mcwane science center

Very nice, worth the money :^) My family had a blast, great for children and adults :^) u must try the spelling challenge it was fun . So many things to do and learn about ...

This place is like Bill Nyes's playground. It's a little pricey but you can make it an all day thing. It's all interactive and educational, but so fun the kids don't notice. The IMAX theater is top of the line and a must do. You'll love it!!!!

I LOVE, LOVE this place. I have taken my children here many time throughout the years. It is an invaluable tool to help them explore the wonderful world of science with lots of hands on exhibits, games, exploration centers, videos, etc. Mediums of all kinds abound at this science center to allow your budding scientist to think outside the box and expand their mind. It's great for adults, too. It will hopefully draw out your curious side and allow you to free your mind for curious exploration. Be sure to block off your whole day for this exciting adventure! You won't want to miss any part of McWayne Center!

Living, looking, interacting! You may be interacting with a 25 Million year old dinosaur! It's the atmosphere of the museum which makes it addictive and interactive! Drive in the tundra; build Robots! Come to McWain Center! The scientist in you will LOVE it!

I took my wife and kids here. We parked on site (because there is no place to park in Birmingham, ever.) It was convenient but the parking spaces were really small with almost no room to get out of the car. We went down the elevator to the main lobby. The line started almost at the elevator and continued for about 150 feet. The line moved extremely slow, when we got up near the front we found out why. There were 6 ticket counters, 5 of them were closed the one that was open the lady was moving in slow motion. After standing in line for 2 hours to get tickets we found out that this place is more expensive than Disneyland. Since we already had so much time invested and it was really too late to do anything else we decided to just pay it. We went over to the flight simulator but we couldn't buy tickets there we had to get back in the 2 hour long line to buy tickets, really a sign at the ticket counter would have been nice. But as I was to find out customers are not real high on their priority list here. We skipped the flight simulator and explored the 3 floors of exhibits, nothing really stood out as interesting. The kids did enjoy the playground on the first floor though.We had about an hour before the movie we bought tickets for was about to start and decided to visit the cafeteria. They had Pizza Hut subway and a couple no name booths. There were no pizzas left. I asked the lady hiding behind the Pizza Hut counter when more pizzas would be ready. She snapped at me in a very rude tone of voice "like I told the lady before you it will be 10 -15 minutes." There were pizzas thrown all over behind the counter, it was really nasty. She finally did put up 1 cheese pizza in a box and walked off. So we went over to the grill which had a glass help yourself box, all they had left was 2 hotdogs, you can't feed a family with 2 hotdogs. We went to Subway but they were out of bread. I asked to speak with the manager, the guy walked in the back and come out a minute later and said that there is no manager. Makes sense it looks like the blind were leading the blind in there. My wife asked me to go to the car and bring in the diaper bag we had some chips and boxed juices in there. So we provided our own food and sat down to eat. There wasn't one clean table, the trash was overflowing, people were scraping ice out of the drain on the soda machines and onto the floor so they could fit their cups in there to get ice. People were leaving their trash on the tables because there was no place to put it. The floor was covered in food trash and drinks. Someone could have slipped and fell in there and sued the pants off this place. The bottom line the health department should shut this place down.I took my son to the restroom after we had our snacks. The restrooms were just as bad, dried poop on a toilet seat that had obviously been there for a while, every other open stall had pee on the toilet seat. The trash can was overflowing onto the floor and there were paper towels all over the floor. There was no soap to wash your hands. I went to the information booth by the cafeteria to ask for a manager. What a surprise, no one was doing their job. I've seen restrooms in 3rd world countries cleaner than this. We went to see our movie. We stood in line to get drinks and popcorn. The lady had a bad attitude and was moving in slow motion. We decided to skip refreshments so we wouldn't be late for the movie. The movie was Journey into Space and was extremely good except for all the people on their cellphones the whole time. I don't know if there were any employees in there or not but they did nothing about it, which given the track record here does not surprise me. The theater had spilled drinks all over the floor and looked like the scene of a popcorn fight.We couldn't leave this place fast enough. I would have asked for a refund but there was no one in charge of anything, anywhere, no organization whatsoever. We most certainly will never be back.

Good place for kids to get an understanding of how things work, and to get an intro to science curiosity.

Many interactive activities for children. Friendly staff, great place to learn no matter your age! You can see that a lot of research and thought has gone in to the design of this wonderful science museum! For toddlers through teens-this is a fun place!

We love coming!!! Kids have a great time every time. I recommend going on Sat as soon as they open. You can see everything in about 3 or 4 hours.

I have visited the McWane center several times back when I was in school & now as an adult with the kids. Very fun & interesting even for adults! Absolutely Love the IMAX theater. We often visit just for the movies that are showing there. Prices are very reasonable & it is educational for the kids. Must go!!

This is one of the best places to take children of all ages in Birmingham. Plenty of hands-on activities, exhibits, experiments, IMAX, etc. We have been members for years (my kids are now 6 & 8 and still love and beg to go here). An all time fav is the shark and stingray petting tank. There is a cafe on site as well as a gift store. You can also bring food in if you are so inclined. Free wifi. Check the website for special events. A great place with plenty to do!

If you have kids this attraction will probably be right up their ally but I don't recommend it for adults, even for a self proclaimed science junkie like myself. It is definitely geared towards children.

We've been to lots of children's museums. This place topped it all. It has a small aquarium downstairs and an imax theater. In addition to that, there were 2 more levels of truly nice things to do: zip line, train rides, slides.... Be prepared to spend the day.

Where everyone can be a kid. Lots of hands on activities and the Imax brings a new twist to watching a movie. You have got to give yourself plenty of time so that you can take in and truly enjoy everything that the center has to offer.

We're in town for my daughter's hockey tournament and wanted something to do. She had a great time and would have given 5 stars but several exhibits were not working. Lots of good hands on activities and the zip line was a great bonus.

My husband and I had never been here, so went while the Winter Wonderland was still going on. It was not really what we were expecting for that theme, but we did enjoy the numerous model train setups they had...the detail of the displays is incredible...a must see for anyone interested in model trains!!!Other exhibits they have are aquariums, including a tank where you can pet stingrays and sharks, all sorts of interactive science exhibits, plus Alabama dinasours and alot more. They also have IMAX movies. We both really enjoyed the interactive exhibits on the first floor.Being that the kids were back in school from Christmas vacation, it was not very crowded, but did see lots of moms with toddlers and a few grandparents with little ones having a great time.