Dennis C
Google
Glazer's Children Museum is a great venue to take your children to if you're ever in the heart of downtown Tampa, Florida. It's in a great location, sitting between the Tampa-Hillsborough Public Library, Tampa Museum of Art, and the Curtis Hixon Waterfront Park. So while making the Glazer's Museum the main event, you can take your children to the park or along the Tampa Riverwalk afterwards.
With the William F Poe (Poe) Parking Garage conveniently located next to it, you can enjoy a relatively hassle-free drive to the venue. You pay for the parking up front. While there is no parking fee waive with the museum, you're spending approximately $3 an hour for parking that has overhead protection and is fairly secured.
Like most other children's museums around the nation, Glazer's is suited for toddlers to children approximately 5 years of age. The themes and areas may not necessarily be appealing to anyone older than that.
And like most other children's museums, the areas and "exhibits" are centered around the aspects of daily life (such as supermarkets, doctors, veterinarians, farms, etc.) With that being said, the Glazer's Children Museum is a spacious three-stories in size. I came here with my youngest on a Saturday, and while there was a steady stream of families through the venue, I never felt too cramped or crowded.
On the first floor, you'll find a small store along with a food court area. There is also a rather large elevator to accommodate multiple families with strollers which is quite nice. It is also where you will find the first museum area/exhibit. It is a sizeable water exhibit so the kids naturally gravitate toward it. Prepare to get wet, but have no fear they do provide a limited number of splash bibs!
There is also a set of stairs that ranges all the levels of the museum, if you don't want to use the elevator. What immediately stands out with the Glazer's Children Museum over most other children's museums is the hanging "climber" (essentially a transparent maze of various level platforms that your child can safely navigate through) and a section on the second floor, aptly named "Forts" (this is where your kids can essentially play and build forts from the usual household furniture and furnishings.
The third floor is dedicated to their dinosaur/Triceratops exhibits. It's actually pretty cool if you find yourself geeking out over dinos.
Also with the reciprocal membership from another venue, admission to Glazer's in the month of October was entirely free. Overall, a great place to visit at least once with your young children!