Laser Dome show was magical - so much fun!! We highly recommend it. The visuals combined with the music just blew our minds.

Took a trip to Seattle to see the Terra Cotta Warrioirs at Pacific Science Center AMAZING! we bought our tickets online way ahead of time to make sure we had a time slot when we arrived. This museum is amazing and so much to see and they also have IMAX Theatre which we did not have time to do or renting the audio guide since it was short trip before our departure back to California. We do plan on returning and visiting the museum again soon. if you have KIDS they will love the Exhibits or take a look in their Tropical Butterfly House. you can spend a whole day there with lots of FUN experiences. Members and Non members welcomed. Make it a Museum Day! FUN for the whole family read more

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Great place for young and old! Lots of hand on activities with explanations of scientific principles. The outdoor water demonstrations were fun and the indoor dinosaur exhibit and butterfly walk exhibit were highlights for us. Never saw so many different varieties of butterflies! read more

3.5 stars on yelp? How sad! This place is AT LEAST 4 stars. Not only did I have fun here but my kid did too. It caters to a wide range of ages. It is entertaining for little kids and big kids too. We only spent 3 hours here and I felt like that wasn't enough time to even cover half of the center. There is definitely plenty to do. The kids really enjoyed the butterfly exhibit. There are so many butterflies fluttering around in this room. Next to this exhibit, they have staff manning an arts and craft table. The kids had fun doing their own gluing and coloring. This room also had a variety of 3d puzzle construction pieces that was cool to play around with. We then walked over to the section where we constructed our own boats and there were fans nearby to test to see if our construction was solid in its design. Then we wandered to the dinosaur room and next to there was another live demonstration where the person demonstrated the different gases and the level of its combustion. We also went outside to play with water exhibits. I wish we could have had more time to explore but nap time demanded that we went home. read more

The pacific science center has really good service offering. I take my grandkids there almost once a week. Bus access is not bad. Or parking on the street on inside their parking lot. There is a disabled spot outside on 2nd. We have their membership, if your family works for one of the big tech companies in the area, then you can get a good discount on the membership. This year, they have made Monday to be not open, which is a bit inconvenient for us, but good news is they opened on Monday holiday, which was good. There are different areas of the science center that kids can explore. For example, one time stay at the lego and hands-on area, for hours. One time stay at toddler area with story time (noon/1, etc.), which is very good at engaging kids for a good 50 minutes. Sometimes I bring a book or tablet (there is wifi), and I can do my things while kids are at story time. Sometimes there is staff for letting kids pet brazilian cockroach. Butterfly house is always warm and welcoming. Tide pool is good hands-on area as well, for touching sea stars. The live science show is always ending with some dramatic explosion or smoke in the air. Kids love it, and want to see it over and over again, even though they've already seen it. And adults get a good learning/entertainment from it as well. Planetarium is unlimited with the membership. But, documentary movies are limited per annual membership. It would be better if the documentary movies are unlimited per membership! Halloween event at the science center had very few people, we went around 3:30pm. There were total of 7 families in the giant science center. With many staff and stations, we were able to trick or treat lots of candies, and collected stamps from the stations to finish the challenge game. It was good. Adults can enjoy movies at the imax theaters in the evening, with membership, you get discounted tickets to that as well! Very glad about that. And it is said that there's adult science shows coming out too, i guess they are trying to involve adults more with science center. read more

Pacific Science Center - Museums Near Me - Seattle, Washington

So many fun things to do here! I can't even recall them all! Some of them include the world's largest chair, a miniature tide pool, and a 3d movie theater. But the best thing by far, at least for me, is the butterfly exhibit. It's an awe-striking experience to have a butterfly land on you, and it's just so fun to see. I would highly recommend visiting, one of my favorite places in the beautiful city of Seattle! read more

