Connecticut Science Center

Came here for the liquid lounge thanks to Unilocal for the hookup! Took an über here so I can’t comment on the parking situation but the place is pretty cool. They were offering three types of beer and some wine at every single floor and had activities all throughout. My favorite exhibition was definite Leonardo DaVinci’s exhibit. They were also having competitions to get freebies in some of the floors and my friend and I ended up winning coozies and hats. Overall, pretty fun place to drink and play around! Thank you to Emily for the tickets!

Awesome! It took my breath away when we got off the parking garage elevator to the lobby. Window elevators that talked! Who knew elevators could talk!

Such an awesome place. You can spend hours exploring forces & motion, space, sports, the human body, sound, and watch a exciting 3D film. Not to mention incredible views of Hartford from almost anywhere in the building. I would’ve paid money to just stare out the huge windows (ok, maybe like $ 5 but still I would’ve paid). But in all honesty, I love the science center. There is so much to see, do, and touch. Germaphobes beware because you can’t do anything if you don’t want to touch what tons of little children have touched that same day (I work with children so to me, germ-​covered hands are normal. I am sure parents could agree with that one).
I got really lucky coming here on a Friday and there were very few people there. My fiancé and I felt like kids in a candy store as we went through every possible section of the museum top to bottom. What a wonderful way to spend a day.
Major plus: water fountains and bathrooms in every exhibit in the museum. No need to go all the way back to the first floor to use the bathroom.

I have been there like many times since it opened. This year, we had yearly passes to visit one of the amazing exhibits. One of my favorites I explore there are seeing dinosaurs for a limited time, the hurricane (It’s so windy, crazy of not like over 75 mph), WFSB station, seeing the incredible view of Hartford from the garden, movies and many others. This extraordinary place is one of our favorites we go to anywhere fun. This place is a lot good and fun for even toddlers! I recommend this place for everyone who is a resident of Connecticut. If you want more fun, get the yearly passes, this won’t disappoint you! I also found this place more awesome and beautiful.

My 3 year old niece and I visited the science center last Friday. After reading the reviews of other people I couldn’t wait to meet the unfriendly security guard. Unfortunately he seemed to be in good spirits!
We were disappointed that 2 exhibits were closed– the Dinosaurs and the top level terrace. We still had a good time. At 12pm on a Schoolyear Friday we practical had the place to ourselves! We will go again but not for a couple years when she can enjoy all of the offerings!
My suggestion is to call before you go if there’s an exhibit you want to see. Make sure it’ll be open. We didn’t find out til after we got there and paid.

This place had great potential but sadly missed the mark in so many ways. It’s puzzling how a museum that charges as much as they do could have so many dysfunctional exhibits and activities in disrepair. There was barely anyone there this past weekend and so all the exhibits and activities where easily accessible. But most were neglected and not working. An electrical exhibit with dead batteries, a wooden puzzle with missing pieces, a self-​recording news studio with no working teleprompter, motorized dinos that didn’t move, etc. etc. Not that the working exhibits were anything special. Even my 8 year-​old, who loves science and especially dinosaurs, was very disappointed. Top it off with an overzealous security guard that was always in your face and largely disinterested and unhelpful staff, and you have to wonder how much longer this place will remain open.

The very first thing that threw me off was the security guard at the information desk. He had this look in his face as if someone was putting a gun to his head to be there. Just the way he presented himself was very unprofessional and it really made me wonder how the rest of the staff would behave. To my surprise the place was understaffed and the ones that were there seemed just as miserable as the security guard. The only guy that was friendly was the teenage boy at the cinema. The place didn’t seem clean at all. That’s from my point of view. As for my children my seven year old is really into Dinosaurs therefore he had a wonderful time there and the Dino movie was also educational which is something I really enjoyed with him while being there. My 16 and 12 year old also enjoyed our time at the museum. Overall for me it was less than expected but glad my kids enjoyed their visit.

More for a place for elementary aged children. Not really for toddlers or babies. They has a great space center and frozen yogurt place.

I’ve been meaning to go to this place since it opened and finally made it there a few days ago. The kids can’t stop talking about it! The museum itself is impressive in size but each themed floor (6 in all) had something for my 6yr old, 8 yr old, and 73 year old mother who came along for the fun. Bathrooms on every floor goes a long way in this family. We easily spent over 3hrs exploring and look forward to going back for more. A perfect rainy day activity!

I had a great time at the science center. Felt like a kid. So much to see. If you have ADD, it’s the perfect place for you. Your attention is going to be all over the place. Buttons to touch, gadgets to play with. The dinosaurs were very cool and the information on them was super interesting. Watched a video on sharks. Once again, great time.

This would get a 4 star if it weren’t so expensive. For a family of 4 (2 kids and 2 parents), it’s about $ 85 when you include parking (2015 prices).
The water play area on the lobby floor is great for kids ages 3 – 5. Very creative and they don’t get soaked (but do expect wet sleeves and some wet shoes)
The physics area on the second level is well done — if your kid is mechanically inclined, you can spend a good 20 minutes in this section alone. The dinosaurs are also well done if your kid likes dinosaurs. They move their head/​neck/​tail and the landscaping/​detail of each scene is better than most museums.
The medical technology on the third level is a little dry and starts to move into a place that children under 7 probably can’t entirely appreciate. There is also a space exhibit that mostly deals with the planets and solar system which is good. Stars and galaxies zillions of light years away would be too hard to grasp for the age group.
The top level has a green energy zone which was also a little dry and by that point, the attention spans had run out (2 hours inside the science center total).
I don’t think there’s more than 2 hours of quality material in the place which is why I think that $ 85 for a family is a little high
The sweet spot of age group is probably age 5 to 12. All of the exhibits were open and functional. I didn’t see anything broken so I’m not sure what other reviewers saw that I didn’t. But overall, it’s bright and modern and everything is well labeled. Getting off I-​91 is painless and well marked and you pull right into the garage under the building.

