Follow the instructions to science and technology. Let's explore ! Our nations majestic bird greets you as you walk down a path from the parking lot . The parking is plentiful and free! As you walk this beautiful place it's divided between different animal paths and eco systems! You will learn visual and physical features from each habitat. Make sure and enjoy the experience that has been created to show how these creatures interact and exist in their surroundings . They maintain well funded environment by individuals that care for the animals. Thank you for this opportunity. If you're a local to the area the yearly pass would benefit greatly . Make sure and visit the gift shop for a souvenir. Until the next time. read more

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We recently visited the Ecotarium which is almost an hour away from where we live; and while it had some highlights, I left feeling the admission price didn't quite match the experience--especially with a toddler. For our family, it came out to around $55, and for a 2-year-old, there wasn't a lot to engage with at this age. Many of the exhibits are better suited for older children who can read, explore independently, and understand the science concepts. Both the planetarium and the train ride require an additional fee beyond admission. My toddler enjoyed the train and we thought the planetarium was nicely done, but it would've been nice if there was an option to just purchase tickets for those experiences instead of paying full admission. We were excited to see the mountain lions, but learned they're often resting high up and out of view. It was a little disappointing since that's one of the main animal exhibits. The bubble exhibit was also not functioning properly during our visit. Overall, the grounds are nice and I can see older kids having a great time exploring all the exhibits. For families with toddlers, though, the value just isn't quite there. I'd recommend this more for kids 4-5 and up who can really interact with and appreciate the exhibits. read more

EcoTarium - Museums Near Me - Worcester, Massachusetts

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I'm almost embarrassed to say I never knew about this place until it came up on my fb feed a couple weeks ago. Couple that with it being the first weekend of the month and as a boa cardholder I get free admission to select museums and that was all I needed to go. Great place. Combination of museum and zoo but on a smaller scale. The extent of the animals are a couple mountain lions, a couple crows, groundhog, a couple owls, a few mice, a few turtles, and a couple snakes. A variety of hands on exhibits, fun both adults and kids. I did pay for the planetarium show, as I felt bad about having free admission, and that was a little underwhelming, but the host was great. Just wasn't quite the show I was expecting. The whole thing should only take you 1-2 hours, but I found it be a worthwhile experience. read more

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I haven't been to the museum in quite a number of years, now I'm back with my granddaughter and was amazed at all the updates and user friendly experiences. She had a blast! We were there for 4 hrs and didn't nearly see or interact with everything. We did enjoy the train ride, $7 per person additional than entrance fee. We also did the Planetarium showing that was $7 per person. She enjoyed both and in turn I did, reminded of bringing my girls here throughout their childhood. Bathrooms were clean, the few employees we interacted with were kind and helpful. The playground area is much more extensive than it used to be with plenty of room for playing and exploring. It was a great day read more

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Great place to take your kids on a budget. Fun and educational. I came here with my children on school vacation week just to give them something to do and that didn't break the bank. They had a great time, spent a few hours and they are already asking when the next time they can go back is. read more

Great time was had by all. Lots of great exhibits and kid friendly activities. We will definately be back soon read more

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This is a great place for children, offering many educational and tactile exhibits about nature, animals, environment and conservation. They have so many fun things to do, including a hurricane wind enclosure, a live animal pond exhibit, miniature rock climbing wall, bridge building, live animals, walking trails and much more. They have live educational shows throughout the day, and a planetarium. If you looking for a fun, educational place to take your kids, in the warm or cold weather, look no further. A family can spend a couple of hours here, or much more. Note that they have reciprocal museum privileges with other museums including Sturbridge village. read more

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We finally went for our first time - such a fantastic science museum / nature center! There is an outdoor area (in the shade) to play, with wildlife paths and a bubble station! There is also a fun little train you can take. Inside are three levels of interactive exploration and a Planetarium that runs shows throughout the day. Planetarium shows and Train Rides are an extra cost, but are very fun! We had wondered if this would be an ok place for a rainy day, and there is SO much to do inside it's perfect for any weather! We spent 4 hours there, and certainly could've spent more! You can also bring your food, which is wonderful, with a few designated areas to eat. Lockers are typically available, but we're not running when we went. Fantastic museum with great reciprocal membership locations if considering joining! (Old Sturbridge Village is free!) read more

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My daughter purchased tickets to feed the otters for me for Xmas $60 each! When we arrived for our scheduled out door time we were stopped at the gate and were told that we had to pay an additional $20 each for admission into the ecotarium. We told him we were only there to feed the otters he insisted that we would not be admitted if we did not pay. Well we ended up paying and we ended up with 10 minute walk and talk to the outside exhibit and a 3 minUte cup of sardines throwing session. absolutely not worth it! read more

