I've been to MOSI three times now. Once with my wife, once with my 10 year old neice and now to the Bodies Exhibition with some friends visiting town for Labor Day. Each experience was a little different, and I found all had their own pluses and minuses. The latest experience was the worst. It's quite apparent that all MOSI had on their mind for Labor Day weekend and probably for any Special Engagement is money. The Bodies Exhibition, while very educational and interesting, was so ridiculously crowded, you could not see, read or appreciate the exhibit without being pushed or behind one or two rows at each display. There must have been hundreds of people packed into the narrow hallways and around the tightly placed displays. We bought our tickets ahead of time for a Sunday 10:45 am engagement and still had to wait in the "will call/already have tickets" line for over an hour. The time printed on the ticket ment nothing to the ticket takers, and they didn't seem very well organized.
Seriously, shouldn't MOSI limit the amount of people in the small display area? Why else would you section off time blocks? I highly doubt we could have ever passed a fire inspection the way it was packed in. They should seriously review their 'capacity policy' for these special events. At $20 - $30 a ticket, they should be able to afford less people per time block for a better viewing experience.
With the exception of the above, there are some real pluses to the rest of MOSI. The IMAX theater is absolutely terrific, and while the regular interactive activities and displays are great fun for the kids, adults may get little educational stimulation from them.
All in all, if you have kids, MOSI is worth your money for just the regular displays and IMAX. If you want to see a special engagement, get tickets ahead of time and be there before 9am on a weekday/non-holiday as there is clearly no joy in viewing them otherwise.
Pros: IMAX Theater, Children's interactive displays
Cons: Special Event Organization, Display maintenance
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