OMSI Reviews

If you are a child, or a parent with children, this is for you. Adults without children, don't bother.

The whole place is very child centered and focused. 80% of the interactive things are specifically designed for kids. The very few that are not, are still being swarmed over and randomly pounded on by kids. Think the parents try to control them? Think again.

If you do find something not being used, as soon as you try to mess with it, the local kids will see that it's interactive and swarm you, push you out of the way and start randomly pounding on things. Think the parents will tell them to wait their turn? Nope.

Also all the presentations are dumbed down until they are boring for an adult.

So if you are a child free adult, this museum will not be interesting or fun for you.

Lots of great exibits and fun challenges for kids and adults. While most of it was geared towards kids most was still enjoyable for adults.

Love Omsi and so do my kids! I will admit that it seems like when we pay for a specific exhibit it should all be (or at least mostly be) in working order. We went to the robotics show and 4 of the displays were out of order or in repair. Kind of a bummer. It was still cool but all of the broken stuff left my kids underwhelmed.

We had a great time at the king Tut exhibit, saw a movie, played games. the restaurant was great, good food, fast service. will go again soon!

Try to spend at least 4 hours if you want to make use of the museum. There's so much you can learn and see at the museum. If you're PDX native, get the annual membership.

Lots of fun! I have been going here since I was a child. It can get really busy at times, especially during events. Waiting then for beer or food becomes a chore and eats into your time significantly. They should really organize differently by doubling down on servers and placing standing menus near the line so people are ready to order.

The kids loved the indoor play and learn area. The water exploration was a big hit and so was the little kids market place. We skipped the Lego exhibit because of the huge line. We went on a Saturday and it certainly paid to have or get a membership. The line for non members was down the hallway to the planetarium. Years ago when I was a kid my siblings and I practically lived here to enjoy all the science experiments.

I had never been to a Light Festival before. It was cold, so cold, but interesting!

Very cool place, the Robots were so cool, I went yesterday with my family and there was this little Robot you could control and it made me laugh because it could do handstands, push ups and more! I went here a few months ago as well, and there was stuff of Pompeii.

Such a fantastic time. The kids all want to be scientists when they grow up.

Definitely geared predominantly toward a pre-teen clientele

One of favorite places in Portland. Should be annual member.

First off, our daughter loves this place, but it gets extremely crowded on the weekend and is pretty expensive.

OMSI is great for all ages. For 0 to 6 there is a play area upstairs that had a sand pit (super clean, sparkly sand), water area, nature area, and much more. Young kids can spend hours in there. Then there are exhibits upstairs and downstairs that are great for age 2 to teenagers (I often see parents participate too!). They also have fantastic rotating exhibits that are always very interesting. They have a great gift store, bathrooms everywhere, two food cafes, a submarine tour, a planetarium, and a theater to watch science movies. Their memberships are the best in town and I'd highly recommend getting one so you can go back and explore the place over and over.

Awesome place to take family. IMAX Theater is the best of all the fun options.

A great science center for kids and adults alike! Families can explore various mechanical, physical, and chemical concepts together through quirky demos. Planetarium and Robot exhibits are a must!

Always a family favorite. Last time we went we tried the food in the cafeteria. I enjoyed the teriyaki rice bowl I got.

The visiting Discovery of King Tut exhibit was incredible. My 10 year old nephew and I enjoyed the science lab, everything is super interactive. I've also really enjoyed the OMSI After Dark events.

Free winter Light Festival really excellent especially with good company

Was good ...but nobody really tried to get children involved...the staff just watched people ...I had to teach my son about stuff that 8 had no clue about ...not saying it was s bad experience but could have used some guidance

Went with a friend to see the Pompeii exhibit. It was amazing and sad all in one.

Completely targeted towards children. Probably won't be interesting for anyone with a BSc.

The restaurant attached is pretty good though.

I personally love OMSI for many reasons like, I love their Earthquake simulator, their Animation exhibit and their Chemistry exhibit, to name just a few. OMSI is a great place for kids and adults, So I would definitely recommend going to OMSI sometime soon(:

Like a third of the exhibits didn't work. This is probably more my fault, but from the billboards it looked like King Tut's sarcophagus and mask were actually there. Everything having to do with that exhibit is a recreation, nothing's actually real. So that was a disappointment.

Pompeii exhibit is very cool! Great place for kids too.

Greatest museum in all of Portland! Sooooo much fun stuff to play with and explore. No need to bring the kids.

Had a company here and the environment is excellent. They have food and a movie theater and awesome exhibits for the whole family

OMSI holds the distinction of being the only yearly pass I continue to hold.
The exhibits are fantastic where interests lie, but the base 'modules' are really consistently entertaining as a mainstay.
Blowing paper into the air, becomes a competative family sport. Allowing our bodies to become conduits for electricity, par for the coarse, and puzzles to torture or minds, a welcome retreat from daily minutia
The gift shop is top notch and sits beside a much appreciated coffee shop. Serving up lattes, mochas and snacks both salty or sweet.
Getting there early will smooth the visit, as crowds swell in the afternoon and exhibits can sell out for the day rather quickly.
Parking looks plentiful, it may be plentiful. However, I have found myself doing the 'circle thing'. Circling like a vulture looking for a carcass to roost upon.