EcoTarium - Feeding otters - Museums Near Me - Worcester, Massachusetts

I only looked around the museum portion for a few minutes but most of it was closed. We went for the Mesmerica show so that's all I'm talking about here. It's essentially an IMAX screen but with music/meditation voices on repeat while they play those 90s psychedelic screen savers on the screen. I left feeling... underwhelmed and a little cheated. The reviews I saw before purchasing tickets are people losing their minds saying how amazing it is and I left feeling like "did we see the same thing?" read more

Went to show at the Planetarium! It was a fabulous experience ! With that being said as we exited many including me and my wife needed to use the restrooms . As we entered the twisted bathroom there were a dozen people horrified by the fact that there was no clear mend and ladies bathrooms ! People were dropping f bombs saying what in gods name is this woke mess ! One man grabbed his kids hand and told his kid 'let's get outta here ' . People were obviously upset ! A girl at the desk I asked if they had normal bathrooms for normal people . She responded that it's just a bathroom . People need to get over it . We were new to this place and I thought what an amazing place to bring kids . After this experience I would never expose my family to this strange sick arrangement . Having grown up men in bathrooms with little girls is just gross ! I will not return to this establishment in the future . Multiple people expressed openly my opinion . Don't know what they were trying to prove but it sure didn't go over well with this crowd ! Ruined a wonderful experience ! I pissed in the parking lot ! Very sad ! read more

This place was an hour away for us but totally worth it. It's a zoo/science museum. The planetarium is small but quite nice. Also the otters were amazing! read more

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Fun and educational. It's small but worth checking out at least once. There is a short walking trail on the premises which is nice. I wouldn't go out of my way and drive a distance to visit, however if you happen to be in the area, it's something nice to do with kids. read more

I came here to go to the Mesmerica show that was held in the planetarium so my review is mostly based on that experience and not the whole museum. Since I got there early, I did walk around a little and checked out some of the exhibits. It's a museum that is definitely geared more towards children as there were some activity stations for children. The museum didn't appear to be that big, but I'm not sure if there were some areas that were closed off when I was there since it was after museum hours. The planetarium itself was really nice. The seats were comfortable and could recline back quite a bit. Even my 6'3 friend (who normally struggles to sit comfortably in most seats) said it was quite comfortable for him. The parking lot is nice and has plenty of parking spots. It doesn't seem like a place that would take a whole day to visit, but overall, seems like a fun family friendly place to check out with the kiddos. read more

Stopped in for the first time with my daughter on a rainy Saturday. Smaller than I expected but there are a lot of different stations to keep kids entertained. I would not recommend bringing older kids, maybe middle school age and younger as the older kids would get bored very quickly. Make sure you eat lunch or being your own food as their website said there was a cafe but on the rainy day there was only a snack bar with chips nothing of substance. I thought the price of admission was a little high but luckily took advantage of passes from our local library. I would suggest looking into any type of discount. The Ecotarium is somewhere I would go again with my daughter but not somewhere we will be spending a lot of time at. read more

One of my favorite places! I brought my kids here many times when they were younger and now I bring my students. Tons of cool, hands-on exhibits in their three story building. Outside they have animals and huge playground. This year we took our entire lower school and they all had a blast! read more

EcoTarium - Museums Near Me - Worcester, Massachusetts

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Mermerica is an AMAZING experience! It is an incredible mind journey filled with beautiful music, meditation and visuals that give you the sensation of floating through other realms. I highly recommend if you want to experience inner peace for a bit. read more

Very cool science museum! Inside exhibits are pretty extensive and impressive. Best part in my opinion is the extensive grounds. You can spend a while here in the museum and also exploring the park area outside, which had a good number of animals to see too. Was not expecting a museum this good! read more

EcoTarium - Dino - Museums Near Me - Worcester, Massachusetts

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My kids ages 3 and 5 did have a lot to fun with the exhibits. Paid $66 for two adults and two kids. THEN had to pay an additional $28 for the train ride that was 10 minutes long around the parking lot. I was pretty upset. What a waste of money read more

Great place to take really young ones. Our granddaughter is 6, and she loved it. We got our enjoyment out of watching her. Older might get bored quickly. Needs to be updated/upgraded, some signs of it show as aged and beginning to get tired or running down. Hoping they invest into this place as it has signs of being a really great attraction and destination. read more

I would not waste my time or money going to the ecotarium until it opens in July unless you want to take an expensive walk. The outdoor exhibits were not well enough cared for and others were inaccessible. Also they weren't not operating the train read more

Great for a family fun afternoon. Wait for the deal days, if you don't have much money.

