Milwaukee Public Museum

The Milwaukee Public Museum will always be my favorite museum because of its immersive, walk-through design. From the moment you enter, it truly feels like you are stepping into different worlds. Each exhibit—whether it’s Old World Wisconsin, historic Milwaukee, or the rainforest—makes you feel as though you’ve traveled back in time. With five levels to explore, the museum was thoughtfully built to fully surround visitors with history and culture. What made it so special to me was how interactive and lifelike each exhibit felt, unlike anything I’ve experienced at other museums. The Milwaukee Public Museum was a huge part of my childhood, and it holds so many memories. I am really going to miss it😭 it’s a place that shaped my curiosity and imagination in a way no other museum ever has.

Gone to this museum so many times! From school field trips to trips with my family. I always learn so much and there is so much to look at and read! Highly recommend if you've never been. One could easily spend a whole day at this museum!

We all absolutely loved this museum!! Every staff member we encountered was friendly and helpful. They went above and beyond for us! Clean bathrooms which is always wonderful. There is so much to see and do you could spend a whole day here learning and exploring. Everything is so detailed and fascinating to look at. You can really see all the thought- time and hard work that went into the making of the museum. Learn about history and culture and so much more. There is even a butterfly room! Fun for all ages- three levels of fun. They even have a cafe on site and parking garage next door (fee). We had so much fun i can't wait to come again and spend more time exploring the museum.

Fun museum with some hidden gems that keep it interesting for everyone. From the butterfly exhibits to the rattlesnake in the Buffalo hunt, there's so muchto find and discover. The European village and the old streets of Milwaukee are one of the most unique exhibits I have seen at the many museums I've visited.

This is hands down one of the coolest museums I have ever seen! The displays are top notch and full of interesting exhibits! My 15 year old said this is the closest she's ever come to enjoying history! Plenty of options for ADA compliance, plenty of exhibit topics to provide fun for everyone!

Had a nephew day and we came during a Summerfest weekend. So the we had little to no crowds and got to just enjoy our time here. Spent the vast majority in the butterfly exhibit. My nephew had a great time and we got to enjoy a bit of history.

Lots of fun for our family. My kids loved it. We spent about 2.5 to 3 hours there. However some of the exhibits were empty.

Great museum with broad topics to explore. We enjoyed seeing the fossils, cultural exhibits, planet/dinosaur exhibits, Native American scenes, and more! Particularly loved “Old Milwaukee!” We were there for a few hours and while we saw a number of exhibits, did not fully digest them. Plan on return trips! There’s also a theater which looks cool. Great museum!

Though I didn't grow up in Milwaukee and didn't go to this museum as a child, I could easily see why people are nostalgic for this place. The museum had so many lovely exhibits and dioramas, and like many Milwaukee residents, I'm sad at the thought of so many of them not relocating to the new museum. Like, they're not taking the Streets of Old Milwaukee to the new museum?!?! BOO!! Some exhibits were closed (including one permanent closure), but it honestly didn't really affect my experience. There was still plenty to see, and I spent nearly the whole day there.

here's everything u need to know: there's a photobooth in the lobby and u don't need to pay entrance fee to get to it. perhaps actually relevant stuff: i would not know bc i did not look at anything else in the museum aside from the store, the pressed coin machine, and the photobooth LOL BUT LIKE if i had more time id def do a look around it looked super cool!

First time exploring all the exhibits as an adult and probably the last time before the new museum goes up. As a kid, my two favorite exhibits were the old streets of Milwaukee and the butterfly experience. I'd have to say they both still are. Except, I'd move the butterfly experience as number one over the streets of Milwaukee. Being able to watch my nieces have butterflies land on them was fun to see and they both really enjoyed it too. The old streets of Milwaukee feel... old. Like, I get it, that's the point, but I feel like some could be updated or touched up to bring more "life" to the manikin characters. Still worth walking through though! I also found more appreciation for the other exhibits that I likely walked right by as a kid. It's a solid trip to take if you have young kids eager to explore and learn.

