RMSC (Rochester Museum & Science Center) — Attraction in City of Rochester

My experience with RMSC was extremely disappointing. We brought our 2 older children (6.5 and 4.5) to see the dinosaur exhibit. I was pretty sure the other exhibits would be beyond them, but figured we could explore the ones that were more appropriate after the dinosaurs which was the real draw for us. It cost 4 of us (2 adults and 2 children) $62 to get in. The experience was possibly worth $20. The dinosaur exhibit was far from exhilarating. The robotic dinosaurs were cool and intriguing for the kids. They made great noises and moved in an engaging way. However, that was the extent of the exhibit. We were done with it in 45 minutes (and that was only because we milked it for every single second we could). There were not a large number of dinosaurs there and they were all located in one small room. This was not even close to what I was expecting. Many of the other hands on exhibits in the museum did not work or were not appropriate for kids under 10-12 (and even then, only for very science geared children). The information provided at each exhibit was minimal at best and did not provide for a true, engaged learning experience. There were some special events today: making slime and a fire fighter visit. We thought maybe the kids would enjoy this. The slime was a complete bust. There were 2 young teenagers "manning" the station and neither had any clue about the process. The slime "wasn't working" and all they could do was apologize. Neither of them thought to get help from someone else. Finally, what I assume to be a supervisor wandered by to check on them and asked them how it was going. When they said it wasn't working, he made a limited attempt to try the slime himself and walked away without providing a solution to the workers or the kids wanting to make slime. The firefighters were supposed to arrive at noon. At 12:10, they were nowhere to be found, so I decided to ask where they were (thinking maybe I had made a mistake). No one on the floor where they were supposed to be housed knew anything about them, so I went to the front desk. They said, "Oh, I don't know. Maybe they haven't gotten here yet." As I was about to walk away, a fire man came in. He started talking to the 2 employees at the desk and between the three of them, no one knew what he was supposed to be doing there. He finally made it to his exhibit area and he was very kind to my son and daughter, gave them firefighter hats, and spoke to them, but it wasn't quite what I was hoping it would be (no equipment, no demos; just one guy in a blue uniform). Please know, I am not unhappy with the firefighter... he is a hero who needed to be better prepared and directed by the museum. He is not at fault, the museum is. In all, I expected so much more from the museum. If I were you, I would skip this museum in favor of almost anything else in Rochester. As a result of my abundant disappointment, I will never return to this museum again and I would not recommend it to anyone. It simply is not worth the...

Amazing! Wonderful account of our local history. I appreciated how they focused on the local region's history, which is rich in diversity & substance. Reading the signs next to the displays reminded me of how my father's ancestors were land grant families in western NY. It also reminded me that while the natives lived in harmony with nature, they too had skirmishes & took other natives' hunting land, ... Wars & taking land was & is still part of world history. This museum makes no excuses. It teaches us history, plain & simple. It also showed how since the early 1500s, the natives have mixed with European genes, resulting in natives appearing to be of European origin, yet genetics do not lie. The 1st settlers to the Americas were of Asian origin & heritage. Most mixed with Europeans, probably starting in the early 1500s. We've had 500 years of mixing genes in the Americas, but don't get it twisted. Asians discovered "America" 12,000 to maybe 25,000 years ago. Then perhaps Polynesians or such 1,000 years ago, along with Vikings 900 years ago, or so. The ancient Japanese island people too, earlier than Columbus. My dad's ancestors came here in the early 1600s. Nothing to sneeze at. I'm proud of my heritage too. I remember as a youth growing up in Webster, near our house was a stream in an apple orchard. We used to find flint arrowheads once in awhile, lining the stream bed. Back then, we did not realize the great history of the natives in the area. It is good to teach children early & often about native and European local history, so they appreciate both. I wish I saved those arrowheads, but we threw them into the creek. Once I found a US penny dated 1840 in front of my family's yard, the date Webster was incorporated. I donated it to the Webster museum. I wondered if they ever displayed the penny. They should have. It might have been in Webster since 1840. You never know. 12/31/19; I brought my friend. We had a blast. Interesting educational black...

Didn't have as much interactive things as I would have liked to see but we enjoyed it !

Side note I saw a bunny trapped in a concrete area outside and let staff know and they went down and saved bunny! (And retrieved my glasses for me after I left them out there in the rain).

I just wanted to mention because I am easily put off by people's unhappy demeanor and at a science museum you expect people to he more happy to be there and welcome people, that the woman at the front desk of a children's science museum is unhappy seeming. She replies in dull responses with a flat face and is not friendly at all. We reported to her about the bunny as she was at the front desk and she was more than annoyed about it and didn't care, unlike a nicer staff member who was interested in finding someone to help (girl doing display about invisibility). When we were leaving I went up to ask if they'd found glasses cause I was scared someone had taken them from where I left them on the grass cause they're 200 dollars and they did have them at the desk but she was not friendly at all.

Favorite things were the interactive building blocks, water play exhibit with building and magnets, climbing light interaction, underwater robot, ball at entrance with rope pull, beach ball wind interaction, and the animal exhibits. Loved seeing the bayonet and sword display.

Hire younger people for the front desk is just an idea. Syracuse science museum there are more staff and...