The staff here were pleasant, kind and helpful. We came for a Saturday night light show in the planetarium. About 45 minutes long, a good time you can't beat it. A few jokes from the ticket-taker as well. Tip: try and grab the seats toward the back, to keep your neck more comfortable. We arrived ~15 minutes before start time and were able to peruse around the different displays and interactive exhibits. A place for all ages. This was a nice indoor activity to get out of the house and not be in the frigid cold. read more

miSci - Planetarium - Museums Near Me - Schenectady, New York

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Visited the planetarium to see James Hood's "Beautifica" on date night, the event itself was a wonderful visual meditative experience! The building itself could definitely use some updating (the bathroom is kind of falling apart). The staff were super friendly! True to brand we showed up late and the show had already started, but staff were kind enough to sneak us into our seats without disrupting everyone else's experience. I look forward to going back here to see the rest of the museum! read more

Amazing hands-on activities, fun and engaging displays. Such an amazing museum and kids will love it. read more

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Fun interactive displays. Local history. Open space! Welcomes groups and schools. Gift shop. I saw a multimedia show in planetarium room- cool effects! read more

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Went for a night hosted by a local queer community and absolutely loved it. The exhibit on Leonardo Di Vinci's inventions was hands on and very entertaining. Also loved the planetarium show. read more

miSci - A fun fact - Museums Near Me - Schenectady, New York

This place is just awful. I can't even see how it would be entertaining to a toddler. Plenty of nonsense exhibits with just random items that are 20-30 years old. A lot of the interactive stuff just did not work. Complete waste of time and money, bring your kids to a grandparents attic for more fun and cooler stuff. read more

I love museums (except modern art museums) because I love learning. That includes children's museums, and I have been to fantastic ones in other cities. But, I have never been here before. However, during the winter holiday season they have a large train layout on display and I figured that was as good a reason as any to go on a Saturday. So, we packed up the family and off we went. It isn't a terribly large museum. For example, the gift shop just sits out in the lobby and is probably all of 12 square feet. That's okay, though, as I mostly/totally came for the trains. It was a nice O scale layout, with moving bridges and accessories (cranes loading metal, forklifts loading lumber) to keep kids occupied. Sadly, some kids grabbed trains and put them in the wrong places, and a few wrecks were observed. The only way to prevent that would be higher sides blocking kid's hands, but they would also obscure kid's vision too. It is a losing battle. As a result, I overlooked the battle scars on the layout itself. The rest of the museum focused mostly on science and technology. There were a lot of neat interactive musical exhibits including making noise on pipes with a rubber shoe or drum and mixing music on turntables and recording machines. Being a museum geared for kids (a joke is hidden in there) things were pretty simple but for the most part I had fun. The racing (paddling, rolling, gravity ball) exhibits were neat, though some were broken... most likely due to overactive kids. My wife and I had enjoyed drawing on the large etch-a-sketch graph machine. The displays of old style phone, radios, and other electronic devices took me back. Yup, I am old. We even got a picture of me next to the part showing 20 year old mobile flip phones (of which I still carry one). Sigh. I had fun, as did my wife. Harrison was too young to enjoy most of it, but he liked watching the trains. Since I don't know what exhibits rotate, I am not sure how often we will come back. When he is older, we want to go to the Planetarium. It is a fun way to spend some time. read more

I like this new Leonardo da Vinci (machines in Motion ) at miSci that shows the armored tank from the inside, and from the inside. When you look inside the armored tank, it will take you back in time around the 1500s, and imagine what would life be like around that time. read more

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I like miSci alot because of the planetarium, and some events (or functions) that take place there read more

miSci - A new gallery at miSci that replaces the former gift shop - Museums Near Me - Schenectady, New York

This place is cool and I'm a 40 year old dude that was there just to see the butterfly exhibit. I'll have to go back and bring my nephews because they would love it. read more

Just visited here for the first time this past weekend. It was four adults and my 15 month old. It was pretty disappointing to say the least. Everything is very beat up and the price is high and the planetarium show isn't included. The only thing that made our experience decent was the butterfly exhibit they have going on right now. Also, the gift shop is a little sad. Only half of the products they have are labeled with prices. It just seems like they don't put any of the money they make back into it, which is unfortunate since it seems to be a big deal to the community. read more

Decent little science center good for fun with the family or a class trip. Went with some friends back in summer 2017 and the planetarium was absolutely stellar. read more

miSci - Women in Stem - Museums Near Me - Schenectady, New York

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It was really crowded as it was the day after Christmas. We were there to see the master LEGO builder. There were 7 small pieces that the LEGO builder had on display. Parking lot was full and has a lousy layout. The cost was very high. $12 adults and $8 for kids 12 and under. It appeared to be geared towards younger 8 and under. There were several exhibits on vintage toys. We are not sure how the toys relate to a science museum. It's looks like they are trying to be the strong children's museum in Rochester. If you want to see a real toy museum go there. We spent 30 minutes there. Probably could have done it in less time as there was not enough to keep 12 year olds interested. read more

