We loved our visit to the Discovery Museum in Reno! We only had about an hour before closing, so it…read morewas a bit rushed--but even in that short time, we had so much fun exploring all the different areas. Heads up: the gift shop closed before we could grab anything, and the closing announcements were pretty firm--if you weren't already in line, it was a no-go. Totally fair, just something to keep in mind when planning your visit! There are so many exhibits that we definitely had to move quickly, but it was still 100% worth it. Pro tip: save the downstairs water feature for last--it's an absolute blast for the whole family! As a special needs family, we felt really comfortable here. Our 5-year-old loved the freedom to walk and explore, and our 1-year-old had a great time in the littles area and with the water play. The huge cloud play structure looked amazing, but we skipped it since there's only one way in and out--just didn't feel like the right call for us this time. Bonus: let your kids take the stairs to burn off energy! But if you've got a stroller, wheelchair, or just want an easier route, elevators are available too. Overall, such a fun spot--we'll definitely be back (with more time next time)!

I will say the kiddos love this place…read more We have been twice. Before I wanted to get a membership, but now seeing how it is. I am happy thay we just go once in a while. The museum is not very large and most of our kiddos love the Truckee river exhibit as they play there more. It could be the age. Just bring some spare clothes or a towel as they may be drenched. As they get older they may like to do the other exhibits more. They have lego, space, anatomy, physics, and engineering zones. They also have a lab with daily activities. The amazing part is there are plenty of things to do. The downside is the parking lot gets packed fast, but thats a good thing. So give yourself time if looking for a spot. Its super cool for the kiddos and there is even a cute little toddler playground. So please enjoy the space and time.

This museum is a hidden gem. They're constantly bringing new and exciting exhibitions to our…read morecommunity, specifically those that are geared towards our elementary aged kiddos, which I sincerely appreciate. Most recently we visited Toytopia. This exhibit offers the chance to explore a hands-on history of toys from the past and into the future. My kids loved the oversized robotic claw, reminiscent of an amped up arcade machine. It was a blast trying to get the individually articulating fingers to close around the ball in order to lift it into the basket for the big reward. We also enjoyed the oversized battleship game. So fun to play and we spent 20-30 min there. Mr Potato Head was old school fun too. We made a competition out of it to see who could make the wackiest example. I think I won... or maybe my kids let me win. But the favorite had to be the mini arcade they had setup with some of the best old school cabinets. Donkey Kong, DK Jr., Dig Dug and so many more are all here as part of the exhibit and you could spend a long time here without realizing it! Oh and there's even a Zoltar fortune teller too! When you're done at toytopia you can go learn the history of Wilbur D May on the other side of the museum. I personally love exploring the artifacts and treasures he collected from his travels, especially the hunting and fishing trophies! All in all, a great little place to spend a

Wonderful experience for my family. Roaming around the gardens and taking a tour of the museum…read more Plenty of places for a picnic on the grounds. Just understand that May was a "big game" hunter when that was not frowned upon as it is now. Many of his "trophies" are found throughout the museum.

It's alive! Monster mini golf returned to the generator this October with some of the most exciting…read moreand elaborate mini golf creations ever witnessed. Some of the most creative people in the world called the generator and we get to have all of this right here in our backyard. If you're not familiar, the generator is a maker space that house is numerous independent artists that create works of all shape sizes and mediums . It's also a community of artistic folks who come together to learn and enhance each other creativity and teach each other how to become better and more accomplished artists as well. The resource sharing in the space is magical and the work that comes out of it has put our community on the map in a major way. We are so fortunate to have This organization in our community and if you got to check it out, I urge you to hit their website, find an opportunity and get in there. Even if you don't know what you wanna do you can still just drop in and check it out and see everything that's going on so you can be inspired to dive in a little deeper. Back to the mini golf, though this is an annual event where teams come together to showcase their creativity and encourage others to just come and have a little fun interacting with it. The mini golf course has 18 holes a very themes, all tied back to the Halloween holiday my favorites this year had to be the massive Mount Rose Ski lift and Mountain, which was fully operational. I also loved the haunted house that was a full long walk-through or should I say put through and of course, the cow casino, or CowSino, complete with working slot machine that accepted Candy as coins and paid out a massive sugary jackpot when the bell tolled. The cost to attend is super affordable and it's a great outing for a date night family or just friends hanging out . The generator does a ton of other events throughout the year, so definitely hit their website scope out the calendar and get involved .

Thank you to the Generator for opening your doors to non members…read more The Generator is a large open facility for artists to rent space in to work on their large scale and messy projects. I personally have a small space at home that I use to create my greeting cards. But once a quarter the Generator opens its doors to members and non members to host a market night. The night before Valentine's Day I set up a small table to sell a few Valentine and birthday cards I had made. The staff were well organized and made it a pleasure to have a booth and check out other artists. They even had food trucks available for food and a drink booth for libations. Follow them on Facebook and check out their next market night.

