Boonshoft Museum of Discovery — Attraction in Dayton

This place is simply the coolest - hands down. Having went on a Saturday with the family it was definitely busy, but not so busy that you had to wait to see different attractions or running in to other patrons. Honestly it was the perfect kind of busy. The families that were there with their children created a sort of excitement for me. It was a kind of excitement that allow me, at 41 years old, to be a kid again.

There are so many attractions that it is easy to lose track of time while you're in the museum. We burned through about 3 hours in what felt like no time flat. I would venture as far as saying that 95% are there attractions are hands on and all have to do with science. Each attraction or science experiment pipe station as easy kid-friendly explanation posted by it or on it.

They have a multitude of imagination stations if you will that allow children to go back to the lost art of pretending. They have a Veterinary Clinic which is complete with live animals such as turtles, cockroaches - yes I said cockroaches, and a Tarantula (all these behind their respective glass windows). Children get to make sick stuffed animals better again and even get to use real X-rays that they can hold and study of animals in their quest to heal. There is also a small replica of a house that allows kids to learn about wind energy and its many uses, a grocery store, mechanic shop, etc. There is also Interactive stations where kids can interact with creatures from the ocean such as starfish, sea anemones, and sea cucumbers. There is a whole section of the building that is dedicated to space and has numerous interactive stations for kids to learn about things like gravity and energy as well as planetary systems. As stated earlier in my review- hi found myself being a kid again and playing along with our daughter and testing out different theories at experimental stations. Another cool feature how many museum is that if your children should get a little bored with science experiments they can always go play on the two-story playground that is guaranteed to where your little one out and allow them to burn some extra energy.

What else can I say? Boonshoft absolutely got it right in terms of engaging children to learn about science. The pricing was surprisingly cheap. I expected at least pay $20 per adult and 15 / kid, but it wasn't even close to that. Below is the pricing -

Adults $14.50 Seniors (60+) $12.50 Children (3-17) $11.50 Children (under 3) Free Members are FREE!

Might I add as well that if you are a Columbus Zoo member ticket prices are 50% off so me and my fiance paid $14.50 for me and her and $5.50 for...

My daughter, fiance, and I visited The Boonshoft on Monday, May 9, 2023, for the first time in over a decade. My daughter is 17 now, and we hadn't been since she loved to play in the water area and rope bridge!

We were greeted by Eileen S. to get tickets, and this review is mainly to praise her. She was absolutely excellent, and set the stage for a positive experience for us. She was friendly, cheerful, talkative, and helped us get a discount for receiving public assistance. This was a godsend because my fiance is disabled with Hodgkin's Lymphoma, so every bit we can save on leisure activities is so helpful. Eileen was obviously so happy at her job, which is delightful to see and reflects so well on the museum management as a whole. In fact, everyone I encountered there seemed happy in their work.

The experience, of course, was amazing as it always had been a decade ago. I loved every moment. I, 38 years old, ran around like a kid and never felt judged. It felt encouraged. We looked at every exhibit and loved them all.

Of course, the otters are always the highlight, but I found a new friend in Lucy the Turkey Vulture (she put on a little performance just for me in her enclosure.) This was awesome because I had been wary and unsure about turkey vultures. Interacting with her changed my entire view on them.

I'd mentioned previously that my fiance has Hodgkin's Lymphoma, so he has been stuck in the house for fear of covid for almost 3 years and this was one of our first outings in an indoor public venue in a very long time. He recently got a self contained unit that allows him to purify the air since mask mandates got dropped. I felt like the museum is very handicapped accessible as well and that is appreciated so much.

Long story not short, thank you! Thank you for making our visit one of the best days we've had in many years. And tell Eileen thank you, and say hi to...

The way this place treats staff is incredibly disgusting. Very underpaid, toxic management who bully their lower staff. Besides that they don’t upkeep anything except for the zoo, probably because they would rather focus on parties for rich folks rather than being an important educational resource. The zoo staff are super nice and so is guest services even though they are the lowest paid in the building. The cafe is disgusting I heard the manager called “Nails” yell at his staff, another guy throw things and only having one register is ridiculous. Very understaffed and not because people don’t want to work but because they get treated so badly with little to no training and bullied by the ceo. This museum used to be awesome and a safe place but the past 5 years it’s went down hill. They need new management who don’t make their employees cry on the floor, they need an actual HR team not one guy who doesn’t do anything with reports made. The museum itself isn’t bad except for the outdated stuff, falling construction rocks, and expensive prices. I would definitely consider going to anywhere else. Sunwatch their sister site is even worse completely forgotten and neglected because it doesn’t make them more money. DSNH is awful -100/10 don’t work there, be cautious when visiting. Be careful when eating in the cafe, moldy cheese, expired food and stale...