Don Harrington Discovery Center — Attraction in Amarillo

I have always enjoyed taking my grandchildren to the Discovery Center. Through the years and different age spans, it was a trick to get them to leave the center. With these experiences in mind, when my brother-in-law brought his great nephew to visit, the Discovery Center was one of the places we had to go to. This trip was thoroughly a disappointment. The west side of the center activities seemed pointless and not intriguing. The exhibits that might have been interesting were not working. There were no employees around to answer any questions concerning the purpose or directions to each activity. We proceeded to the Pirate exhibit thinking that the activities in that area would make up for our initial disappointment. This turned out to be even more disappointing. The children with us called it a museum because all you really got to do is read and look. The panning for gold was a total hit but they were ready to go 30 minutes into our visit. The "treasure hunt hands on" was also not available to use. Children learn through doing and experiencing. Past times when we visited, this is what was available--a hands on and experiencing adventure. I know that new exhibits are natural and necessary to keep people curious and interested but tried and true activities do not need to be taken away. Our experience this last Tuesday, 6-10-14, was not enjoyable in any way. We left the Discovery Center and went to the Panhandle Plains Historical Museum and watched the kids have a blast. They offered viewing only exhibits but they also offer the chance for children to try, see, hear, and feel history. I am extremely disappointed in our experience at the Discovery Center. I may be the only person to feel this way but I had to express my disappointment since previous to this visit I would have nothing but praise for the activities and learning experiences you have offered to...

For a big family the membership is definitely the way to go. It allows you the freedom to visit without any pressure to stay for a certain amount of time. We visit pretty regularly and our highest compliment is the staff. Thank you to the wonderful staff who are so pleasant and wonderful with the children. They seem to have a passion for science and enriching children's lives, which is such a blessing to us as parents. The discovery center is varied and offers a lot of fun, interactive equipment for the kids. Sometimes it is really TOO busy and I have lost my son there once before which was really scary. I don't think it would be a bad idea to limit attendance on the days when there are field trips happening, and music playing and kids running all over the place. It can quickly become a very overwhelming environment. Overall we love the discovery center and implore them to continue to strive for cleanliness, and safety for our kids. Only beef is that there seems to be not enough of an attention to detail to maintain current exhibits. Sometimes its evident that things are broken or missing and often remain so until the exhibit is switched out. This is the only thing that really feels unacceptable when people are spending good money to come spend the day there. Every exhibit should be operational and in a clean, whole...

We spend a lot of time in science museums and such as we travel. I really wish more was put in to ours! While it is clean and the staff is friendly, it just isn't what it used to be. There's more to read than to actually DO and every time we go many things aren't working. We went at opening this weekend and found this to be the case once again. The wind machine card reader didn't work, several activities in the half that was open were broken, and even the theatre screen wasn't working properly .

I would also suggest offering half-priced days on days that half of the building is closed to change out exhibits. They do warn you at the counter but honestly nobody wants to make a group of kids leave right when they get there .

We took family that was in town with us since they hadn't been in years. We warned that they would be disappointed but they were optimistic. It didn't take long for them to change their mind. Definitely not worth the...