Maryland Science Center Review

Unfortunately, the architect of this museum seems to have been more concerned with looks than functionality. There are great open spaces which are not well utilized, yet the areas for the special exhibits at the time we visited were narrow and over-crowded. At the time we went, people were trying to exit the IMAX, go down the stairs, and enter the popular traveling exhibit, all within close proximity, all at the same time. Parents, mind your chilldren!

Additionally, those who are partially mobility impaired, as I am, should BEWARE. There is NO parking around or under the museum (though there are lovely sidewalks and spacious views of the harbor). The closest parking lots are across a wide boulevard with a walk/don't walk sign that is not long enough for get across the street in one go, and the very few handicapped spaces were all taken. There is NO elevator access to the street level. Stairs and a rather steep ramp is mandatory. From the parking lot, it is a good quarter of a mile to the entrance, which is on the back of the museum. Overall, the problems with the physical structure of this museum and its exterior access outweighed my enjoyment of the special exhibit we drove 75 miles to see.

It is very cool I have been there exactly 45 times and the workers are chill the place looks like a place where people can have fun while learning and shout out to the owner for being a super cool person Wich is not that "shocking"

Eh! I cannot say I was very impressed, which was a disappointment. For the price of admissions ($100 for 1 adult and 2 children + parking), a number of the exhibits were old, or not in working order. So the kids became frustrated as they conducted the experiments, only to discover the darn thing was did not work in the first place. However, the planetarium was pretty nice. IMAX = Large screen, we know. Skip it and go for the shows in the planetarium. Now, for the staff. The more intellectual staff members were pleasant and obviously enjoyed their jobs; the "support" staff, not so much. Some were rude or completely unprofessional...sigh, so typical.

So all in all, if you're a tourist family looking for something safe to do with the kids, and not have to worry about getting mugged on the streets of Baltimore, go for it. It's a wonderful idea, with great potential, but reflective of a crappy city, crappy management, and apparently a crappy Board of Trustees.

***Oh and another person here mentioned there were no hand sanitizer dispenser, and they are correct. For a "hands on" center, those are the details one would expect for $20 per person. Sheesh. ***

Just absolutely wonderful experience for children
2.5 year old had to be dragged out after 2 hours. Not only had a lot of fun but learned about electricity, building, liquid nitrogen, plumbing etc.

I was sorry we had to leave because of nap time. Signed up for membership so that we could come back frequently.

Some things were great, others, a bit worn out and low tech, even for kids. The center could use some upgrades, but overall, a lot of fun, great building, the dinosaur exhibit was awesome and wonderful hands on opportunities. Plenty of great stuff for 5 hours of fun and education.

Awesome place to hang out and take your kids. My favorite exhibit was the bed of nails. Very fun and educational place that makes learning fun and adventurous.

great way to spend the day. son could play with all of the exhibits.

A fun, modern science center. Nicely maintained, though a few exhibits are naturally off-line for repairs at any given time. The dino section was really quite something, with many of the always-popular carnivores on display. Plenty to keep the kids busy for most of the day (depending on the kids in question, of course) and probably wear them out, too. Not really cheap, but a fun place if science centers are your thing. The cafe wasn't bad, but next time I might prefer walking out to one of the other dining options in the area.

We are members and the kids LOVE coming here!
So much to do!! great place!!

Horrible experience here. Not a friendly staff at all. It s a big thumbs down for the whole staff

Very impressed with the 3rd floor play area. It has been several years since our last visit. This is a great day trip with little ones. In contrast to our last visit to Port Discovery, the Science Center wins by a landslide. My 18 month old was not so fond of the Imax but it was a highlight of the trip for my four year old.

The Maryland Science Center is marvelous museum that is great for families and students. It's located in the Inner Harbor and is also 4-blocks away from The Charm'tastic Mile of Baltimore. They have great exhibits The Dinosaur exhibit is extraordinary and a exciting thing to see. There is a number of good restaurants to choose from.

People are very rude and pushy - my daughter was pushed out of line twice by moms with kids who obviously are more important...