Good size museum for the kiddos to run around. I would say that the Ecotarium is a combination of the Boston Children/Science and Aquarium. After paying for admission tickets, you are greeted with cute sea lions. The train ride is $3 for non members. There are 3 floors to the museums - rock climbing area, infant/kids indoor playground, turtles and fish tanks (yes leeches too), an entire area dedicated to mosquitoes (how they sense and see you, etc), a giant tick chair for you to sit on to overcome your fear, and so on. I am not a museum person but thankfully I went because I was able to learn a lot from one visit (the complexity of the sewer system for example). Want to get messy? Then the bubble area is perfect to end your visit. read more

EcoTarium - Bubble area - Museums Near Me - Worcester, Massachusetts

We enjoyed our trip here on 8/16/20 despite the COVID-19 restrictions and will definitely come back. There's an interesting variety of exhibits, a nice layout that helps keep it from feeling crowded, and thought given to the needs and interests of all ages. I'm eager to see what it's like when they have fewer pandemic-related limitations. read more

EcoTarium - Kodiak bear - Museums Near Me - Worcester, Massachusetts

I do love this place use to go here as a kid now I take my son here I have the best memories of this place and I'm glad I get to share them with my son read more

We went while on Spring break in March, we were visiting from Arizona. There isn't much here. The theater was closed for construction. There were no birds outside in the cages along the entryway walkway. The sundial was cool, my Montessori kids appreciated a couple of attractions but it wasn't very engaging or exciting. I am pregnant so I had sent the business a message the day before verifying that I could bring my kids and not be forced to wear a mask while there. The business cheerfully replied to come on down and gave their hours. We had zero issues while being inside and it wasn't too busy. However, when we went outside to see the animals which was what my 2 kids were most excited for, it was very VERY uncomfortable. A golf cart with two people followed us and demanded we put masks on because we may get the animals sick, OUTSIDE. I looked at them and at the cages and told them there is ample amount of "distance" between us and the animals because we can't even get close to the cages standing on the road looking in. They started to yell at me about how animals have died from COVID-19 and that it is their policy to protect the animals. One of my kids started to cry. I explained I was pregnant, and that I will not wear a mask because it affects my oxygen intake and that I had specifically emailed the business through yelp to verify that since the MA mandates had been lifted that I would be able to be a patron without being forced to cover my face. When they sent a member of management down she had me show her the message saying that the business replied to come. It was only then that she walked us back inside and refunded me for our admission. I would not recommend this business. read more

Fun museum for families. I would recommend it for 5-10 year olds. Our daughter is almost 4 and we spent almost four hours here, and could have stayed longer if we had brought more snacks. A handful of animals, and we loved the turtles and opossum the most. Not an inexpensive day, admission for two adults and a 3 year old was $51, and riding the train was an additional $3 a person. Three floors of exhibits, along with walking trails and an outdoor play area. Very clean facility, multiple restrooms available and they have steps-tools in the bathrooms, yay! We didn't buy anything at the snack cafe, we brought our own food and waters. We will probably return when our daughter is a year or two older, because a lot of the exhibits are over the head of younger children. We always like to support locations like this that care for and give the public access to injured/unreleasable creatures like the bald eagles, owls, etc. that they care for. read more

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New England winter would be A LOT harder with my kids if we didn't have an Ecotarium membership. This is our go-to place on cold days. I love that there is indoor and outdoor space for the kids. The outdoor space is worth the membership in and of itself. There's a giant xylophone, stage for dancing and playing, traditional playground, sandbox, and in the warm months, water play. Inside there is lots to do for kids. The exhibits change frequently and there are often science exploration talks - live animals, games, etc that my kids love. Plus just tons of room for them to run around. If you get a membership it pays for itself rather quickly. Only criticism - they open at 12pm on Sundays. Torture for parents of little kids! Staff is super friendly and they wear "My preferred pronoun is...." pins. read more

This place is great. I would highly recommend this place. Lots of indoor interactive exhibits and outdoor trails and outdoor play area. The train looked cool but the line was long. Lots of parking and bathrooms were clean. read more

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A nice, open airy building and sizeable grounds. Our two and a half year old was so happy standing in the brisk air gazing at the polar bear (a nice sized enclosure versus the zoo). The train ride was so sweet as well. The exhibits here were perfect for our toddler and just as enjoyable as her normal haunt (the Childrens Museum) although less of them. Fortunately it wasn't nearly the madhouse that the children's museum is on weekends. We'll definitely be back here but will pick a warmer day so we can linger more outside at the exhibits and trail. Although it was great that they had complimentary sleds for tobaggoning on this snowy day :) read more

