Great Lakes Science Center Reviews

Great place for all ages 1 to 101. It was wonderful watching the kids explore and learn. The staff is super special. they make the kids feel excited about learning

Great exhibits and right on the lake in Downtown Cleveland.

I have mixed feelings about this place. When we first got our membership last year, it seemed like certain exhibits/interactive displays were frequently down for maintenance, and things looked a bit run down. That seems to have improved over this past winter.

We love the themed events and seasonal exhibits: Tape Scape and Grossology were huge hits with the kids, plus blowing up pumpkins for Halloween, the winter wonderland and New Years Eve Eve were also fun for all.

That said, there are some downsides. I really loved being able to use their lockers with just a few quarters...now, there are fewer lockers and it costs a small fortunes to use them! Also, the machine that runs it requires a credit card, OR you have to go to the admission counter to purchase a token if all you have is cash. By the time you do that, the lockers are sold out. No other place to really leave your coat besides the car, which can be brutal right there on the lake. If you are taking public transportation, be aware that the Waterfront line has weird hours and may not be running when you leave. That can mean a long-ish walk to Tower City to catch the Red Line.

A membership can be a great value, just be aware that you will still pay for parking (at a reduced rate, currently $7 for the day) after you run out of your 2 or 4 vouchers if you get certain levels of membership. It also looks like they no longer offer a discount for purchasing online. It was great while we had it, but I may just pass on renewal in March, and look at some other options.

Great place with lots of cool things to do and see. Many other attractions nearby.

Coming back again and again. Worth the 4 hours drive.

Wonderful Science center, although rather small, it is full of interactive activities and great for kids. The Dome theater is wonderful and a great experience. I would recommend checking this place out.

me and my partner had a great time, and the staff was very nice it's been a while since i went to a science center, i always enjoy them.

Free admission on MLK day, but very busy. Still a great visit, just plan on needing some extra patience and navigating big crowds.

Great place! We took a group of high school seniors. They participated in a pig heart dissection. The instructors were awesome! Everyone really enjoyed the day there.

A science center for all ages. They have multiple floors, spanning scientific disciplines and target ages. Standout areas include the space exhibits and the physics floor. The physics floor is a huge selection of hands-on experiments that demonstrate aspects of physics, such as optics, magnetism, sound, electricity, kinematics, etc. Kids of all ages would enjoy, but the best target audience might be middle and high school ages (as well as adults).
There is also an area for a temporary exhibit, so be sure to check what that is.
We typically spend 4-6 hours here, and make the trip about once a year (as we're from out-of-town).

Great place to take the kids to have fun while learning.

I love the whole Science Center Experience. Fun for the whole brain and family.

Great place for kids! Nice atmosphere, very friendly staff! Highly recommend!

Awesome Science center!!! Have a great time every time we go.Really clean and well maintained.

Good for kids and elders too, who has scientific curiosity.

Good for toddler and young kids... Let them understand science...

This is a great place to go. So many things to do with lots of hands on activities.

My 4 year old loves this place and so do I, it teaches her great science

This science center has an incredible hands on area!! The NASA area was awesome too!! We went in the morning on a Saturday and it was pretty quiet the first hour or two. Will definitely visit again! (and probably do a membership!)

My five year old had a blast at this interactive museum. 3 hours wasn t long enough for us to get through everything he wanted to do though, so check hours and plan accordingly.

Awesome time, my son and I, both experienced the Dome Theater for the first time, together!

The science Center has always been awesome. I've been going since it opened. I've done an over night lock in while in school many years ago. I was just recently there for an after hours event. They always have interesting new things to do. It is more centered around children but you can have fun as an adult too.

Really overpriced. Not very interactive at least for 3 year olds. They seemed to be trying with some events, but would've really liked a better little kids zone. The ball pit in polymer room was well enjoyed by my kids, but there wasn't much sensory interaction in that room. Mainly just balls.

It was soooooooo much fun. Great for children 10-16

I feel like Ontario one is better... But it's cool!

It was a fantastic day with my son and his class. So much to see and do. Lots of hands on learning.

The general admission price is a bit step for what you get. It gets very crowded with children. Arrive when they open to avoid long lines and tons of unsupervised kids.

A few broken things but worthy of a few hours of time to see

The greatest place for the kids and you to enjoy the learning curve for both the kids and you.

It's always fun to see the exhibits and play with the sciences.

Love the Science Center! Great stuff for kids (and adults!) of all ages! Love all of the Ohio Astronauts bios and exhibits. Entire "polymer play area" for the little ones on the 2nd floor! Indoor and outdoor! We have a family pass (good for a whole year), with the kids and the two of us, it more than pays for itself in 2 visits. The only reason I didn't give it 5 stars is that I feel with a membership you should get free parking. It is a reduced rate, but they don't offer a parking included option. They give you one or 2 parking vouchers (can only be used one time per voucher) depending on what type of membership you purchase.

The steamer ship museam was unexpected and surprisingly good. We spent an hour on it and kids throughly enjoyed it.

