St. Louis trip

[mfortune]

I am planning a spring break trip to St. Louis again this year, but this time I was looking to either go to the City Museum or Science Center. Does anyone from that area have positive/negative reviews on either one?

 

[LizinSTL]

I am planning a spring break trip to St. Louis again this year, but this time I was looking to either go to the City Museum or Science Center. Does anyone from that area have positive/negative reviews on either one?

I'm not a big fan of the City Museum. Some of my friends LOVE it. I think it's overpriced and a little bit dangerous. There are never coupons or discounts ever. This is fine for adventurous older kids and adults who don't mind tight spaces. If the weather is nice, there's a cool outdoor play area that kids love. My kids don't love it there- the exhibits don't interest them (they are about architecture/art) but if you catch the circus, it's pretty awesome!

I love the Science Center. It's free to see the basic exhibits. You pay for the planetarium but that's a cool show if you are into stars. You pay for special exhibits or omnimax. Parking is $9 on the Science Center side, but free on the Planetarium/Forest Park side. You get free parking and free or half priced admission to all exhibits w/ a membership. A good portion of it is a tax deduction too. www.slsc.org

 

[design_mom]

DH's family is from St. Louis. We've (adults and kids) really enjoyed the Science Center. I am not sure if we've been to the City Museum. Or is that the art museum in Forest Park? (If so, we've been there. I enjoyed it, but I'm not sure the whole family did.)

I'm not sure if you'll have kids with you or not, but if you do, my kids also really enjoyed the Magic House (I think it's in Kirkwood) and Grant's Farm.

 

[NCRedding]

We've been to both with our DD who at the time was 12.

She really enjoyed the City Museum because it was soooo different from any other museum we've ever been too. Like the PP said, the museum does seem a bit dangerous (my DH cut his hand on the slide). The outdoor play area can keep some kids entertained for hours.

The Science Center was a full-day adventure for us. We loved the exhibits, and even saw Harry Potter in IMAX there. The food court was decent and not too overly expensive. The drawback is that is very much like many science centers we had been to before, so some of the exhibits were very familiar to us as we had done them before. It did have a cool playground area with large scale experiments to be performed, although I'm not positive about if this were right at the science center or just in the general area; I can't remember.

I will say the DD LOVED Grant's Farm. Magic House was fun, but just a touch too young for her then.

We really enjoyed our trip to St Louis!

 

[ICF]

The City Museum is AWESOME!!

It is expensive, but I've never been anywhere like that before. You didnt say how old the kids are, but if they are older than 7/8 then I think they would have a great time.

The science center is good, but I wouldn't say it's anything much different than other similar types of museums.

 

[Chelley00]

We did a 5 day summer trip to St Louis over Fourth of July. We went to a Cards game, City Museum, Grant's Farm, Botanical Gardens. We ate at Fitz's for lunch and The Hill for dinner (Zia's)

The kids LOVED the City Museum. Some of it scared me There are tight spaces, and weird angled climbing things. I wasn't worried at all about our 9 year old. She loved it and went everywhere, but for our 5 year old, I was a nervous wreck. He did great, and even DH and I enjoyed climbing around with them.

Our biggest issue was that it's SO easy to lose the kids. I kept a very close eye on the 5 year old, which meant our 9 year old got lost However, she had on an ID bracelet and the staff was WONDERFUL with our poor sobbing girl and the found us rather quickly.


We didn't do the Science Center, but we did go to Grant's Farm and the kids really enjoyed it too. DH liked the free beer samples.

 

[Alesia]

My recommendations depend on how old your kids are.

 

[grafxgirl]

We lived just outside of St. Louis for a short time. I don't have experience on these two places, but I do have to say if you can get to the zoo, you really should go.

 

[Disneycrazymom]

My kids will never be back to City Museum! My niece (then 16) broke her leg bad enough to have surgery there! They didn't even want to call the ambulance and were not helpful at all. We got the feeling they were very concerned about being sued and they had been down that road before! She was doing nothing wrong just going down the big slide.

