Discovery Center — Attraction in Ocala

The Discovery Center is a great place to come entertain and educate our kids who both really enjoy visiting. They have live animals downstairs and a exhibit area upstairs that changes out a few times a year to a new topic.

I highly recommend buying an family annual pass as they are an ASTC member so it can get you in to other Science Centers around the country for free/discount if you travel regularly.

Update 6/30/23:

I still 100% find this a worthwhile stop to make with the family, plan on spending about 2-3 hours to give the littles enough time to get their hands on everything and get their energy out. If you feel they need to get some energy out first visit Tuscawilla Park across the street first.

Update 2/24/24:

They have now redone all of their animal exhibits downstairs and changed the upstairs exhibit over. Definitely still worth...

I was really looking forward to visiting the Discovery Science Center, but unfortunately, my experience was disappointing. The center was noticeably understaffed, which led to unanswered questions, and a lack of support in most exhibit areas.

It also felt very disorganized — signage was unclear, exhibits weren’t functioning properly, and there was little direction for visitors. Some areas looked neglected or poorly maintained, which made the visit feel chaotic rather than educational or inspiring.

I truly believe science centers should be engaging and well-run to spark curiosity, especially for kids. I hope management addresses these issues soon, because the potential is there — it’s just not being...

This is a great educational/fun place for kids. They have a downstairs area with classroom settings with themes like the ocean, outer space, etc... there are also animals downstairs to see but the upstairs was the best part for the kiddos. They change it out from time to time based on different themes. We went when there was a horse/cowboy theme so there was a fake miniature horse with wheels that the kids would ride on, horse shoe game, dress up, etc... they also had a giant light bright, indoor playground with slide, huge building foam blocks, vacuum tube maze thing, electricity hand crank generator, etc... the kids...