If you have children, Pacific Science Center is THE place to go in Seattle. Since it often rains, it's something to do outside your home that keeps you dry. Located nearby a park, the Space Needle, and the Museum of Pop Culture, it's in a great spot. With the location, comes a large dining hall with over a dozen food spots like Mod Pizza, Subway, and The Bubble Tea Shop (There is a cafe inside the Pacific Science Center too, but it's expensive and the food options are sparse). The Pacific Science Center costs money, but once inside you can spend hours here to make it money well spent. The buildings are divided by number and offer a variety of things for kids. One building has dinosaurs, the other space related things, another one a butterfly house. There is even an IMAX theater! Here are the top things to do for kids, adults, and a few things that both enjoy: Kids: 1) The live shows- there's a woman that will do a light show for kids one hour and then an animal petting show the next hour. It will keep your kids entertained. 2) The giant games/table- one room has kid sized games like chess and checkers and even has a large table and chairs for kids to climb on. 3) The space area- there are many interactive exhibits from a scale to weigh you on each planet to a giant puzzle of the stars. 4) The ocean petting zoo- it's small, but kids can see and pet star fish and a few other water animals. Adults: 1) The architecture- if you love photography, the outside courtyard is beautiful offering brutalist architecture with the Space Needle as a backdrop. Both: 1) The butterfly house- hundreds of butterflies fly over you and even land on your phone for a butterfly selfie. 2) The animal exhibit- you can see snakes, cockroaches, bees, and other interesting animals. 3) Water guns- outside there are two giant water guns you can spray at moving targets! If you have children, this is a must-do in downtown Seattle! read more

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Amazing place to spend the day! We learned so much from every section that we visited- aquarium, rainforest, earthquake simulator, gems, the collection room, and the planetarium! My 14 year old said, "Ok, I want to work here!" Great for budding scientists or anyone who loves the natural world. read more

Enjoyed the Terracotta Warriors & other Marvels from Ancient China exhibit on view through September 4th. We really enjoyed our tour of the excavation site in Xi'an, but we loved coming face to face with the life-sized statues on exhibit in the Pacific Science Center. In 1974, farmers digging a well for a persimmon orchard outside of Xi'an unearthed a life-sized solider made completely out of clay. We had a chance to visit greatest archaeological discoveries of the world. The mausoleum of China's first emperor, containing his famous Terracotta Warriors. In Xi'an we got a chance to walk through the dig site, but in this exhibit we had to chance to see the warriors up close. Loved the Seattle's Pacific Science Center exhibit which brings the discoveries to the PNW in it's showing of the Terracotta Warriors of the First Emperor. Featuring artifacts from the mausoleum, a UNESCO World Heritage site. read more

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This place has been a crucial part of my childhood, I have nothing but fond memories of coming here and interacting with the hands-on exhibits. I love coming here as an adult and exploring the wonders of science. read more

Went to see the terra-cotta soldier exhibit today. Wow. First class exhibit. Recommend renting the audio guide for the exhibit and definitely watch the Mysteries of China film in the IMAX theatre You can do to exhibit in about 1 1/2 hours. You can take as many photos as you want but no videos I saw the soldiers and horses in China while visiting there. If you don't plan to go to China ...this is a MUST see exhibit bigger than life size soldiers. Note: all of the faces of the soldiers are different (no two faces are alike). Amazing cause there are thousands of soldiers read more

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This place absolutely did nothing over the two years of pandemic shutdown when it had a golden opportunity to refresh its facility. It is just run down with no meaningful display and half the space is either closed it in construction. It is ridiculous that they even take money to let visitors in. This is coming from a season pass holder for my kid. The directors should be ashamed of themselves. read more

I was unable to walk around the Science Center, I still wanted to stop by to check out the architecture of the site. I thought the white design was super clean. The arches were a neat design. The main building itself reminded me of Doge's Palace in Venice. I hope to take the kiddos here when we are back. I think they would really enjoy it here. read more

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If your kid is younger than 10 it is worth the time. Otherwise not really. The laser show needs a flashing light/seizure warning and spinning shape hypnosis warning. The lasers don't even sync with the music. read more

I wish I visited this museum as a kid! The PCC incorporates many aspects of science (animals, nature, health, and earth science, to name a few) with a fun, easy to understand approach. As an adult visiting for the first time I enjoyed the interactivity and impressive detail of the displays, as well as the wide array of fun facts all throughout the museum. When I first walked through the gates, I was stunned by the display at the entry way. As you walk in, you are greeted by an array of shimmering fountains. I don't know how to describe it, other than that it was beautiful. My favorite exhibit was the animal exhibit, because there were many animals that I had never seen at other museums before. Love Kim Possible? PCC has naked mole rats. Like bugs? PCC has many different species and even an exhibit about eating them. There is even a butterfly sanctuary with an impressive number of butterflies to interact with. read more

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The museum was great and the laser show was so interesting and amazing. It must take real talent to throw off something like that.

