Pacific Science Center

Our family was traveling through Seattle and we love going to science centers. We spent the entire day from 10-5 exploring everything they have. Our kids really enjoyed the maker space area and butterfly exhibit. We also chose to see a couple of the laser shows that were free with our tickets. They were super cool. They have so many wonderful ways to spend a day together.

Excellent interactive museum. The dinosaur exhibits, the interactive science experiments and the demonstrations were all very informative and enjoyable. Good seasonal exhibits and a great maker area for kids of all ages. The butterfly garden was a treat. Additionally we enjoyed a Planetarium show but my kids enjoyed the laser show above all else. Easy layout with nearby parks and eateries this is a great whole day outing. We hosted a birthday party and here’s a big shoutout to the staff - everybody we met is professional, friendly and punctual while not exactly being wait staff- after all they are science people running an activity center. I highly recommend this as a venue for young kids events.

This was one of the options for the Seattle CityPass, and we decided to go check it out! It was a really fun experience, and the campus is pretty large. They have several buildings with different things in them. We came here around 3:30 pm- we wanted to come earlier but something came up. We ended up missing a lot of the cool programs like the planetarium and the laser dome. Many of the exhibits were interactive and very interesting. I think the coolest exhibit was the tropical butterfly house. They have an area to put your belongings in before stepping inside. They are very careful about making sure the butterflies are safe! It was so cool to see them up close. They also had an area of the ones that are emerging out of their cocoons. When we went, they did not have a robust gift shop, but a little stand with some merchandise. The people working the information desk were extremely friendly and helpful. This experience was so cool! I can imagine that this is especially cool for kids. I went with my partner, and we are both 24 years old. We had a blast, so I think anyone at any age would have a great time here.

I visited this place because it is among the choices of the Seattle City Pass. This place includes a few different parts. 5/5 - you can be very close to the butterflies. 🦋 Unique and beautiful experience for everyone. 4/5 - The laser show is also quite entertaining and interesting, good to sit or lie there and rest a bit. For other parts, hmmm, they might be much more interesting for kids instead of adults. I mean, this science center is for sure a 5-star place for kids or family travelers, but for a solo traveler like me, I’ll give it 3.5 stars, compared with other spots in Seattle.

Love this place. If you are a curious person in general would highly recommend this place. Plan to stay here at least for 3 to 4 hours to get the complete experience. They do have a laser show of Taylor Swift, which I highly recommend. Butterfly Park is a must visit.

We had a wonderful time at the Pacific Science Center! It’s a fantastic place for families—our kids especially loved the interactive exhibits and the butterfly house. Everything was clean, well-organized, and very educational. Perfect for curious minds of all ages. Highly recommend for anyone visiting Seattle!

This was an amazing children's museum. I had it as one of the options with the CityPass & my friend recommended it. I set aside 2 hours for this visit; however, I would give your family at least 3-4 hours, especially if you have 7+ yr old children. We stayed a little longer than planned but we rushed thru the last 2 rooms. They had a small dinosaur exhibit, space section, physics hands-on exhibits, a butterfly Garden (son's favorite), Body & Brain exhibit and more. This is a definite visit if you are traveling with kids!

The laser show and butterfly room are must-see parts of this museum! The staff member that did the Combustion demonstration/lesson was so wonderful with the children. Keep them so engaged and entertained.

After visiting the Space Needle, I decided to take my kids to revisit the nearby Pacific Science Center. They had visited as toddlers but didn't remember much. Thanks to our Discovery Cube pass and the ASTC Travel Passport Program, we could visit for free. They enjoyed the variety of exhibitions, making the day even more memorable.

It was smaller inside than expected, but still was fun. Lots of spots for learning and exploring! Spent a few hours in there. Only draw back is I thought they might have AC on a hot day, they did not. We planned to be there early at least before the heat came rolling in. Love that a playground isn't too far of a walk from here. I would come back again one day.

Check out a lot of cool stuff. This place has changed a lot since I was a kid. A bit sad they didn't have anything set up outside and the water features were turned off. Especially since it was so nice and hot out when I came. Overall id say this place is great for kids, adults, not so much.

Our family enjoyed our time at the Pacific Science Center. It was the science museum of my childhood, and it was fun to see how it's changed and stayed the same. The butterflies were my favorite. My kids were all about the Dinosaurs.

