Niantic Children's Museum — Attraction in East Lyme

We’ve been members of this museum now for over 3 years. Today, the director informed me that our membership had expired and we could not be there under the CT open museums as we had not pre-registered. At this point we had already been there for well over 45 minutes! I wasn’t aware my membership had lapsed as they never send anything about renewal. We never even used our membership this past year as all of the times we went, would’ve been free (Friday evenings). I’m so disappointed in the behavior of this director. We wouldn’t have wanted to renew for this year because my son is beginning to outgrow it, and I’m working full-time. In order to stay today, we would’ve had to pay full price tickets. There were hardly any kids there so I know we could’ve come under the free admission. I think this director is just “rules are rules” and quite rude (only ever referring to me by name when this occurred today). Because of this women’s negligence -both in never informing us of renewal ahead of time. And then, only when we had been there playing for some time -which put me in a position to disappoint my son who didn’t understand. I most certainly would’ve signed up for the free admission ahead had I known. Or if she had informed us when we first arrived I could see. But she didn’t. Her behavior was unprofessional to say the least. I had planned on donating to this museum. But now I...

I had high hopes for this place because I've heard so many great reviews. Unfortunately my experience wasn't as such. My kids had a decent time there which is why I didn't give only one star, because they had fun with a few of the exhibits there, but then got bored easily (ages 3 and 5). Street parking only with limit up to One hour only. They said you can park at the church except Wednesdays and Thursdays and we were there on a Wednesday so I had to park way down the street with two toddlers, paranoid I was going to get a ticket for being there over an hour. The inside was waaayyyy over crowded. They really need to put a limit on how many people were in there at once. The children couldn't even play with everything there. Things were out of place, toys from other rooms were found scattered about so you couldn't even use the exhibits properly anyways. Too many grownups wandering around or on their cell phones, blocking access to things kids were supposed to play with. I've been to multiple kids museums and this one was just super packed, small, and overwhelming. Also, they closed the outside exhibits and play area due to "weather.". The weather was just cloudy... No rain...no storm.... It didn't make sense. And we still had to pay full price. Unless it's dead in there and the outside part is open, I...

We've been to the Children's Museum a few times and while there was always a lot for a toddler to do, a lot of the toys were old and it felt a bit run down. We went today for the first time in months, and everything was updated! It's so much more welcoming and bright now, and while I wish the staff were a bit more involved, making sure toys were returned to their exhibits (my kid wanted a duplo truck, but older kids had gathered them up and walked off with most of them) and speaking to parents of children behaving inappropriately (pushing, throwing toys), and the firetruck siren is WAY too loud (and only turns off if you flip the switch—it really should only be on when a child is actively pressing a button so kids can't turn it on and LEAVE, with the siren blaring indefinitely) overall it's a great place for a toddler to get plenty of energy out and explore. There's a bee hive to watch, a few reptiles/amphibians, an old-fashioned fridge covered in magnets, a designated baby/early toddler room with non-chokeable toys and a small slide with carpeted stairs, and lots of areas for pretending and building, and an AMAZING sensory wall with lights. There are even two microscopes! And a pipe organ! And an outdoor playground! I recommend it, though, as with most kid-friendly places,...