McKenna Children's Museum — Attraction in New Braunfels

I have been taking kiddos to the McKenna for years! The kids always enjoy it. I do have a few complaints after my most recent visit with my 3 yr old son.

The fist room with the air tubes and puff balls is pretty boring... there are only 2 places to insert a ball and the suction is so strong that my son was afraid to put a ball in... there also were plastic balls that got stuck in the tubes and only a few puff balls, which are ideal. The Dyson air guns NEVER work when we visit the museum...the buttons don't work.

The grocery store is always a favorite. For the most part it is nice but there is a great pizza station for imaginative play but we couldn't make pizza because there was no crust or sauce prop...just pizza pans and some little onions and peppers...I didn't see any child play in that area.

The bank is a waste of space. In the 2 hrs we were there I saw 3 children poke around for a minute or so and then leave, we were in there alot because my son loves the magnetic train set and table in there. My suggestion would be to get rid of the bank and either add an interactive river learning room , since NB is a river town and the rivers are so important to our area or make it a big train room!

The home and camping area is cute but toy circulation is bad... there were hardly any food props at the camper, my son played for 4 minutes and left.

Outside is so much nicer now that they updated the water fixtures! Very cute. However, the fishing poles don't work with the magnetic fish in the pool and all the balls/toys available are too big to be put down the little water slide, I saw a couple kids get frustrated with that.

The rocket ship didn't work...well one button did but there are at least 10 buttons in there and only one worked! The kids just run in and smash around and leave. There is so much opportunity for imaginative play in the rocket ship but having broken props is disappointing. The dark star room is great, always a fav!

It would also be nice if there were more places for parents and grandparents and care givers to sit and watch. I had to sit on the floor up against a wall to watch my son play trains for 30 minutes! A chair would have been nice!

The art room is a bit broing painting and markers, everyone has that at home and it never changes. Beading, weaving, paper mache, air dry clay, magazines collages, water color, rubber stamps those would all be fun things to have available at the tables in circulation.

Overall, this is a nice place to take the kids when it's hot outside. I'd say 2 hours and they would probably be done but it would be an enjoyable 2 hours! Bring your own snacks and lunches, the Cafe there is expensive and not picky...

Visited once again with grandchildren and found many issues the same or worse than 6-8 months ago. I cannot recommend this place to anyone. Rates have also increased, and for what?

Area: Furball airflow - maybe 3 fur balls and 5’ tall boys throwing plastic balls at the maze and running around;

Ambulance - buttons inoperable;

H‑E‑B grocery - “pizza” counter missing most pieces; space area: controls not working, no spinners in air tube;

House building - pipes for plumbing do not join at all;

Hand sanitizing fixtures devoid of sanitizer;

Water: fishing poles and fish do not magnetically connect (if you can find any fish), one time my grandchild had to “fish” around for the tubing to connect for squirt nozzle to operate; artificial grass covered with debris and leaves;

Train - cars scattered everywhere;

Hospital - pretty much lacking in things to do;

General - BIG kids running around dodging little ones and adults.

Why are there not age limits? A big kid has no business in this museum: too childish for their age resulting in misbehavior which keeps age-appropriate children from enjoying the play areas.

Why is there not a limit to the number of all bodies in the museum? Crowding is annoying and unhealthy.

Your loosey goosey rules of play are a joke. There is little “hand in hand” parental direction, and the big kids ARE running all over the place.

Attendants are there but ineffective.

Visited today and there was an overload of kids and parents/adults. Kids as tall as I am (5’3”) seemingly unaccompanied and running all over the place. Many of the play stations were inoperable: grocery store - not working, plumbing pipes would not connect; space area overrun by large kids wearing the backpacks weren’t watching who they were knocking down behind them; fishes have lost their magnetism for fishing; only one staff noticed in the total play area doing minimum pickup of out-of-place items. Very disappointing. Difficult to navigate with...

I wrote my initial 5-star review about 8 months ago and while everything I said before is true, I felt like I needed to update my opinion. Although my 2.5 year old loves coming here, we won't be renewing our membership. It has become so frustrating trying to come here during the school year. Every single time we've tried to come here over the past few months there have been several school buses full of kids here for field trips. I understand that this is a great educational place to come for field trips, and my issue isn't with the field trips themselves. I just wish that McKenna could designate 1 single day a week where they don't schedule any field trips, so that people with memberships could come and enjoy it. Today, I got here right when they opened at 10 only to find 4 school busses here, the parking lot was completely full, the overflow parking lot was full, and the street was full (parent chaperones drive themselves, which is why there was absolutely no parking). I ended up parking behind the building and a half a block away. I no longer feel I am getting my money's worth out of our membership. I honestly find myself dreading coming here, and when I do end up coming I run into this issue time and time again.

Here is my original review: McKenna is one of my kids (ages 4.5 and 2) favorite places to play! It's educational but also very fun and engaging. It offers lots of opportunities for roleplay and imaginative play. They have an outdoor area with lots of water tables, drums and a "treehouse" with a slide. Inside, you'll find a tank with fish and turtles, a play ambulance with lights and sirens, a grocery store with carts and 2 check out lanes, a doctor's office/nursery, dress up clothes, a tent, camper and campfire area, a kitchen area, bat cave, and an area to paint, color, do facepaint and...