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On Monday man cub and I took a day trip to the San Francisco Academy of Sciences. We left Davis at about 9:20AM and got there in 90minutes. I was really impressed with the lack of traffic and how easy MapQuest got us there. Anyone who’s been to Golden Gate Park will tell you that it can be very tricky to find, as the gates are often closed leading from one entry to another. Once there we also found the museum parking garage with ease, simply following the signage. We also happened to get the very last spot in the garage. It was looking to be our lucky day!

I pre-bought our tickets on-line and found that you pick them up from a very difficult to use machine in front of the museum (where you can also buy them right from the machine.) It was a cumbersome process that was magnified by the fact that there are no restrooms outside the museum (like at the Monterey Bay Aquarium.) Once ticketed, searched and inside the line for the tiny restroom was huge. One of my biggest complaints with the museum on a whole is the lack of appropriate bathrooms. Every line was long and the restrooms themselves were tiny. You got to know people VERY well once inside and I don’t envy any family traveling there with small children, or babies. Be prepared to wait a long time and to be smashed once you’re in.

The layout of the new museum was very strange and did not have good flow. The maps are little postcard size pieces of paper that only state the obvious w/o providing any really useful information (like where each restaurant is!) Even though we were there on a weekday, the place was packed and there was a wait for every single thing we saw.

I don’t wish to make this a 10page blog, so here are
the highlights:

-The Albino alligator was GREAT!

-The Planetarium show (the largest all digital show in the world) was worth the wait. Just get your passes as soon as you arrive or you risk not getting in.

-Lunch at the Moss Room was wonderful, and so were the private restrooms provided for the guests. (If you’re eating there, make reservations as soon as you arrive.)

-The museums overall focus on planet/animal health extends to the foods and beverages they serve there.

-The architecture and “living roof” were beautiful (as was the welcome break and fresh air while viewing them.)

-The children’s learning library upstairs with many things to touch, do and look at.

-The bats and giant orb spiders in the huge rainforest dome.

Now, the low-lights:

-The rainforest dome exhibit caused my son to have a full-blown panic attack. It was hot, noisy, crowded, smelly and too much to see all at once. You’re also on a catwalk 4 stories up. Also, you have to go all the way to the top to get out. There is no easy escape if this happens (which I’m thinking is pretty common.) I’d also be concerned if your child has asthma.

-Money. We spent over $200 between toll, parking, tickets and lunch JUST for the two of us. A little steep (but we did eat in the best restaurant.)

-People. Mobs of people everywhere. For food, bathrooms and to see anything there was a wait.

-Staff. Unlike the Monterey Bay Aquarium, staff was hard to find. There were signs and posters telling us how much they care about the environment, but all the education felt very automated to me (like no will call and getting your tickets from a machine.) Like all they REALLY wanted was your money.

-Accessibility. Although I saw many people there in wheelchairs, I personally felt it was a very handicapped (or small child) unfriendly place to visit. There were many stairs and it seemed as if each elevator took you somewhere different and were very far apart. Some parts of the museum had zero access for wheelchairs (like the “living roof”), although the elevator got you almost there (why stop a few feet short?)

-Noise. I did see some acoustic tiles that I assume are meant to attempt at helping cut down the noise? If so, they didn’t work. That place was LOUD!

-Organization. No one tells you to get your planetarium tickets as soon as you arrive, so if you didn’t see it on the website, you’re out of luck. No one tells you to make restaurant reservations (or where the restaurant IS), so again, you’re out of luck if you don’t know. All the lines we were in were pretty chaotic and very few had a system of any kind. It was more of a mob “first come first serve” which I hate and find really off-putting to families.

-COST! I didn’t see anything in the store not made in China for under $100. Doesn’t that directly contradict their “message?”

-Dead animals. Of course, these were around when I was a kid too. But seeing a skinned “Little Bear” on the wall of the children’s library was really creepy (Mother Bear was downstairs.) There were also many dead butterflies in the rainforest.

So, glad we went… won’t go again. I think for the same money we could have driven to Monterey and hit the aquarium again instead.