My daughter and I bought tickets online the last minute to The Notebook…read more The seats were about 80$ each. The process to book online was fairly simple and it's convenient to choose the seats too. The Pioneer inside is clean and everyone is friendly. They showed us to our seats and even offered to take our picture in front of the sign! It's nice that they offer a concession stand before and at intermission. This play and performance was magical! We look forward to returning.

We recently saw Paw Patrol live at the Pioneer Center. I had not been here in many, many years so…read morethis was a great opportunity to reacquaint myself with the venue. What a great place for live shows! Given the age of this building, they have done a spectacular job with the upkeep. The building still seems new and the interior is clean and updated. The seats are very comfortable and the traffic patterns are well thought out, even on a busy show day. They have concession stands available on both floors- spreading out traffic and easing the lines/crowds. Prices are reasonable for a live events venue. The show itself was great, and the venue is clearly well designed with great acoustics and great views from every seat in mind. The technical features available at the venue also seem to be pretty high tech and modern- at least they were for the Paw Patrol show. I was especially impressed with the restrooms. Sparkling clean with so many restrooms available. I can't imagine lines for the restroom ever being an issue here. I regret not having been here for any shows in so long. I am already looking forward to my next visit and have found myself already scouring the website for which shows are coming soon that I'd like to see. Would recommend!

Visited on a Saturday afternoon at approx. 3pm. The cafe has closed by then, and the museum wasn't…read morebusy. We managed to visit two floors of exhibits in about an hour. There were many thought-provoking and educational pieces. I love that the fruit and vegetables planted on site is accessible to everyone. I also love the floral mural and curtains in the lounge. The retail items in the gift shops are gorgeous as well. Would have been awesome if there were NMA merchandise to purchase for souvenirs!

The wife and I decided to have a ditch day from work and while having breakfast I wanted us to do…read moresomething we don't often do but both enjoy, and that's why we came to the Nevada Museum of Art. As a walk in on a week day there were a couple groups of students touring and a few other walk ins, but for the most part it seemed like we had the place to ourselves. We spent a couple hours taking in as much as possible, from fully immersing ourselves in Ernesto Neto's Children of the Earth to exploring other works like one of my favorites, Ducks in a Row by Clare Rojas. We then enjoyed the bakery in the lower level, quickly admired the Bristlecone clock in the library before departing. There was a section under development that we were unable to explore and we did almost miss the Ernesto Neto exhibit as the entryway was right next to the blocked off area under development. As we were preparing to exit, my wife saw the small entryway next to a table where someone was stationed to block off the section under development. The person stationed there said nothing. Luckily her curiosity led us the exhibit, but we could've easily missed it.

We have now been to this majestic spot x2 now. The first a couple of weeks ago, and quite honestly…read morewe just kind of stumbled upon it. We were in the area and saw the big black widow spider and thought what a large Halloween store. But we were pleasantly mistaken - What used to be a bowling alley has now been repurposed into an absolute wonderland of an experience. It's a full blown kid friendly adult friendly haunted warehouse. My 4 year old son had an absolute blast, it starts of with a bit of trick or treating as your making your way through the adventure, then turns into a full on experience as each and every room has a theme from Jurassic park, aliens, robots, clowns, skeletons, a mirror room that I conveniently banged my head into, all the way to the super psychedelic tunnel. Which leads you to the Macabre mansion - for adults and children too. THEY ARE EXTREMELY ACCOMMODATING- asking how scary you'd like the experience to be. Seeing as my Little guy is 4 we asked for no jump scares. And made it through enjoying every bit of the way. My little guy hugged the zombie, high fives leather face and complimented his chainsaw, noting it looked like it could use some oil, but the blood would do. We had an absolute blast. They are doing a Christmas themed experience as well. The owner has a dream, retired and sunk all of her savings into an experience we can all appreciate. I hope to see them sound for many many more years to come. Do yourself a favor and check them out! You won't be disappointed.

This was such a great experience. The kids had a great time…read morein their family friendly area with trick or treating and so many different areas to see. The dinosaurs were amazing and the pirate room made you feel like you were in the ocean water. The vortex was such a neat addition to the adventure. The scary side did not disappoint. I'm not going to spoil it for you but be prepared to scream! Well worth the admission price.