Such an amazing place. I don't know how it only has four stars and less because there's so much to do here went recently for an IMAX to see avatar in 3-D and everyone loved it and there's a little play area in the museum portion where I am ask is that you can explore what the museum has to offer a right next to the space needle read more

My 13yr old autistic nephew loved it. I was disappointed. Last time I went there were so many more displays and interactive stations. The entire 1st floor was closed. A staff person told us they had major funding cuts and staff shortages. The Pacific Science Center is a major attraction for WA residents and tourists. What a shame that it has been let go. The Imax theater was offering one adult movie. Nothing for kids. Not somewhere I would take future visitors. read more

We are seeing the slow death of the Pacific Science Center. It was already under funded and lacked some imagination. Now, it just appears to be in disarray. The remaining exhibits are dated, worn, and unoriginal. Taking out the sneeze thing, really guys? During the pandemic? I'm sure someone found some obscure reason to remove it beyond budget purposes... But that seems like maybe the most important way to teach kids a simple lesson. The robot dinosaurs are going to become extinct, and maybe it's time to pacific science center does too. Our city is better than this. read more

It cost us $75 for two adults and one four year old. The science center was so empty- I remember it being full of stuff when I was a kid and even a college student, but now there's just a lot of empty space. Thought I may have been imagining it, so I looked up some videos, and there was way more stuff pre-pandemic. They've not recovered yet. read more

Not worth the price of admission! This used to be one of our favorite locales. A lot of the exhibits are old and so much of the museum is closed off for new exhibits that it was a waste of time to take my 12 and 13 year old here. The Dino exhibit has been here for over 20 years! Some of the moving Dino's don't even move anymore and just lay there looking old. I really feel that it is unfair to charge so much for tickets when only half the museum is being used for exhibits. The tinker zine is for preschool ages kids, not fun for older children. read more

The butterfly house is pretty cool. Most of the exhibits though are dated and show there age. It is a pretty good sized venue and the plants inside the gates by the water feature show some pretty cool plants and how they are used in the medical world. All in all though over priced for how little care they put Into the venue. read more

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What brought me into the Science Center was The Art Of The Brick exhibit. I thought it was well worth it! Tickets for two were $40 with a Chinook Book coupon. My boyfriend who decided to tag along was wildly impress with the lego art. The pieces were unique in their own way with different elements such as light and sound. It really added depth and meaning to the art. I would recommend visiting this exhibit before it ends. Overall, the science center is a great place for children to play and explore. There are even shows throughout the day to educate them about science. The butterfly room was so amazing. It provides the opportunity for people and kids to interact with gorgeous (and some enormous) butterflies. A lot of children in the area were in awe. It was a really nice moment to see children off their phones and tablets to enjoy the beauty of nature. I would recommend visiting this place at least once and more often if you have children. read more

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I go here solely for the IMAX movie experience. I love it! Clean, friendly and fresh popcorn. Who doesn't love fresh hot buttery popcorn? I try and go weekly or biweekly depending on the movie showings. read more

I think this is a beautiful place, and a great idea. There is a lot of education here. I wouldn't have thought it was pretty much solely a child's museum, but it is very much geared towards children. I will admit the Butterfly Room was SPLENDIFEROUS! I will always try to go to any and every butterfly room I can! We're not much into VR (virtual reality) and high tech movie/imagery. But if you are, there's a lot to see for you there. We got the CityPass package, and had a choice of the Pacific Science Center or Chihuly Garden and Glass. I wish I would have picked the Chihuly Garden and Glass in stead. Totally. I will admit, we didn't have our kids there, it would have been more enjoyable with them there. The CityPass bundle is the way to go! read more