The PSC disappoints despite its size. Much of the space feels empty, with exhibits that are overly simplistic and lack depth, appealing mostly to very young children. Older kids and adults will likely find little to engage with, and the educational value is surprisingly low for such a renowned venue. For a tech-forward city like Seattle, the exhibits feel dated and uninspired. Even smaller museums in places like Guatemala manage to offer richer content with fewer resources. The price doesn't match the experience, and while the planetarium and IMAX are decent, they feel disconnected from the rest. It's a missed opportunity for what could be a leading science center. And parking is $40 most wkds!!! Not worth your time / money. Response to RR comment: If cash flow is an issue, cost-cutting might be a good place to start. For instance, does a VP really need to respond to Yelp comments? With some of the world's largest enterprises in town, funding shouldn't be a challenge. If it is, it points to weaknesses in two critical areas: 1) persuading patrons to contribute and 2) effectively allocating resources. You could also consider renting unused patio space to Starbucks. Additionally, invite companies like Microsoft, Amazon, REI, Costco, and Expedia to create their own exhibitions, with their own resources and volunteers/employees. You can allow them to sell their products in-store i.e. xbox, Minecraft, laptops, games, etc I'd be happy to help audit your financials and brainstorm more ideas.

Lots of educational activities to keep children entertained. The kids planetarium show was a little skimpy. Many interactive stations. Butterfly experience was cool.

This is a great place to come and bring your kids in SeattleCenter. I have a 5 and 9 year-old, and they made the most of their visit, staying at the museum for about three hours. The butterfly exhibit was very cool, and we were able to catch Laser show, which was a new and fun experience for them. Everything within this museum was hands-on, which is so great for younger kids.

If you have kids who like science or dinosaurs, this may be a good place to take them when the weather gets rough or just for a day out. At one point, we had their annual pass but then COVID happened and we weren't able to enjoy it. This is the first time since COVID that we've been back. Not much has changed. My little one loves butterflies and was delighted to spend the afternoon with the little fellas. She also liked the hands-on water tank where you can feel the starfish, sea anemone. We didn't do the imax because it was extra and I didn't think she'd enjoy it. It was spendy even with a WA resident discount. Some science related activities were lame or not really interesting - like the bowl sound thing or the bubble maker. I think I saw those there before. After about an hour, we were done exploring. Go when there's no events going on cuz parking is tough. We took public transit and still had to walk almost a mile. Boo..they need a better way of getting here. I took the light rail before but didn't feel like it that day.

Fun trip for the kiddos right next to the Space Needle. Visited here June and chose it as one of the options for the City Pass. The center has options to play and learn, a Butterfly garden which was so fun and a Dinosaur exhibit! The Butterflies were not shy, they were big in size and very engaging with all the people inside. We also enjoyed the Dark Space IMAX movie which was awesome to see. Prices were reasonable and the Center was fun for our kiddos. Bathrooms were big and very clean!

For a place called science center, their technology was not quiet updated, and we had to wait in line for 30+ minutes in the cold for paper tickets (despite having QR codes). The inside had a lot of interactive displays and devices, but mostly designed for little children. The place seemed pretty dated and old, looked like it could use an upgrade some time soon, especially the dinosaurs. Many exhibits and stations were just scattered around without much cohesive organization. However, my boyfriend and I did enjoy the butterfly garden a lot. It was so fun seeing them land on him and flap their beautiful colorful wings, how pretty! This was the only part that was worth seeing and experiencing in my very personal opinion.

Science Centers are usually lots of fun but this one ain't it. It's outdated, it's inefficient, and overall just... not exciting. The best part was probably the butterfly exhibit with live butterflies flying around but that's it. The ticketing system is slow and inefficient, e-tickets aren't a thing apparently. The dinosaur section is a little dated. The space isn't utilized very well, everything is kind of scattered about and you just meander through everything clumsily. There really isn't any rhyme or reason to how anything is organized here and for the price you pay, you'd think you'd get somewhat of a nice scientific curiosity satisfaction. If you ever find yourself in LA, go to their science center, it's free, it's amazing, and you will see how much more modern it is compared to this one.

In my opinion the Pacific Science Center is overpriced for the experience. To start with the positive, my favorite part of the Center was the butterfly room. Rivaling the epic Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden in Florida, the enclosed space boasted several different types of friendly butterflies and a wall of pinned chrysalises. After the high point that was the butterflies, a few of the sections such as the bias section and the data research section were engaging but not quite interactive enough. Outside of the surfing and body matching booths, almost all of the interactive booths were aimed at elementary to middle school aged kids and the entire dinosaur room felt dated (think 90's). The biggest feedback that I could give is that much of the space wasn't well utilized and was uninteresting. I could easily see the Pacific Science Center being the perfect place for a school trip with a tour guide, but there seemed to be very little reason to spend almost $30 on a visit (no student discounts) if you're just visiting on your own.

