2 General Admission Tickets: 18 dollars
2 Planetarium Passes: 16 dollars
Seeing Broken Exhibits and Listening to Kids Scream All Day: Anything but Priceless….
This past Saturday, I checked out the Arizona Science Center located in downtown Phoenix. It’s a science center/museum that contains a bunch of different exhibits on different things such as weather and technology. The center also features an Imax Theater and the new Dorrance Planetarium.
First Impression = Way Too Many Unsupervised Little Kids
I knew the place was going to be focused around kids, but I did not know there was going to be that many kids running around with lack of supervision. I am not talking about kids being dropped off and left alone, but rather parents neglecting to pay attention to what their kids are actually doing.
Parents were just minding their own business by the snack bar while their kids ran around screaming, running into other people, and knocking random things over. It was more like a zoo than a science center.
There were some kids behaving and doing exactly what they were supposed to be doing, looking at the exhibits and asking questions. But all the others, were busy hoping in the elevators and throwing candy wrappers on the ground. It just about drove me insane.
Some Very Cool Exhibits…If They Actually Worked
The Science Center had some cool exhibits, including one that showed how UV rays work. Another one showed how to make some sort of a Vortex by pushing down on the platform. The problem was, that at least 5 of the exhibits were either broken or had an “out of order” sign stuck on them.
I think it’s pretty crappy to charge people a boat load to come see this stuff, only to have it not work. They should of told me this in the beginning before I dished out the money for a wristband. There was also a lot of space “under construction” that was blocked off by temporary walls. It seems like the place should be closed until they actually finish everything.
More Up-Selling Than An Infomercial
Another thing that really bothered me about the Arizona Science Center was the up-selling they try to do. I originally went to check out the planetarium, but apparently you have to pay for general admission in order to go to the planetarium. It is 9 dollars for a wristband to get in to the place and another 8 bucks to get a ticket into the planetarium. That’s already 17 dollars just to go see a 40 minutes show on black holes.
Even in the bathroom, above every urinal was a sign that said “Now that you checked out the Science Center, join as a member and get discounted admissions all year long.” It’s like the entire place was just trying to sell me more and more crap. They even sold concessions at the planetarium, including “Astronaut Ice Cream.”
The Chronicles of Narnia
The center also has special exhibits, that are only temporary. At the moment, the special exhibit is Walt Disney’s “Chronicles of Narnia.” I have never seen the movie, so I did not really have much interest in seeing it. However, I figured it wouldn’t hurt to go check it out. Well, actually it would.
The cost of seeing that exhibit is another 9 dollars on top of everything else. It is not included under general admission or the planetarium pass. Who would of guessed?
An Expensive Place For the Kids
Luckily, I do not have any kids so the whole experience wasn’t too expensive. However, if you were to take your kids here, it would be a pretty expensive ticket. Were looking at $21 a kid if you went to the three exhibits I talked about, not including the Imax or food court. Each adult would be another $25 on top of that. So for a family of four, we’re looking at $92 for a visit to the Arizona Science Center. And that is if you can manage to escape the place without buying any food or stuff from the Science Store. Yikes!
I can easily say, I would never go back there unless the special exhibit was something I really, really, really, really wanted to see. It’s just not worth it to pay that kind of money to see a few exhibits and listen to children screaming all day.
Has anyone else checked this place out?
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Some people really shouldn’t be allowed to procreate.
If you ever happen to be in east Tennessee, there is a great museum in Oak Ridge, the home of the atomic bomb. The American Museum of Science and Energy is there. It used to be free but now I think they charge $5. It is a real fun place!
The pricing seems pretty standard for places like that…pity, really, because that prevents a lot of people who could really benefit from a visit to such a museum from going.
Also, in regards to your statement above this box (about the spam), do you consider spam to extend to people who leave comments on your blog that pimp something of theirs w/o even a mention nod to what the post was about? Just wondering…because it’s something I think I’ve run into and I’d be interested in your opinion.
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I recently went to London and visited the science museum there, both the science museum and the national museum were free to enter.
I actually felt really good about buying something in the gift shop and there were lots of places where you could drop in a donation.
Much better for the museum since they’re likely to have more ( and happier ) visitors.
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In the small town of Lund (it’s in Sweden) we have a lot of free or dirt cheap/free museums. Most cost about 2€ to enter and kids under the age or 15 or 18 are free. As well as student walk in free of charge.
And we have once a year a cultur day, where the whole town have free activites, exhibits, lectures, seminars, laser & physics show, free movie shows. four different stages with free music. It all goes on from 12:00 to 24:00 and is amazingly populare.
This year I helped the physics department of the university with their laser and physics show. They gave a way free hamburgers and hotdogs, free coffe and free popcorns.
of course you only got the popcorn if you could anwser why popcorns pop =)
I gave away heliumballons and talked with a squeeky voice =)
You should visit us some day =)
The best museum and planetarium I’ve been to was in Hawaii. They linked the way ancient hawaiians navigated by the stars with the way modern astronauts move in space. One moment you could imagine yourself on an outrigger calculating the way to the next island by the stars at sunset or sunrise. The next moment you could imagine flying around on the dark side of the moon.
Time flies when you’re having fun.
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I agree with scoby, London museum’s being free is great. really does encourage you to be more generous when at the gift shop and at the donation box.
when i go to a gift shop, i always look for cute little stuffed animals and other cute stuffs-.-