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This museum has undergone very little change since the 90s. I left feeling like this place is a real missed opportunity. When visiting a science museum in a city that prides itself on being a tech mecca, you expect to see cutting edge exhibits or at least something current. If it is a lack of funding that is preventing the museum from doing much needed updates/properly filling spaces with exhibits, why not call on the tech giants to help create/fund exhibits? Microsoft, Amazon and Boeing could certainly fund some interesting and interactive exhibits. They would probably love the opportunity to provide community outreach and the museum could provide a more modern STEM experience. It would be a mutually beneficial partnership. Hopefully, the museum can create an experience worthy of their entry fee. Until then, I will save my money for something less lackluster. read more

It was perfect for a perfect day for my family to come into today! The staff was great at check in! We needed a wheel chair! When I asked the woman for a wheelchair she was prompt efficient and truly made our day better. We considered going somewhere else in the Seattle Center area but we had a five-year-old with us who I knew would enjoy the Pacific science Center, let's be honest I enjoyed the Pacific science Center. The interactive games the fun and exciting science behind the games and toys and hands-on activities was oh so much! I was one happy person! If your looking to do the space needed, pacific science center and zoo just as them in the front for the pass and then you can purchase all of them! Just make sure you can use them on different days that I'm not familiar with! We saved money and the lady in the front was great! Staff was helpful and friendly, which is always good when you have a lot going on (finding parking, walking to the venue, going to the right venue, and a kid who is screaming bc they need to use the restroom and it's FAR!!) read more

So... I am incredibly partial to places within my own city of Chicago. I mean, I grew up there... How could I not? Right? But this is the one spot that does it better. Better than the Children's Museum at Navy Pier... What?! I know. I feel so disloyal but it's true. This is an all day thing. So many opportunities for INTERACTIVE learning. So much fun. AND while we were in town they had the Art of the Brick exhibit. Pay the extra entrance fee. It's totally worth it. I really hope this exhibit will eventually make it's way into Chicago somewhere. read more

Pacific Science Center - Museums Near Me - Seattle, Washington

In between the IMAX show and the King Tut Exhibit at the Pacific Science Center, we stopped off at the cafe. It was a cute little cafe with some healthy choices, some consession type foods and some ridiculous like ice cream or soft serve on a freezing day, but hey it's your choice. My guy got a fresh cup of coffee, they brewed a new pot when customers asked. I ordered a apple cider, which was a simple hot water plus packet deal, but I liked it and it warmed up my cold hands and body before moving on. It was pretty busy, so I hope they add more tables when the weather is warmer or more people come by. read more

Pacific Science Center - Warm Apple Cider on a Cold Day - Museums Near Me - Seattle, Washington

We have been to many science museums and love going to each.. until today! Granted - We are a family with older kids but I know we would have still been disappointed if they had been younger. This one is out of date with broken exhibits, and lots of empty space. When they say 5 buildings - it is not all exhibits!! It seemed unchanged since opening in the 60's - No exaggeration! It took us 25-30 min to go through the entire site that we saved a whole day for. It is a complete waste of money! read more

Highlights: Really pretty grounds...AWESOME Butterfly Garden...cool hands on exhibits for people of all ages. Not so highlights: We bought tickets to the Michael Jackson laser show, and after waiting almost 2 hours for it to start, they cancelled it due to technical difficulties...we had to get a refund and they were pretty cool about that...the food in the cafe blows...if you aren't with a little kid you will be done with this place in less than an hour. read more

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We bought tickets for the Pearl Jam laser show this past weekend and enjoyed our event. Thinking that it would be quite busy, we purchased ahead online and paid $14 per ticket + a $3 fee. When we arrived, there was hardly anyone in line so that wasn't necessary. You can buy tickets the day of and really right up to the event time at the box office. You have the option to sit in seats or on the floor. I called ahead (I'm a planner so...) and was informed that bringing a pillow and blanket would be allowed and actually suggested for comfort. The floors are thin carpet on concrete so keep that in mine for bad backs. I read that their laser technology has been updated in the past few years and they now have the latest technology in the entire US. They played their greatest hits (think ONE) so that was a nice treat. The only bummer was that it should have been a full hour and we only got a 50 minute show. At least two additional songs could have bee played. read more