A cool looking museum with loads of educational and entertaining exhibits. I unfortunately didn't get to explore this place, but it looks very interesting! I will defiantly try to come back here, though.

Awesome place had lots of exhibits. The planetarium show was amazing. Guy had lots of enthusiasm

Good place, but wasnt my time of entertainment. It does nothing for me but make me think Im learning a subject in high school. For kids, probably a good place to take.

Dated, dull, expensive. Covers the bases, like bones, pendulums, etc, but the whole feel is a little lethargic.

Very nice museum for children. Some if the exhibits need maintenance bur overall a great option for the whole family

From Cleveland OH and visiting. Had a great time with our 5/3/1 YEAR olds. A little busy on a Monday with all of the school field trips. But still fun. We ate at the Cafe in the SC and it was very good as well!!

So happy I was able to come visit after 10 years, a bit sad I didnt see any live blue crabs anymore but that's okay the rest of the museum is fantastic, especially for children. The interaction is just incredible. The paper airplane exhibition was such a sweet addition! I forgot just how much fun they can be to make and play with! Also turn your phone off before entering....you dont need that to detract you from the aqesomeness...seriously why cant El Paso,Tx have things like this.

I spent an entire afternoon exploring the King Tut exhibit when I was here for a conference. The architecture inside the museum was beautiful and the staff were polite and helpful.

This science center is fantastic. There are tons of activities and engaging exhibits for kids of all ages. The children's room is excellent and has an employee at the door to make sure kids don't leave alone so that you can relax while your kids play. The planetarium shows are great and free, offered every hour (imax costs extra). The people are helpful and efficient and are wonderful about moving the linea along when it's busy. Nearby parking is subsided if you're a member; membership is well worth it in my opinion.

awesome place to go with the family while you are in the inner harbor.

Not worth the money, I wouldn t pay half of what their charging. People let their children run loose, the staff isn t helpful or keep up the place, and years ago it used to have deals which now no longer exists. So sad to see this place go down hill...

Great science museum for kids of all ages. Don't miss the planetarium shows and the IMAX.

On New Years Eve, we put our names on the wait list for the science lab and in 2 mins flat we were called for a table. Upon entering the lab another family walks up and asks if they could move to the table we had been called to. Evelyn agrees to give the table to the other family without any consideration to my family who had been called into the lab. I ask what just happened and Evelyn tells me they overbooked... I ask a series of other questions and she continues to stick to we overbooked . So, then we were just left standing around until another table opens up. Imagine, I have 4 tweens who are excited to sit down, but can t... Why was our table given away rather then have the other family wait?

Love the science center and so do my kids! It's kind of expensive though. But they have fun and it's pretty fun for adults too, you'll have a good time!

Fun museum. We have a membership and signed up for our tickets for the day in advance. It was nice we could enjoy the museum without the crowds.

Fantastic for kids! Especially home schoolers! We've been there dozens of times, and still have not experienced everything!

my favorite part there was the Sesame Street movie in the dome thing. my mom thought this place was bad, but i thought i was good.

Great adventures and learning with the kids! My kids ranged in ages from 20-7 and all had a great time! It was truly a family day and helped teach many new things in a fun way!

I really enjoyed my visit here. There are lots of exhibits to enjoy, more than we could cover in an afternoon. The hands-on exhibits were clean, functional, and well-labeled with clear, concise explanations. We didn't encounter any that didn't work...nice! The staff was pleasant and helpful, and the planetarium show was well-done. If I had kids and lived nearby, I would definitely look into a membership.

Got our family membership with Groupon. 1st visit with my girls on our membership. Rainy day fun and indoor exercise while the girls explore.

The exhibits were very nice and hands-on, and it's a good place to bring children. The dinosaur exhibit is especially interesting. However, there were many children today, and they sometimes interfered with the hands-on activities. This made it a little hard to enjoy the exhibits. However, I will still come back.

I haven't visited here since October 2011, so please disregard the visit date. This is a great museum. It was my husband's and my first date when we first started dating.

