OMSI — Attraction in Portland

Great all around but sometimes the staff are a little preferential towards some customers and not others. This is just my experience. I am going to say all I am and still leave 4 star because I do believe in OMSI and its mission.

Omsi does not feel like a safe space for people of color but specifically black children. My child was once left in the middle of the toddler space screaming crying after a staff repremanded them for doing the same thing as every other child, walk from the climbing structure back to their parent. Parents can't really fit inside so they mostly stand around or sit and watch them through the mesh.

When I asked calmly to the staff if they had to correct my child they lied and said that they didn't speak to her. Then proceeded to explain the rules of the space to me that I dis not ask about, which we had been following. It was very weird and upsetting. Why did the staff lie, why did the staff just leave my child crying, why not find the parent, ect. It felt very mean, and made me feel unwelcome and alone, and left.my child in tears.

This was near 2 years ago.

I think of it everytime I return to omsi. It's interesting because the staff allow children to just run around unsupervised but the one time I did see anyone say anythin it was my experience.

My biggest reason for feeling that omsi is not a safe space, is more about the patronage and a couple staff, less about the venue itself. To be clear there are very many lovely staff.

It's a communal and community space but many parents dont treat it as such nor supervise their children. When something unpleasant happens to your child there is no accountability bur more so no care.

My children are often pushed out the way, have items directly snatched from them ect. When you wait for other parents to help their children do the right thing often there is no help. You just have to make your child walk away. Honestly parent involvement is greater at a public park than at omsi.

Many times I have quietly observed these types of parents on several different visists and there is a consistent observation that they dont allow their children to treat every child like this. So for me as an individual it has been feeling increasingly uncomfortable. There is a lot of covert racism from guest. A lot.

And now after a child walked up and out of all the children chose to yank my child down by the wrist, the way the parent replied with disregrd and lack of empathy for what their unsupervised child did, the apparent lack of cameras and no one willing to speak up for my child, as well as the manner in which the head security decided to summarize what happened as "rough housing" and "misplacing racism as just poor parenting" I dont feel comfortabl to return. When in actuality it was both racism (from the parent) and possibly poor parenting. When in actuality a random child grabbed my child's wrist and just pulled them down out of no where and began to run away not "rough housing". When in actuality I saw what the child did with my own eyes but didn't feel believed. I dont know if I will go back or renew membership.

One because now unlike before I feel that at least one member from the top down is possibly not able or willing to ensure as vistors we feel comfortable or heard. Making my discomfort there feel systemic instead of social. Two the covert and often overt racial prejudice and treatment is harmful and weathering.

Omsi is a nice venue and I would encourage people to go. Of course there are many wonderful parents and staff, but it's not as inclusive a space as it could. Primarily because of the unfortunate cultural climate that the dominant demographic who visit create, but also because how chaotic and unsupervised some children are.

To the parents who don't see my children as worthy of the space; My children are curious beautiful worthy human children just like yours and everyone elses. Humanity does not depend on skin tone or racial construct.

Sad parent who has loved omsi...

Family friendly | Great Exhibits

If you have kids, you need to stop by here. If you don't have kids, you should plan a visit too. This is a top attraction when visiting Portland and for good reason.

We've been here a few times and after awhile, we decided to get a family membership because it's worth it. Fast forward a few years and now we can confidently say that we're here pretty often. There is something for everyone! High stimulation so come caffeinated.

What drew us in was the dinosaur exhibit going on at the time. There was a large T-Rex greeting folks outside, and every kid got stoked for what's to come inside. Two lines divide visitors upon entering: members and nonmembers. Lots of helpful staff. After you pay and get your wristband tags, you can start your visit to the right. These stations are always here: the bottle rocket, musical exhibit, earthquake, tidal wave boat, paper airplane... etc. The theater room is at the entrance too. Sometimes they'll have movies cycling through, like Wicked (good prices), if you want to watch it here. They also have a seasonal fake ice rink during the month of December in this area. That was fun. (Reservation only online) *Important to note: it is in this area that I've only seen nongender restrooms in the far corner.

On the opposite side of the first floor, there's a gift shop, restrooms, and a small snack bar.

Upstairs, 2nd floor: there's a super fun water play and jungle gym area that every kid goes NUTS for. Think Chucky Cheese. Parents let their kids loose here. Lots of places to sit. This area accommodates all ages with the very center area for babies/toddler aged kids. To the very left of this area are nursing/changing rooms. This area on the 2nd floor is very popular and sometimes has a waitlist.

Also on the 2nd floor is the main current exhibit. We saw the TRex one and the Exotic creatures, which was absolutely mind blowing! Very unique and well worth a visit or two. The other area on the main floor has exhibits for folks to check out how light works, some neat reptiles in the back, and an old exhibit about babies at each stage in the womb. These were real babies, so if you feel weirded out looking at them, just know that there are other things to look at and you can skip this.

The top floor is a continuation of the current main exhibit. They also have a submarine you can board outside. I haven't visited it yet because we have a baby, and I'd prefer to do this when he's older. But, this is an awesome place for families. For those who are single, couples without kids, or anyone looking for date night, check out their night events!

You could spend all day here or even 1hr and get plenty out of your visit. I recommend researching what you want out of your visit by visiting their website though. Book things online to save time too.

One thing I hope they change in the future is the bathrooms. It's outdated. Parking is through a kiosk or Kitty app.

——— Photo caption: Beware of people putting things on your car! Saw this on our car after visiting OMSI Sunday. We parked one inch over the line! It was a packed lot. People like this don’t take into account that maybe we are parked off because cars next to us parked terrible.

So, my only regret is I didn’t see the petty SOB who put this. I’m a very direct person, if someone has something to say, say it in person. Stop being passive...

I will say, my stars won't reflect my review overall. I believe it's important to support places like this that inspire kids to develop interests in science.

That being said, this place is basically just an opportunity to have a kid burn energy before bed time. The price of general admission reflects that. It's fairly inexpensive for the amount of time you'll spend here.

The laser light show is charming but clearly outdated. They also don't seem to achieve even the 40% capacity of the audience. Which makes sense because the ticket price is pretty high considering it's only about 30 minutes of entertainment.

The seasonal exhibits range dramatically in quality and pricing. The recent one, Lego drastic world, is one of the most expensive things you can do at omsi. $30 per person is a huge ask, but clearly they could've priced it even higher because they oversell these tickets a lot which leads to a pretty crowded exhibit walkthrough. And again it's not a lot of entertainment, maybe 40 minutes worth it you read most of the signage and take every photo you can. Seeing the sculptures are cool but most of the paying customers don't really care about those. They are paying to have their kids play with Legos for an hour. Which seems like an odd thing to pay to do but I guess it's a Lego exhibit after all. Would've been nice to have some themed Lego merchandise for the souvenir shop, but it was just generic dinosaur stuff.

The biggest draw, and the biggest reason this has a high score, is the IMAX theater. It's the only one I've been to so I find it very impressive. Especially when I was a kid, the screen seemed larger than life. They also hold a lot of fun film festivals there for a very reasonable price, usually cheaper than a normal movie ticket. The confessions are usually a fraction of movie theater...