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I was going to make this thread, but saw someone made it before.. At the risk of conducting thread necromancy, here are my thoughts:
We took our toddler to see this presentation that involved Sesame Street characters, which was 14$ each (our son was under 2, so he's free). 14 bucks to see something that was maybe a half hour long. While the show wasn't bad, it was waaay overpriced. That 14$ includes the cost of seeing the "museum" - if you can even call it that. It was just a few exhibits of some historians and pictures on the wall of well known entities in space (galaxies, planets, etc). You would have to really try hard to spend more than an hour there (which includes the 30 minute show). On the other hand, a lot of farms and zoos (like the LI game farm), you can easily spend a few hours there and it is usually cheaper or comparable in price.
That being said, it was cool to walk the grounds, which was free, but as far as the planetarium goes, it was pretty underwhelming. This was a favorite field trip of mine when I was in grade school (I was lucky to go to this when I was very young and also late middle school), but after this weekend, the nostalgia goggles came right off.
I was going to make this thread, but saw someone made it before.. At the risk of conducting thread necromancy, here are my thoughts:
We took our toddler to see this presentation that involved Sesame Street characters, which was 14$ each (our son was under 2, so he's free). 14 bucks to see something that was maybe a half hour long. While the show wasn't bad, it was waaay overpriced. That 14$ includes the cost of seeing the "museum" - if you can even call it that. It was just a few exhibits of some historians and pictures on the wall of well known entities in space (galaxies, planets, etc). You would have to really try hard to spend more than an hour there (which includes the 30 minute show). On the other hand, a lot of farms and zoos (like the LI game farm), you can easily spend a few hours there and it is usually cheaper or comparable in price.
That being said, it was cool to walk the grounds, which was free, but as far as the planetarium goes, it was pretty underwhelming. This was a favorite field trip of mine when I was in grade school (I was lucky to go to this when I was very young and also late middle school), but after this weekend, the nostalgia goggles came right off.
Thanks for the info, this was actually helpful. So essentially the most you could squeeze out of that place is 45 minutes which includes the show? From where I am it's an hour ride. So if I took the family we'd be in the car longer than we'd be at the place. Is there anything else to do in the area? As I posted previous I haven't been there in over 20 years and need to find places to take trips.
I could spend more than 45 minutes there, but it is small. There is also the Vanderbilt Museum next door. I would take advantage of the Living History Tour, which they only offer in the summer. Never did it though.
Thanks for the info, this was actually helpful. So essentially the most you could squeeze out of that place is 45 minutes which includes the show? From where I am it's an hour ride. So if I took the family we'd be in the car longer than we'd be at the place. Is there anything else to do in the area? As I posted previous I haven't been there in over 20 years and need to find places to take trips.
I was going to make this thread, but saw someone made it before.. At the risk of conducting thread necromancy, here are my thoughts:
We took our toddler to see this presentation that involved Sesame Street characters, which was 14$ each (our son was under 2, so he's free). 14 bucks to see something that was maybe a half hour long. While the show wasn't bad, it was waaay overpriced. That 14$ includes the cost of seeing the "museum" - if you can even call it that. It was just a few exhibits of some historians and pictures on the wall of well known entities in space (galaxies, planets, etc). You would have to really try hard to spend more than an hour there (which includes the 30 minute show). On the other hand, a lot of farms and zoos (like the LI game farm), you can easily spend a few hours there and it is usually cheaper or comparable in price.
That being said, it was cool to walk the grounds, which was free, but as far as the planetarium goes, it was pretty underwhelming. This was a favorite field trip of mine when I was in grade school (I was lucky to go to this when I was very young and also late middle school), but after this weekend, the nostalgia goggles came right off.
I agree. However most of us living on LI realize 45 minutes to get there is not as far as it may seem to those not living here. We measure trips in time as opposed to distance. I also live about 45 minutes from it (about 12 miles away) and have a 3-1/2 year old going through a space/planet obsession. It lacks variation. There are only two shows suitable for a child between 3 and 8 and we saw them both (we take advantage of free passes from our library as well, so it's basically free). I wish they had the traditional shows which showcased the planets in detail, child-level space exploration, etc. that we all saw as kids on field trips there. Instead it's just a repeat of shows produced elsewhere (UNC, Chapel Hill for example) on a rotating schedule. The grounds are nice but not that interesting to young children.
So to answer your question, unless you plan on visiting multiple times it's probably not worth the seasonal pass.
Now maybe the shows for older kids/adults have more meat - maybe they are 45+ minutes, but still, there isn't much to do after that. To be honest, they really waited until the very last minute to let people in the theater, too. A 12pm show would have people enter in a 12:02...maybe the show itself would start 12:10, and then by 1240, you're already out of there.... You can also tour the mansion on the ground, but it's a separate price. I've never done that so I can't opine further.
It took us about 40 minutes to get there, but not a difficult drive despite the north shore being a more tedious drive than the south shore.
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