Museum of Natural Curiosity at Thanksgiving Point — Attraction in Lehi

Escorted us out the newly built Jurassic playground. We hadn’t had prior knowledge that we needed grippy socks to enter and were never told by staff members even when entering the area or the front desk when getting our admission. We went with my partners little sister and she was ecstatic to go which made us happy. As we arrived the shoes hanging area was very…musty and shoes laying about which no staff said anything about and in fact we didn’t see a single staff member once we got into the main play area nor did anyone try stopping us from entering without grippy socks and we saw many other adults without grippy socks as well as children. We didn’t see any signs prior as well or at least they weren’t well lanced or stated enough. There may also have been employees in the play area but we didn’t seem to see any or they didn’t say anything to us at all either. We didn’t have a huge issue until we were already in the top with my partners little sister and were just walking around watching her play. One lady did come up to us and started harassing us about grippy socks and stated she was a muse and worked in a hospital and ranted on about injuries with grippy socks and such…My partner and I weren’t aware she was an employee as she didn’t have anything on not even a badge and like I said, she never stated as such then she walked off…I was very confused as who this lady was and what her deal was with being worried about some 21+ year olds watching a child like all the other parents sitting around. But we went on and even sat down to wait for my partners little sister and soon after a few moments the lady was back and started harassing us again and told us we can get grippy socks for $3 in front and started talking about the injury thing again which I started thinking maybe she was an employee but she just walked away again…that left me stunned and I didn’t wanna leave my partners little sister all alone but we told her we would be down at the bottom waiting for her. She was fine with that and we went down to wait for her where the rest of the parents were. We talked and waited but soon another employee started coming over to us and told us if we didn’t have socks we needed to leave and I was so confused and felt like it was very rude and I started explaining that we had a child up there still and we needed to wait for her but we never got to explain as she told us we needed to leave so…I didn’t wanna create more fuss and we left…as soon as we got out we went to the front desk to complain about here rudeness and poor costumer service and told them we still had a child in there when they escorted us out but they didn’t seem to care and we had to talk to more employees just to get one singular apology out of one employee we talked to. The lady that escorted us out just stood by in the background watching us like a hawk…we didn’t mean any ill intention and we just simply wanted to take my partners little sister somewhere fun….but clearly this museums priority is kicking two adults out while wanting us to leave a child behind unattended…without asking us any questions as well….very poor employees here and if I could go as far I would say racial discrimination…I wouldn’t recommend this place if you want somewhere nice...

This place is so fun, but there are some things that make each experience frustrating as well. Maybe if some of these issues are fixed, things will get better. Honestly, more employees would solve most of the issues.

Grimy: So many of the areas and toys are starting to get a layer of grime on them because they have been used so much and not cleaned as much as they should be. They probably need to be cleaning a few times a day, and they need to be cleaning things like the Legos and dress up clothes a lot.

Broken/missing toys: We try to go in the afternoons to avoid the crowds, but unfortunately by that point, Kidopolis, the Rainforest market, and the rotating exhibit are all a huge mess with everything missing. I don't know what parents are doing, but they clearly aren't watching their kids to make sure they put things back in their place or keep them from taking items to other exhibits. Last time we were there, the while canister for the Zion's Bank was missing. They need more employees to try to keep things in order, restock items, and to prevent kids from running away with items. Maybe parents would parent their kids more if they got embarrassed seeing an employee get after their kids.

Kids running wild: This goes hand-hand with point 2. Every time we go, there are kids running wild with no parents in sight. They run into younger kids, mess up the exhibits, throw items, etc. More than once, I have seen kids chucking the play food from the Rainforest market at each other and the wall. Like kids around age 8 throwing those plastic food pieces as hard as they can, all while little kids are in there. I got hit in the head once, and I was so glad that it was me and not one of the little kids in there. The display chalkboard in the India school was covered in crayon markings from kids writing on it (it isn't meant for crayons or even chalk). I always expect to see a parent coming in to intervene when I see an out-of-control child, but they usually don't come. I understand that you can't have your eyes on your child at all times, but these parents seem tk never supervise. Again, having more employees there to get after wild kids might make parents start watching their kids.

Adults pay way too much. It seems most children's museums charge LESS for adults, but more. The adult price is ridiculously high for a place that's meant for kids. Adults shouldn't have to pay $24+ to supervise their kids while they play (especially since so many don't even supervise).

Might sometimes fill to overcapacity? We went for 'Noon Year's Eve," and it was a little scary how many people they had k there. I imagine it was overcapacity and that it would be a hazard in a fire or emergency. Not sure they ever limit how many people come in.

This place has so much potential, and honestly has so many fun things to do that we stay for a while each time we go, but they really need more employees to keep the exhibits clean and in tact. Parents need to do their...

The Museum of Natural Curiosity at Thanksgiving Point is truly an amazing place! I recently returned to visit family in my native California and while I was there, I took my family to the Stockton, California, Children's Curiosity Museum. The Museum of Natural Curiosity at Thanksgiving Point blows the competition away. There is so much to do here for children. Despite being very busy most days, the venue is clean. There are enormous and elaborate play structures for those children who are very active and need to just move, jump, and climb. But, there are also plenty of stations and, even large rooms, dedicated to exercising our children's minds. To compare the Stockton Children's Museum to the Museum of Natural Curiosity at Thanksgiving Point would be like comparing an old Jeep to a beautiful Ferrari. I highly recommend this place for children ages 3 up to 18. Even adults can learn a thing a two and enjoy most of the station areas.

There are sitting locations along walls for parents to rest and observe. However, on busy days the seating is sparse so come prepared in good comfortable shoes for standing. The several bathrooms are clean and seem sanitary. There are elevators for moving up and down between the multiple floors.

The only downside is the cost. A single day pass is very expensive. It is $24 per adult and the children's prices range from $17 - $19 depending on their age. Seniors are $21. However, acquiring a Thanksgiving Point family pass would pay for itself if you plan on attending this children's museum a few times or once or twice with a large family.

One last point cost wise. If you are on Medicaid then the price is much cheaper. Utah Medicaid recipients are $3 per adult and all children of all ages are free.

I compared the Museum of Natural Curiosity at Thanksgiving Point its counterpart I went to with my family in Stockton, California in order to drive home the point that we really get what we pay for. The high cost surely goes to operating a first rate experience for children. Some things are...