McWane Science Center Reviews

Love, love, loved it. I don't know who had a better time, my two year old or me/mom! Tons of hands on education tools, a small aquarium/touch tank and the Itty Bitty section! We like it so much we bought a membership...and we live 1.5 hours away!

Came and most interactive activities were not operational. Slides all closed. Kids were a bit disappointed. Would recommend not going until it fully opens up again.

We had a blast. They had elevators for the people that couldn't use the stairs. The kids had a blast

Number one place my daughter loves! So sooo much to do here, could spend all day there (and have!)

Kid friendly. lots of things to see. They have snacks, be prepare to walk alot.

This place will light a kids eyes up! Grown ones too! There's so much to see and do here. It's a great treasure in Birmingham.

This place has been a staple for parents and caregivers for years. I was disappointed last time I visited. There were numerous attractions and interactive areas that were broken or very worn, to the point of needing replacement. We paid $10 extra to ride the Virtual Reality attraction only to have no audio with it. The imax was closed too. Disappointing.

The science center was fun and interactive. The IMax theater is spectacular. We watched The South Pasific. It was educational, but a bit out dated. I didn't mind too much, but the kids did. We enjoyed ourselves and would love to go again.

We love the itty bitty city for smaller kids. It is amazing

Price kinda hi but the kids had a lot of fun and it was clean

Perfect for kids of all ages. Fun and educational at the same time. My 3 year old truly had a ball. Lots to see and do.

Great spot parking deck very tight and building needs to be refurbished but great addition to bham

We are members and always enjoy stopping in to see what is new.

What a fun place with lots of hands-on-activites! And they honor reciprocal memberships! One can easily spend 3 hours here.

Hours of fun, could have spent the whole day there. 2 adults, a 3 year old and 6 year old, and we all had a blast! Imax is well worth the extra to get the combo. Very clean, staff was very friendly!!

We went on Homeschool Day & got a great deal! It was the perfect field trip, except we didn't have to worry about keeping up with buses, or groups, or only doing certain things cause of time limits. We got to enjoy every bit of it, more than once & the kids learned a lot in one day while having so much fun. Highly recommended!!

So much to do and so much fun! The prices are very reasonable. If you go, be sure to visit the IMAX theater as well. The best movie experience I have ever had!!!

Great fun for the whole family! The Itty Bitty Magic City is perfect for kids 5 and under and the rest of the Center is just a bunch of fun! My engineer husband would go without kids every week if he could!

So much fun. My 9 year old and 1 year old both loved it.

Super fun to go and spend a couple of hours at. Really packed on weekends as is expected. Unfortunately, there were some of the exhibits where broken.

Great place for kids to run around, play, & learn. Some exhibits need to be updated or replaced. The science program/class could be swapped out a little. We've seen the same "show" 3 times now. The overnight adventures are a lot of fun. The Harry Potter night was great! My son really enjoyed it.

Lots of fun. But no guidance
THE STRUCTURE IS MISSING:(
There was a lot we missed.

Great place to spend time with the grandkids. Very clean and organized. The only thing that I see that could be improved on is having more staff available. We had questions several times and just had to figure it out on our own. Other than that, it was a very pleasant visit to the Magic City.

First time going. Awesome place for adults and children

Love this place. My 3 year old enjoyed alot. Worth visiting often. Fun for adults too.

Great for all the family and can make time go byfast with so much to do

Great place for kids of all ages, the staff was great except for the food court, they were rude and wouldn't even smile even when spoken to, it was like they didn't want to be there. The pizza place and the cashier was the ones being rude.

Took my daughter to play. Was a great way to get out of the house and cheaper than alot of other things.

Had a great time with Grandson and nephew, the place atmosphere great place for the family.

Awesome place to take your children or arrange a field trip for your class

Do the membership! We are a family of 6 you go twice its paid for and 20% off stuff and free parking

This place is fantastic! Their interactive displays and the variety of topics make it a paradise for experimentation. Attendants we're friendly and helpful.

