Was very displeased with the attitude of the staff. Was told to throw my closed water away due to a no food or drink policy that I was the only one in our group who was targeted. I'm not ever going to spend my money coming back to this place.
This place is great. Don't listen to any of the negative comments. Some parents go and forget they came for the kids... making it about themselves instead.
We came from Smithfield to check out the science museum and was kinda shocked at the entrance for non durham residents and non members. My husband, our 3year old and I cost $60 to get in.. the zoo is cheaper and with more animals to see. There is a lot of stuff to do but I don t think it s $60 worth. I would say if you live local and are a member it s worth it but if you aren t it s not
One of our favorite places to always go and a membership is absolutely worth it! Even though it s a drive for us we always have a great time. Plan a day trip here and you still won t get to everything! There s so much to see and do. An excellent education for kids!
Absolutely fantastic community resource! I am so grateful we live within 30 minutes of MLS. They have such a huge selection of educational entertainment for all ages! We especially love Hideaway Woods and Earth Moves and recently, the lemurs.
The one thing this interactive, science-based play area is missing is a water bottle refill station (available at Lowe's) inside the main museum. They've recently installed one by the cafe, but after seeing people drink DIRECTLY out of the water bottle spigot, I'm a bit hesitant to use it again.
Fun for the whole family! We were in town for a week and checked this museum out. We were at first weary of spending the money on entrance, but it was well worth it. I had a blast, my wife had a blast and our 2 year old son had a blast. When we walked in the first room to the left, I knew we were going to have a great time. We spent all day running around, exploring both inside and outside, tree houses, dinosaurs, space artifacts, butterflies, you name it. this museum was packed to the brim with fun and interesting things to play with.
4 stars only because my toddler loved the play areas and wants to go again. The train ride is definitely not work 5$. I had high hopes after reading reviews but there are better options close to Raleigh. Mist area is most enjoyable. Butterfly area is a huge disappointment with kids running after butterflies and no one bothering to stop them.
We came here on a recommendation and it was Amazing! Lots of activities, even an Interactive section where you can do experiments! Great exhibitions and area where you can watch the Palientoligists work, also has screens to watch presentations. The Dinosaur exhibits are fantastic and on an enormous scale, this place is a Must if you are in the area.
A great place to take the kids and see sights (science wonders) for all. The parking could be better and more handicapped spots though. There is a play area, train, animals, interactive exhibits and so much more. Gifts shop is available for those who want to take a souvenir! I recommend going at least once. When we visit from TX, we stop by even though I feel its too pricey.
Love the Durham Museum of Life and Science. It is an exciting way to learn more about the topic and get involved in the comunity. Lots of interesting things to do here. Thanks for everything that you do! Keep making science fun.
Great for families with children, plenty of room to play, fantastic tree house. Plenty of areas for younger kids to play as well.
Inside has activities as well as exhibits. Well worth the cost of admission.
Awesome place for children. You won't be disappointed.
Great museum with a bunch of cool programs year round. It is very large and you unfortunately can't see everything in one visit. The outdoor area is the best!
This was our first time here after it reopened and I was very pleased! It wasn't crowded and there were plenty of hands sanitizer stations throughout the outdoor area. I wish there were a few more water bottle refilling stations though, as all of the drinking fountains were closed and the vending machines weren't working. Even though only the outdoor area is open, there was still a lot to do! All of the water features were great on a hot day! We will definitely be back!
Really excellent. Great for kids and adults. Love the outdoor walking trail. I love taking my nephew loves the hideaway woods.
The best collection of kid-friendly/adult-interesting activities in the area. They do a great job with holiday events, too (eg Santa train, egg hunt)
Absolutely recommended!
The insect and butterfly section is very interesting!
As a parent of a younger child a few things set this museum apart from others: (1) it's spread out strategically and managed well. Some hiccups like overflow parking are never a problem because it's handled so smoothly by the volunteers. (2) there are lots of bathrooms around the museum, inside and outside and they're all clean even on busy days. (3) the food is good and reasonably priced. They offer local options.(4) the museum is tailored to entertain children of all ages, and is set up so that kids can play together at different developmental stages and enjoy themselves without getting bored. Overall a good time!
My son loves this place (me too).
There s so much to do and learn.
