Florida Museum of Natural History-Exhibits — Attraction in Gainesville

every time my granddaughter comes to visit me we go to see the butterfly exhibition. Beautiful is like being in another world. Due to her condition of Autism, her connection with nature is incredible. She also has ADHD. also requiring Support in Social Communication. Before entering she understands the rules of the site very well even better than me. because she is high functioning autistic. And believe me, maybe one day she will work for you guys. But the fact that she spreads her arms is not an indication that she wants to touch the butterflies. It is for them to reach her. I'm telling you this not because of a bad review because there was one of you staff employees who came out and told her you can't touch them. You can imagine what happened to her. she began to cry because what she wanted was for a blue butterfly to reach on her hands. Nothing more than that. She wasn't touching her I was with her reminding her of the rules she just wanted to feel the blue butterfly in her hands. She wasn’t stalking them . which she knows very well its name and its characteristics not only of that butterfly of almost all of them. I can assure you that in the future my granddaughter will be of great help to you. Having said all this, I only have one suggestion. Today various colors are used to identify special conditions. I think it's the purple color. With a bracelet you as employees will know that it is a person with special conditions. but that behind them there is an adult who knows the rules and is going to help you to make that special person follow the rules in such a beautiful place prepared to preserve something as beautiful as butterflies. My granddaughter Briana is very grateful that you take care of her butterflies, she understands that butterflies are God's creation and you have to take good care of them. When she spreads out her arms, she knows that at some point one of the butterflies is going to reach her, and that's how it has been on our recent visits to such a...

My husband and I made a day trip out of visiting the museum, driving from the Tampa area (roughly two hours). It was absolutely worth it and if you're within driving distance I would highly recommend finding the time to visit. It was free to see all of the permanent exhibits, which included a lot more than I had anticipated from what I saw on the website. The model exhibits were very detailed, and the local fossil exhibits were even more impressive. I never knew we had such interesting animals living in Florida in prehistoric times, even as a Florida native.

When we visited there were two exhibits that required an admission fee (The Butterfly Rainforest and the bat exhibit). The Butterfly Rainforest is absolutely worth the price. It is Florida, so you might want to dress appropriately if you're planning on spending an extended amount of time in the Rainforest because it does get very hot and humid, but I could have spent hours in there. If you're able to catch one of the scheduled butterfly releasing ceremonies, I would. During the release, the staff explains some of the butterflies more in depth and how the Rainforest itself is run. The bat exhibit wasn't as much of a hit, but it was a relatively cheap admission so I wouldn't say I regret buying it. It was very informative, but a lot of the displays were broken and it was relatively plain and underwhelming compared to the rest of the museum, including the free exhibits.

If you're visiting during the summer, keep in mind that there are likely to be summer camps in the museum and you might be surrounded by unruly children. This happened when we visited, but the museum was large enough that it wasn't hard to avoid them and go to quieter areas of the museum until they left the exhibit we wanted to see.

My only real critique is that some of the exhibits had very bad lighting that made it difficult to appreciate models and almost impossible to read signs. But considering the price and the overall return, it's...

Absolutely fantastic museum with engaging displays and awesome research. We went as a group of 3 adults and learned a lot about Florida natural history including fossils, Native Americans, and Florida flora and fauna. The butterfly rainforest is an extra charge but highly recommend paying it! It not only supports conservation around these species but also the whole experience the museum provides.

Some highlights are included in my pictures but the majority of exhibits have an interactive component and a good chunk are at child/wheelchair height. Some of the text can be smaller and some of the exhibits can be dimmer so if you need reading glasses or a light source, I would suggest bringing those! For 3 adults that vacillated between skimming and reading exhibit text, we managed to see everything in about 3 hours.

Since we visited on a weekday we parked in the adjacent open lot advertised for the museum for $4, it covers the entire day but be aware, they do not accept cash! They also have picnic tables outside if you wanted to bring your own lunch. They do not have a café or anything inside the museum. As for the gift shop - be prepared to...