So lovely we were able to take one last stroll through The Streets of Old Milwaukee, the euopean village and mostly,watch in amazement at all of the beautiful butterflies in their environment. I have loved this museum since I was a child. The Nostalgia I felt today knowing this will soon be all gone, pulled at my heartstrings. I know a new and amazing new museum will soon be here, but, in the meantime, I am grateful for all the memories I felt today. Although some exhibits were already gone, it really didn't affect our overall experience.

We had a ton of fun at the museum! From the outside it looked small... was I ever surprised when we got inside!!! We wandered exhibit after exhibit for hours! From the prehistoric displays to the American history, each display was full of great info. I will say I was surprised at how many people came just to hit the secret button.... That seemed to be one of the biggest draws. We also had fun in the butterfly room. It was so fun watching them land on everyone in our group. I hope all this fun gets incorporated into the new museum. This one is well worth the visit! Plan on spending a few hours here!

Had a great time touring this with my 16 month old. He loved running through the streets of Old Milwaukee and I couldn't get him out of the cave exhibit. It was a perfect mix of fun for him and interesting exhibits for me. I loved that they have a special admission price for educators. I always appreciate businesses that choose to support us in that way.

Lots of bones in this museum. There's a massive mammoth as soon as you enter the museum. There's a live tropical butterfly exhibit that you can walk through if you like to be surrounded by butterflies. The lockers on the main level were out of order so I had no choice but to pay for coat check. The guy at the ticket stand was helpful.

I hate to give such a low rating. I heard that the museum is to be moved to a new location and some of the exhibits aren't going to make the move, so I hurried in. After spending an afternoon here, I can sum up the museum as being so dated that it should be preserved in a museum about museums as a relic of its time (it's recursive, I know). The museum was opened to the public in 1884, and it seems like not much has been done to keep it current or modern. Imagine dimly lit hallways with huge dioramas, without much text or explanation about what you're seeing. There's a lot of items in the museum that aren't labeled, so you have no idea what you are looking at. Also, the scant text that is there is quite outdated, potentially having been there since the museum opened. One display said that India has 17 states...well it currently has 11 more since that was written. Some displays are completely empty, with a small placard saying that it's due to the The Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act of 1990 (NAGPRA). Do they use that empty space to make it somehow more educational? Nope. It was also awful to see how there was only one worker managing the butterfly wing who controlled the flow of traffic in and out. He went over the ground rules of how to treat the butterflies with respect, but with no one inside to actually make sure the rules were followed, there were plenty of people trying to catch and chase the insects. There were a lot of them dead on the ground. It's also questionable what the educational value there is as there's nothing identifying what species of insects or where they are native. Old Milwaukee was also disappointing since they had storefronts, but it could have been more educational if they researched the people who worked or owned the shops to make it have an even stronger connection to the city, rather than looking old timey for the sake of shallow entertainment. I would not return here again.

Where I was a little underwhelmed by the Milwaukee Art Museum, the Milwaukee Public Museum was a wonderfully pleasant surprise! It was the right mix of exhibits for kids and more professional exhibits and information for adults. And it's pretty big! I showed up with 2 hours to go and I just barely, *barely* got through the whole thing. My favorite was the Streets of Milwaukee/European Village. The two exhibits flow right into each other and I almost felt like I really was back in the Milwaukee of the late-19th century, or an old world European village. The little rooms were like dioramas into the life of citizens of a bygone era. I really enjoyed it!

There is 3 floors 1 dinosaurs and mid evil times, homes 2 Indian culture it half of the things were missing 3 Australia,Africa,Antarctica culture. It was hard to find the stairs. And part of it was closed.

Our family loves this museum. There's so much to do and discover. I could be here for hours and get lost in the information and exhibits that are so well put together. We can't wait to return.

