Plimoth Patuxet Museums — Attraction in Plymouth

Have been to the museum consistently for almost 20 years. Unfortunately it has changed considerably in that time and has lost much of the charm that it was once famous for. Both the Village and Homesite are now much less interactive than they once were. In years past the village was full and felt very alive. Now it feels very empty, with only a few interpreters there to engage with visitors. They seem to be making up for this lack of costumed interpreters with plain clothes educators. While the educators I spoke to were both very knowledgeable and friendly, it’s the costumed interpreters that the museum is known for that drive much of the living history experience. The homesite suffers even more from this, I cannot recall seeing a single costumed interpreter at the homesite in the past few years that I have visited. While I personally can appreciate the historical and technical information shared by educators in the village, the interpreters are the primary draw to the museum and the main attraction for most guests, especially kids. I personally have noticed a very high turnover rate among interpreters within the village. In years past there was a large cast playing a variety of different historical figures, in recent years I notice a much smaller cast, primarily young adults. I have made an effort to remember and recognize some of these people only to later find that they no longer work with the museum. I understand that museums as an institution have been struggling since Covid, but I frequent other living history museums like Old Sturbridge Village and more distant ones such as Colonial Williamsburg or Jamestown Settlement and they appear to be much better off than the state Plimoth is currently in. I fear this may be due to poor management as these other comparable museums seem to have less trouble maintaining staff and visitors. One might blame declining interest in the museum on less interest in our own history among the youth, but if we fail to attract them and teach them in engaging ways this sad trend will only continue. Plimoth was one of the major inspirations for my appreciation of American and world history as a child, and I hope that the museum can do whatever is necessary to continue inspiring visitors long...

The village was spectacular, complete with a young bride to be, a shrewish older woman, and a lot of men with fun tools and great costumes. Most had great dialogue-we learned many things. Heft one of those muskets! Hot and dusty, would do it all over again! Loved it. Well worth the price. Suggestions: go early in the day to the village. The heat is intense, shade mostly in the homes. Spend time in the Native American area asking questions, poking into all the bags and bins, and watchingthe work. These folks don't "stay in character", which is so great. They can tell you about their costumes and who made what. Those loinclouts are freaking awesome. They make meals and eat them.

Blue star family discount. Thank you! Not easy for wheeled conveyances, we saw a wheelchair struggling going down the hill that is "main st" in the village. Paths are gravelly. Lesser slope outside the palisade, smoother surface, but hot in the sun. Lots of walking. One of the best historical experiences we've had in the USA.

Native American folks were the best part, and I grew up in the West with lots of tribal experiences. Really informative and spontaneously willing to share information. And handsome people!

The crafters are knowledgeable and mostly kind. One apparently forgot we were paying to be there. Talk to the Roach makers! Delicate and exquisite products, fun to find out their quills come from my home state bc our porkies have longer quills!

We did not explore the farm fields and shore area, but wish we had. Definitely...

The Mayflower II was a very cool experience! We did that first before going over to see Plymouth Rock. The Patuxet Museum is interesting. It is not at the original site. Instead it was built on an estate that was donated by a family. The history is there and the employees do a great job of fulfilling their roles by acting and speaking like the pilgrims and Native Americans did during that time. It is a pretty good hike to get around to the different areas of what used to be known as Plymouth plantation. What made it really work is the golf cart and the driver. He was excellent! He really went out of his way to be prompt and not only show us things but also tell us about them as we moved from site to site. I did think it was absolutely amazing that in the Native American area they are actually making canoes the way that they were made back in the day. And I loved the gardening and processing of the food that was occurring. Overall an excellent experience and you get the history of what it was like for the pilgrims to come. But really and truly the area just kind of throws it off. We had purchased a pass for all three events but at the end of the day we’re too tired to go to the grist Mill. We were hoping we would get to a point where we could just see it but it is very well hidden at the top of a hill.We did not end up making it there. Definitely hard to do this in an afternoon. You would likely need a day to get through all three or break it up into two separate 3-4...