A great interactive place for kids and adults to explore. We walked here after checking out the EMP Museum across the way. You walk into the dinosaur exhibit and can learn about the evolution of dinosaurs. It was also neat to see all the dinosaurs moving. Then we learned a bit about the different planets and I sure weighed a lot on the sun! After that, we ventured to the animal part of the museum and saw live snakes, huge Madagascar cockroaches, various insects, and ugly naked mole rats. My favorite was definitely the the butterfly room which was probably 80 degrees inside. This place definitely brought back childhood memories when we learned about the life cycle of a butterfly in school and even got to raise them from larvae to adults in class. It was so cool to see the pretty, colorful butterflies flying right by your face. Some butterflies were huge! They also put some rotten fruits out like bananas, oranges, and mangos for them to suckle on. There was also a case with cocoons and some butterflies were about to come out of them. Take your kids here, they'll love it! read more

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Such a great place for kids of all ages! We took our 1 year old there for his birthday and he loved it! I was so surprised by how big their toddler section was! He was able to crawl around and explore everything! He did not want to leave! My husband was also very entertained by all the science stuff on the lower level! The bubble machine was amazing! read more

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I'm a little disappointed about how disingenuous some of the reviews of this place were. I went in with low expectations, and they were so far exceeded I'm glad we didn't pass on going based on reviews. I want honesty, not snarky pretense. To be fair, it's been years since I visited science centers in other cities, but this place is really exceptional. Is it geared toward children? Yes. Is that a bad thing? No. #1 We're constantly reminded of how poorly US children perform in science so anything that gets them excited about science is a good thing. #2 Schools and families probably keep science centers more fiscally viable than hipster dinks, and quite frankly my formerly dinky self would have loved this place as much then as I did now as a parent. I spotted 2-3 exhibits that needed TLC: a triceratops had a tear in one leg I noticed by chance, and one small display featured some moths that were falling apart. There was an admittedly outdated claymation dinosaur video but my kids enjoyed it, and the dinosaurs alone captivated them. I can see why adults may find them cheesy but kids love robotic dinosaurs, and there were a handful of impressive fossils including a T Rex skull and cast of a tooth. Really, the only thing that made me roll my eyes was the fly scientist in the insect village but my four year olds were captivated by that, too, as well as the over-sized robotic preying mantis and scorpion. The live specimens were cool for adults and children alike, and whining about heat and humidity in a butterfly exhibit is like complaining about water at a water park. C'mon now. We visited as part of our city pass, which included a free IMAX documentary. We saw a 3D one about lemurs narrated by Morgan Freeman. Other highlights included a meteorite, multiple large wooden puzzles, including 3D animals and insects, an oversize game of chess (oh yeah, one pawn of the entire set needed some TLC) and the toddler play area. We came on a Monday in May. There were several families but it was not crowded by any stretch of the imagination. Everyone ( a 44 year old, 35 year old, 14 year old, and 2 4 year olds) found something that made the visit more than worth it. read more

