Finding things to do in Fort Lauderdale with young children is hard. This museum was a real treat, but with some issues that really should be addressed.

First, parking. There are plenty of lots and garages around the immediate area, but it will cost you about $20 on the weekend. As a local, the weekend is the only time we can go as a family, so it is $20 right off the top every time to go. There is a nice parking garage across the street, but it also caters to the theater. If there is a play or event going on, good luck getting into that garage. The museum is in a very nice location, directly across from the Riverwalk area and the major theater, but this also adds to why parking is so expensive. We are members so we get "free" admission when we want to go, but have to pay $20 for parking every time. If we go 5 times a year, that adds $100 to our membership cost. Wish the museum could partner with the city for some sort of membership discount or option. I know - not the museum's problem, talk to the city.

Next, we noticed that there were a lot of exhibits and hands-on displays that were half-working or missing things and not working at all. Our 3.5-year-old didn't notice and was perfectly entertained without these things, but for the cost of parking and admission, it just feels like this shouldn't happen. The staff inside are absolutely great. They were all very helpful and pleasant.

The discovery spot - we registered for a specified time slot to attend the discovery spot, it is about an hour-long scheduled time. It is a nice little play area with a reading area (really pointless in such a loud environment, but cute nonetheless), climbing zone, and an orchard discovery area where kids go through the whole harvest of fruit process on their own. They pick brightly orange and yellowed colored balls, take them to be washed, then packaged and sorted, and put them on a truck to be delivered or take them to a little play kitchen to cook with. There was a cute little semi-boat kids could "fish" from (a pole with a magnet they lower on to pictures of fish with a magnet and then pull up their catch). This area was certainly nice and a way to break up looking at all the museum exhibits, but even with scheduled play times, it was a crowded, overwhelming, kids screaming. Imagine all the kids in elementary school playing on the playground at the same time, in a small confined space. I almost wish they would shorten your pass to 30 minutes and allow fewer kids each time. I didn't see any extra charge for this (we are members), but we did have to schedule a time.

There is only 1 café/eating place on-site, and it is in the Imax theater area. The employees in the café are not at all like the pleasant staff inside the museum. They were very discourteous and you could tell they didn't want to be there. Be prepared to pay beyond a premium price for not great food. A large popcorn and 2 small 16oz beverages will run $17, and the popcorn was not great. I've had better microwave popcorn, a small Gatorade is about $6 - definitely movie theater pricing at a family/kids museum.

The cost to enter is between $20 and $30 depending on age and if you are a local or not. They do offer a few free Bank of America cardholder days. This only gives 1 free general admission ticket, so if you have a family it will still cost to enter. The admission includes 1 Imax documentary. Annual memberships are reasonable. For our family, the Manatee membership includes 2 adults and up to 4 children for $180, which is about what we would spend on 2.5 visits as locals.

Overall, it is a great way to spend a few hours and even make a whole day out of it, if your kids are old enough to do the walking and not want frequent snacks. We spent about 3 hours, of which 45 minutes were in the Imax documentary, and we still didn't see everything, but our kiddo was exhausted and fell asleep 30 minutes into the documentary.