I recently discovered the free monthly sensory-friendly experience for my young toddler and it was a great first time visit. We attended the event when it was closed to the public from 8-10AM, and it was great not to deal with crowds/ bigger kids that can overrun my kid. During that time, there were more than enough interactive and visual exhibits; although my toddler really enjoyed playing in the tot area the most. Honestly being a science kind of guy, a lot of their exhibits entertained me as well with nostalgic topics dating back to elementary/middle school. It seems the sensory-experience schedule varies by month, but I do wish they can keep the times in the early mornings for the families with young ones that rise early. Nevertheless without much expectations, everyone seemed to have a good time and I'm looking forward to returning with my toddler again.

This is one of the option from Seattle City pass. Located in downtown Seattle. Same plaza as the space needle and museum of pop. There are two floors. My kids enjoyed it and so did I. There's lots to do. :)

First off we were greeted by the very friendly Emily Weber who promoted all the wonderful exhibits there! We got info about the laser light show and butterfly exhibit and other attractions! You can really spend hours there! Emily was friendly and really enjoyed helping us, she is such a kind and cordial person!

Went to their BLACKPINK and SZA Laser Dome show! Had so much fun and really enjoyed the experience! Definitely be aware of flashing lights and louder music. Lots of space to lay down or sit to watch the show

Don't park in their parking garage, took my family there and apparently was a few minutes late getting back to my car. Paid $30 to park there, which was already pretty pricey, a month later I get a fine in the mail for $92. Triple the price I paid for being a few minutes late.

Huge, the perfect way to spend a day! Science, amazing interactive displays, fantastic art. The children were fascinated with the way the dinosaurs actually moved.. The butterfly house was toasty warm and butterflys were all around, delightfully landing next to us. The planetarium was riveting! We can't wait to come back!

This place is great for younger kids. My kiddos are 7 and 10 and there wasn't a lot for the older age range. Parents not watching what the little kiddos are doing, resulting in frustrated kids that waited in line as well as parents. The planetarium experience is a must for any age! Unfortunately this time around it was sold out. Wish they offered more show times! A lot of the exhibits have been removed or are not operational which was disappointing. Especially because you pay the same price. They had a place for littles to just experience and play. Wish they had such a space for older kiddos so they can experience without the hassle of little ones cutting in front. There is not sufficient seating available for adults so there is a lot of standing for adults. If you have younger littles this place is great, if you have older ones stick to IMAX and laser showes.

I've come here several times now and have enjoyed each unique visit! In the summer, they have 21+ only evenings where adults can enjoy food/drink and explore the exhibits and planetarium. The people who work (or volunteer?) here are awesome and super passionate about the place. I always admire and respect folks who are into science. Highly recommend for kids and adults to enjoy, explore and learn!

We have a year long membership. We have a lot of fun. My kids are elementary age. If you are a one time visitor you can plan to spend three or four hours here. They have great shows of topics like illusions, vibrations and our personal favorite, combustion. They are great for ages pre-k to 4th or 5th grade. I recommend getting to the small theater area 10-15 minutes prior to the show to get a good seat. The laser shows are fun as well. You can sit in a movie theater type chair or lay on the floor and see more of the show. I recommend laying down. Again, being a bit early helps the chances of getting a great view. There are many other things to do. I alway underestimate how much time it takes and how much fun they have. If you have curious children this is a great way to spend a day.

We enjoyed our visit to the Pacific Science Center, but it was a bit uneven. The laser jukebox show was amazing - 5 stars! The butterfly exhibit was lovely - also 5 stars - but was hard to find. The brain cave was a very cool exhibit that we really enjoyed, and the sensory lounge was very peaceful for someone like me who gets easily stressed in crowds - 5 stars for both of these. The Planetarium is geared toward little kids and didn't compare well to other planetariums I've visited - 3 stars. Signage was notably absent or confusing - 2 stars. We had to ask at the information desk to find the butterfly exhibit, and never saw any signs for the tidepool exhibit. Worth a visit as an exploratory space for children.

Criminally overrated they're just high school level science projects to look at. They charge you 10% more to enter if you're not a local. Literally do anything else with your $68.

I was exploring Seattle and it was quite a cold and windy and rainy day, so I popped into the science center to spend some time. This is definitely a great place especially for children to explore science activities! They have many different interactive exhibits that is fun for adults too, a really cute dinosaur info area, and my favorite part was the butterfly exhibit! Butterflies with come very close, and they feature exhibits on the different life stages of the butterfly. They also have an imax theater, planetarium, and laser show, none of which I went to but could be great to revisit. Overall a nice and informative place to kill some time!