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I so love the Pacific Science Center. Some free advice: Go to the Laser Dome. Check out the schedule here: https://www.pacificsciencecenter.org/laser-dome/ The Laser Dome is just so cool. They change up a featured artist on occasion with the lasers and music featuring them. Right now it's Prince. I went to Laser Bowie in March, and it was awesome. I've been to other laser shows where they play a variety of music with the show. There is movie theatre type seating and then there is the floor in front where you can bring pillows if you want for floor seating. This is a 10,000 watt speaker sound system in a dome building with lasers shooting in 360 degrees. Tickets are $14 for evening shows, $5 for afternoon/matinees. There is no price difference for seniors/kids, etc. You do get a discount if you are a member of the Pacific Science Center; evening shows go down to $10 for them and the afternoon shows for them are free. If you buy a ticket for an evening show, you can add a second for just $7. Tickets can be bought online. I would caution bringing any kids under 13 to the Laser Dome for the evening shows because there is zero lights after the show starts; at times, you can't see your hand in front of your face. Also, getting up to use the restroom really isn't going to happen during the show for the amount of humans laying on the floor as well. They have matinees which would be better for kids where they have dim lighting but you can see better than the evening shows. You can give someone a special message at a laser show for $50. I want to see someone get a marriage proposal. The other thing to do here is watch a movie at the IMAX theatre. They run new movies as well as nature and science related ones. I've seen a couple movies here. The seating is angled so there is not a bad seat anywhere. The IMAX 3D is great. In the Science Center itself, there is the Butterfly House which is a sight to behold. There is the planetarium which is a year-long feature. The many exhibits that stay as well include a tide pool, insect village, science tools/toys where kids get to play with and experiment with various items to figure out and discover theories and an area to learn about the human body. There are other exhibits that rotate through and are all family friendly. The ease of parking here as well as traffic is based on what is going on at the Seattle Center, which is right next door, and what is going on in downtown Seattle was a whole. Check the news and traffic report if you plan on driving yourself and are a local. There are paid parking spots on the street right by the Science Center at the Laser Dome ticket entrance. There's also a great parking garage just a block away. Otherwise, there are various paid lots and parking garages on all sides of the Seattle Center. If you're a tourist, it's easy to get here and be dropped off/picked up via ride share, public transit, etc. read more

Pacific Science Center - Outside the laser dome - Museums Near Me - Seattle, Washington

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I have to say, I wasn't all that impressed with Seattle's Pacific Science Center. I mean, it's a good way to waste time on a rainy day (especially if you have kids), but it doesn't seem worth the $ - unless you get a CityPass. I was a huge fan of the CA Science Center, so I was really excited when I learned that I didn't live all that far away. The Dino Exhibit is a nice touch (albeit very ghetto), and I loved the Butterfly Room (even though it's 86 degrees in there). But otherwise, the exhibits are not very interesting and seem run down. And if you're not into kids, stay away. They are EVERYWHERE. General consensus? Too many dollar signs for the experience. I'd much rather shell out that kind of $ to visit the EMP, which actually has interesting/changing exhibits. read more

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We went here to see the Pompeii exhibit. I had never been to the PSC before so I was kind of amped to explore what was behind the gates. Since the white futurist looking domed columns you can see from outside the gate gives the impression that you're stepping into the future, I was excited to not only see the Pompeii exhibit but also see the rest of the PSC. My first impression after entering was somewhat of disappointment but we came for the Pompeii exhibit so I attempted to keep my frown from turning upside down. Now the exhibit was actually pretty nice. My friend and I were actually taken aback by how well preserved or restored the items in the exhibit were, especially since they were from around the year 100 AD. That was actually really amazing. The layout though was very tight in areas and since people stop and gawk at most points, it sometimes becomes nearly impossible to move through the narrow hallways. Other parts of the exhibit were open enough to view the artifacts and watch the informational videos without feeling cramped. Again I say though that it was a really neat exhibit. It was nice how they set up how the Pompeiians lived their lives prior to the volcano eruption and then you go through a non-impressive smoke and light show to simulate the volcano eruption and step into life after the devastation and then finally the gift shop. We went to the dinosaur building after that and the only thing cool in there was the area where you could touch sea anemones and water wildlife. So basically the rest of the Pacific Science Center was kind of whomp whomp feeling. It felt like a place people go on a field trip with school when they're younger. So it might be cool for kids. The dinosaur animatronics need a bit of updating though. Just sayin. read more

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Fun science center. Activities to keep kids busy - particularly younger ones. Being from Edmonton I compared it to our science center. I liked how much space they gave for exhibits. However, I found that there wasn't as many interactive things as the few science centers I've been to. I really loved the butterfly gardens. I think this is a wonderful feature and I wished our science center would have something like this. Also really nice touch pools. We didn't have time for any of the movies. My youngest child loved the exhibit on getting sneezed on. Definitely worth a visit. read more

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Might seem like something just for kids, but as an adult I still really enjoy coming here!! They put on great laser shows, so get your friends and book one of those. I also just love exploring here, it's a great place for a rainy day. read more