Fantastic place for kids of all ages but especially under 10 to run wild and play with other kids while learning. Highly recommended but not cheap.
Attened a birthday party here and the staff was great and the place is a great place for children
Tons of fun! There's so much to do, and I don't think we even saw half of it. We only had time for outside exhibits, and didn't even see all of them! Food at the Sprouts Cafe was really good. Hopefully, we'll be in the area again some time!
Perfect day outing with family, brings out the kid in you!
The Durham Museum of Life and Science has very nice Areospace displays on the Apollo 15 mission to the moon in July of 1971. They also have the Mercury capsule that placed the monkey Enos in November of 1961 into a 2 orbit trip around the earth. The Butterfly House is also a neat place to spend some time. A lot of other displays and things to do including many kid friendly places. All in all a nice 3 hour visit and I'm sure that we could have stayed much longer if we had the time. Most definitely recommended.
Lots of guided and unguided learning opportunities. The outside portion is bigger than one might expect and is a nice combination of inside science museum/outdoor animals and biology.
I enjoyed been here with my kids and we really have an amazing time.
Spent the entire day with the family here, we thought we would only stay a few hours and leave but we stayed until they closed for the day. Really a fun place that balances play with education for young children, the food at the cafe/restaurant wasn t too overpriced and actually tasted pretty good (unlike what you would get at an amusement park).
Few places more reliably entertain my children than The Museum of Life and Science. Whether they're bouncing around in a room with light effects, hollering in a small gauge train tunnel, or climbing on the back of a parasaurolophus, I've yet to take my children here and not see smiles and wonderment on their faces. And why not? I'm a grown-up, and I still love to see dinosuars, climb into tree houses, splash in streams, watch lemurs and bears, and learn about bugs and butterflies.
This place is totally worth the trip, and the entrance fee is reasonable for the quality of the experience and learning your kids (and maybe you) will get.
This was my first time going to this museum and unfortunately it was during my daughter's school field trip. Needless to say, we didn't even scratch the top surface with viewing the place because it's immaculate. You really need to go when you have time to spend because there are not only so many things to see, but a whole lot of things to DO from outdoor activities and adventures to indoor hands on activities. My 7 year old had a blast and so did I. We shared a special moment where a part of the museum had a paper machine where you make a paper plane and put it on their machine which makes the paper plane fly, and my baby didn't know how and had never made a paper airplane. I got the opportunity to sit down in the area provided and show her how to make her 1st paper plane. It was the best moment ever for me as I watched my daughter's face glow as I showed her and she assisted me in paper plane making. I am grateful to this place for creating this moment for my daughter and I. Above all, I look forward to going back and creating new moments!!
The people who left negative reviews must be confused, because this place is awesome. If it were up to him, my 3 year old would stay forever!
Great place for rainy days or sunny. Indoor and outdoor activities. The main building is very interactive, maybe for the older child, for the younger one's there is the butterfly house, outdoor climbing frames and the train!
Awesome place for families!! Butterfly house is not to be missed.
I'm so glad we decided to purchase the membership. The museum is huge and we were only able to see a fraction of it in our first visit. My son (19 months old) loved the Hideaway Woods in particular. The Into The Mist exhibit was really fun on the warm day we went.
What an amazing place! Great for all ages, fantastic exhibits, the most pleasant staff, they were so helpful it was really a great time all in all! We will be looking into getting a membership when Our son is a little older.
Lost a phone within ten minutes of closing. About 12 officers stood there and asked each other if it was ok to let me look (id been in there no more than 5 minutes prior for a work function). They had to ask each other if it was ok that I come inside and look. they cracked the door and said ok just one of you (my coworker was standing there (again literally less than 10 minutes after our fucntion ended). If they'd helped we probably could've found my phone. Instead they stood there in their little pod and acted paranoid and then angry that i was even in the building. Terrible "officers of the people" bizarrely scared at a single, non hostile female looking for her phone she'd had minutes before so she could order an uber and get home.
What a fun museum to be with kids and family!
Kids can have a lot of fun in the Dinosaurs Trail. They can climb one or two dinosaurs and dig fossil. There are some farm animals like donkeys, goats, cows and alpacas. If you like insects, you can go the butterfly and insects house. You can also watch black bear and enjoy lunch in the middle of beautiful scenery.
