A Summer of Fun at the Perot Museum of Nature & Science

Well, we took a trip and made it memorable! Our most recent excursion took us into Dallas (and surrounding areas). In downtown Dallas, we had the great opportunity to check out the Perot Museum of Nature and Science. A HUGE thank you to them for giving us complimentary tickets for this time. 

*Disclaimer: I was given free tickets to the museum in exchange for my honest review. I was not otherwise paid or endorsed. All opinions shared are mine or my families.*

What to know when planning your visit

Okay, where to start?? They are located in Downtown Dallas. You can check out their website HERE. They had the Bug Lab Exhibit opening when we were up there. This one costs you extra to see. As with many museums, they rotate out their Special Exhibits. Other exhibits that stay year round are fascinating for all ages! They also have videos that educate while entertaining. While walking through one floor, there was quite the line waiting to try out the earthquake simulator! You stand on a platform that gives you the feeling of being in an earthquake. 

Tickets and entries are timed. Make sure you pay attention when you purchase your tickets, so that you know when you are supposed to go in. They have a high volume of visitors to juggle. This also means that there are times when huge crowds are EVERYWHERE! 

Parking... Here is one that is super important. They have a museum parking lot that is $15 for non museum members. If you get the membership, it is only $5. Per vehicle, not per person. It is first-come, first-serve. If it is full, they have an overflow lot. However, they also have a special section if you are needing a handicapped spot. We ended up finding a lot that charged us $5.35 for 4 hours. You have to download the app or find the kiosk to mark your vehicle paid and avoid towing. 

What is inside? 

They have 4 floors of exhibits to see. My youngest loved the dinosaur level. So many skeletons and things to learn about the fossils. 

Being from an oil town, we loved seeing the exhibit on drilling and oil processes. There was so much to learn from it. Even a giant drill exhibit to give you an idea of what they are like. or the one that shows you how the oil is pumped upwards. 

We loved seeing the Gemstone exhibit too. Learning about topaz stones and geodes. The giant geode was extremely popular with the kids.

Seeing all the types of animal displays was fascinating too. We got to see what kinds of animals live where. 

Start at the top and trickle down! The elevators were constantly busy. And the escalator was down when we went. So be prepared to climb all the way up and then all the way down. We loved seeing the outdoor walls that were decorated with greenery and rocks. 

The staff were friendly, even in the rush of dealing with so many people. They were helpful in guiding us and answering questions we had. There are seating spots all over the place in case you get worn out from all the walking. The bathrooms were clean too, which was really nice. Oh yes, final notes! There is a food court and gift shop available. There were also fun things for little ones to do out front.  

We are so glad we got to stop in and see everything! It was a wonderful trip for our family.  

Lego KidsFest

Getting there is tricky. Being there is fun!

The location was difficult to reach, especially for us being from San Antonio. It was downtown Dallas, and not much parking that we saw along the way. Parking was $15 a vehicle for under the garage of the building. 

Outside food and drinks are not allowed. And yes, they search bags. We had to leave our snacks outside the doors at the customer service booth. 

Just inside they had the Lost Parents booth. I love this! Fill out a card with your name and number so that if your child gets lost, they can go there to find you. 

There was so much to do!

Unless you time each activity, I don't see how you could fit every single thing into one session. 

If you completed the scavenger hunt within the Lego Club magazine, you scored a free special Duplo brick. We didn't know about this until the end as we were heading out. They also gave away poly bag sets if you completed or participated in certain events. We did the Challenge event of trying to build boats.

Of course, the one I helped my son build looks more like a raft...

As we finished, they gave us Star Wars Lego poly bags. 

In the Mindstorms arena, my oldest got to control technic robots. 

There were lots of building opportunities. Princess, Duplo,

race cars, and even making memories!

You could add a square to the mosaic boards.

Or to the Lego version of the US as told by the fans of Lego who built squares for it. 

Honest Tea provided snacks. There were also dining areas designated though I wouldn't be surprised if the prices were high. We decided to hold out until leaving to get dinner. 

There were a lot of areas for each theme. Duplo, Duplo Disney Princess, Disney Princess, Mindstorms, Star Wars, Hero Factory, Challenge, Master Builder sessions where you could learn about how they do what they do,

Chima and so many others! We also built some stuff in the Friends section and scored a poly bag just for visiting. 

They gave away Lego Club magazines, Super Hero Batman comics, and some Chima themed stuff. 

We had a great time, despite my 3 very tired kids who began begging to go back to the hotel to sleep. Next year I hope to plan a little better. Things like eating before we go, bringing the baby leash to reign in the baby but still allow her to wander around... What things would you enjoy?