I had to be talked into going here by my fiancée. For 2 adults, 2 kids and parking, cost was just shy of $100 and this just seemed like too much. But, it was the day after Thanksgiving and I didn't want to do Black Friday shopping and so we went. She told me she had a lot of fond memories of this place growing up going in school field trips. It sold me. Kids are ages 9 and 12 and it was honestly the perfect activity for them as the place was absolutely geared towards them and they loved everything about it. Probably the favorite of the whole family was the butterfly garden. Pretty great experience. We also loved the planetarium which was included with the day pass price. Show was on eclipses and it was great. All the natural history exhibits in the upper floors were worth the visit as was the Streets of Old Milwaukee which the kiddos loved. Honestly couldn't have been happier with the visit. Only drawback was the popcorn we got for the planetarium movie was burnt. If your family doesn't have the money to shell out for this, I saw a flyer while there that said the first Thursday of the month is free admission. I'll post more information in my pics.

I attended the museum in the middle of the week and it wasn't crowded. It's a nice place to visit and many things to see. Butterfly exhibit was nice but I wish there was someone inside the exhibit talking about the different butterflies and answering questions. The employee at the ticket window was very helpful. I'm in no hurry to go back unless there is a special exhibit or speaker. There was a 'show' about the stars and constellations which was kind of cool. Possibly go on a free day.

My work offers free admission to local attractions and sports so a free pass for the museum was one so I stopped by. It is downtown so you have to pay for parking in a lot or get lucky and find a street meter spot, I got a street spot for $2=2 hours. The museum is 3 Levels with mostly static displays with minimal interactive displays and mostly dioramas of native animals. Lots of bones and fossils with ancient artifacts mostly. The butterfly display is live and interactive so they fly open and free as you visit the display, I didn't do it in fear of injuring one with a door opening or letting one out. The cafe has a nice all glass sun room overlooking a nice outdoor patio for the nicer days to relax and have a meal and a drink. Overall it's an interesting place to visit for an hour to leisurely walk through is about right but if you read everything you could probably spend way mote time in the place.

Great spot for the kids. It's basically a children's museum. Good variety. Clean. Overall a good place to spend a few hours with the kids.

Lovely and huge museum great for family, friends, and children. The exhibits are very detailed and well divided throughout all three floors of the museum. They have different play areas for children throughout and lots of videos as well. Daily general admission for Adults: $22 Children: $22 Seniors/Military: $18 Children 0-3: FREE P.S - They have a butterfly exhibit where you can interact up close with all kinds of butterfly's.

I was one of many chaperones today for 50-3rd graders. We first started off WI stargazing in the planetarium. They were amazed & had so many questions for the program director. It was cool to see the Mke city lights & go out into the country to stargaze & view constellations. Then, onto the new exhibit, survival of the slowest. My favorite was the sloth. It was way more active than the one at the zoo. The other animals were mostly geckos, snakes & turtles. Nothing you can't see at the zoo, but the kids loved the exhibits & it was interactive. The streets of Milwaukee & riding through the decades on the trolly. It was a fun, interactive, fast, eventful day. I recommend the exhibit, but if you like the zoo better, you can see most animals there at the aquatic house.

It's got everything from everywhere and more like butterflies! Kid friendly and easy to navigate

Top tier museum. Even though I'm not from the area, I periodically visit. Three floors of great exhibits. Occasionally, they get world class traveling exhibits.

What a lovely museum. It's downtown, and you can walk there if you stay downtown. We got in free with our Museum of Science and Industry Membership. This was out last mesuem/zoo visit of our long weekend trip, and we were all tired. So we didn't spend tons of time in here. Yet our 5 year old kept finding more things he wanted to look at on his way out, which is a very good sign. They have a butterfly exhibit. That was my favorite part. So many beautiful butterflies inside. And you can see the different types of larva. The European Village and The Streets of Old Milwaukee are very cool. The have food for lunch, everything we ate was fine enough. Nothing special. You can also bring your own food.

