The new Children's Museum is long overdue. The old place was nice but had more negatives than positives going for it. The new building, next to the Smith Center, is gorgeous with plenty of parking in the adjacent parking garage and overflow parking next to the World Market and Mundo.\n\nThere are plenty of new interactive exhibits, including arts and crafts stations that my five year old loved. Another hit was the area where you can build your own mini parachute and cars to try out.\n\nSome exhibits from the old museum were brought over to the new place and given updates, like the Ecco Village. The garage where you can fix up a car and the grocery store were both hits. During peak hours the grocery store will be packed with kids shopping for (toy) food.\n\nThe biggest negative is the central tower that spans the height of the building. The tower is basically a stairwell with interactive exhibits on every floor and half floor. While that part is great, the ladders and slides that connect different levels can be a parent's worst nightmare. If you follow your kid down the slides it isn't a big deal. If not, your kid ends up on a different level, making it scary because it separates kid from parent. They have safety measures in place aimed to prevent solo adults from leaving with kids, but I still wouldn't put my trust in anyone else's security. My kid had a blast going down the slides but in one instance he ended up on a different floor and I had to hustle through the crowds to catch up to him. I spoke with one of the employees and they mentioned that it's a daily occurrence to have a lost kid and frantic parents.\n\nAside from worrying if my kid is lost, it's a great museum with a tremendous amount of potential and it can only get better.\n\nEntry to the museum is $12 regardless of age. Different annual family memberships range from $125 to $175 a year.
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