Royal Alberta Museum — Attraction in Central Core

Absolutely awful experience! Nothing to do with the museum in itself, which is wonderful, but had my visit ruined by the young Indian woman with a pony tail who is a security guard-- probably in her twenties. I have seen already several people here complaining about her, ironically, racially profiling people and "selecting" special instructions for whoever she wants. I booked a ticket for Family Day with my partner and I had just left all of my belongings in the locker (that did not return my money, by the way), and headed to a room with only my purse and a bottle of water. I wasn't drinking from the container, just holding it. She comes over and tells me "no drinks allowed." I was shocked because I never go to anywhere public with a drink, unless it is just my water. I told her that surely that doesn't include the latter (especially when I was just holding it, not drinking). I asked her, that what am I supposed to do? Empty it? Throw my expensive tumbler away? Go to the lockers again and let the machine swallow my money? She said I had to "hide it" in a backpack, (which I did not have) and said that my bottle was a "dangerous artifact" and the place was crowded. During this time I was pointing out to her many people who had not just one, but several bottles of water, on show, and drinking from them! Including parents with children dropping drink all over the floor. I asked her if she was going to do the same with them? She didn't. My partner put the bottle in the back pocket of his pants and politely asked if that was fine? Very rudely she said that he had to make sure that the jacket was covering the back pocket. I was very upset because he had to leave, empty the bottle, went back in the room and she kept following us again -- probably making sure that the EMPTY bottle was still in his pocket and fully covered by the jacket. And while she was doing so, hundreds of people coming in, with not only water, but with soda and everything else. I left the place and had an awful day. Lovely museum ruined by an incompetent and racist security guard! The other guards were not like her!

P.S. The only sign that appears in SOME places is the typical public transport/building sign that says no food or drink next to a crossed sign with a burger and soda -- which we all know excludes water, especially somewhere like the museum where there are several fountains for you to refill your liquids. I even showed her it was water that I had -- in case, for some reason, she had doubts. Canada Place, LRT, etc, that I visit many times, have the same signs and you were allowed to take water with you. Plus, all this fuss for a bottle of water, but no security guard checking people's backpacks at the entrance. What kind of security is this? Family Day, free entrance, hundreds of people with huge bags that could easily hold weapons, alcohol, etc., but their priority is to tell a person to hide a sealed bottle of water out of...

I would love to give RAM a good review but my experiences over the years simply won’t allow me to.

It began with the hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars spent on a new, huge facility in a difficult to access area of the city, with no public parking . Unfortunately, the new facility has very little new content to offer and simply recreated how things were exhibited in the old location, with little or no improvement other than having more stuff on display.

Speaking of the exhibits and individual displays, they tend to be poorly maintained, have almost no interpretation and are given little to no historical context or theme, often with completely unrelated items shown in the same area. It comes across as a few large galleries filled with items that the viewer is left to try and make sense of.

Some of the temporary exhibits have been decent, but they change so infrequently that they may as well be permanent galleries.

Our visit today was highlighted by me being berated and asked to leave the Orcas exhibit for simply carrying a closed, reusable water bottle. I spent years working in a similar museum type facility and while I understand the sensitivity of galleries and the items on display and not wanting things being damaged by food and drink, being kicked out of a gallery for simply carrying a closed bottle is ridiculous. It shows a complete lack of understanding of and their customers, most of whom have children and are often carrying drinks and snacks. On top of that, I witnessed many other people with open food and drink containers being allowed to wander freely.

As exhibit designer, I am fully aware of the challenges of a facility such as the RAM. I, and my former work colleagues were even consulted on elements and exhibits prior to their opening and saw that all of our recommendations were ignored upon implementation. Egos and arrogance of those running RAM seem to trump the experience of guests.

The facility itself is quite impressive and well thought out and designed. Unfortunately, the content, how it is exhibited, and how the RAM is run and treats is guests, feels very elitist and too focused on trying to build and maintain this air of importance rather than making it the world class facility it should be.

The bug room and children’s gallery are highlights, at least with our son, but even they are showing their age and a lack of commitment to keeping things new, up to date and relevant, or even maintained.

I will be hard-pressed to ever return to the RAM after this visit which is a shame, because it could be so much better, and the public...

This museum will be intriguing to those who are interested in natural science. RAM consist of several halls and galleries. These are Natural History Hall, Human History Hall, Bug Gallery, Children's Gallery, Feature Gallery. The most fascinating of which seemed to me the Natural History Hall. The Natural History Hall introduces us to the inhabitants of Ice Age Alberta, mammoth🦣, mastodon, giant sloth, saber-toothed cat, whose skeletons are on public display. And also this hall there are stuffed animals of modern inhabitants of boreal forest and prairie such as bison, black bear, elk, lynx, pronghorn, coyote, skunk, beaver, otter, turtle. There are many stuffed birds such as hawk, pelican, American avocet. Interactive displays are installed in the Natural History Hall, which allow visitors to simulate a volcanic eruption, the formation of continents and much more. Much attention in the hall is paid to stones and mosses. The Natural History Hall has a large collection of minerals💎 from all over the world. These are quartz, wulfenite, stilbite, chrysocolla and many others. But most of all I was surprised by the minerals glowing in the dark and a huge stone shell consisting of precious crystals inside. The Human History Hall features exhibits reflecting the history of Alberta. These are items demonstrating the culture and life the Indians, a wigwam, furniture and utensils of European immigrants, military and medical uniforms, cars, an airplane, as well as the history of the Oilers hockey team. In the Bug Gallery, the most fun activity was to find camouflaged insects hiding in plain sight. It's hard to imagine that these little creatures rule the world. The RAM's collection contains such dangerous insects as scorpion🕷️ and tarantula. Feature Gallery is currently presenting the exhibition Drive:Reimaging the Ride, which exhibits unique cars of the 20th century. Visiting the RAM took me an hour and half and made me think about how diverse, rich and unique...