Emerald Coast Science Center — Attraction in Fort Walton Beach

A Disappointing Visit Despite High Hopes

I hesitated to write this review, but I want to be thoughtful for families, especially those traveling from out of town, who rely on honest feedback. We’ve visited many children’s science centers and museums across several states, nonprofits, state and private funded, and were genuinely excited to visit this one based on the reviews. Unfortunately, our experience didn’t meet our expectations.

As background, we run a mixed-age Montessori homeschool program, and my 7-year-old daughter is used to finding joy and learning in just about any environment. She can make lemonade out of pinecones, so to speak. So when we pulled up and she said, “That building looks bored,” it immediately stood out. What she noticed, and what we later confirmed was that the exterior appeared unkempt, the sensory path was deteriorating, and the space overall felt neglected.

Upon entering, we were met with the strong smell of caged animals. My daughter, who is normally energized by anything science-related, wasn’t eager, but she still wanted to explore. Admission was $12 per person. The main exhibit area was mostly non-functional or extremely outdated, and the themed rooms offered little engagement. The reptile room was one of the better parts, but the area she was most excited about, the outdoor free-play space, was the biggest disappointment.

There was a broken playhouse taped off with caution tape, a pontoon covered in mildew, and visible animal feces in the sand pit. The entire area felt abandoned with the vacant space. For the first time ever, my daughter asked to leave a science museum early—which was heartbreaking, especially since we had planned one of our vacation days around visiting.

I truly understand this is a nonprofit, and that funding can be difficult. But equipment in disrepair, combined with the ongoing costs of live animal care, makes it even more important for organizations to actively pursue funding, donations, and local partnerships. Our local science center thrives because it’s proactive in community engagement and support. Based on the reviews, there seems to be a lot of goodwill for this center, but critical feedback often gets met with excuses rather than solutions.

I’m sharing this not to tear down but in the hope it will be received as constructive. There’s so much potential here. I’d love to see it grow into a place that truly reflects the wonder and creativity science can inspire...

We attended the 6pm planetarium Halloween show and it was terrible. I had 3 kids excited to attend this because the description sounded so cool.

1st of all says get your trick or treat candy and there was literally a small bowl and they handed each kid 1 piece of candy. My kids were all dressed up and this event had NOTHING to do with Halloween such a disappointment! Why on earth would they do a event saying come dressed up in your costumes to celebrate Halloween and then have nothing to do with Halloween.

Once we get into the inflatable planetarium its scrunched into a room that it doesn't fit so everything is odd shaped and only showing on one side with the beaming light from projector blinding you.

The spooky "Halloween" kids stories were all about greek mythology and nothing Halloween related. My kids were so hot in their costumes and terribly bored with these stories they didn't even understand. They couldn't even hear her talking even if they did understand. They weren't even spooky stories, just awful boring greek mythology. Im so frustrated for my disappointed kids that were so excited for this Halloween event.

Whats really bad is paid $50 for my family for what I really feel I was tricked into paying for a Halloween event that they advertised and had NOTHING at all to do...

We got in mostly free with a membership for another museum! I was skeptical when I first saw it because you go around this strange little area before you see the museum but it was awesome! There was plenty to see inside the museum and a fun range of activities for all ages. There were Animals, interactive machines (a couple didn’t work) and it would have been great to use the hurricane simulator. The museum know about both things that were not working now and have been working to get them going again! lots of information on the walls about all kinds of science things! There was a fun outdoors area as well and I found the place quite exciting! I like how much they have fit into the small ish museum and it’s very well thought out. I wish all the interactive machines worked but it was a great time. My 4 and 5 year olds liked it a lot and we would definitely visit next time we are there. Staff were lovely and there was enough parking. Can’t imagine that’s the case with school out but when it’s in, parking...