The museum was excellent. We probably spent 2 hours going through all of the exhibits. We didn't see any of the shows. There was history on the Milwaukee area as well as all over the world. The butterfly exhibit was cool as a butterfly landed on me and followed me around. One negative experience was the screaming children that were running around. Literally running through the exhibits and screaming. Fun place and very educational!

Brilliant! So engaging that is worth multiple visits. I am not a great fan of most natural science/history museums for some reason (exceptions are several, such as: Carnegie Museum of Natural History, Royal Ontario Museum, Royal BC Museum in Victoria, Pointe-à-Callière in Montréal...), and I have no great interest in taxidermy. It makes me uncomfortable, and I usually find it a bit creepy. So we usually skip them. BUT THE MILWAUKEE PUBLIC MUSEUM is a WONDERFUL EXCEPTION! We loved it! It took about ten minutes for us to feel the museum was quite special and extremely engrossing, and it took me even longer to start to understand why. The majority of the exhibits are a work of art! There was great effort and skill put into making you feel like to you actually IN the exhibit, transported to that place. Many exhibits are housed in a movie-set-type of exterior (a South American temple, a Japanese building, etc.), then there is a diorama (some full-size and some miniture) created from extremely well-crafted mannequins, taxidermies, artifacts, dried plants, and so many beautifully painted back drops. (Note: look carefully at the exteriors housing the exhibits, there are often surprises, such as monkeys (taxidermies) on them.) Their rain forest exhibit is on an even grander scale, making you feel like you stepped into the diorama, the whole room is like a diorama. Most of the dioramas are so packed with details that we spent several minutes with so many of them. Many modern science museums rely heavily on "interactive exhibits": press a button here, watch a video there, blah, blah blah ... most of which I find boring and actually less engaging. They lack of depth and rarely spark my interest. I have seen other museums use a dioramas here and there, but the effect of using so many in one place has a cumulative effect of maximizing the feeling of complete engagement. IT IS SO SAD THAT THIS MUSEUM IS GOING TO BE REPLACED. SEE IT NOW BEFORE IT IS GONE! I am not sure what is planned for their new museum that is in the works, but it will be so sad if they don't preserve the special approach taken in this old museum.

I grew up not far from NYC and got on a school bus once a year to go to the American Museum of Natural History. This one isn't that one, but for a city the size of Milwaukee it's pretty fabulous. As good as the prehistoric stuff is, for me nothing compares to the butterfly room. Magical and truly memorable

We came here during the Member Swap weekend, meaning we were able to get in for free with our Milwaukee Art Museum membership! I don't know why we had never been here before, but we had so much fun exploring. We were there for 2.5 hours and didn't even get close to seeing everything they offer. We did catch the "Surviving in Space" planetarium show, which is included in the ticket to the museum. The show was more geared towards kids, but it was a fun short break from walking regardless. My favorite exhibit was, similar to others, the Old Milwaukee and Village. My husband's favorite thing was looking at the fossils and learning about their history. We both also loved going through the butterfly house! We will be back and definitely after the new museum is built!

Great fun to visit. Had to see the Streets of Milwaukee before they disassemble. Some displays look like they are decaying-but guess they are not fixing due to moving.

Another great museum Milwaukee has to check out to visitors and residents. This museum offers four floors of great exhibits. Admissions is located on the first floor along with a large cafe area. Please note, there is not a coat check, however, they offer various sizes of lockers for minimal fee. The map & visitors guide was very helpful and easy to read. On the first floor where we spent most of our time. We really enjoyed walking through the Streets of Old Milwaukee exhibit. I would recommend walking through the Butterfly Garden. The balance of the museum has various galleries which are very nice and interesting with the descriptions. There's plenty of resting areas on each floors. We had a great experience and I would recommend everyone to check out this museum.

