If I could sum up my experience in one word? DEPRESSING.

I don't usually take to the internet to vent about negative experiences, but this was the worst place that I've ever spent money to entertain children. Save yourself the time, the money, and the frustration and AVOID GOING HERE, especially if you don't live in London. Short words cannot express my profound shock at how out of date, how poorly maintained, and how dirty this "museum" was on our visit.

Most things are broken and/or missing. The best displays are LITERALLY THE EXACT SAME as they were nearly 30 YEARS AGO when my parents brought me here as a child, except that they've had over two decades of wear and tear. Yes, they are the EXACT SAME DISPLAYS, made out of the EXACT SAME MATERIALS. Imagine over two decades of wear and tear on the displays, the floors, the dumpy "playground" outside (one slide, a pointless wooden train fence/frame, and Southern Ontario's weirdest miniature bridge), and even the props for the various rooms. Really, you still have some of the wooden toy food and drink items from 1992? There are next to no dress up clothes for kids any more, no interesting, interactive displays, and half of the stuff that you could use once upon a time are now screwed or bolted shut!

Now you may think that I'm being a little unjustly harsh here, so I'll concede that perhaps they have some sort of funding issue that I'm not aware of, but where does the $7 a person (including 2 year old toddlers) go? What is the money from the multitude of children enrolled in their day camp paying for? Not new displays. Not decent maintenance. Not even cleaning, because I've never seen so much dust, dirt, or grime. The entire first floor smells like a washroom, dust is an inch deep in every corner, and on every wall display or rarely used item. The dolls are visibly disgusting, there were stains that looked like vomit on the pillows under the tree house, and every single soft fabric item felt and smelled like it was last washed about ten years ago.

An adults point of view aside, our three year old has a lot more fun at the local public park, and a walk in the woods is more educational.

I will say one positive thing: the staff were very polite and courteous, especially the lovely women at the front desk. Beyond that? I can't imagine a single reason why I would return in the future. Please raise some funds and fix this place up! I don't live in the community, but if they came up with a decent strategy to renovate, I'd make a donation, and I can't imagine that with a little effort they couldn't get local high schools and businesses to help with new, more modern, interactive displays that actually work. I loved this place as a child, and I would love my children to actually enjoy it if we were to ever return.

What a sad, broken shell of my cherished memories my 2015 trip to the London's Children's Museum was.