South Florida Science Center and Aquarium

4801 Dreher Trail N, West Palm Beach, FL 33405, USA

Address:	4801 Dreher Trail N, West Palm Beach, FL 33405, USA
Phone:	+1 561-832-1988
Site:	sfsciencecenter.org
Rating:	4
Working:	9AM–5PM 9AM–5PM 9AM–5PM 9AM–5PM 9AM–5PM 10AM–6PM 10AM–6PM

Location

Photos 1

Reviews 4

Emily Christian

Pros: Great exhibits and friendly front desk and planetarium staff. Cons: Very crowded with mostly unsupervised children and unhappy gift shop and patio service workers. Attended this location with my boyfriend the afternoon of Sunday 8/6 and realized early on that this place is clearly geared towards children. Were both big science nerds though, so we decided to give it a try anyways. Be warned - if youre not accustomed to navigating around running children and tuning out the wails of toddlers, this is not the place for you. The aquariums were really great and my boyfriend and I enjoyed reading all the facts about the different aquatic ecosystems. The customer service at the front desk and in the planetarium was also really great. However, we did not recieve the same level of customer service on the back patio and the gift shop. It was afternoon time, so it appeared that the employees working in the back and in the gift shop were very eager to clock out. They were very short when we asked about options for food before our planetarium showing (the small cafe closes at least 2 hours prior to the museum) and when we managed to find the vending machines on the back porch, we realized the only snack machine available took $1 bills only. The other machines took $5s and card but we were patient as we turned to the cashier rummaging through her machine at 4:30pm. When we asked her if we could exchange a $5 bill for $1s, she physically rolled her eyes and said "I just closed out my machine". I wasnt exactly sure what that meant but gathered from her tone that it was a firm "no" and headed back inside, only to come across an ATM which was all we needed. Maybe our question was ignorant but a simple "Im sorry, I cant do any exchanges after I close out the machine but theres an ATM inside" wouldve projected the same message without coming across uncaring, annoyed and sour. After our showing, we ventured into the gift shop to check out some souvenirs. The selection was fairly slim compared to other science museums but what really threw off our shopping experience was listening to the gift shop employees count down the seconds until they could give customers a warning of closing time over the loud speakers. I have been that service worker whos had to sit around after close while customers dragged their feet with purchases but this was a full 30 minutes before closing time.. Needless to say, we didnt feel the need to pressure them into continuing their work day by serving us so we saw ourselves out after the 30 minute warning. Overall the place itself seems really cool and we might even come back to see their next traveling exhibit once the school year starts. Disappointing that some of the employees so blatantly dislike their jobs (again, staff at the front desk and in the planetarium were awesome). I wouldve loved the opportunity to work at such a cool place when I was their age.

Susan Bradshaw

Ive decided to share this review from my Yelp page in hopes of spreading the word to even more people and also in hopes of perhaps opening the eyes of this centers management staff. This museum is extremely small and extremely overpriced. Spoke to their "assistant manager" and she has the thinking capacity of a rock. It was most certainly unpleasant trying to get any information from her. I have never heard of this place in the 20 years Ive lived in Palm Beach County (that speaks volumes about their marketing director. A++). I only stopped here by chance because I was leaving the Palm Beach Zoo and saw the grandeur front entrance. And let me tell you, thats the only thing grandeur about it. After doing research online, I found many articles where the CEO and "COO" hype up their exhibit space and all I can say is, once youre in that "2500 square foot expansion" you might as well compare it to a shack. I think their primary focus should be housing fun exhibits at reasonable prices. Can you believe they were actually charging $20 for admission last year!? With even less space than they have open now! At that price, if you actually enjoy this mediocre facility, a membership would be smart. Speaking of membership, I went to the membership station to ask a few questions and when I got there, the girl was on the telephone to someone in-house and completely ignored me and all of the other customers. She left the responsibility of answering phone calls and taking peoples admission to the other girl at the station. There were about 5 families waiting in line and the phone was off the hook! Where are these girls managers at a time like this? Oh, I see the peabrained one sitting in the store looking at her phone. That sure is professional. By this point I could see the poor other girl was overwhelmed and frustrated at both her incompetent manager and membership coworker. At this point I left the hectic atmosphere at the front desk and made my way over to their "Science on a Sphere" exhibit. To my complete and utter surprise (sarcasm because with the way the day was going I wasnt expecting anything less) the same show, that had been playing when I first arrived at the center, was playing again at the same point. You would think with all of the money invested into this exhibit they would actually use it to its full potential! How sad. But this is just how the place is ran I guess. The boatloads of money they spend on their exhibits go to waste, essentially. Im not even going to talk about their "Science Trail" that is lacking. So, in conclusion, this is NOT a place to spend your money. I feel awful that I contributed any money to help this place and I hope to God when they read this, their eyes are opened to the many places this facility is SLACKING in. MANAGEMENT, especially.

Jeff Rodberg

I have had the sad misfortune of buying a family membership. I have been a member at the museum on and off for about 20 years. This year I joined again so we would have a fun place to go on the weekends. when we joined the museum was under construction. we would have to wait a month. we said we could just play mini golf and planetarium shows. for a month even though the mini golf has been striped down to bare bones and planetarium shows are almost never updated. My wife daughter and I arrived today to see the new exhibit we had been waiting for. we showed are membership cards. The lady who was very nice, asked us for $8 each to see the exhibit that would be there for 6 months. I was shocked. The museum looks better after the remodel. but isnt worth the membership fee plus 8 bucks per person. If I had known I would visit every 6 months and just bought a ticket. things change not always for the better. well do golf and planetarium for the rest of our membership. good lesson for my daughter on life i

Mari & Meshi

I just left the museum after having my sons 2nd birthday party there and I must say that the staff- all of the ladies at the front desk were AMAZING and helpful! I only got names for Shelly and the manager Brittany but they were all great and efficient, very nice and patient dealing with me and all of my guests. I overpaid for some admissions and they refunded me promptly with no hesitation or confusion. The museum itself was PERFECT for my son and his friends to enjoy, it was clean and really fun for them. They all enjoyed the planetarium Big Bird show and everything that was offered. We also ordered pizza and had cupcakes outside under a pavillion and was able to decorate the tables. It was cute and easy, not so stressful and crazy. I loved it and would definitely have a event there again. All the parents enjoyed it as well. Im very happy with the outcome of my sons party and thankful for the courteous staff!!! Thank you!!