Science City review, Kansas City

Kansas City, Missouri is home to a science center once named one of the nation’s 25 best by Parents Magazine. Science City, housed in Union Station, offers learning experiences in a hand-on environment so well designed, the kids will never catch on that it’s educational.

science-city review

Science City review:

As with most science centers, exhibits may change periodically, but perennial favorites and rotating displays alike are home runs, engaging kids at a hands-on level. Some of the highlights of our visit were:

  • Two chlorinated water tables. The smaller one challenges kids to build channels for racing rubber ducks. The larger table contains a number of experiments, including creating a water spout as well as a manual auger that lifts the water to power a water wheel and other fun gizmos.
  • A space shuttle landing simulator, part of a larger exhibit about physics and space travel.
  • A wacky “hotel” full of optical illusions.
  • A real helicopter that kids can climb inside.
  • The “Skybike,” which is counterbalanced by a load of bricks to keep it on track as it follows a tight-rope 30 feet above the floor (this experience has height/weight restrictions, and although it’s clearly safe, it also feels like a real adventure!).
  • Excavating dinosaur bones from a shredded-tire-mulch resting place.
  • The renewable energy exhibit, where we powered light bulbs by running in a human-sized hamster wheel and by riding bicycles.

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This is only a sampling of the major exhibits at Science City. You’ll find smaller gems tucked into every nook and cranny, from shadow and kinetic walls to a slide built out of a city water pipe, and a music area in which the floor itself becomes an instrument.

For the little ones, Science City has a small indoor playground and a room dedicated just to them. Older kids can participate in staff-led guided activities every day; on Saturdays there are demonstrations and make-it-yourself opportunities in the Maker Studio. They even offer lock-ins and camp-ins for groups.

One thing you’ll find here that you won’t see at most other science centers is the Kansas City Rail Experience. Union Station, home of Science City, is not only a tourist destination but a working Amtrak station. In the KC Rail Experience, you can climb up in a retired diesel engine and walk through a caboose removed from its wheels to make it wheelchair/stroller accessible. A small theater inside a converted Pullman car plays a video about the history of Union Station—a welcome chance to sit down and rest your feet.

Science-City-museum

Science City is spacious and airy, with lots of natural light. Visitors enter from the concourse level of Union Station and make their way to the ground level. This is a destination you won’t want to rush; give yourself time to spend most of a day there. Purchase tickets at the ground level ticket booth (down an escalator from the soaring ceilings of the main terminal) and present them at the Science City entrance, where staff will give you a wristband that allows you to come and go all day.

Science-City-review

Where to eat:

Food and drink is not permitted inside, but for a memorable meal, take a short walk across The Link, an indoor elevated walkway, to Fritz’s, at Crown Center. Fritz’s offers burgers and all the usual accompaniments, delivered to the table by miniature trains. (There’s no good way to describe how this works. You just have to experience it.) You can eat dessert at Fritz’s or step next door to Sheridan’s Custard, which offers all the usual flavors and mix-ins as well as specialty items. We tried and loved the Grant’s Grasshopper, the Dirt & Worms, and the Mexican Chocolate concretes.

Planning your Science City-Union Station trip:

Science City is located at Union Station, 30 West Pershing Road, Kansas City. It is open 10-5 Monday through Saturday and 12-5 on Sunday. Tickets are $13.50 for adults and $11.50 for kids ages 3-12. Admission is free for Union Station members. See the Union Station website for details about parking and holiday schedules. While you’re on site, take a few minutes to explore the 8,000 square foot model train room at the end of the concourse that houses Science City. It’s free, and with model trains of all sizes, including Thomas and LEGO displays, you’ll probably have to pry the kids away. Union Station also houses a large planetarium and major traveling exhibits (fees separate), so plan ahead to make sure you have time to do everything you want.

Our family visited Science City as guests of VisitKC in return for an impartial review.

Kansas City with kids: LEGOLAND Discovery Center and Sea Life

Ready to explore Kansas City with kids? Kansas City, Missouri’s Crown Center is a year-round draw for families, in part because of two high-profile attractions: LEGOLAND and Sea Life.

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LEGOLAND Discovery Center:

A visit to LEGOLAND Discovery Center-Kansas City begins with a short demonstration of how the iconic bricks are made. Afterward, guests can opt to ride the Kingdom Quest laser ride, an instant hit for the video gamers in your family. Caution: this is a now-or-never proposition. You won’t be able to come back to it later, which can be tough on kids who need time to warm up to a new environment.

The day of our visit, our Star Wars-loving crew was over the moon to find a room dedicated to Episode IV (A New Hope). The detail is everything you would expect of LEGO. On one side of the Death Star, kids can try their hand at blasting TIE fighters.