I visited the EcoTarium in Worcester with my family recently. Having lived in the area my whole life I wasn't surprised that I had never visited before. If you drove past it, without having picked it as a destination, you wouldn't even know it was there. It is kind of sad since it has so much potential and is a great place to go with young kids. My sister-in-law and I went with three little ones. My 4yo niece, 6yo nephew and 35yo bother had a great time. They got to experience 74+ mph winds, climb a rock wall, learn about Asian longhorn beetles, see a huge boa constrictor snakes, size themselves up to a massive slide of a Redwood tree, witness an American icon the bald eagles, and see many other great things. One of the cool new attractions that they had was a video tour of Mount Washington called "The Arctic Next Door". The video simulated the journey to the top of the mountain and you could play it forward or reverse. They also have an awesome interactive learning center where people of all ages can learn games called the "Playing Together: Games" exhibit. Here you can learn games like Chess, Checkers, Mancala, Skittles, etc. This section while cool was an annoying place to be. They have a large chess board and my nephew who has been learning wanted to play. No one was using it and we went through the process of setting the board up. Of course once someone was actually trying to use it everyone wanted to and other kids start moving the pieces around and their parents not saying a word. Control your children people and tell them to wait their turn when it was obvious we were playing a game. They also have an extensive network of trails and an outdoor train which you can ride (too cold today). They also have a large list of animals at the facility but they just sat in a cage or case and you could only look in. I felt bad for the Bald Eagles however. These large birds were cages out near the parking lot and looked miserable. They were so far away from the facility that no one even stopped to see them. They are spectacular and it was a shame that more attention wasn't given to an icon of America. Additionally I thought we were going to get some kind of lesson about Boa Constrictors when two staff members came and opened the case with the snake. Of course they drew a large crowd and we were all disappointed when all they did was weigh it and put it back and disappear. We were there for several hours and other then the weighing of the snake we saw or heard nothing from any staff members. At $14.00 for an adult and $8.00 for a child it was a bit of a letdown. I would have liked to have seen more interactive exhibits with staff explaining things. A more obvious path to enjoy the exhibits might also help improve the experience. There was no flow to the exhibits and it was kind of a free for all with people jockeying for their chance with some of the cooler exhibits. With the cold weather maybe I didn't get to experience everything the facility had to offer but I would not rush back unfortunately. It has so much potential and a great resource in our city. Hopefully they can find ways to improve. I am going to give it 3 stars because I didn't get to experience the outside. read more

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Good place to spend an afternoon, especially if it is cloudy or rainy. There was a fun hands on bubble exhibit at the entrance during the summer, which we thoroughly enjoyed. In no way does this replace the Museum of Science, it is way smaller and the exhibits are less sophisticated, but my 8 year old daughter very much enjoyed our time and took advantage of most if not all the interactive exhibits. The staff and volunteers we friendly, helpful and informative. read more

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This place was fantastic for my science loving son! I usually go to the Boston museum of science but this is actually closer to us from northern Rhode Island. The science experiment area was so cute where the kids could put on lab coats and goggles! The train ride was fun although the wheels need some WD-40. We spent a lot of time here. We did the planetarium as well. My son fell asleep for that part but it was a journey through the galaxy and school vacation week so I get why he passed out haha! This place is so nice and worth the trip. We will be back again! read more

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We were making a trip to Old Sturbridge Village (about 30 minutes away) and figured that this would be a good stop to add to our trip. We have the Family Membership to the Intrepid Museum in New York City which includes ATSC Membership that grants us free admissions to many Museums and Science Center throughout the country, including the Ecotarium. We arrived at around 12:45 on a nice Sunday afternoon. There were people there, but I would not say that the place was overcrowded in any way. We arrived and stopped at the entrance/ticketing gate. We showed our Intrepid Membership with the ASTC logo on it and were granted free admission. We then parked in the Upper Parking Lot (there is a Lower Lot as well). Once in the Upper Lot you can take the outdoor path walk (not much there except a pond and you may spot a few birds or animals) or you can make your way to the Science Center. On the way there are a few caged animals including Bald Eagles. The Science Center is great and consists of three floors. The top is where they gift shop is and they have a few exhibits about the Mountains. The middle floor has a wide range of exhibits including animals and some on city life. The first floor currently has a special exhibit on Dinosaur Poop which was quite interesting. From the first floor, you can exit to the Lower Parking Lot. Right outside the building is a large area with a few bubble activities which all the kids seem to love. There is a small house also with a few smaller animal including a porcupine and a skunk. Walking further there is a small food stand area which was closed at the time but offer a bunch of seats and tables for lunch. There is also a lunch/break room inside on the second floor of the museum which has tables, chairs and some vending machines. Near the Lower Parking Lot of the train ride which takes you around the Ecotarium for $3 per person. The 10 minute ride or was nice, but it seemed like the prep (getting everyone seating and making the announcements) took longer than the actual ride itself. For $3 it was worth it though. We had a great time at the Ecotarium. Lots to do and to learn there. We managed to cover everything in about 3 hours or so, so don't plan on spending much more than 4 hours there. I would definitely recommend this place, especially for those with kids. read more