Pretty empty on a Friday afternoon. Nothing really called my attention and I felt like it was very over priced. I paid $18 with my college ID. My favorite part was the butterfly room which was a bit small, but many friendly butterflies! I kinda regret coming and spending that much money to come here (I'm from NYC so I'm used to pricy)

Oh how I love the MPM. I've been coming here since I was a child, hopefully you have been too. Here's the thing, I feel like things don't change much. But it all fairness, I visit once or twice every two years. So I'm not here for every special exhibit but I did see Body Worlds twice. Please see this if you haven't and it comes to Milwaukee again! The butterfly room is super cool. Where else can you go that allows you to hang out with hundreds of flying little creatures?! Beware it is humid in this exhibit. Recently I saw the "new" Milwaukee city exhibit and although not too much had changed, I still felt the nostalgic memories of being there as a kid. I'm glad it's sort of the same yet still freshened up. Museums like this are an important part of any city and I highly recommend going. The MPM has lots of great things to see and don't forget to check out the theater too!

The Milwaukee Public Museum has been in the news recently for the fact its building is (as stated on the website's FAQs) "falling apart." The situation is apparently so dire, the museum is worried about losing its accreditation. Visiting the place, I perhaps expected the problems to be evident, but on the whole, a visit to the MPM is still the charming and informative experience it's always been. On the top floor, you'll find a couple of areas cordoned off and buckets placed to catch leaks from the roof. Other than that, the building seemed in good repair and the exhibits were clean and well cared for. The Puelicher Butterfly Wing is still an excellent spot to see the wide variety of butterflies up close (but, try to visit at a time when a school group of screaming kids isn't in the small, enclosed area.) The European Village remains an interesting and quiet place to explore. The Streets of Old Milwaukee are still fascinating, especially for anyone who knows a little about the history of the city. The impressive The Third Planet (dinosaurs!) and Rain Forest (currently closed for renovation) round out the first floor--and there are still two more floors left to explore! Admission to the Museum is $18 for adults and kids 14 or older, $14 for seniors 65+, and $12 for children 3 to 13 years old. The Planetarium is an additional $4 (and is worth the few additional bucks). You can also visit the IMAX Dome theater for an additional fee. If you care to store your coat for your visit, you'll find lockers for 50 cents to $1 tucked on the ground floor down the hall next to the gift shop. Don't let the news dissuade you--the museum is still a fun and interesting visit.

So I think I just realized my sister and I are nerd's. Well ok, I'm throwing her in there cause she goes with me but I know she likes going too lol. I love going to different museums in every State we go to, as long as its good and interesting we can spend hours at a place. Just like we did here, we stayed up until closing time so we did about 3hrs. So this place had a spider room too and since I was a little traumatised from the museum in LA lol I had to ask and make sure these were locked up behind class or something! They assured me they we're, cool so we good then. Even locked up those spiders looked creepy, man the wolf spider was really ugly looking. It was a pretty cool room though. I noticed we both love seeing and reading about dinosaurs. It's just so interesting looking at how they but everything together. We also loved walking through Old Milwaukee that was pretty bad how they recreated everything, I felt like a peeping tom looking through the windows lol. This is a museum to check out if you're in the area with or without kids, we would visit this place again.

From Museum Website: Updated November 17, 2020 To our Milwaukee Public Museum community, As a result of the rising number of COVID-19 cases in our community, the City of Milwaukee issued Public Health Order 4.2, increasing restrictions to stop the spread. As a result of this Order, MPM must again close its doors.  While we are closed for public and private programs and events, as Wisconsin's resource for nature and culture we are committed to being there for you using our digital resources. Please visit us at mpm.edu/Curiosity and follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram for the latest news as well as activities and learning opportunities to enjoy from home. Thank you for your support. We look forward to healthier days for our community so we can see you again soon at MPM. Stay safe and healthy, Dr. Ellen Censky  President & CEO

Go on Thursday got thankful Thursday sponsored by Kohls!!! This place is huge with lots to say and do for all ages! We loved the butterfly garden