Always enjoy taking our daughter here with our annual pass, there's so much to do. The butterflies, dinosaur trail, and train ride aren't to be missed. Our only negative thing to say about the place is we were there yesterday and it rained, but we weren't able to get a refund for the train tickets we bought (you buy them in advance due to demand) because they decided to run the train in the rain. Who wants to ride the train in the rain?
The staff are complete and utter monsters. Absolute jerks.
I love this it is so fun and i love that you can learn alot of stuff about the world my favorite place is the bird waching it is so cool and relaxing to look at the bird's. I dont go on the train that often but when i do it is super fun. My littel cousin LOVE the relly big tree house. And the butter fly room is so beautiful to look at the butterflies.i go ther every time and nerver get bored.i got the membership because the price was too high for the adults but otherwise love it
We have a yearly membership to the museum. It is a great place to take the kids to play. There are a lot of great hands on science exhibits for the kids to try out and learn from. There is an animal exhibit inside the building as well as red wolves and black bears in an outdoor exhibit. They just had baby wolves born on April 28, 2017 and they are cute. They also have a farm exhibit with pigs, rabbits, alpacas, goats, chickens, cows and a donkey.
They also have a ton of outdoor play areas in activities to do all year round. Within the past year they opened a new tree house area. The tree house even has ramp access for mobility impaired and wheelchair bound people.
My three-year-old and 10-year-old daughter really have a lot of fun with the water features that are outside. There is an area called into the mist. The kids tend to get pretty wet there so you might want to have a change of clothes and a towel with you. There is also a little river down by the treehouse that the kids can splash in.
The train tickets cost extra but it's always a lot of fun to take a train ride around the facility.
Membership is far and away one of the best deals in the area for entertainment as an adult or a child. My family and I go at least twice a month.
Good for kids, animals are well cared for. Lots of stuff to do.
Awesome place for family. We have their annual membership and have enjoyed all our visits. There is just so many things to do that the whole day is not enough. We bring visitors to this museums.
Very educational. We were so excited to see the wolf pups.
Enjoyed my trip here with my 5-year old nephew. Plenty of activities inside, though several seem a bit tired and could do with a refresh. However, I think the outside areas are what make this place great. I loved the "tree house" built in the canopies. We enjoyed climbing them and taking a grand look over the area. We then took a nice walk around the pond stopping to look at several animals along the way. Decent places to get a quick snack, and you'll probably need to, as there is enough here to fill an entire day.
It's great if it's warm and not crowded. Otherwise, it's OK. We bought a membership last year, but will not be continuing it.
Pros
Always something new to see every visit
Outdoor area is great fun
Animals and butterflies are a plus
Suggested improvements
-Extend the hours on at least one day. It's hard for those who have toddlers that have midday nap times.
-Install more sanitizer stations inside and use less push button activated exhibits. We always end up with colds when we visit.
-Expand toddler area
-Install a bigger restaurant and improve the food selection. It gets swamped.
-Location - this is hard to change, but why did they decide to build this in Durham ? Moving it to RTP would of made it more attractive...
Best parts are butterfly area, dino walk, and outside animals viewing areas, for adults at least. Inside is a little small of a museum and heavily tailored to young kids. That said, Apollo 15/ space section is really cool. Their farm area is nice enough, not a huge number of animals to see but some good ones like alpacas.
This is good for kids of all ages, something to see and learn for everyone.
The train ride has a screaming tunnel, If you have young children that have issues with loud noises don't take this ride.
Make sure you set aside a whole day to this place or you will not be able to see everything.
We are planing our next trip to see what we missed.
We travel a lot and always visit museums. This is THE BEST place ever!! It's totally worth the membership. Go rain or shine. Little babes or big kids. Parents will have a blast too!
My kids love this place, great for rainy and sunny days alike!
Super Nice place to spend with family and take the children, we were there today and our children enjoyed as well as us, The spectacular science museum and everything else we will certainly visit this wonderful place again and we have spent a very day special
This place is great. We bought annual passes and take our 5 year old here at least weekly.
They have areas to play both indoors and outdoors, so it's something to do rain or shine. There is a cafe outside a short walk away from the main building, with decent lunch/light dinner items.
The staff is *great* with kids.
Most of the activities teach/expose the kids to science in a way they find fun.