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Next door, we lost the ten-year-old to a large Ewok Village construction set. He didn’t resurface until we pried him away for a 4D movie. In the meantime, the younger kids found the play place and Earthquake Tables, where we tried to build earthquake-proof structures out of LEGO. (Although any child will tell you it’s far more fun to try to make them fall down!)

Kids can also build and test race cars, and there’s an area devoted to LEGO Friends as well as Merlin’s Apprentice, a carnival-style ride. Height restrictions apply, but the employee running the ride was very accommodating to families with small children.

LEGOLAND is a high-stimulus attraction, and my three-year-old was a little overwhelmed. But he found his niche in a sandbox-style pit filled with Junior LEGO cars—one of several sprinkled through the facility for free play.

LEGOLAND

We arrived early on a school day; even so, the building reached critical mass well before noon. It can be chaotic, so it’s a good idea to have a low adult-child ratio in your party. Plan to spend a minimum of three hours. Outside food and drink are not allowed, and re-entry is not permitted; however, there is a cafe inside. Admission is limited and often sells out, so I recommend booking online ahead of time. Online tickets start at $15.30* for both adults and kids (2 and under are free).

Sea Life:

If you need a breather after the high-power intensity of LEGOLAND, Sea Life is just the ticket. From the moment the doors open, the low lighting and ethereal music transports visitors to another world.

Sea-life-aquarium

The displays are beautifully designed and lit, and the aquarium is set up to guide the flow of traffic along a set pathway through the facility, which makes it easy to keep track of kids. Each child receives a passbook with activities and room for stamps to mark their progress through the aquarium.

Sea Life’s marquee attraction is the pair of walk-through tunnels in the shark and ray tank, but the kids will also love the “bubble” indentations in the center of several of the tanks., where they can get right in the middle of the marine action. A touch pool holds starfish and crabs, and a raised deck lets you look down on stingrays from above.

There are also several play areas; when we visited, one of them was devoted to the Octonauts. Our only problem in this area was that the competing video animatronics made it hard to hear the game instructions.

Admission:

Sea Life-Kansas City advance tickets start at $15 for adults and $11 for kids 3-12*. You can see the whole aquarium in around an hour and a half, but you won’t exhaust the possibilities for learning and enjoyment in that length of time. If you can, give yourself time to read the displays, which are on video monitors rather than static boards, and attend some of the educational talks that are spread throughout the day.

Sea Life Aquarium

Better yet, take advantage of the combination tickets that offer admission to both Sea Life and LEGOLAND, which share a building, a ticket counter, and gift shop. Start your day by exploring the lower-stimulus Sea Life, then switch over to LEGOLAND and return to the aquarium if your pack has time and energy.

Hours:

Sea Life-Kansas City and LEGOLAND open daily* at 10 and close at 5 p.m. Sunday through Thursdayand 6p.m. Friday and Saturday. However, Sea Life remains open to guests already inside for two more hours.

*Note: Hours and ticket prices fluctuate by season and holiday, so check the website for the most up to date info.

Directions:

Crown Center is located in the heart of Kansas City at 2450 Grand Blvd. Full directions to Crown Center.

Our family visited Sea Life and LEGOLAND as guests of Visit KC in exchange for an honest review.

Hallmark’s Kaleidoscope

The following pit stop has been submitted by Julie of Kansas City and My Kansas City Mommy. Thank you, Julie, for sharing such a great pit stop!

Visiting Kaleidoscope does take a little bit of planning. They open during scheduled sessions (daily), which you can see on their calendar page here (which also includes contact information to reserve a ticket). Tickets are recycled, so can only be secured on the day of your visit. If you want to enjoy Kaleidoscope with your child, be sure to secure tickets for a family session. Kids five and over can also participate in the walk-in individual sessions!

Distance from the interstate: Minutes from I-35 or I-70.

Hours of operation: Open daily May 27th-Oct. 17th (including holidays) from 10 am-5 pm.

Admission rates: Free for all ages.

Food services: None.

Website: www.hallmarkkaleidoscope.com

Directions: Kaleidoscope is located at 2500 Grand Blvd, Kansas City, MO. From I-35, Follow I-35 North to the Broadway exit (#2U). Turn right on Broadway and follow to Pershing Road. Turn left at Pershing and go to Grand. Turn right onto Grand. You can follow the signs from there!

From I-70: Follow I-70 West toward downtown Kansas City. Closely follow signs to Downtown/13th Street. Take the Downtown/13th Street Exit (Exit 2P). Continue west on 13th Street to Grand. Turn left onto Grand. Follow Grand to Crown Center.