The Children's Museum of Cleveland — Attraction in Cleveland

I visited with my three kids on a Tuesday during summer break. For reference, myself and my kids are all neurodiverse. Loved the play spaces and all the things there are to do, but there were WAY too many people and out of control, screaming kids.

All of my kids loved Adventure City best of all, but in the mess of people it was nearly impossible to keep track of them. There were workers walking around and cleaning as they go, but the area was just too chaotic for my tastes.

We explored the miniatures area and found it to be pretty cool and much less crowded than the other play spaces so we spent a decent amount of time looking around in that area. We also visited the Lego room and had some fun there, although it was very crowded as well.

The exhibits and activities were fun and engaging, but I found the crowd and noise level to be overwhelming for the majority of our visit. The museum is a large old house, and has the acoustics you would expect in a large old house. The rooms are echoey and sound bounces around, but I still somehow couldn't hear my son who was speaking to me from less than two feet away. The lights were also too bright.

We stopped by the sensory friendly room to help everyone level out a little, but it was disappointingly small and lacked a lot of things I would have hoped to find in it. The sign on the wall allows for two families in the room at a time, but the room felt extremely crowded with just our family and another mother with a small child. It was a brief respite from the chaos and noise of the rest of the museum, but that was about it.

Towards the end of our visit enough of the crowd had cleared out that we were able to visit the bubble room, and that's where the museum redeemed itself a bit. Everyone LOVED the bubble activities. I think my crew could have easily spent all day in there.

On our way out, I stopped by the front desk and asked if the museum offers sensory friendly hours, and was told no, although they pointed out the sensory bags that they lend out which include headphones. With the crowd level and the limited hours (and lack of accommodations for those with disabilities), I feel like the price of admittance is too steep.

TLDR; exhibits were neat and fun, but the crowd was overwhelming with little reprieve, and the environment is not built for those with sensory difficulties.

Maybe it slows down during the school year, but I would have a hard time wanting to come back given the price point and general...

Really great experience with our 16 month old boy today. Saw prior reviews that recommended to do the basement level last. Great advice. It's definitely the cherry on top. The main level had a huge fully stocked arts and crafts room that our Son was too young to enjoy, and also a sock-only play area which he didn't have much interest in. We were a little discouraged and went to the second floor. Discovered the Lego room as well as two other nice rooms with blocks, cars, activity tables, etc. Spent about an hour up there. This level also has a dozens of really detailed miniature houses and dolls (all behind glass). Our Son stopped at a few, but the exhibit seemed a little out of place in our opinion. Then we went to the Basement. Game over! We spent 3 hours but that's only because they were closing. Climbing, exploring areas, a book nook, kids kitchen, market, auto garage, doctors office, a huge theatre with costumes, lighting, sound effects, a great room with different genres of music a dance floor and shadow walls. Then the WonderLab. A fully interactive room with water and air features and more. Our Son's face was priceless (and we had some fun too!) There's also a large room attached with pool noodles of all colors and sizes which our Son checked out for a bit, but the room seemed bigger than necessary.

All the staff we interacted with were extremely friendly and helpful, making sure to acknowledge our Son and not just us.

Not sure when this new location opened, but everything was SUPER clean which can't be easy to do with so many kids running around every day. Purell stations were plentiful, but we never felt he had gotten into something that was gross.

It's not really a "museum" but it's the best $36 we've spent in a long time!

Only food is a vending machine, but you can pack whatever food/drink you...

My son had a ball here today for his 3rd birthday! Weve been a few times since the new place has opened but now that hes 3 he appreciates it alot more. His favorite area is of course the water area (I forget the actual name for it) we had to almost drag him out after an hour so we could explore the other areas. I love that the workers were constantly going behind people sanitizing with spray, wiping down areas , toys, etc. They also do temp checks at the door... I really felt like we were in a safe place that was as germ free as it could be(masks for all adults &children 3&up) . The "Meadows" which is a space for children 3yrs &younger is so awesome...my 3yr old &8.5month old loved it so much!! Its a private area that is pretty much a crawling baby/new walkers heaven. But just enough activities to keep a young toddler busy! The carpet is thick and cushioned and theres cushioned Mats all over. A great way to end our visit! We purchased a membership today which includes free admission for the next year & some other perks too. Although we reserved our tickets, date, &time online (mandatory now but schedule is VERY OPEN) we did NOT have to get there exactly at the time in which we signed up for... basically you can be late without any issues ...getting 2 little ones out the door is ROUGH! We were running about 20 /25 minutes behind so after I called to see what we should do....the VERY NICE lady explained that the times are very flexible &not to stress (how did she know?)we will still get immediate access! I suggest this place to anyone who has young toddler(s) it's a great place to...