There are scads of educational and fun activities for kids and parents to participate in together. We enjoyed ourselves, stayed for about 4 hours and still didn't see everything. There were about three stations that didn't work for us, but we still had a blast :-)

I was happy when I got Groupon discount for this place. But when I actually visited this place I was disappointed. Because its not worth the price and if you are tourist who has visited other science centers there is nothing unique here. Also I was shocked when my daughter said she saw a rodent near the cafe.

If you have seen places like liberty science center in New Jersey you can skip this one.

The sun gazing experience was good though.

They really have to improve a lot if they are charging so much.

Had a great time here with my daughter. The staff is friendly and knowledgeable. The exhibits are fun and attention grabbing. We even sat in on a show about polymers, which was very fun to watch. Of course you can always come to the IMAX theater and catch an educational movie.

Food wasn't so good, so I do suggest eating before, or making food plans for afterwards.

Visited the science center a yesterday for the first time since 2006. I remember having a great time exploring the exhibits and fueling my desire to know more about science as a whole. After coming back in 2018, I'm happy to see that not much has changed. But at the same time, I'm worried that not many kids may be interested in the exhibits because nothing has changed. I may not know how often they receive young visitors, but if they attempt to update their exhibits (equipment, new discoveries/theories, ect.) they may attract the younger generation. Also, since I don't work there (not sure what happens after-hours) I'm not sure how clean the exhibits are. A lot of children have touched the hands-on learning exhibits and it looks like they haven't been cleaned in a long time. But then again, they could be just worn down.

So much to do! Kid and adult friendly. I posted pictures with prices.

This is a kid's museum. Way overpriced at $25.00 for an adult. There isn't much here that is very interesting for adults but for kids I'm sure it would be better but still to me it's just not that great and I felt it was a waste of our time.

Great place but there was a few stations that needs to be operational.

I took my 4 year old daughter here as part of a school field trip. We spent about 3 hours there but did not visit all the exhibits.

Expect to spend 5-6 hours to enjoy the place at a reasonable pace. There are quite a lot of activities that the kids can do. There is a cafe to get lunch as well so you don t need to leave the facility.

It s more appropriate for kids maybe 6 and up. My 4 year old did not really understand the science and was easily distracted by the next exhibit that she could touch or play with.

I've been to the Science Center for a variety of events, such as the Solstice Gala, Wine and Dinosaurs, and Brunch on the Roof. Each has been pretty awesome. I've not been just to go and check out what the museum has to offer, but usually the exhibits and some of the experiments are available during specialty events. It's a treat to create a paper plane and fly it through an obstacle course.

Always a fun time here - woodworking at The Shed was especially great.

My girl loves the science center. We have a membership and have been 3 times this year. The SciLab is especially fun.

This should have a been an enjoyable day trip with grandkids, especially for what it costs to get in. There is no excuse for the number of exhibits that are either broken or not fully functional. Very disappointed.

Good science centre right on the water in the harbour at Baltimore. Has a great planetarium. Would be excellent fun for the kids.

As a parent, I found the center lacking. It just didnt have enough depth to the diagrams and show cases. Some features looked very old and out dated. The only thing that won it over for my kids was the kids area on the third floor but other stuff, I am sorry I wasnt impressed. I think port discovery is better. Dinosaurs are not real snd never existed.

Amazing place for the kids. The entire family will have fun as well. All exhibits are interactive and the kids will be able to play all day without getting bored. Be sure to check out the schedule of the experiments they do throughout the day. If you are thinking about coming more than twice per year. Check out the memberships on Groupon. They are available a couple of times per year at a discounted rate. We have already been five times in these last 8 months and have not yet seen it all, and will be back.

Great place to spend the day learning about how stuff works

Many hands on learning tools for kids and adults a like and most of them work.

Excellent place for kids and adults. They are doing great job with covid protection. The planetarium show was amazing!

Amazing place for family and friends to check out cool stuff. I would recommend this place to everyone and anyone anytime of the year. Exceptional helpful staff, 0 complaints. Couldnt be better. Kids love it here, good stuff. Really amazing vibe with great views

Great place to spend the weekend with the kids. Lots of educational events for the kids of all the ages. Awesome and helpful staff. I love their planetarium and IMAX theatre.