Awesome place. Took granddaughter 10,
So many things to do. If one place is busy, you can return in minutes as you do another test of some sort.
Ages are covered, so, all can be amused.

Wish it was more free stuff to do I'm not cheap and I knw science isn't cheap wen u dig deep into it I'm just say ......over all tho it's a wonderful experience

Great place for kids, habds on activities. Be prepared to spend hours there

I gave my 11 year old niece a wide variety of choices for her visit to Cleveland. She picked the Great Lakes Science Center. It did not disappoint. The staff were wonderfully helpful and showing her how to use the exhibits. She now knows how to create a circuit with electricity. The duct tape exhibit that is currently up is wonderfully fun.

Loved it! So much to do for myself and my family! Will be getting the membership as we live like 3 hours away. Perfect day trip!

Will definitely return here, so much to see and do, wonderful day with my family making memories for my grandchildren

Our four year old had a wonderful first time experience at the Great Lakes science Center. We spent over three and a half hours enjoying all aspects of the Center. Lots of things to learn and try first hand. Staff were friendly along with everyone else who was there. Gift shop was very nice too! We hope to be back sometime soon from Trumbull County.

I absolutely loved this place!! Visited my son and his family for 1 week,we went there twice(3 times??). All 4 grandkids(ages 3-6)love this place with all the interactive displays!! What a fantastic place~the kids(and adults)are very lucky to hold the membership yearly passes!!! Fantastic place to go let the kids have fun(while learning!!)!!

Awesome seeing Star Wars Force Awakens on the Omnimax

Such an amazing place for my children to play and learn

The science center was great! The staff was super helpful with everything. The only thing that was disappointing was that some of the exhibits were not working. The food court was on the expensive side, but the food was tasty. The dome theater was a breathtaking experience. But overall it was a fun and educational experience.

Great place to learn science by doing. We would have liked more exhibits as there were a lot of empty places.

Great for kids and tourists. The theatre is a super fun experience. Big variety of stuff to do and look at. Good learning experience for everyone too.

Great place for educational family fun. A lot of exhibits were out of order.

Wonderful experience there's something there for all ages!

Camp problems abound. Problems, problems, problems. No ownership or power (on the part of the Director, yes...I said Director) to properly address and compensate for what is admittedly the Great Lakes Science Center's own faulty system - both technical and administrative. I am very surprised at the lack of responsibility I experienced. This is a Cleveland business that asks our community to trust them...with our kids, our $ investment for programming, and for services & information. What is going on over there? It is clear to me that my money is all they really want. No good faith from them. I find their treatment very confusing, very mercenary and, consequently, very empty of good will towards a community resident and customer. Sorry to say...I will not be recommending the Great Lakes Science Center or it's affiliated programming - Summer Camps or otherwise - to anyone.

Not to exciting, Lego attraction they told us about was 3 small bins of pieces with broken wheels. Kids didn't enjoy it much overall.

Our family loves this place!! Very educational and interactive.

Great science museum with lots of neat hands on exhibits and programs. All the exhibits actually work and there is a short explanation. Its great for kids of all ages. The IMAX movie theater has a good selection of films. You can also purchase tickets for the William Mather transport ship. Overall a great experience for kids and adults!

Tons of interactive stuff for the kids and adults on the 2nd floor. The playground is great as well as the water tables and games.

Space section is cool. If your kid's into space, plenty there for them to see.

Body's exhibit, while interesting is also unsettling. I'm gonna venture and say that's due to the mind looking at itself dissected in a display case.

Definitely will be back. And if you have a membership to COSI in Columbus it gets you in here for free.

Awesome place to visit. Lake Erie Cleveland Ohio is very dirty. There's no place to park.

Great place for kids and fans of science. The center has awesome programs in the summer and cool events during the year.

Great fun and education for all ages.The John Glenn NASA exhibit was outstanding.

We recently went to see the Bodies exhibit. I thought it was really neat, but my girlfriend had seen it before and said that it was quite less in size c9mpared to her previous visit. We only paid for the main entrance and the Bodies exhibit, so I can't really say much about the place as a whole. However, the upstairs area, that I remember most as a kid, was exciting for me to revisit. I was disappointed to find that there were a few things that didn't work anymore, but were left out on display. The NASA exhibit was pretty neat, we really enjoyed it.

The Great Lakes Science Center is a great place for younger kids. I expected activities that the entire family would enjoy. Although the science activities weren't meant for older kids the staff was very friendly!! The cafe had good food!

Place is great for kids and adults if you love to learn. My kids love it here. IMAX movies are awesome. Lots of things to see and do. Make sure you check out the steamship Mather when it's in season. Their little experiments and shows are fun. One involves liquid nitrogen and explosions. In the summer they blow up watermelons.

A fun place to visit! I loved the NASA Glenn Visitor Center!

This place is awesome ! So much playing and learning! So many cool exhibits! I recommend going right when they open. There is a lot to see and discover!