We stopped in last Sunday with the kiddos for a fun winter activity. I had never been and was excited to see they had some fun exhibits. Growing up in Chicago I've been used to visiting the Museum of Science and Industry, and the Field Museum--The Milwaukee Public Museum seems like a mixture of everything. We were able to find free parking literally right in front of the entrance. This was definitely a bonus! We became members, as membership can transfer to other museums including a few locations in Madison. We paid extra to see the Wisconsin stargazing exhibit as well as the weapons exhibit. They also had a live butterfly area which was my absolute favorite. They have a gift shop that we did not go into and a small café that serves Starbucks coffee and a few food items. I was disappointed that the hand dryer's in the women's bathroom did not work and paper towels were NOT provided. Fortunately, the café had napkins for me to dry my hands. I think we were here for total of three hours and we still didn't see everything. We had to convince the boys that we would come back a different day as everyone was getting hungry and we had other things to accomplish on the agenda. All in all, check it out if you need a fun activity to fill the day... but I wouldn't go out of my way to go back.

I've been going here since I was little and it's still amazing. I can spend hours looking at all the exhibits. This museum is basically half my childhood. I'm still sad that they're moving the museum, but it's for the better of the museum

I would call myself moderately interested in going to museums, and my friend and I decided to visit Milwaukee Public Museum on a Sunday mid-day, which turned out to be better timing than I thought because it wasn't crowded at all. It cost $43 including fees and taxes for two adults, which included tickets to a planetarium show. We spent about 3 hours here, and we still didn't get to see everything! The museum was bigger and more fun than I expected, with a lot of exhibits across many different themes. My favorite parts were the planetarium show, butterfly exhibit, and the recreation of Milwaukee's city streets in the old days. I had a blast, and I can totally imagine being able to spend a whole day here for a fun interactive learning experience, especially for kids.

Have not been to the Milwaukee Public Museum for probably 30 years, maybe a bit less. The Old World Wisconsin has not changed much, but they did add in a trolley exhibit that shows Milwaukee from the 1800's to now. Very cool. The exhibits have been updated mostly, but the classic T-rex exhibit (pictured) is still the same but with updated lighting, sounds and environmental lighting. If you haven't been here for many years or at all and are in the area, you should check it out. We burned about 4 hours of time wondering around exhibits. Also we took in the Wisconsin Stargazing planetarium exhibit in the National Geographic theater, pretty cool and included in the price of the ticket. Also if you get a little hungry, they have up dated the food offerings. A decent salad bar, hot grill items (pictured), grab and go sides, along with a self serve soup and sandwich bar. The prices are reasonable, as a cup of soup and half sandwich is about $8 plus tax, reasonable for downtown. My only gripe is with the cost of parking. It was Sunday, so we were able to park in the covered parking structure attached to the museum and the court house facilities. We figured it would be a little bit more than a parking lot, but $11 for 3.25 hours or so plus $21 dollars per adult ticket. Additionally you cannot have food or drink while checking out the exhibits. Understandable but if I pay $3 for a bottled water, it is coming with me. I would have liked to have given a 5 star rating but cost for this visit would be prohibitive for a large family, and there was a little sticker shock adding up the receipts after coming home.

For a public museum it has a great amount of display. Butterfly exhibit was great as well. But people with allergies beware. It is so musty inside and covered in dust. Many in my party could not stay for long due to allergy attacks. And that was due to the moldy smell inside. Also the planetarium is also not real or have any videos from a real planetarium. Whole thing was poor and cheap graphics and not worth seeing if you are over the age of 6.