Nice science museum with lots of hand-on activities for children, especially age 7 and up. Nice dinosaur exhibit, good space and science area, and good area for brain and human activities.
Big and spacious 3 floors with plenty of room for the kids to run around. Will definitely take up a couple of hours of your time.

We took our kids to the science center and was going to do the imax also. But we never made it past the ticket booth. We have a service dog and staff told us he could not come in because he dont do a task..... Like a seeing eye dog? Thing is he does do a task, he is trained and certified. Thanks for crushing a family outing that we all looked foward to and saved for. Please update your staff about service animal so another child's dream isn't crushed!

Went with 2 under 2. We and they loved it! Plenty to do, touch, learn. Kids Zone fantastic, but whole place great. Friendly staff. Only con was inclusion of Elmo in planetarium.

Science exhibits were good but dated. The main downside is that the individuals working the exhibits didn't care and were more interested in their phones. Also during this visit, my credit card information was stolen by one of the employees. I'd choose another science museum before attending this one.

I went here while visiting the Harbor on vacation. The science center is amazing. You have fun while simultaneously learning a lot.

What a cool place for both kids and adults. I found myself playing as much as my 3 year old.

We spent a lot of time in the kids room due to the school field trip. Apparently they host a lot of field trip so if you come during the weekday be mindful of that or come are 2:00 when the school groups leave.

The kids room added a really cool water table.

This place is great! It is clean, staff is very friendly, and there are tons of events to do throughout the year.

Memberships are worth the spend, especially since it takes about two, maybe three, days to really enjoy all the exhibits that are around.

We have been to laser events, New year's events, and several others this year. Each time the kids really enjoy theirselves and love teaching their friends when they tag along.

Overall, if you want a great place for kids to learn with hands on experience, then this is the place to go!

I had as much fun as my kids. There are so many activities for the kids to do. They had demonstrations of many things. In the insect area, you can hold all sorts of insects. There was a chef there that made foods with worms! Nope, I didn't try it, but it was fun to watch him make all sorts of foods. The only thing that was disappointing was the space exhibit. They could have so much more. Other than that, my kids, husband, and I loved it!

Amazing place for the kids. The entire family will have fun as well. All exhibits are interactive and the kids will be able to play all day without getting bored. Be sure to check out the schedule of the experiments they do throughout the day. If you are thinking about coming more than twice per year. Check out the memberships on Groupon. They are available a couple of times per year at a discounted rate. We have already been five times in these last 8 months and have not yet seen it all, and will be back.

Brought my kids here, we did not enjoy it so much. The only thing that was interesting and got our full attention was the planetarium. The rest seemed to be out of place and with no significant order whatsoever. The staff didn't seem to be very helpful and at times they seemed to be more worried about what they would do that night then helping the visitors

Perfect place for all ages! I brought my students here and it was a striking and substantial experience for them.

All and all a great day. We did see a mouse on the third floor (not part of an exhibit), but I guess is somewhat to be expected in a place where small children are constantly snacking. It was otherwise clean and well maintained.

Pricey for what you get---lots of broken machines---disappointing experience

Lots of great things... Little dated. Some exhibits haven't changed much in ages. Also, usually mobbed on the weekends, school holidays - naturally.

The Museum had lots of things to do and kept my 8 year old occupied the whole time. He really liked doing science lab experiments the most.

One of the best in the country! Very interactive for kids of all ages. Staff are very pleasant. It is hard to enjoy all the exhibits in one trip. Membership is so worth it. There are fun events throughout the year. The Pi day celebration was so remarkable.

The Maryland Science Center was extremely entertaining and interactive for an adult. I was lucky enough to enjoy the Dollar Day in December (yes, just $1.00 to visit this super cool place) when I visited the harbor with friends. My only suggestion to the MD Science center is please advertise your events on the Visit Baltimore page. This is an awesome place with many free events (like every Friday Night Stargazing) and a great way to get your inner kid out!

There is a lot for kids to do. The scientific concepts are easy for kids to grasp and it is fun at the same time. The pop up demonstrations are the best !!!!!!