The Arvin Gottlieb Planetarium — Attraction in Kansas City

Only reason I gave 1 star was to comment. Get a cutting edge program for adults interested in this field. Have a live narrator that has a PhD. In cosmology or astrophysics. This way facts are more accurate and up to date. If this is done alongside current satellite arrays. You'll have the best show in the state. Also a more current kid's program. I've been to 3 planetariums and they show the exact same show. From when I was a kid. The narrator has probably passed away by now from that show. You need to keep up with what they are being taught in school. The "pillars of creation" in the crab nebula is not even there anymore. A supernova wiped them out. But there are still mentions of it. Up the information, the graphics from the 70's-80-s need to go. You can't tell a solar cluster from a galaxy. Nor a galaxy from a nebula. People will spend more money for more intuitive and clear information. One that only a PhD can give. Not someone that is reading from an old text book you can't find anymore. And a live narrator taking people on a journey through space. Not just snapshots from apollo 10 or 11. Use Hubble, Kepler, the vlt in Hawaii, some from Chile. The map satellite. Things like that. Id pay upwards of $25-$35 a ticket to see and hear from a Dr. Of astrology, or cosmology. Maybe throw in some theories. Like string or super symmetry. A lecture such as that id pay $50. Get back to what a planetarium was meant to be. Expand the minds of people. Especially our next generation. You can invoke minds and have new students in the field looking up and thinking what a wonderful, exciting, canvas that has unlocked doors and windows that they want to help open. But using the same old stuff. Will not reach those new generations. Although we have the technology to do what I've outlined. It's not being done. The material is there. Just apply it. The reviews I've read mostly talk about chairs. Kids liked the beanbag seats. That's what people are getting from your presentation. Chairs!? Thank you for your time. I hope to see new invigorating skyskapes in the near future. NEVER STOP LOOKING AND REACHING...

We went to the Planetarium to catch a show on a whim on a Wednesday afternoon after seeing the Museum of Illusions (which was awesome) it was $24 for 2 adults & a child.

My daughter and I lay on one of the big poufs on the floor and my husband sat in a seat near us.

The preshow was awesome; it was just soft music and pictures of space. My daughter loves space. She's almost 8.

The show started (The Magic Treehouse) and it was a bit silly. Like something you'd take a first graders to see on a field trip. But, I'm not a spoil sport so I adjusted my expectations and snuggled into my pouf. Honestly, the most egregiously unrealistic thing to me was the idea of Morgan Le Fey & Merlin being friends and either of them interacting with children in a positive manner. But I'm kind of a giant nerd. Neither of them ended up actually being in the show anyway.

I'm almost positive I would have gotten motion sickness if I hadn't been laying down so... Yay for poufs!

The best part was the twist ending which I legitimately didn't see coming.

But as for the planetarium itself: We were comfortable, it wasn't too crowded, tickets were reasonable, it was a smooth and...

What a wonderful place! My fiancé proposed to me on January 1st at the Arvin Gottlieb Planetarium and the staff there were astronomically helpful in his arranging the proposal. They allowed him to make a special announcement at the end of what was already the best star show I've ever been to (narrated live by a staff member). Obviously getting to create the memory of a lifetime leaves me with a positive bias, but if I'm being completely honest, prior to the proposal I was already excited about coming back for more star shows. The narrator (Patrick) made the show informative and funny and entertaining. The pacing was perfect and the technology (e.g., images, sounds, animations) that was incorporated enhanced the overall presentation and made it easy to follow. I have been to several planetarium shows around the country and most enjoyed this one, especially as I was able to learn a lot of new information about the constellations and astronomical terms. The state-of-the-art facility along with the friendly and expert staff make the Arvin Gottlieb Planetarium a place that I look forward to visiting...