We love this place! We have a very hands on 8 year old. It keeps his interest and gets his approval too! My parents got us a family membership this year. Can't wait for our next trip and for it to warm up a little so we can do the submarine tour!

Took a 10 year old with me for the robots exhibit. I feel like he was more well behaved than myself, the " adult." I love that there are snacks and COFFEE!!!! I was a bit taken aback by having to pay $5.00 for parking in addition to the fee to get in. less MO at to spend in the gift store is how it turned out. Profit is nice, but it sure was not in the best interest to the customer. I will not do that again. nonetheless, we had a great time. Staff is amazing.

Fun exhibits come through, the submarine tour is cool, and the kid area is great. It is a bit expensive.

We took our 10 and 12yo grandchildren to see the laser light show. Omsi provided ear plugs and we all had a great time

Great place to take kids, however I would recommend adult only groups choose some off their specialized attractions versus the general admission.

Great place for adults and children. You can easily spend the day here playing with the science games and seeing the exhibits. Fun for everyone.

I signed up for a year membership by the time our visit was over. So much to do and see. They honored my groupon coupon the next day as well!

Gotta go there at least once if you live or are visiting for a while. I really like the puzzles and the aeronautics sections. I feel bad for the small animals in aquariums though, they need larger homes.

Usually interesting exhibits. What else can I say besides this place makes learning interesting

Omsi after dark is always fun. Some of the things advertised were not set up, but overall that didn't deter from the experience as a whole.

If you get food stamps show your card and pay $5 per person up to 4 people on that card ..great deal.then it cost per attraction.

I thought OMSI will be fun just for the kids but it ended up being really fun for my husband and I so we became members. The STEM activities are endless and will really challenge your kid to think outside the box and be innovative. I've had the zoo, children's museum memberships and if I have to pick one, it will be this one.

Love the place. It keeps me interested everytime I am here...so much to learn and know.

Wonderful experience every time. Been going here since childhood. So fun to bring the kids!

I have been to many museums around the country, but I was underwhelmed with OMSI. After so much hype and a 4.5 star rating on Google, I think it is more directed towards kids and feels dated. Not to be misunderstood for boring or bad. But if you can probably skip this, as long as you don't have anything else to do.

Traveling exhibit was great, but the core museum seemed a little scatterbrained. Good for a younger scene. Not enough to warrant the price

OMSI I'd the best place to get educated and still have a fun time! The planetarium is amazing! The shows on the big screen have very good detail and the submarine is so cool! A great learning experience!

Fun good for kids to learn and fun to do with kids I went to the king tut show you could call it and I had so much fun

Very expensive but the new exhibits are usually cool. The laser lights shows are a fun experience as well.

So much to explore and learn. Certainly fun to be had for all ages.

Went to the Portland Winter Light Festival located around OMSI. Great experience!

Replicas! I paid 80$ for my family to go see King Tut replicas, they don't tell you til you start the tour. Total rip off. Also, the tour staff wasn't friendly.

Many things weren't working. Expected more out of the Pompeii exhibit

OMSI is a large open spaced science center. There are plenty of activities for a wide range of ages. Today we visited the Science of Pixar exhibit which was really well done. The Theory food is great but I wish the Mac n cheese was more kid friendly instead of funky.

We visited the museum and the submarine. It seems like a great place to bring children but I wouldn't recommend coming without them. Our party (adults without children) ended up spending less than an hour at the actual museum. The submarine tour was around 40 minutes, also seemed targeted towards children.

I expected an experience tailored to people of all ages, similar to the California Science Center in Los Angeles. Unfortunately, that was not it.

Parking is available for $5. You pay inside when you buy tickets.

OMSI felt like a entirely new experience this time. I really enjoyed the Illusions Exhibit.

I remember the exhibits being fun and cool. Went for a $2 day. Not a whole lot of interesting exhibits for an 8 year old. The 5 year old enjoyed the sand box play area.

I never cease to be impressed with the creativity and vitality of OMSI. This visit was no exception.

There is no need for about half of OMSI. They seriously need to update many of the exhibitions and bring back some of the better ones like the ball air play place. We used to have a yearly pass but won't be renewing until they make some major changes.

Have to buy tag for one thing only, cost more for other options like the planetarium

Very very crowded. Decided not to go because the crowds seemed a little un managed.

Tons of fun all while learning and engaging kid's minds! Excellent to spend the whole day!

This is a very interesting museum. I like the professionalism of the staff and the quality of the exhibits

We buy a membership every year. We visit several times a year and sometimes just stay in one section for the day.

Hard to navigate around. and seemed like every section had something you had to pay to get into. However it was still a fun museum to visit.