San Diego Children's Discovery Museum — Attraction in Escondido

Update: I love this place every time!

Accessibility: wheelchair accessible all around. There are a few parking spots near the front door that are for people who need it, but the parking lot definitely fills up on weekends and around holidays or spring break. Inside it is all flat ground and going into the garden is also flat ground. The restrooms here have multiple stalls, including one larger one, and everything is at a low enough height for anyone in a wheelchair to access as this whole place was made for people of all different heights! The staff here are incredibly friendly so if you need any assistance just let them know and they will help! I work with kids who have Autism and I fully see this place being incredible and fun for them too! If you have a child or adult in your group who is sensitive to noise, I recommend coming during the week day, NOT on a weekend. The weekends are very loud here and your kid will probably bump into other kids. As for stimulatory activities, there are many ones kids could enjoy...there is a water activity, sand activity, fun things to do on dry areas, inside, outside, in the sun or shade, you can make your own music or have it more quiet (again, only on the week days). Truly this place is amazing for kids with and without disabilities! I'm so beyond impressed.

Experience: I LOVE this place even as an adult, my niece and nephew love it, and the kids I babysit love it! My family has a year pass for this place because it's so awesome! To my knowledge you cannot come here without a child in your party, to protect kids from strange adults wandering in. There are SO many different activities for kids to do here and tons of other kids to play with, especially if you come on weekends. I love how so many of the activities get kids to be creative and figure things out, as well as learn about nature, animals, growing food and flowers, or other things! This place is the absolute best for kids of different ages and the yearly pass is worth it.

Cost: without a year pass, just walking in, one adult ticket cost a little...

My daughter( 2 yr old) and I had such a great time here! For such a small place it is packed with non stop fun and learning. The indoor room has areas for imagination and experimentations (ie looking at slides of bugs leaves etc under a microscope, building towers with magnetic blocks, placing scarfs onto tunnel with air blowing up ). It also has areas for pretend( a whole area is dedicated to shopping for food items with a market set up with pretend food to fill up a bag. There is a section that has different professions with dress up outfits and hands on (doctors office, reception, firefighter) There is a huge play area for kids two and under with a slide and giant pirate ship to climb on.

Outside is a whole different area for exploration. There is a station for bubbles, making music, a garden, and huge Lego building water tower. There is also a shaded area to play in the sand and dig for fossils.

My little girl had so much fun wandering around from section to section. It definitely allowed for her to play, explore and work on her fine motor skills. The whole place is gated so a parent doesn't feel like they have to be holding their childs hand the entire time.

The staff was amazing and super kind to the kids. It seems like they offer acitvities and special events daily. Throughout the year they also offer farm Fridays which are the last Friday of the month. My daughter had a chance to feed, pet and learn about the animal of the month from Escondido high school students. Win win for everyone.

Well done children's musuem proud to...

Greeted once walked in and checked in quickly. Wish we would’ve known it was a school field trip day but drove an hour to get here and decided to stay. A lot smaller than pictured but my daughter enjoyed it for the most part minus how super crowded it was. Everything was fine until my toddler daughter was playing in the wind scarf sensory area and when she was coming to me, she slipped and fell face first onto the slick concrete floor. She was bleeding from her mouth and tore the tissue between her lip and gum and now has cuts and bruises in her mouth. The workers made it seem like it happens pretty often since they just handed me some gauze, an ice pack and a DIY car kit not suitable for a 2 year old toddler as an “I’m sorry your kid got hurt while here.” They didn’t check on her, asked if we needed anything, or even apologized for the incident that had happened. They didn’t even make eye contact with me or said anything as we were leaving. An incident report was filed but I believe nothing will be done. I understand it’s an indoor/outdoor place but a few rugs inside would be nice mostly in areas where kids are constantly getting hurt. I won’t be returning due to it not being as safe as other children’s museums...