today simulates the process of bottling 7UP between 1975 and 1985.
Why isn’t the Dr Pepper Museum more like the World of co*ke?
Like the World of co*ke, the Dr Pepper Museum is a destination for people who love soft drinks. Both places represent a pilgrimage for many who grew up with icons of popular culture as part of their everyday lives.
The World of co*ke has the most extensive collection of Coca-Cola and co*ke brand memorabilia in the world and serves as a corporate archive, museum, and visitor center.
The Dr Pepper Museum is a history museum dedicated to telling the story of the entire soft drink industry using Dr Pepper as an example. The DPM is housed in the original 1906 Artesian Manufacturing and Bottling Company Building, which was built specifically to bottle Dr Pepper and is now listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Since the DPM is an independent nonprofit and is not owned by Keurig Dr Pepper, the mission that guides our collecting and public interpretation is not limited to Dr Pepper and its affiliated brands. We house and maintain the broadest collection of soft drink memorabilia in the world, including the Keurig Dr Pepper corporate collection.
Together, the World of co*ke and the Dr Pepper Museum hold and interpret a vast majority of the history of the soft drink industry.