Back in February 2013, when I first visited Reno, seeing the Lear Theater downtown helped solidify…read moremy sense that Reno had a good arts and culture scene and thus could be a very decent place to live. I didn't know then that the Lear Theater had been closed since 2002. Nevertheless, the building was attractive and prominently located on Riverside Dr. and seemed to bode good things. The theater remains closed, but I have had the pleasure of seeing the Merry War Theater Group perform outdoor Shakespeare on the steps and front lawn of the Lear for two summers now, and damn do they do an excellent job of making the space work for them. Big trees provide nice shade for the Friday, Saturday and Sunday evening performances. The set construction uses well the front porch and side lawn. And alleyway: a character always needs to make an entrance on a motorcycle! The tickets are $5 suggested donation and one can picnic in the audience area before the show. Chase McKenna is a genius at making classic Shakespeare fun: in 2014 "A Midsummer Night's Dream" had Burners as fairies and in 2015 "Much Ado About Nothing" was set in Texas. So much fun! The cast always does a great job including music and physical comedy in the performance, too. I understand that TEDxReno took place in the Lear in 2014. Maybe in the future more good things besides Merry War's summer productions will happen! But I hear there is also an unfortunate history of failed attempts to restore the Lear. So... yeah. Nevertheless: four stars for an aesthetically pleasing exterior and for being a great site for outdoor Shakespeare.

Beyond the shadow of a doubt, the Sparks Heritage Museum is one of the most amazing places to learn…read moreabout Nevada history. Within its walls stories of the cities, founding life in the old West, the people officers and firefighters who protect us are all shared here. It is at this museum where you can feel like a kid again and learn about the amazing history of Sparks Nevada. It is here where you find traces of Giants that once called downtown Sparks home( PS if you're wondering what I mean by giant I mean Bertha, Tina and Angel, the elephants that ones lived at the Nugget Casino) Even the very building itself is history with it being built as a library and courthouse in 1931 and functioning as the first official public library for the city of Sparks. If you are a resident of the Truckee Meadows or any kind of history enthusiast, I highly recommend visiting this museum, as well as checking out Last Chance Joe the 30 foot prospector next-door to the museum as well as the two parks that surrounded ( Sparks Memorial Park and Lillard Park) combined all three of these locations. Tell the story of Sparks, Nevada, and how it was started as a small railroad town that was literally transported to where it is now by rail to the growing city that it has become since it's founding in 1904. Additionally Details; The museum is going through some changes currently, but it still has some truly amazing displays and it will be celebrating its 40th anniversary on April 1 of next year and they have told me that there is gonna be some truly amazing surprises in the near future . Again, if you are a lover of history or just a local resident with some time to kill, I highly suggest checking out the sparks heritage museum. It is a hidden gem in the Truckee Meadows.

Family friendly attraction. Amazing volunteers work here who are full of knowledge! The lady at the…read moreschoolhouse is so sweet; she lets you ring the old bell and teaches you all sorts of things about schools and teachers back then. Also, the conductor for the train tour has been volunteering for 10 years and gave an amazing tour. We learned a lot about old Sparks, the railroad and train station, & many other fun facts about the local history.

3.5 stars I came here to watch "To Kill a Mockingbird." 2.5…read morehour show. The actors were good at taking on their role and they spoke loud enough for me to hear. I was sitting close to the front though. The costumes for the kids were cute. Some parts were funny. I enjoyed it. The theater is small. There are three columns facing the stage. I arrived before 7pm and most of the center column seating were not available. Most of those seats were reserved. There are limited bathrooms available due to renovation too. Apple square readers were available at the entrance to accept credit card payment. The play could have been a better experience if there were ushers to enforce basic manners from the audience. One person got up to go to the bathroom at least five times, getting up from the center section in the front. The bathroom is to the right of the stage when facing at the stage. There were seats available near that door so that less people are disturbed when nature calls! There were people late, 20 minutes late! One person from that late group was also late coming back from intermission. And that same person was recording the play with the light from the camera lit up for almost the entire 2nd half! Proud family member, yes. But very inconsiderate. And staff did not say or do anything. The vibe felt like parents watching their kids perform. It was worth $12, but if I had to pay more, I would rate this review much lower for lack of quality control. Great play. Bad audience.

The Laxalt Auditorium is basically invisible unless you're looking for it. It's inside the UNR…read moreNelson building where I know some of the community health people work. As a theater, it's decent. Think "High school theater where they care about their theater program." It seats about 200 people (I think, I'm terrible at estimating), and I know that the Theater Works of Northern Nevada run their shows out of there. The sound and lighting are adequate, not amazing, but not completely primitive either. On either side, there are doors that lead to either the parking lot or the rest of the Nelson building. These are a little loud for people coming and going during a performance, but overall not super distracting. The chairs and carpets are in good repair and it looks like they work to maintain a clean atmosphere in the theater. At the moment, the bathroom situation sucks. You have to go downstairs and down a hallway to find the one-holer (which, during a well-attended performance is a bear during intermission), but the woman who announced the show mentioned that this was unusual and that UNR had just begun construction on the same-floor bathroom. Overall, it's a nice place to see a show, but don't expect the pomp and circumstance of somewhere like the Pioneer.