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I love Bishop Museum. It is on the list of "must see" places when I give recommendations, at least to those who have an interest in Hawaiian and/or Polynesian history. I've not been there during it current renovation, maybe that affected the visit?
As an update for everyone - there are basically 4 main buildings. My biggest issue was if I had to pay nearly $20 for the experience, it would have really left a sour taste.
Building 1: Planetarium. This just reopened to the public. There is limited seating to watch a video and very basic exhibits. You don't come away with much here.
Building 2: Original building and additions. This is the only area on the grounds that has some decent exhibits. A lot of the signage for the displays were very 70's like - a decent amount of historical exhbits from around the monarchy. They've got an original Hawaiian house from the late 1800's on the main floor which was interesting. I guess I was expecting to see more original photographs not in the public domain or - well, just more things.
Building 3: Clothing of the islands. This was fairly disappointing - mostly a display of clothes from around the 1950's and 1960's. I'm not kidding when I say this - a lot of clothes didn't look terribly different from today - I'd venture to say many of the aloha shirt prints are something you'd see at Sears.
Building 4: Basic exhibits on lava/waves. This building needs a complete and total restoration. These exhibits look like they haven't changed since the 60's/70's and not in a good way. Most of the stuff doesn't work - it was just really disappointing.
I guess for me - it seemed more like a $10 price point kind of place - it isn't really by anything - if someone really wants to see it it could be combined with a Pearl Harbor day - it doesn't take that long to get thru the museum.
So maybe it is that their pricing is out of line with the experience? Perhaps if they lowered the prices, they could increase the patronage, and make up the difference of the reduced price. Bringing the history of Hawaii to the masses (residents as well as tourists) should be encouraged. Could lower prices + a higher number of paid admissions accomplish that?
Whtviper1, maybe it is a good time to write a letter to them offering your observations.
I think they need to lower prices, $17.95 for adults and $14.95 for children is out of line for what you get (visitor prices). The price would be fine if they did some major upgrades.
What they really need is some major donors to step in - I don't think just lowering the price and getting more people in limited exhibition space would do it.
Perhaps I'm being to harsh on the museum, but I had much higher expectations and there are parts really rough around the edges - almost to the point of neglect except the main original building.
We took my wife's grandmother there last year. Loved it. The thing that made it really special was listening to the tour guide stories. Things I never would have thought of. I still want to go back because we only had a half day there.
Almost every time we visit Oahu from Kaua'i, we enjoy going to the Bishop museum--one of our favorite things to do on Oahu. We're already planning to go when we visit Oahu this Feb. Kaua'i has a little museum that we like too, but it's small, so maybe we are starved for something bigger. However, when comparing the Bishop museum to something from a bigger city, say the Academy of Sciences or De Young museum in San Francisco, it definitely is smaller. So yes, the price may be a bit steep, but hey, we all know everything is more expensive and a bit outdated in Hawaii.
I'm glad whtviper1 gave more of an explanation, because it lets me give a contrasting view:
- I have to admit I've never had time to see the Planetarium at the Bishop museum, but it was just redone and supposed to be really nice (better quality visuals)--so I was looking forward to going. But it isn't some IMAX 3D experience nor the Griffith Observatory in LA (saw Pink Floyd laser show there...trippy), so maybe you had some really high expectations.
- I'm glad you liked the main hall, because for me, it is the highlight. But there is way more in there than an original house (from Kaua'i by the way) and a few signs from the 70's. At the entrance there is the small room with the kahili collection (feathered standards for indicating the presence of royalty), and another room with big ki'i (tiki)--one from Kaua'i as well. The main hall looks like an 1800's museum, so I think they have renovated it very well and kept the old look--lots of wood. On 3 floors all around the main hall are dozens of display cases with all sorts of items, from archaeological finds to bequests from the monarchy. Frankly, I found the signage excellent, but mostly because I never had time to read it all.
- The clothing exhibit must be a new or temporary one, because we haven't seen that one yet. The 2nd main building that I remember had artefacts from all over the South Pacific, so it was neat to see the similarities and differences between Polynesian and Melanesian cultures. I go with my kid to the Bishop museum, and we barely have time to walk through this building, so someday I want to spend more time in there--definitely plenty to see and read. Another thing I find interesting is that they have one of their collection rooms visible through a long window. You see shelves and shelves of Hawaiian items such as stone bowls and poi pounders.
- The science building did disappoint me at first, because it did seem sparse and not too engaging. But I think it was made for school kids, and my 6-year-old loves it. She goes around and pushes all the buttons, and we try to explain each exhibit to her. She can easily spend an hour or more in there, and once I saw it through her eyes, I could appreciate it more. I will give you that some of the exhibits are broken, which for the price could be annoying, but really, my kid found plenty of other things that worked.
I get the general feeling from coworkers that it is a good place to take kids - which I do not have.
Had the admission price been lower I wouldn't have started the thread - I guess even by Hawaii prices, I was shocked by the price fr what you get.
I grew up in Chicago - and the Field Museum is world class, and that costs $15. The Chicago Art Institue, $18. Chicago Museum of Science and Industry, $15.
At $17.95 it just doesn't seem right.
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