My friend's mom works there and i'm very exited for the new mueseum coming in 2026!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

A fabulous resource that in my mind is an untold gem in the city of Milwaukee. The Milwaukee Public Museum delivers a powerful punch of history, culture and entertainment all in one! I was invited as a guest to a company event sponsored by Charter Manufacturing, so I got an amazing insider's glimpse at special museum events. The company sponsored admission for families, and featured a luncheon buffet, drinks and activities for kids. It was a really fun way for people to gather together and socialize outside of work, and in my mind a really nice perk. There were so many exhibits we didn't finish them all and will have to return. There were so many that were favorites though! Among my favorites: --Streets of Old Milwaukee. This has been redone, I'm told. It was obvious from climbing aboard the streetcar (yes, everything old is new again!). Clever film in the streetcar's windows felt like turning back time because street shots were interspersed with actors walking, etc. The effect was stunning. Wandering in the streets and taking in the diorama was also very cool. Watch for more flashes of clever technology! I wont share the secrets - you have to see them for yourself. --The butterfly exhibit. You have to see and experience the garden where you walk among these amazing creatures. Butterflies light on plants, trees, and if you're lucky - you - while you are there. Totally fun! Great museum with lots of fun for everyone!

In some ways this wonderful museum is a victim of its own success. They sought to be child and family friendly and hence, it's just too crowded with families and children. I like a little peace and quiet at a museum, and I don't like smudges on display cases. Like any good museum it's quite the educational experience, but the planetarium shows seem only aimed at an 8th grade level. There are mostly replicas on display and although we are talking about museum quality replicas, I do like to get close to the real thing. Parking is very convenient, but packaged with admission, the entire price tag is a bit much for a one time visit. There's enough to see here to make a membership worth it if you can visit three or more times.

This museum is huge! So much to see that I think you'll need half the day at least here. Wish we had more time here. Best museum that i have visited by far. The butterfly garden was so cool!

All I have to say is, if you don't like crowds or children, don't go on free day. I like children, but not a stampede of them. Well, needless-to-say I went on free day. The parking is absolutely atrocious. Like it is hands down the worst parking structure I have ever been in. It housed some of Milwaukee's finest drivers and parkers! (Sarcasm). It was just ridiculous honestly. Does no one in MKE know how to park?! I also was hit by a car that was backing out and didn't bother paying attention. Now what if I had or was a child?! How my car came out of this whole experience unscathed is a miracle. I'd never drive a BMW or Mercedes in this joint, THAT's for sure. On to the museum itself. It's okay. I felt that unless you were on the top 2 floors, you couldn't stand to look at something for very long because of how many people there were. I think it would be a much better experience if you go on a regular day. Without the hordes of people. I wouldn't pay $17 to visit, but I might for the traveling exhibits. So I'll just have to keep an eye out for those. I'm sure they're cool. I didn't get to go in the butterfly exhibit because I had to work and of course, the line to get in was so obnoxious. Listen if you're getting nothing from what I'm saying, get this: free day is awful! It's a great opportunity to do something if you're bored. But ugh I wish less people took that opportunity. The mass amount of people just really killed my vibe. Anywho, the food. Okay. Um. Why are you charging me for dressing? And why can't I just get chicken tenders without the fries? And why is a small fountain drink $3? The food was good though. Well, I can't say much for anything except the fries and tenders. Those were really good. Staff seemed friendly enough. Uh I think that's all I got. I might update this if I decide to return.

I remember this place when I was knee high. It's gave me memories with my mom and grandma. The history and realism is amazing. My grandpa died when I was 3 so I couldn't enjoy the museum with him. I will always remember him.

My husband and I haven't been here since we were kids! So we got a lot more out of it as adults. The pricing of food and tickets were fantastic! We also really appreciate how accessible the attraction was! But if there was something that needed some work: the bathrooms do. For example: the all-gender bathroom on lvl 2 had some old towel dispensers still on the walls and made getting into the large stall a bit snug. But all in all, I hope this museum continues to grow and update for future generations!

