First Americans Museum — Attraction in Oklahoma City

FAMily Discover Center This review is specifically for the FAMily discover center as this was the only part of the museum that we visited.

The Disover Center needs a lot of work. Doesn't seem like tests were done with families and children before opening. The greatest flaw we found was the foliage all around the room. Visually, it looks great. Practically, it is a nightmare. Your children go in tunnels behind dense "foliage" and you cannot see them at all. The tunnels they go in are small tunnels made out of hard metal bars. Inevitably (it happened multiple times to children while we were there) a child rocks their head on the hard metal poles of the tunnel, they cry, and parents can't see where or who the child is because of the foliage to help them. The alternative is that parents crawl through the tunnels with the children to keep an eye on them which is clearly not built for adults, especially when two or more adults are trying to crawl past each other to keep up with their own children. I also don't understand the metal bars and why a thin layer of foam wasn't at least added to them.

We were also disappointed at the lack of Native American culture explained in the center. There are a couple of small exhibits, but not a lot for children to really learn from. Throughout the room were screens for games to learn about native animals to Oklahoma, but it is trivia game that requires lots of reading. Most of the children in the center while we were there are way too small to be able to read rendering a trivia game pointless. Perhaps interactive coloring games would be better on the tablets or something that children who can't read or know trivia facts can also learn and participate would be more age appropriate.

There is also a beadwork "exhibit" where children can decorate a giant sneaker with "beads." However, most of the parents in the room were required to hoist their child up high so that the child could even reach the shoe because it is on a pole so high. Seemed odd to set up a child's activity at such a height that most of the kids in the room couldn't even reach it.

Overall, we would definitely not return to the Discover Center unless it was reworked with children and parents a little more in mind. Again, visually, looks amazing. But the practicality of the room needs...

They have cut the budget so much that they have PERMANENTLY closed the restaurant. Do not listen when they tell you it will reopen, because it won't. They laid off the whole restaurant crew, made them clean the kitchen and escorted them out like dogs without ever receiving their pensions. Same with the event's crew and a few other employees who were nothing but loyal to the museum. The customers are more polite than the some of the people you work with and treat you more human than they do. People walk right past you without even so much as a glance, and you're expected to just take it. There's no moving up, you will be promised promotions and have them not just taken away, but rubbed in your face while you watch someone less deserving receive what you were told was yours. And again, you are expected to take it. People will talk to you in a condescending tone and think you're too stupid to tell they're being sarcastic, and if you deep clean anything, rest assured your supervisor will take credit for it and receive the praise. Do yourself a favor and go anywhere else because the touch surfaces do not get sanitized. The plates and forks you're eating off of are not being properly cleaned due to the dishwasher never being serviced despite needing service for many years. The theater has been shut down as well, so all you're doing there is walking through a gallery with barely any proper history and a store full of things the gallery tells you is bad. Kids don't have fun here because there is nothing to do. Their mound is closed permanently as well due to the glass in the big dome area breaking and shattering on the walkway. Oh, and if you have a wasp allergy, bring an EpiPen because there are wasp nests scattered around outside, including under benches and above entryways. The price of admission is asinine for the little amount of things there are to do at this place. Unless you really enjoy being...

This is not a short visit museum. Plan a whole day for this museum if you want to see everything. There is a ton of reading and a lot of videos to watch as you walk throughout. Very informative displays but again. There is a lot of reading. I understand that this information is very import to our history but I often felt overwhelmed by just how much information there was. My family and I also ate at the restaurant, this is not a kid friendly restaurant. There are no chicken tenders, pizza, food options. That some museums offer for kids. I'm not sure if the goal of the restaurant was to provide food that is more plant based or not but options were limited for those that seek more then a plant based pallet. The bison burger was good but it comes loaded with veggies. Pictures displaying the food options would have been nice. As me and my family were unfamiliar with the food descriptions and didn't order due to confusion. We did ask the waitress but opted to pass on things out of fear the food was not going to be what we had hoped. Parking although not far from the front door is a bit of a walk. I do think they allow curbside drop off for those concerned about walking impaired individuals. There is a bit of construction going on around the grounds but nothing that will impeded you from getting to the entrance. Over all 9/10. Make the visit to learn about our great...