There are special events around the holidays as well.
This is a great place for for all ages really. There's a lot to do here and it's easy to get stuck in one section of the museum so if you live near by I recommend getting a membership.
Great place and variety for the kids and adults. Small little animal viewing, farm animal petting, train, butterfly exhibit, food served on site. Play area for kids is massive. My niece loved it. Only issue I'd speak on is they used to have a "human circulatory system" exhibit (20 years ago) I wish they'd repair and bring back (it was always breaking because someone was always smashing the hand pump). It was always my favorite part of the visit, seeing how the circulatory system worked in humans. Also, the price is too dang high!
Beautiful place and great experience for kids and adults
Every visit is amazing. Exhibits are engaging for children of all ages. Prices are more than reasonable. One of Durham's hidden gems
Outstanding museum and experience for the whole family. Really, museum" doesn t do it justice; there's a dinosaur trail, butterfly house, petting zoo, animal and space exhibits, playgrounds and, maybe best of all, legit tree houses. Like a Swiss Family Robinson playground in the sky that our kiddos absolutely love (and so do we). We have an annual membership and often stop by for an hour or so just to let them play at the outdoor attractions (like a city park). This is the only museum/family entertainment place like it in the area, especially where you can spend most of the day and not even do everything. Also have a pretty good cafe and eatery for sandwiches and coffee drinks, and plenty of spots to just sit and people watch. Been coming here since I was a kid and it s awesome to see how much this place continues to grow and thrive. Highly recommend for families with younger children, but there's something for everyone.
I want to first say that we appreciate the manager. He was very nice and understanding when it came to our complaint.
We arrived at the museum and entered with masks on. With me having a health issue, my doctor has stated that it is not even required I wear a mask, but I do it for my safety and others safety. I had issues breathing a few times and lifted my mask in order to help regulate my breathing. At this time, on three occasions, I was told to pull my mask down, after I had informed the associates that I had a health issue. The third time, I did not pull my mask back down and informed them I was leaving, as I was 10 feet from the exit, 6 feet from everyone and at this point I was tired of having to explain myself.
When we arrived at the museum, starving, we headed for the cafe for a bite to eat. We arrived and told them what we wanted and that we wanted to exchange a topping for a different topping because of dietary restrictions... We were informed that because the hot and cold side were separate, we could not exchange toppings... Confused we said, okay. I then wanted a side of dressing, I was once again informed that I could not have it... At this point we were upset and decided to wait and eat somewhere else. We understand that Sprout cafe is contracted with the museum, so we are not upset with the museum about this issue.
We then noticed that the insect/butterfly exhibit was closed. Now this could have been our fault for not doing more research. So I do not fault the staff. The manager politely informed us that it was stated on their website. But, when we bought the tickets, we went straight to the source (the reserve tickets screen) to buy the tickets, so we did not see the notice.
At this point, we were extremely upset, which takes us back to the first part of this review.
For the most part, we were disappointed with our experience. The staff at the front desk and at the cafe were rude and inconsiderate. The manager, the coffee barista, and the young lady at admissions were all very nice and understanding. We informed the manager that if the cost of admission was not donated than we would have been asking for a refund, but we knew that the money was going to a good cause.
We will not be back, indefinitely.
Great place to visit! WAY WAY WAY over priced! $21 to get in! Compare this to visiting Asheboro NC Zoo which has much much more for only $15.
Very cool museum -- I could spend hours here! Unfortunately, there's not too much to do with a 10 month old here. There's a petting zoo and a butterfly exhibit, which are both nice, but most of the installments are for slightly older kids.
I'm looking forward to when our little one is a little bit bigger, and then we'll definitely be back!
Oh it was wonderful. The baby enjoyed herself. Her favorite exhibits was the dinosaur trail and the farm. Very well kept. Full of indoor and outdoor activities for children all ages. My daughter will be 2 at the end of the month. She loved it....I will warn you though. Be prepared to walk. My daughter fell asleep in the car immediately after our visit. I was tired too. 10 stars.
Fun 21 and up evening events. Science of eats was tasty and interesting with the wife. She really enjoyed the train ride.