My 10 year old grandson and I were there all day, he had such a great time I had to pry him away. He loved all of it, but especially the tinker place. He figured out how to wire several circuits. He flew helicopter papers over a vent, and built long mazes on the magnetic wall to run balls through. We played a game of chess with big pieces in the garden. Saw butterflies as big as birds. Saw the constellations in the planetarium. Fabulous day! Great for all ages.

This place is very cool, and has a large variety of stuff you can do, staff are nice, and yeah, visit if you are in the area!

As a child, I absolutely LOVED going to PSC. Now that I have school-aged kids, it's been nostalgic for me to return. However, since they have reopened, there's honestly not much to do anymore. The have the butterfly exhibit, and the laser shows and IMAX, but most of the other stuff is underwhelming, and not enough to keep the kids interested for long. Many areas were roped off. We've been back twice now and at least at the moment, it's pretty "meh". I can stay that staff has been very helpful and friendly, though. I hope they get new exhibits soon.

Out of town experience: worth the visit. We spent 4 hours. Not busy on a Thursday and summer. Only negative no food worth it inside the venue, besides hotdogs on the concession stand of the imax theater.

My first time to the science center was during the once a month Happy hour. My husband and I went for date night. By the looks of the crowd, the majority of the crowd had the same idea. Doors open at 5:30. parking across the is free at 6:00, so we only paid for 30 minutes. The menu included Meatball pasta. Street tacos, vegan salad, mixed drinks, beer, and non alcoholic berry lemonade. They accept cash and venmo. We enjoyed all the interactive exhibits, butterfly room, science shows and laser shows. Definitely recommend this happy hour to see the museum with a 21+ age crowd only.

This is a science museum that I visited while visiting Seattle. The place is very large and features all of the typical fields of science (space, dinosaurs, physics, chemistry, etc.). However, as an adult, I found the place somewhat disappointing. The exhibits are fairly dated and appear to have remained the same since the 1990s at the latest. This place is really suited for small children, who are more easily entertained.

Laser Dome show was magical - so much fun!! We highly recommend it. The visuals combined with the music just blew our minds.

I remember coming here as a kid I loved it thought it was a ton of fun I haven't been there in forever

Great place for young and old! Lots of hand on activities with explanations of scientific principles. The outdoor water demonstrations were fun and the indoor dinosaur exhibit and butterfly walk exhibit were highlights for us. Never saw so many different varieties of butterflies!

So happy it opened up again. Kids always enjoy coming here and soaking in the experience. You can choose to park onsite, or just find street parking around the area. There are usually some spots around within 5 minutes walking to Seattle Center. The activities with the water and physics is fun, but some of them seem broken. We caught a science show about combustion and it was really fun and educational. Down to the dino rooms was another blast. Who doesn't like dinosaurs? The toddler play area and the interactive exhibits in the next two rooms are super awesome as well. The little one got a kick out of the AR station. Last but not least the butterfly exhibit, super super cool to see so many beautiful butterflies up close.

So many fun things to do here! I can't even recall them all! Some of them include the world's largest chair, a miniature tide pool, and a 3d movie theater. But the best thing by far, at least for me, is the butterfly exhibit. It's an awe-striking experience to have a butterfly land on you, and it's just so fun to see. I would highly recommend visiting, one of my favorite places in the beautiful city of Seattle!

This place for me was my childhood! My grandma would take me here at least 5 times every summer for about 7 years! I loved this place as a kid, but once COVID hit it was closed. Since the reopening I recently went for the first time in like 5 years, and I was very happy to see a lot of younger kids having fun! I will say it is definitely more run down, not so much in the quality of what the offer, but it's just not as popular which makes me very sad:( I hope any one who is visiting Seattle considers taking a trip here, it is quite literally fun for the entire family!! I know that as the times change so do the interests that kids have, but this place is an incredible day trip, and you will leave learning so many new things no matter what age. Overall I love this place it's great for all ages, and will guarantee all visitors a fun day or even just a couple hours!

The museum was great and the laser show was so interesting and amazing. It must take real talent to throw off something like that.