Great place for a kid to spend all day playing. Lots of exhibits and activities

Was expecting a little more but it is a fun place for kids to burn some energy

Female staff was rude. Male staff was cool & down to earth. But, I also must admit out of all the years coming here, this was the 1st "bad" experience EVER!!
Still, won't be going back no time soon

They have added some activities and even though there were some vacant areas when we were there, the kids (5 & 11) had plenty to do. I think the time limits with the sharks and stingrays is an improvement. The Itty Bitty Magic city area is really showing some serious wear. Lots of items are missing like the play uniforms, balls from the water area, almost all the tools from the vet shop, and play food items from the cafe. That area needs work for sure, but just about everything is showing wear. My grandkids still enjoy it, though. The chaos of the crowd has some appeal.

Wonderful experience for kids of all ages! Clean facilities and helpful staff!

I've been here a number of times and staff has always been good, but this time they were exceptional! Everyone took time to help with even the smallest of issues and almost everyone went out of their way to smile and ask if we needed help!

Great place to entertain the kids and teach them about all kinds of science too. My wife and I enjoyed it just as much as our kids.

We only went to the Imax and it was AMAZING!! One of the nicest I've ever been to! Highly recommend it!!

My family has been going to McWane for about 3 years and since my child was a baby and we love it. It's such a great place to take your kids to play and learn all kinds of things from blowing bubbles to petting sharks! My child always had a great time and we look forward to going back. Since our child is still under the age of 5 we love taking her to Itty Bitty Magic City where kids get to be kids and learn and play with so many different things like being a chef or firefighter, but she really loves the water area the best. It's a great place and we're so glad Birmingham has it.

Me and my baby girl always look forward to coming here. We seem to have a good time always!! Our favorite would have to be, I think 2nd floor maybe, where the jungle gym and the Grocery Store/Kitchen are. We could stay right there the whole time?? Another plus for me is that the staff is always very nice and helpful too.. The only knock against McWayne for me would have to be the price. I just feel like a shade under $40 for 1 adult and a 5 y.o. is a bit much. That did include $5 for parking and $2 for train rides.. but still a little steep in my opinion!! A discount for repeat customers would be Great, or something similar even!?!?

We are members at Mcwane. We go at least once a week and it never gets old. With 4 levels, there are so many things to do and so much to learn. The museum is always clean and the staff are great! There are Hand sanitizer dispensers and bathrooms all over.

Great place for kids and adults too. Spent 4hrs here! There is a mean employee that works here that several neighbors warned us about. You will know who she is if you buy tickets from her (yeah you with the glasses). She was quite unpleasant which bumped the 5 stars to a 4 in this review. Space and Rocket Center passes will get you in for free here. I will come here again and avoid Ms. Thang.

A great place in downtown Birmingham to learn and play. We loved the trains on the third floor and the dinosaurs and animals on the second. Our smallest kids loved the play area designed for them. Good security and fine people, but when it gets time to go, you better be ready! They want to go home and move you out of there!

Lots of things to do and see, good place to take kids for learning and fun

We enjoyed ourselves but them stairs got me lol , but i love the place I'll definitely be back

My husband and I are both in our 30s and had a great time here. There are fun and i reactive activities for both kids and adults to enjoy.

This place is amazing for families with children! A must see!

Staff on the floor is very helpful and somewhat respectful, staff in the cafeteria are very disrespectful to the guest

Ideal place to develop in children eager to discover and investigate!

The adventure was super fun as always! And I advise anyone that is in the Birmingham area to go and check it out. Your kids will love the different floors of fun. And for the little ones that are kindergarten age in younger they have the coolest little play City. My son wanted to spend most of his time there but he had to share time with his older sisters. As I said before I recommend this place I know all of you would love it it's a lot of fun. And those of you that have science center memberships you're able to get in either free or for discount depending on the membership you have.

My Granddaughter & I loved our field trip. She loved the hands on stuff and I loved seeing her so happy & excited.

We always enjoy The McWane Center. The employees are all very helpful and the attractions are cool.

Was a great learning experience. Wish they wouldn't book younger kids field trips with older kids. Gets messy

Loads of fun for our 2 year old. We'll definitely get a membership and go back often.

Excellent place...our family spent 4 hours in there and would have spent more....love it

I have taken my kids to a few museums of science and science centers between Boston and Florida. this one by far is our favorite, great pricing, parking and activities for the chidren, i have a 2 year old and a 12 year old. they both had a lot of fun and got to learn some cool stuff, My wife and i also had fun. It was hard to concentrate on the kids with so much interesting stuff all around, Great job guys. hope to be back soon

Not everything is in working order. Otherwise, if give a perfect score.