Boonshoft Museum of Discovery

2600 Deweese Pkwy, Dayton, OH 45414, USA

Address:	2600 Deweese Pkwy, Dayton, OH 45414, USA
Phone:	+1 937-275-7431
Site:	boonshoftmuseum.org
Rating:	4.3
Working:	9AM–5PM 9AM–5PM 9AM–5PM 9AM–5PM 9AM–5PM 9AM–5PM 12–5PM

Location

Photos 1

Reviews 10

A Private User

I have been wanting to check out a planetarium show. So I went today. I decided to attend the 1pm show. Well, the lady lets us in, and the lights are not even on, so we cant even see where we are going. We finally find a seat. The show begins. It is basically a slide show with some laser lights. Yes, the lights were cool. But the show was at least 20 years outdated. That isnt the problem though. The problem is the woman who was running the show. 15-20 minutes into the show she opens the exit doors and lets about 40 people (30 of then being loud children). If anyone has been to a planetarium, it is known that you should NOT open the doors during a show, because then you can not see anything on the screen at all. So 10 minutes of the show consisted of a wide open door and screaming children that were slamming into my seat, and even hitting the back of my head. The show was pretty much ruined by then. My husband said he doubted a complaint would solve anything, and he was right. When the show ended, I went up to the lady and I told her "Every planetarium I have ever been to does not allow the doors to open after the show begins. So why did you allow this?" Her reply "They paid for their tickets. I am not used to this many people." Seriously, if someone is going to be 15 or 20 minutes late, there is no excuse for that. Especially when we were instructed to show up 10 minutes before the show. These people saw that there was 10 minutes, so they took it upon themselves to go to the 2nd floor and explore. They should not have been allowed in. I told this woman that every thing that occurred ruined the show. All she said was "Yeah, it did huh?" She did not offer me a free pass to the next show that was happening that day (which is pretty pathetic as the show was only 2 bucks). She did not even apologize for opening the doors. She just said "Thats too bad huh?" The rest of the museum was ok, I enjoyed seeing what animals were there (The zoo was under construction). However, the planetarium was awful. Which is too bad, since we drove for over an hour JUST to see the space theater. If you have children and live in Dayton, it would be worth the cost of gasoline to take them to COSI in Columbus OH. No planetarium is better than a poorly operated one.

Nicole Gilleland

We visit Boonshoft often so my experience may be different than a one time visit (If one time I would say 5 stars awesome museum because truly it is really great) There are many pros: I Love the bird watching area, the imagination areas with pizza making, recycling center etc. I love that you can bring your own food for lunch (there is no food served there) The man that does the Sky tonight shows is wonderful and very knowledgeable. Cons: Im not in love with the newly remodeled kids area and think they could have done so much more with it. The water tables are just okay and the play area with climbing really isnt much fun for smaller kids. We will still continue to have a membership for the time being as I like the financially support the museum so they can continue to improve it.

Orlando Alvarez

Excellent place to bring the kids. It is by far one of the coolest museums for kids Ive been to. Definitely better than the Cincinnati Kids Museum, albeit smaller. They have live animals, including a boa constrictor, for kids to see, and a wide range of desiccated animals, from bugs to reptiles, so that kids and adults can see and study them up close. The different exhibitions teach kids really neat stuff about almost everything; from hydrodynamics to electricity, from sound to law, from veterinary medicine to recycling. Its a great way to tire out that over-energetic toddler while having them learn and explore new interests.

Craeft Smith

The Boonshoft is geared toward kids aged 5 to 10. They lose a couple stars because many of their exhibits are broken, and because they have several areas that are essentially playgrounds with no educational value at all. In that regard kids younger than 5 may enjoy being there just so they can play with the various plastic toys. I really wish they would step up their educational game. The cloud chamber and exoplanet exhibit deserve special mention, because they really do introduce the kids to new ideas, and could be interesting to kids over 10.

A Private User

Nice museum with great exhibits for kids in second grader or higher gets poor review because staff does not monitor exhibits. Also has larger area just for young kids that is limited to under six. However, most visitors seem to think the whole place is a day care center or the play scape at the mall. Great exhibits unaccessible to older kids because there were so many pre-schollers running around. Math Midway would be great for elementary age kids if wasnt over run by preschoolers just playing in the exhibits.

A Private User

This isnt a museum Went on a double-date with friends but were disappointed. The exhibits (except for the Egyptian room which was kinda cool) were all child-oriented, from the cargo nets to the Legos. The planetarium was lame. It seemed like the guy narrating was doing it for the first time, stammering over words, losing his train of thought and having trouble find the right powerpoint slides. We had fun anyway, but are unlikely to go until our daughter is more than 6 month old.

Lizzy Miles

I went to a wedding here and we had the opportunity to explore the museum before the reception. My husband and I especially enjoyed the live animal exhibit and watching the meercats. We were thinking that children would love this place. There are so many areas to explore. As part of the wedding there was an abbreviated planetarium show after the ceremony and the host was really funny. I hadnt been to a planetarium in ages and really enjoyed the experience.

Aron Russell

Driving around dayton looking for things to do, found this place and walked in and i wasnt sure so I asked them and told them i was 15 and asked if I would enjoy it, they said yes its geared for all ages, so i pay $30 of my own money walk 10ft into the place and it looks like a mcdonalds playland! So i walk through the place to look around and i found nothing that older kids would enjoy so i ended up wasting $30 of my hard earned money, thanks jackasses

Coco Jones

The kids loved it. Entire place was stroller friendly. The gentleman who ran the planetarium shows was my favorite. You could tell he really enjoyed his job was, very knowledgeable about what he was teaching and was willing to answer my kids questions and show them a few more stuff on the screen after the show. I didnt expect there not to be a regular food court, but thats was my own mistake. Will definitely return for more family trips in the future.

Rachel Hensley

They have alot to do for all ages and go our of there way to do fun stuff for the kids. Include showing movies at the planetarium. The only reason I give this four stars is because its very chaotic when we go and little structure and its expensive for tickets. But kids seem to have a blast they can climb, explore and invent. They also have a few live animals including a sloth which is interesting to watch