As a grown ass adult(mentally), I still love coming here. They just have cool shit. It's definitely doesn't seem as big as when I was a kid, but it's still really cool. There's a butterfly exhibit. There's a laser dome where they rotate out the genre and artists so there has to be music that appeals to your taste, I'm trying to go to the BTS one. I just don't get it when people say there's nothing to do in Seattle because of the rain, are they planning to just hide for 80% of their life because of a little rain? Plenty of indoor things to still do. It's not like we have to worry about hurricanes, tornados, or alligators. Tell me about your experience if you've been here or is going to after reading this review:)

Loved coming here. Every year things seem to just get worse. Too many people, not enough parking, food, water, restrooms just the basic necessities for such a large crowd. Came here in 7/29/23 beautiful day and just did not have the best time. One hotdog stand had hot dogs for $8 (not bad) bottle water for $3 (not bad considering other vendors sold bottled water @ $4) when it was time to pay the only tip options were 18% 22% or custom, I thought that was interesting felt pressured into giving a high tip for someone to hand me a hot dod.. lol same things to see and too many people walking around. Traffic was bad, next time take the light rail.

If you have a partner who loves science, you're bound to visit some science centers whenever you travel. We've been to our fair share. Some have been amazing, and some have been duds. Unfortunately, this one was a dud. It is very specifically science activities meant for kids. They have live butterfly exhibit, where you go into a little sanctuary and some are flying around you, so that wasn't bad. The only thing that was pretty cool was the laser show. For matinees, it's $5 but since we bought the museum and show tickets online beforehand, we got jipped and paid $10 (on top of the museum admission, which isn't cheap at $26 a pop). The laser show features a different artist's music for each show, synced up to lasers. The one we saw was for the Beatles. They didn't play most of the popular songs, but it was still fun. Just make sure you arrive 15 minutes prior to the show to get seats. If I lived in the area, I would probably go from time to time just for the laser shows. But otherwise, this ''museum" was very underwhelming. Unless you have little kids, you can skip this.

Came to a Tame Impala laser dome show here. I can confirm that you don't need weed to enjoy this show. :) Do bring snacks, blankets and pillows.

This place has been a crucial part of my childhood, I have nothing but fond memories of coming here and interacting with the hands-on exhibits. I love coming here as an adult and exploring the wonders of science.

Complete waste of money. Before Covid this was by far one of our favorite places to go. Considering it cost nearly $100 for two adults and our 3 and 7 year old, we don't go often. Husband took the day off and we planned to go a couple weeks in advance. After driving nearly two hours, paying $16 for parking and $95 for tickets, we were insanely disappointed to see that there was hardly anything open. The things that were open weren't working properly and we saw the whole place in about an hour. If everything is closed or broken, tickets should be discounted. What a joke. Go to hands on in Olympia. It's cheaper and actually fun. I want my money back!!

My two kids report the following. 9 yr old boy-Wasn't much to do, a few things were fun. 7 yr old girl- If there wasn't Camp only areas it would of been fun. Let other people come, it's not really fair. I want my money back!

Coming here as a kid was a joy on a field trip. The PSC is rundown and it could be due to being closed for two years during Covid. The staff were nice and were there to interact and answer questions. For two adults and one toddler the price was just over $70 bucks, and I did not think it was worth it. My kiddo had more fun at fountain at the Seattle center and that was free. We don't really have a reason to come back here in the future...

Amazing place to spend the day! We learned so much from every section that we visited- aquarium, rainforest, earthquake simulator, gems, the collection room, and the planetarium! My 14 year old said, "Ok, I want to work here!" Great for budding scientists or anyone who loves the natural world.

This museum was ok. There were different buildings that housed different exhibits. Some of the exhibits seemed old or outdated but perhaps I have a skewed perception of a what a science museum should look like since we've been to Cal Academy of Science in SF which is amazing. There a pretty cool toddler area with a water play area and a touch and feel marine animals although you could only touch stuff in the shallow areas but the shallow areas had nothing to touch except a sea star. The employee had to constantly tell kids not to reach into the deeper area which is where all the sea creatures were. One exhibit that is cool is the butterfly area. It is humid in there since it mimics the rainforest but it is thrilling to see all the butterflies flying about. There is a one exhibit about virtual reality but that seemed to attract the older kids. A couple of heads up: -bathroom is across the courtyard (it has interesting facts about bodily functions) -there's a refillable water station outside the bathroom -cafeteria is more of a grab and go type of food - sandwiches, yogurt, soup, Mac n' cheese - use the CityPass if possible to check out the sites of Seattle (definitely worth it!)

Absolutely love the science center, since i was a child i've had fond memories of coming here on field trips. My favorite exhibits are the tropical butterfly house and the dinosaur exhibit. I think that it's really cool that they offer laser shows and that there's a planetarium. And the IMAX theaters have a lot of feature films and documentary that they cycle through. I think this is a great thing to have near the Seattle center.

You can apply for a scholarship for reduced entry for your family. We always enjoy the butterfly enclosure but it's scary to have those things flying freely around you. The exhibits are mostly educational so that is good. We saw a lazer show also. Def a fun time for a few hours with the kids.