Arizona Science Center

600 E Washington St, Phoenix, AZ 85004, USA

Address:	600 E Washington St, Phoenix, AZ 85004, USA
Phone:	+1 602-716-2000
Site:	azscience.org
Rating:	4.1
Working:	10AM–5PM 10AM–5PM 10AM–5PM 10AM–5PM 10AM–5PM 10AM–5PM 10AM–5PM

Location

Photos 100

Reviews 5

Heather Willens

I will admit... museums and co. typically dont do it for me. short attention span, mostly. but this place, pretty much rocks and is worth every penny. its massive, its hands-on, its science at its best. with a combination of AZ-specific history (such as how their built homes for the eco) and a wide assortment of science information ranging from health and medical practices, weather-related phenomenons, physics, etc, it is fun for any age. im a kinetic learner (who isnt, really?), so the ability to actually interact with things to understand it is really beneficial. Highlights for me: *The synchronized dancing magnetic iron...man i wish i could post a video of it. it was so entertaining. *Laying on the bed of nails and being elevated. wow did that feel interesting! *The ping pong balls floating in the air... sometimes you could throw two on the same air channel for a dueling spiral dance in the air. could be a great betting battle between two people! *The scaled-dam display where you could create your own dam and release water to see in it action. *Watching videos on neuro surgery. medicine is quite amazing. --- My only complaint is the nickel and diming factor. after paying $15 a person, there are quite a few exhibits and the imax / planetarium that are additional tickets. If you want to do everything the museum has to offer it gets a bit pricy. I wish it was just a set price. We opted to skip the add-on things and still had a very fun time. Allow at least a few hours. However, after learning about how plentiful turquoise is to AZ, i took a guess i could score some nice earrings in the gift shop - which i did, for $8. yes! ...then go to the ever famous Pizzeria Bianco in the plaza next door! so tasty :)

STS STS

Blah, is the best way to sum up this place. It opens at 10am except the water feature outside is at 10:30?? That doesnt make any sense. It cost $75 for me, my wife, and kid to go, that included the Solar System show in the planetarium, I dont feel they need to charge for the planetarium shows or the shark exhibit or riding the bicycle on a rope, greedy place... We were looking forward to the solar system show in the planetarium, it was a huge disappointment. They have such cool technology at their fingertips and the show was a complete let down, nothing more than a power point presentation and some lousy Q&A with a science center employee. My 3 year old has books on our solar system that were more informative. I was expecting something more like a Morgan Freeman narrated tour of the solar system where you would fly to each planet and across the surface experiencing each one. Instead it was a bunch of still photographs and moving GIFs on the ceiling, it really is possible it was made in house on power point. Why charge for it? There was 15 people in the planetarium show, open it up with free admission and attract more people. As for the science center portion there was a lot of non functioning displays, a huge lack of description on why and how something works. I take my family to learn not just experience these places. My kid had fun, but he also has a blast feeding ducks at a pond so it doesnt say much for this place. Fix the exhibits, explain the science behind it all, drop the added costs for the shows and special exhibit, get some shows with real production value. I am sure it is an expensive place to operate but come on, get it together, put some money into the reason it is there.

Bryan Mordt

Just visited the science center on 7/8/2009. I havent been there for many years and thought it would be nice to take my 3 year old. It cost $22 entry for one adult and a child. I was surprised to fine the first exhibit I wanted to show my girl was not working (the water feature near the entrance), bummer because I remembered it being kinda cool. We spent around 3 to 4 hours going through the place and I discovered some more of the exhibits that were either not working or being maintained. I was very surprised considering the steep price of entry. While the day was fun for the most part I didnt feel like it was worth the entry fee. There are extra costs involved with many aspects of the place which I feel should be included such as the planetarium and imax shows. They even charge to ride a "sky" bicycle, come on now really. Another let down was the validated parking is only a "discount" on the parking and $2 at that, wow. I wish to have seen some better exhibits and to have found them a little more improved since my last visit so many years ago. The fact the some of the exhibits didnt even work was really disappointing. In the end I think a visit to the library or public swimming pool would be just as much fun at a fraction of the price.

Tori Schlecht

First of all, the entrance line was extremely slow moving for no apparent reason. To begin with there was 3 people at the cashiers, and 1 left even though the line was long, which slowed the process even longer. My girlfriend and I stood in line for over an hour and we werent even far in the line. During this hour, with nothing else to do, I spent time watching the cashiers to notice they were very slow moving and had no care for those in the line. Secondly, the cafe that they have available I would never recommend to my worst enemy. The food is disgusting and of course, they are also extremely slow paced. They get your order wrong even after clearly its written down for them and they throw together your order without any care. There was also a guy dragging large trash bags full of trash through the centre of everyone who was eating - very unhygienic for their cafe as well as awful for those sitting there TRYING to eat. Eat before you go and/or pack your own lunch if you go. The Science Centre itself was crappy. Very boring, didnt have much interesting, knowledge based stuff. Not worth my time or money. The IMAX wasnt too bad I suppose, but thats about it. A waste of time and money, do not recommend going there at all!!!

theUncraftyMama

The Arizona Science Center is a great stop for the whole family. The center really has something for everyone, but is clearly aimed at K through 12th grade. There are four levels and many different areas, focusing on a variety of things from the human body to weather and even unique events like the animation section as a limited run event. Areas can be accessed via stairs or elevator. All the staff we encountered were friendly, the bathrooms we pit stopped at were clean and stocked, and all the areas of the center we visited were well maintained and clean. Plan to spend more time there than you may expect to, especially if you have children in tow. There is a planetarium that we visited, as well as some other unique features that we will plan to catch during the next visit. The cafe outside the entrance was quite tasty, if a tad pricey. The gift shop, which is also outside the entrance, is a nice size and had a great selection of the fun things you would expect, as well a large selection of science kits and science themed home experiements etc. I recommend stopping in and if you happen to get a deal on Groupon, then dont pass it up. While youre in the area, the Childrens Museum is close by as well.