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| - Last night we decided to try the First Friday "Adults Night Out" at the Science Center.
Maybe it's just that a visit to San Francisco's Exploratorium spoils you...whatever the reason, though, I wasn't impressed by the AZ Science Center.
In the first place, it was supposed to be a free event. You had to pay to get into the planetarium -- that's reasonable, since it's not cheap to operate a feature like that -- but otherwise supposedly there was free exploring of the museum and access to what we thought would be a pay-your-own-way bar.
When we walked in, though, the first thing that confronted us in the cavernous concrete lobby was a seemingly ENDLESS line to get admission. Factotums were running up and down the line demanding that people fill out a "survey," which required you to fill in your name and some other information that was none of their business. I don't like having to lie to protect my privacy, and I don't see why I should be pestered with this kind of thing to get into a city museum. When we finally got up to the front of the line, the CSR said we had to pay $15 apiece. I'm on Social Security and can't spare $15 from my food budget to pay for idle entertainment. We were on the way out, when Friend asked one of the wandering factotums why they had advertised free admission when really the admission was fifteen bucks. This person informed us that we could go in for free, but the advertised beer tasting was $15 per person -- nevermind how little you choose to "taste."
So we went in, figuring we had plenty of booze back at the house, a better place to consume the stuff, anyway.
They had a DJ playing the most gawdAWFUL noise you ever had assault your ears. I"m not averse to modern pop music -- believe it or not, even old folks enjoy listening to it sometimes -- but I don't like it blasted so loud I have to read my companion's lips to figure out what he's trying to say. It was just too, too GD LOUD!
Our ears ringing, we wandered around visiting the exhibits.
The informational level is extremely low. Any four-year-old who can watch TV or access the Web would find the educational content wanting. It doesn't come up to the level of "look, look, see Jane run."
Many of the interactive exhibits appeared to be broken. Some didn't work at all. Some ran soooooooo sloooowwwlllyyyyy that we gave up before getting through them.
A couple of things were kind of fun. Watching the 20-somethings try to beat each other in the wheelchair race was a real hoot. The extreme weather event exhibit, with the fake wind, the fake rain, and the fake earthquake was fun (although the earthquake segment can't hold a candle to the Exploratorium's earthquake exhibit). The heart surgery dummy was neat, if a bit blood-curdling. The heartbeat drum was cute, I guess. But overall? Meh.
I would not pay $15 apiece to take kids or grandkids here. The Phoenix Art Museum has summertime activities for kids that are a lot more engaging; in the West Valley, WHAM also has interactive activities to keep kids busy in the air conditioning. When the weather's reasonably clement, the Desert Botanical Garden and the zoo beat this place hands down. So, at any time of year, does the Internet...
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