Vlad V.
Yelp
On my third visit to San Diego, I checked out the San Diego Air & Space Museum on a Saturday afternoon. Knowing my way around the city a bit, I will say that most of San Diego's most popular attractions are outdoors. The weather while I was there was unusually cold so I was looking for an indoor activity. As a lover of history, this one was a natural fit.
Located in Balboa Park, a beautiful area with many entertainment options including other museums and the San Diego Zoo, parking isn't the easiest. It's a popular spot, but even on a weekend, you'll be able to find free parking. Probably not in the lots closest to the museums, but in the ones a little farther away. Which is what I did. Upon arriving, I paid for my $30 ticket (sheesh, California prices).
I tend to make my way through museums pretty slowly as I like to read a lot. I made my way through this one in a little over two hours. The first section of the museum was a temporary exhibition on Leonardo da Vinci and his fascination with flight. Awesome exhibit! It was nice to learn more about this legend. From there, you move on into the space portion of the museum. My favorite part of my visit was seeing two short 4D movies: they show them every 30 minutes and its a part of your ticket. The first one is landing on the moon. The second one is space fighter jets. The moon landing was my favorite and very, very cool. It made you feel like you were actually doing it.
From there, the rest of the park focuses on aviation: in large part during WWI and WWII. While it's not fair, I compare this museum to Pearl Harbor and Pearl Harbor is tough to beat. It's done at a better level but the San Diego Air & Space Museum is still worth seeing. I also paid an additional $8 to do a rollercoaster capsule experience. The capsules remind me of what astronauts do to prepare for space. If you get sea sick easily, and you don't like amusement parks, this isn't for you. I enjoyed it.
Overall, I had a good time. It's just a little too pricey for what you get.