MOXI, The Wolf Museum of Exploration + Innovation — Attraction in Santa Barbara

Update: 6 years ago I gave it five stars. I guess it was brand new then. But when I went last week I was somewhat disappointed. In a science museum things have to work. But this time many of them didn't. To water exhibit on the roof had several broken pumps and some of the cup spinners didn't even touch the water so they didn't work either. Many many of the tubes in the wall mounted geographical race course were stuffed and stuck so it was pretty disappointing. The lifts to adjust the race course on the model car race or jammed so that they were at an angle and couldn't be operated properly. The new light show was okay but the flash in the shadow box wasn't strong enough so it really didn't do much. And one of the light show exhibits wasn't working at all. The rubber tracks on the wall mounted movable race course were all twisted and even though I was willing to spend 5 or 10 minutes to work on it it still was too much to fix so no one could use it at all. The kids still had fun but with all of these things needing repair it was just not up to what it had been. Socks getting on the roof was a nice touch...

If you have kids then this is a must visit! The MOXI is three floors of hands-on, exploratory learning, but in the most fun way possible. The first floor explores sound with a gigantic guitar, a sound meter to test your quiet walking abilities and recording studios where you can become a foley artist. There’s also an outdoor area that tests pressurized movement, where parachutes get launched in the sky and soft balls zip through pipes. The second floor has race car building, a giant light bright, Lego walls, drawing projection, and a slow motion camera to test your jumping ability. Finally, the third floor is set on the roof with a beautiful view of Santa Barbara. It also offers a variety of unique instruments and a giant water table with hand pumps. You can also shoot giant balls of air from the air cannon. Overall, the MOXI will have you learning about science without you even realizing it and will give you memories that will last a lifetime… and plenty of...

Very disappointing. Suitable for children 7 and under for curiosity play and potentially for children who are part of a guided group.

Most of the activities had no explanations of the science behind them to guide understanding and further exploration.

The place was chaotic - in spite of having tickets for timed entry. Youngsters were allowed to take things indiscriminately from the hands of other children - there was a complete lack of oversight from venue staff and conspicuously absent parents or school guides.

For the most part it appears to be a playground of oversized toys that fails to offer input, insight, or direction to further scientific curiosity.

There were fun activities, to be sure - and the very young (3-7) appeared to be enjoying themselves, but I did not bring my 12 year old grandson here merely to play on a large mechanical playground. I was hoping for scientific stimulation and something to captivate the...