Pensacola MESS Hall — Attraction in Pensacola

This place is truly great for all ages! Just keep in mind that some activities may only engage really young children for only so long before they are ready to move on to the next thing, however, there is enough to do for all ages. I went with our nieces ages 6 & 14 & our 20 year old daughter and all of them had fun. There are optical illusion things to try out, a little room with an abundance of slides to place under a microscope that shows you what you see on a screen on the wall, lots of activities even within this room. The bigger area has different activities that vary from wind tubes, table with water, sand, & rocks so our girls were able to create a dam, marble run was the mist time spent with the youngest two & loads of fun, & activity craft table with an abundance of options of crafts you can do as a family! Visit their website to see complete listing of activities and for only $10 per person (they also have military discount) was amazing for this SUPER educational place to go. One hour is NOT enough time to get through everything and we will be going back. Next time I'm taking my hubby because this is all right up his alley, but seriously just so much fun. If you like to watch "how this is made" or things that explain science-related facts, this is a fun, hands-on way to learn at ANY age. It's 1 floor, room for stroller, tables/chairs to sit down if need to rest, & friendly/helpful staff....

I’m sorry to say that I was very disappointed in our visit to the mess hall. It cost $30 to get in for an adult and a four-year-old. 90% of the exhibits far exceeded the comprehension of a four-year-old. The condition of the exhibits was very disappointing. The large blue foam blocks that my grandson played with were filthy. I Applied hand sanitizer to his hands multiple times. The fishing poles for the little fishing game only had one that had a magnet that actually was strong enough to pick up the fish. The marble run exhibit had many pieces that were cracked and needed to be replaced. Ex- 2 L plastic bottle pieces. Plastic dishes containing objects to view under the microscope were badly scratched and interfered with clear viewing. The music bench did not work properly. The staff that was present did not engage or explain anything when I did ask a question she didn’t even bother to come out from behind the counter to explain or show us how to do anything. I feel I wasted $30. There should be different price levels for age of children if you are going to have so many exhibits that they don’t understand. Again, very disappointed in the experience I...

Don't expect a typical museum experience--it's even better. As an adult, it helped me step back and relearn how I can better help my kids interact with ANY environment through science. It amazed me that being a scientist seemed to come naturally to children--but I had been taught many social behaviors that hindered that process. I wanted instructions, had an urge to ask permission to explore (despite having been given it), desired validation and approval. Am I doing this right and did we do a good job? This was so much more satisfying when we could drop those expectations. Children gravitated to concepts that interested them and explored tangibly using the materials and knowledge at each station. They moved socially, often accessing each other for assistance which provided social practice. Even the baby in our group explored by pushing a stool around the entire room, overcoming obstacles, feeling the friction via vibrations. Adults supported even the baby in enriching experiences instead of saying "stools are for sitting." Wish we had one in my town but in reality--every place is...