Had a really great time checking out the dinosaurs this weekend. We brought a 3 year old and he absolutely loved it. He wanted to go back the next day. The science center has 4 floors of fun for all ages. An adult ticket to get in was about $ 20. I didn’t see any busted exhibits and there was a decent turnout on a Saturday morning.

Meh, the Science Center is ok but it is just so small. Don’t get me wrong, overall it has great exhibits, professionally done and you can tell an immense amount of work goes in to each. But even though they’re nice, there are large parts that just don’t seem to interest any of the kids, such as the green energy section, which is a shame since there are so many wonderful ways they could educate the kids about this topic. Also in my opinion it is too expensive unless there is a great exhibit there at the time that excites you and your family such as when they have the dinosaur exhibit.

Sad state of affairs for a museum that was supposed to be a grand addition to Hartford to bring in business. It’s overpriced with the majority of the exhibits busted with minimal staff to monitor the exhibits. Most days it’s practically empty and I found that the best crowds are on «pay what you can days» because it’s too expensive on a regular basis. Being one of the only museums that doesn’t provide free passes for kids in a group home, they definitely don’t have their priorities straight. I guess Liquid Lounge is what they care about most based on what I see them putting into that program… wait, wasn’t this supposed to be a big attraction for kids? Now that they’ve moved the free admission to 2 and under (from 3 and under), it’s clear that over charging for a wasting museum is their business model. I must have missed that as a viable model in school. Hey, at least they’re in line with Hartford’s philosophy; over charge so you can to drive out the people you’re trying to bring in the first place.

I love the CT Science Center! I’ve now been a handful of times and have enjoyed all of the exhibits I’ve visited. The exhibits featured here not only appeal to children, but also adults. There have been several times that I’ve found myself enthralled with exhibits that are using young-​child-​aged language; and several occasions where I seem to get more out of an exhibit than the 4 year old that I am with…
In fact, my dad, sister and I, all above age 25, went one day just the three of us. We spent the whole day exploring and trying all the different interactive lessons and games. ’twas wonderful.
Parking is okay, there is a garage underneath which is fairly hard to maneuver in unless you’re in a compact car, and the parking fees are a little high.
Admission price (in my opinion) is high. I believe it’s $ 19.00 for adults for general admission (includes no films) and $ 14.00 for youth (age 3 – 17)… I think the youth price is outrageous. Luckily, yesterday I had a coupon for one free entry with purchase of regular adult admission (frugality put to use). I know they offer discounts for employees of certain companies (Hartford Hospital being one), and they also offer adult only events (Liquid Lounge).
Overall, despite the high cover charge, the Connecticut Science Center is a wonderful location to spend a day with children or just your adult selves.

I have been to a lot of science centers and relative to others… this seems mostly geared towards children. Even if there is an adult exhibit there are so many children that it almost turns into a play ground. More adult stuff please!

My son is a bit older now and he had a blast at our last visit. His favorite was the water room downstairs! We are officially members now and plan to return many times this summer!

We took all 4 (2 8 year olds, 1 10 year old and 1 13 year old) kids here, 2 had been before, I had never been. It cost $ 124 for admission for the 6 of us inclusive of 1 3D movie. Not bad considering everything there was to do. water games, sports related stuff, Bodies Revealed Exhibit, Space Room, Mind Ball, aerodynamic stuff, café, a variety of 3D movies to choose from, hurricane simulator, weatherman simulator, etc. It was a good time. Granted it’s not something you would go to on a monthly basis but once a year, depending on exhibits, sure.

I took my sons here during a week trip to Connecticut. Overall, a beautiful facility with wonderful views of the city. We went on a weekday when it was not very busy, so that made it nice too. I thought the museum would be bigger since it is 6 stories tall, but it turns out two of the floors are offices/​admin. Here are my pros/​cons:
Pros:
Wonderful water area for young children
Awesome demonstrations of robotics throughout the museum
Great Hands-​on exhibits that kids of all ages can learn from
I missed the dinosaur exhibit, but heard it was nice
Cons:
Expensive ($ 19/​adult is too much) — I know they want you to buy a membership, but come on, don’t make a one time visit ridiculously priced
Website misleading re: discounted tickets — when I looked on 9÷24÷13 it said they offered a $ 3 discount for AAA members, but when I showed them my card at the ticket desk, they said I would have to go to a AAA office to buy a discount ticket instead (they refused to give me the discount– which would have been good customer service)
Parking expensive — I have been to a handful of family museums in past years and this is the first one I have had to pay for parking (on top of a really high entrance fee)
There were a lot of employees walking around (looking bored), but not very many were talking to guests about the exhibits
Some of the exhibit areas seemed really small (wasn’t busy when I visited, but I can guess they get very crowded on a weekend afternoon)
If you bring your own lunch, there is only one table in the lobby to sit at. All the nice tables and picnic benches are for the expensive café there. This is far different than other science museums I’ve been to, where they don’t penalize you for bringing your own food.

A very solid science museum. We are members here and its well worth it. The traveling exhibits are typically a highlight. The last time we were there, the math exhibit was first rate.
The movies on the big 3-​D Imax screen are also well done too.
The downsides? The gift shop is just ok and the parking is very expensive. But the view of the CT river and the rest make it well worth a day trip here.