Perfect place to go to let the kids have fun while learning at the same time. I really enjoy going in the spring when it's not too hot, but not cold at all. The kids can get wet outdoors...and so can I. Huge outdoor play space with different activities! The animals are awesome...both farm and wild. The butterfly house is beautiful...but keep in mind that it's humid in there. The butterfly house also has an area dedicated to creepy crawlers! Wild looking insects and spiders!! The cafe beside it is nice...you can grab a bite to eat while waiting on your train ride! And all of that is just the outside! Lots of things to learn and explore inside the 2story museum of life and science! Fun for kids of all ages!!
See a pair of red wolves! Nice balance of things to interest children and adults. Kind of expensive, over $20 for adults.
We spent all day long there. Many indoor and outdoor activities for kids.
Not just for kids! This place is awesome. Yes, it s amazing for kids. But check out their 21+ and up events. They are well done and so much fun!
Pretty bummed, bought tickets and didn t realize you needed to pay extra for the train/pumpkin patch. I didn t see that anywhere when purchasing online. I tried to buy tickets for the pumpkin patch in person but they were all sold out. I think they should have been more clear when checking out online. My 5 year old was bummed not being able to get on the train for the patch, he loves trains. But we still had a good time. Just seems a little over priced for what you get. No employees standing around to answer questions. Couldn t find the playground anywhere. They have maps but doesn t specifically show where the playground is, just names like hideaway woods . Bought a sandwich ($10) and a kids meal ($7) which should have added to $17 plus tax but my total was $22, I received no receipt to see why the total was much more than I ordered. (Were they tipping themselves?) I didn t order anything extra. Food wasn t good. Soggy bread on my sandwich, cold soggy fries....Everything just seemed unorganized
I had taken my own children here back in the 80's, today was the 1st time I have taken my grands. Excellent experience! The day is now a treasured memory. Thanks!
We love coming to the museum. There's so much to do especially for toddlers and small children. It is also fun for adults though probably not as much fun as it is for the kids. They have a great new tree house based playground. And it's always fun to ride the train. The cafe can also be very good knows how to make a good mean latte
This place is a ton of fun. Our kids have done classes here. It doesn't get old.
Pricey for what it has to offer ,, like family of 4 would end up paying over 50 just to get in !!!
I love visiting this museum! The exhibits are awesome and the train ride is fun with cool art along the way! Great for kids of all ages
It is a great place to spend 5 hours or more with the kids. Bring water, change of clothes for the kids. Be prepared to walk.
Great place to spend a few hours at, highly recommend
Our daughter has been going here monthly for 2.5 years and still loves it. Some other museums don't have much for younger audiences, but this one has plenty. There's also lots of hands-on stuff, unlike some museums which feel better suited toward readers and those with long attention span. The gift shop has really good lattes and some snacks. The cafe is nicely positioned near the other side of the property, and the food can be hit or miss (never amazing), but it's convenient and not overpriced. The membership pays for itself after a few visits, and it's nice not to worry about time/cost/value every time we go.
Huge place to explore, heaven for kids and nature lovers even for adults, membership is a good investment (depending on the number of guests the price varies). Near Costco -- so you can play around and then shop around :) Very safe for kids of different ages (thick mulch lol). Just a few pick from me: 1) a place for digging out ancient sharks teeth (see pic) -- for me and my 9-yrs-old, we usually spend 4 hours digging (the harvest in the pic is after 3 hours digging) -- we could spend even longer time there. This is absolutely mind blowing and addictive. The fossils are too many and it's a lot fun to us. Definitely a place to go! 2) massive tree houses for your kids to burn out their energy and you just need to sit in chairs and reading books. 3) butterflies warm house. Another place we go every other time. They continue raising more kinds of butterfiles, some of the types I only saw in movies (including the majestic Attacus atlas)! 4) To me as an adult, I'd love either digging or see animals for hours just observing (bees, ants, wolves, bears, birds) -- they are really active. The food is not the best but still good enough for museum. Staff are friendly. The only concern is that, in winter, the warm house makes you sweating and it's easy to catch cold for the kids. The train is a little bit expensive to me but, how can I complain more? All in all, it's a museum for a whole day fun, plus it is continuing updating a lot of things (like tree houses, new species of butterflies).
Fun destination for families. There is a TON to do here. I find the tickets a little expensive, we have a membership which is a great deal. We enjoy doing something different on each trip
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