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Just came here to say wait until your kids are a bit older (maybe 5ish?). I knew it was a risk but brought my 10-month old anyway. Definitely not for babies - little to nothing geared toward kids that young and a lot of the animals are tough to find or see. She would've liked the sandbox but it started raining while we were there and we can go to a playground for that. read more

Best Earth Day ever! The Ecotarium is a combination of children's museum, science museum and zoo. There was a perfect balance of hands on activities with suggested instructions and materials to just explore. It was a bit chilly so we only saw a few of the outdoor animal exhibits. Food options are limited and it was too cold to eat at the outdoor cafe' so we left for lunch. When we returned we just showed our ticket for re-entry. The earth day tent had interesting activities including face painting. The granddaughters said it was the best day ever, even better than using electronics. We will return when it is warmer with all the grandkids, and bring a picnic lunch. Although Worcester is over an hour from home this may become our new Earth Day tradition . read more

Upon first impressions, this museum could do a lot better in terms of signage. Arrived here to a closed gate at 11:48. Saw another car then drive in, so I follow only to be told that we now have to loop around and return exactly at noon. The car in front was a staff member. The areas to "loop around" are very narrow so I drove down to a wider area (like 50 additional feet) and that staff member in front of us literally got out of her car to give me the same instructions. It's very off-putting to be scolded by two people in a row the very first time you try to go somewhere. No, ma'am, I'm actually not trying to sneak in to your museum with my two kids in the car. So rude to assume that -- must be because I still only have 3 hubcaps on my car thanks to some nasty Boston potholes. LOL. When I complained to the front gate cashier, he was very conciliatory. If you are going to open the gates literally minutes before the opening time, then put up a sign that tells guests where to park and wait (apparently across the street). So, for any other visitors, don't arrive early! Arrive exactly on time or 10 minutes after opening time. There is ample parking. You can park in the lower lot, which is closer to the outdoor play space. Or, you can park in the upper lot, which is closer to the main entrance of the museum (here again, more tips that would have been helpful to know from the gate keeper). Signage, people. read more

indoor and outdoor fun. Lots of things to do with children of all ages. Tons of hands on exhibits inside and a handful of animal exhibits outside. My son enjoyed the train ride and running around the grounds. There are plenty of picnic benches and places to sit and eat (for those of us that bring our lunch). They're partnered with the Museum of Science so if you have a membership at the MoS then you get into the Ecotarium free. read more

One of the greatest benefits to being a member of the Museum of Science is getting recriprocal memberships to a whole national(global?) network of science/technology museums and zoos. I'm so happy to have found Ecotarium! Ecotarium is a really unique blend of science museum, zoo, and park. It contains an indoor museum, outdoor walking trails around a pond, and animals and hands-on science activities scattered throughout both. It's far more interactive than any other science museum and distinctly rooted in ecology/naturalism. It was refreshing to see the focus on an on-going appreciation for nature/the environment, supplemented by science. I really enjoyed the set-up of the animals. They were spread out quite a bit and feel much more a part of nature (even though they're obviously caged) than zoos do. Major plus that it's wayyyy less crowded than zoos. We hung out with the polar bear, by ourselves, for a good 20 minutes. There are several short, easy trails around the grounds and a charming little pond, filled with all sorts of creatures. We ate a picnic lunch on the dock. Ecotarium is definitely set up for kids/families (it was filled with preschool to early elementary-aged children), but truly enjoyable for any science/nature/animal enthusiast. We were a group of three 20-somethings and had a great time exploring the grounds. read more

This is a great place, both in the winter and the summer. There is a polar bear display - we were once there on a bitter cold January day and the polar bear was in heaven. She even responds to her name - my children were fascinated by her. There are several beautiful birds on display as well - hawks, eagles, etc. I actually felt badly for the birds, until I learned that they were all rescued animals and could not have survived in the wild due to various injuries. We enjoyed the indoor displays as well. This is a great place for kids under age 7. Ecotarium is part of the ACM Reciprocal Progam, so we always get in free because we have a membership at a partner museum. read more