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Post by pierkiss on Mar 17, 2019 15:13:08 GMT
Tell me about your experiences with the Indianapolis Children’s Museum! I’m considering a road trip day from southwest MI to Indianapolis during our spring break. I have never been to that city before. My kids range in age from 2-9.5, there are 4 of them. Will they all be happy exploring this Children’s museum? Is this someplace that I could navigate and handle all 4 of them on my own? Was the trip worth the $? Any cost saving measures? What are the not to be missed exhibits? Exhibits to skip? How is the parking situation? Please tell me it is not full of parallel parking spots. 😂
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TankTop
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Jun 28, 2014 1:52:46 GMT
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Post by TankTop on Mar 17, 2019 15:44:52 GMT
There is an attached parking garage.
1 day is all you need. I think you could definitely do it on your own.
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Post by just PEAchy on Mar 17, 2019 15:52:31 GMT
We loved this museum! It’s my favorite of all the children’s museums I’ve taken my kids. We used to drive 2 hours to visit. We now live here, but my kids have aged out. The newest thing is the outdoor sports legends area. We did go to that for the opening and even my teenagers had a great time. Seeing the dinosaur coming out of the building and the Chihuly glass exhibit are my favorite things )
The museum has a parking garage & surface parking, plus it’s free. My only warning is that there is a lot of road construction near the museum along Meridian St. Depending on where you stay, you may be able to bypass it. It doesn’t cause traffic backups or anything, just be aware.
As far as handling 4 kids, I guess that would depend on how active they are & if they tend to wander. You can go from exhibit to exhibit and keep on eye on them pretty well, I would think. I’d assume you’d have a stroller for the youngest?
You can get tickets online for 25% less if you order them 2 weeks ahead.
If you have the time, I’d also recommend the Indiana State Museum, the White River State Park and/or our zoo. They are phenomenal. The museum has some great exhibits-they change periodically, you can Google what will be there when you are here. Those 3 are all in close proximity to each other & not too far from the Children’s Museum.
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Post by stormsts on Mar 17, 2019 16:13:34 GMT
I live about an hour north of Indianapolis. Love the Children's Museum. Yes, all of your kids will find something to do. My daughter took her 5 and 3 year old this past week. She said it was very crowded as it was spring break. I will try to ask her today what they enjoyed the most.
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Post by malibou on Mar 17, 2019 16:22:31 GMT
I visit family in IN every summer and have been many times. It's our favorite children's museum.
My sister found what she thought might be dinosaur bones, and the museum met with us downstairs in the dinosaur lab. It was so cool. We got to see so many things and ask lots of questions. What my sister found turned out to be fossilized dinosaur poop.
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AmandaA
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Post by AmandaA on Mar 17, 2019 16:31:41 GMT
We are very spoiled here 😬. In addition to what others have said, my daughter was there last week for a field trip and saw James and the Giant Peach at the theater and loved it if you can do that as well. They do have activities for all ages and you can spend a whole day if your kids are patient enough. I am not sure if the outdoor area of the sports legends exhibit is open yet, but it is great for blowing off some steam between the “regular” museum exhibits.
If you want to make a several day trip out of it, feel free to PM for advice on hotels or parts of town to stay in or avoid. If you do make it downtown, in addition to the State Museum which is great and has an IMAX our zoo is pretty great too. And right along that stretch of a Washington street you can also visit the Eiteljorg museum and the NCAA hall of champions. And 3 of those share a parking garage 👍🏻. Not downtown, but not far, we also have a very nice art museum and gardens that it pretty kid friendly too. There really is a lot to see and do here, especially with kids.
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Post by paperaddictedpea on Mar 17, 2019 17:06:15 GMT
I've never been there, but I follow the museum on Facebook because my former high school marching band director is the CEO. It looks like so much fun! I hope to visit someday.
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Post by gale w on Mar 17, 2019 18:03:15 GMT
Love it. We used to have a membership there and went often-even when the kids were bigger. DH and I enjoyed it as much as they did. I haven't been for a couple of years but I honestly can't think of anything to skip. The dinos are the best-they are breaking out of the side of the building which makes a great photo op. There's also a small scale model of it inside that is fun to look at. The dinosaur exhibit that you walk through has some sounds that might be scary to a 2 yo but our kids always loved it. I miss the pioneer village exhibit that they took out but the exhibits they have in its place are great too.
We are almost 2 hours north of Indy-we would still be going every year if it wasn't so far away.
eta: I agree with the pp about the white river state park and the zoo. The zoo is not big so you can do it all in one day, but it's a great zoo. We had a membership there for many years and would go several times a year. We've only been to the white river state park once but we loved it. We went for pokemon go but it's a really nice park so I want to go back when we have more time someday. When we went we parked at the baseball stadium for 10 bucks. The WRSP parking is usually reasonable but the day we went there was a concert in the park so it was inflated.
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JustTricia
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Posts: 2,894
Location: Indianapolis
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Post by JustTricia on Mar 17, 2019 19:02:48 GMT
I don’t have anything to add except agree with all the above.
Children’s Museum is wonderful.
Zoo is wonderful.
My son actually enjoyed the State Museum more when he was little, but he’s a little weird. 😊
I haven’t been to the Art Museum inside in years, but the grounds are beautiful. Also, just next door is 100 Acres which is a park with sculptures. If you’re read The Fault in our Stars, the Funky Bones sculpture is there.
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Post by gale w on Mar 17, 2019 20:45:09 GMT
Oh also, if you go to the zoo be sure to go next door to the white river gardens. It used to cost extra but now the cost is included in zoo admission. It's gorgeous. They have a lot of neat plants but the best part is all the butterflies.
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julie5
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Post by julie5 on Mar 17, 2019 20:48:02 GMT
I haven’t been in a few years but we used to be season pass holders. It’s awesome for kids of all ages! One of the best in the country from what I’ve heard. It can be done in one day and is easy to navigate. I always loved the dollhouse exhibit.  |
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Post by mags243 on Mar 17, 2019 21:42:45 GMT
Cost savings- we belong to the children's museum local to us. With the new passport program, any participating museum more than 90 miles away is free. We just spent a long weekend going to 2 museums across our state. Totally worth the cost of a family membership.
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JustTricia
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 2,894
Location: Indianapolis
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Post by JustTricia on Mar 17, 2019 23:28:43 GMT
Funny how posts like this make you realize Peas live near you!
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Post by malibou on Mar 17, 2019 23:48:50 GMT
Funny how posts like this make you realize Peas live near you! I was thinking the same thing. We aren't going to IN this year due to a cousin reunion in Washington, but next time we go, I'm going to find you guys. Consider yourselves warned.  |
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