We we're in town for a conference and decided to try this museum and it didn't disappoint us. We both agreed this was probably our favorite activity while in town. We saw the Oceans 3D and the stars shows in the planetarium and both were great. Our favorite part was Old Wisconsin. Which is a room where you walk the streets with old houses/shops and see what it was like back then and of course take all your "instagram" photos. The butterfly exhibit was small but had lots of butterflies and the museum was a good size. My only complain is a lot of the exhibits we're mostly if not entirely replicas. They didn't have a lot of original artifacts.

Cleopatra, Cleopatra, wherefore art thou? You're right here in Milwaukee! (through April 29, 2012) What a well-done exhibit on the Last Queen of Egypt! In January, adult admission for the Cleopatra and Museum entrance is just $20.12, including parking. And it was so worth it. Each entry comes with a complimentary and well done audio tour. My son and I learned about Cleopatra's lineage (Greek!), the underwater archeological excavation of many of the exhibit's treasures and sculptures, and her life and times. Cleopatra was one smart dame! She knew several languages, and was the first ruler of Egypt to learn the native tongue of her subjects! Her beauty and her wiles, are well-documented as well in movies (Vivian Leigh, Elizabeth Taylor), but her manipulation of powerful men was no harlot's game: she used her beauty and intelligence to try to gain influence in Rome for her family, and her country. After Cleopatra, we wandered through the taxidermied animals and birds- there's a lot to see and read! This area of the museum could really use an overhaul. Informational touch screens, and media are sorely needed to capture the attention of today's media-addicted families! Who's got the deep pockets, Milwaukee?! Give it up! The normal museum is about 4-stars, but they keep hitting it out of the park with their special exhibits. 5-star bump!

Located downtown, the location is easy to find and there is an attached parking garage which will set you back that you can use for about $10, but it is convenient. Yeah, they also don't have a coat room, but they have lockers for a half dollar that might work. When we went adults (they consider those 14 and over to be adults!) are charged something over $20 a pop and they add a hefty fee for using a credit card. I've never understood the desire by business to pass on the expense of credit card transactions to customers - just change the admission price. So, by the time you get your family of four into this joint, you are in for close to a C-note. Certainly you can park somewhere for free and walk and hold your coat and take a day off work to go on the first Thursday of the month and the whole thing would be free, but that's not in the cards for me. When you enter the space its up a staircase to a second level where they have a center display of a variety of items. They explain in that display that Victorians focused on oddities and little more. They have embraced this approach as the make very little effort to explain what they are displaying throughout the entire place. If you look at a diorama or a display, more likely than not, there is no corresponding index to tell you what the thing is or why they are showing it to you. The Streets of Milwaukee and the Native American information were by far the highlight exhibits to us. There is a massive amount of information and things to see here on par with the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History, so I recommend that you come here and make time to see what they are offering. Highly recommended to you!

Great place to visit on a gloomy cold and wet day. Kids found it fun to learn about Milwaukee and see some fun exhibits. I hadn't been here in over 20 years.

We are blessed to have such a well procured museum here in MKE. Finally made it through. We went mostly for the dinosaur exhibit but enjoyed so much more. First I never realized how big the museum was. It took me for surprise much like my fist time in the art museum. The floors just seem to go on and on. We have exhibits ranging from Indonesia all the way to China. I was impressed as we walked through and saw an array of various artifacts from different ages. My big highlights included: The dinosaurs. That's what we came for and it was no disappointment.Truly amazing copllection of bones, skulls, and anything dinasaur related artifacts. Lots of interactive exibits. Very cool. The butterflies! What better than to walk into a warm open glass rooms with all the blooming butterflies about. It was a great feel to this dreary spring we've had thus far in Wisco. Old World Wisconsin! Very cool getting in the trolley car and feeling like your moving through the dstrerets from then to now Milwaukee. It's amazing to see the "priogress" we've made and how much this place has changed over the decades. The museum is an inspiring place and this past Saturday it was quite a busy place. Lot's of kids and parents running around. To enjoy the exhibits even further I would consider coming during a weekday. No matter though the MPM is not one to miss.