Before you go google St Louis City museum accidents. There will be a pretty long list. Several pretty serious.

Science Center is really a fun way to spend the day. There are coupons in the Entertainment book for the planetarium and the I max.

 

[Danemom]

We enjoyed the Science Center on our trip. Didn't go to the City museum so I can't compare. A lot of people are recommending Grants Farm - it was not open for the season when we went for spring break so you should check on that if you're considering it. We did enjoy seeing the Clydesdales outside as we drove by though. We went to the Grant historical site right by it. My kids are teenagers and they enjoyed that.

 

[mfortune]

Thanks so much for the responses! My oldest daughter will be 9 by the time Spring Break roles around and the youngest is 4. After reading your responses, I think I will go for the Science Center. I can get a great deal through Drury Inn that includes 4 passes to Grossology and 4 Omnimax vouchers. We did the zoo a few years ago and loved it...hope to do it again while we are there!

 

[Danemom]

Duplicate post.

 

[LizinSTL]

Thanks so much for the responses! My oldest daughter will be 9 by the time Spring Break roles around and the youngest is 4. After reading your responses, I think I will go for the Science Center. I can get a great deal through Drury Inn that includes 4 passes to Grossology and 4 Omnimax vouchers. We did the zoo a few years ago and loved it...hope to do it again while we are there!

I'd check out the Magic House too if you have time. There are often B1G1 admission discounts floating around the web (usually on the Drury site). Your kids are good ages for the Magic House- my 10 year old still really loves it.

Drury is great because of the free breakfast, soda/popcorn and hot appetizers every afternoon/evening. Don't forget to park on the Forest Park side (Planetarium) to save $9 on parking!

 

[Alesia]

I would not take a 4 year old to the City Museum. It's a lot of fun for older kids, but I would be very nervous with a little one.

I definitely recommend the Magic house.

 

[Leajess99]

I'd check out the Magic House too if you have time. There are often B1G1 admission discounts floating around the web (usually on the Drury site). Your kids are good ages for the Magic House- my 10 year old still really loves it.

Drury is great because of the free breakfast, soda/popcorn and hot appetizers every afternoon/evening. Don't forget to park on the Forest Park side (Planetarium) to save $9 on parking!

I agree with this. My middle DD was 11 the last time we were there and she and her friends (10 and 12) also loved it and the friends are from the area so have been many times. I have never been to the City Museum but after reading here and looking at injuries I am not sure I would ever go there.

 

[cwilc]

Magic House Magic House Magic House!!!!!! We took our girls (ages 7 & 9) last year during spring break, and they LOVED it! We planned to spend a couple hours there and ended up there almost 6! Some things were a little young for my 9 yr old, but she gladly did them with her sister. If you go there, not far down the road is the Great American Pizza Co.. It's like Chuck E Cheese for big kids. They have all the traditional games along with bowling, go karts, bumper cars, and more. The food isn't bad, and it's not too pricey either. Both the Magic House and the Pizza Co. have great coupons if you can find them.

 

[mfortune]

I agree with everyone about the Magic House. We went for the first time two years ago and the girls loved it! We used the BOGO offer so it was very cost effective for us. And I will definitely have to check into the Great American Pizza option!

 

[JB2K]

If you go there, not far down the road is the Great American Pizza Co.. It's like Chuck E Cheese for big kids.

Only that you got the name wrong -- it's "America's Incredible Pizza Company". Big difference.

Otherwise, if you have youngsters, both the Science Center and the Magic House are great venues.

As for Grant's Farm, as of this writing, the National Parks Service is looking to take over the operations, meaning many of the current attractions/influences provided by corporate sponsor Anheuser-Busch may not be around for too much longer...

 

[Pixie Dust for Me!]

We live in St. Louis and with the ages of your kids I'd suggest Science Center, Botanical Garden, Magic House, Grants Farm, the Zoo and the Butterfly House at Faust Park. PM me if you're going to come as we have some passes we can share.

Karen

 

[mfortune]

Thanks! I will probably be sending you a message Pixie!!