When we first moved to the area and discovered there was a tech museum in downtown Schenectady, we bought a family membership immediately. It came with a ticket to the planetarium so we hustled off to see the show. This was a couple years back, but I recall being unimpressed. The narrative was something about identify the constellations and man's relationship with the stars over the ages, not the educational discovery you get with a good planetarium show. The room itself was a bit shabby and you could see the seams in the ceiling. Outside, we noticed this was really the General Electric Museum. All the displays are related to technology developed at GE or otherwise electricity-focused. Not enough are interactive and many of the interactive ones weren't working. We didn't go back and allowed the goodie from our expensive family membership to lapse. I've returned a few times over the years with youth groups and have been disappointed each time. The exhibits don't change very much at all. They have various special attractions from time to time that seem tacked-on; right now there's a big model train in the lobby. The last time we went I took two boys down for an amateur radio day when were we supposed to be able to talk to other kids around the world. It turned out to be open house at the ham radio room downstairs and we waited in line to talk to an old fart in Albany pretending to be a kid. I may sound like a sourpuss--museums are a good thing, right? But they charge a good buck for admission and you don't get your educational or entertainment dollar's worth. GE should be supporting this place hugely; right now it's a negative on their reputation instead of a plus. Maybe your experience will be different. There's a low-risk way to check it out: right now admission is free from 11 to noon on Sundays. (Call before you go to be sure this offer is still in effect.) If you like what you see, you can buy your own family membership. read more

Note: this is now known as the miSci Museum of Science and Innovation, a fact I have noted to the Yelp editors several times without much success in getting it updated. Website is http://www.misci.org/ Updating review for current exhibits and extended summer hours, which are: Monday - Saturday 9-5 and Sunday 12-5 When school goes back in session it will be back to Thursday-Friday 12-5, Saturday 11-5, and Sunday 12-5. They now have two "traveling" exhibits recently (June 2013) opened. The first is "Notion of Motion" which we saw at the Exploratorium in San Francisco, where it was much bigger than it is here, but which has lots of cool little hands-on activities that basically cover nifty aspects of Newtonian mechanics. Blow vapor rings, play with bicycle chains to learn about wave forms, spin balls down vortices, etc. This one runs through June of 2014. The other one is "Dinosaurs", a summer exhibit through September 2013, which consists entirely of six robotic / animatronic dinosaur tableaux scattered throughout the museum. This was a little scary for the little ones (one shows four deinonychus in a pack bloodily killing their prey) but cool, still, the whole "dinosaurs" exhibit was really just that with a few extras like digging fake dinosaur bones out of a pit of recycled rubber chips. Not exactly a barn burner. Both of these "traveling" exhibits are basically just crammed into the existing space, in front of the older exhibits or shoehorned in to odd spaces. As ever (see previous reviews) they're trying hard at miSci but the educational content is still quite limited and the circular nature of the museum with its heavy legacy of GE Infoganda really limits this as a science museum, and it's not really entertaining enough to be just a kids museum at $6.50 a pop for kids and $9.50 per adult, with the planetarium shows $5 per head extra. (Disclaimer: we went ahead and sprung for the family pass, $80 for a year, in part because they have reciprocal membership privileges at a number of the other minor league upstate museums between Troy and Buffalo. We only need to go three times to 'break even'.) No dining facility except for a drink cooler and a snack vending machine in the limited gift shop, and as ever the parking here is rather limited (they stuck with the circle motif in the parking lot to echo the 1970s architecture of the building.) read more

miSci - Museums Near Me - Schenectady, New York

Great place for kids to play, have tactile experiences, and learn about the world we live in.

Super short review time kids! Go,bring the kids, or any other family member! Just a cool place!! read more

Not exactly the cleanest place and the exhibits have lessened in quality in the past couple of years but, the limited number of employees do a great job with the resources they have. The kid-focused exhibits are very few anymore and it has become more of a daycare meets hands-off-eyes-only type of museum. Unfortunately, this is what happens when parents don't monitor or manage their children when in public spaces. Our kids don't exactly ask to go back here anymore but, we used to absolutely love it. Our membership does at least get us entry into tons of other, cleaner, better maintained museums throughout the neighboring states. read more

My 7 year old, my 55 year old mother and I visited MiSci on Sunday and had a great time! The 2 shows we went to were really good. The museum was very hands on and informative. It was fun to learn as we played. read more

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It was great place to bring the whole family for a day trip to learn about science.mI went for the Harry Potter event today it was a great experience and I went last year as a day trip. Very good place and fun place to go whenever. read more

I have a photo of the Planet Venus I took early Thursday morning (January 3, 2019) for the Suits-Bueche planetarium for share to people to see for a planetarium show, to give you an idea what it may look like just before the sun rises in the morning when Venus is in the sky. (this is When this photo was taken) by Walter Clark read more

miSci - Museums Near Me - Schenectady, New York

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Had a great time with my 4 year old here today. Lots of fun, hands on exhibits. Michelle was extremely helpful and passionate about the museum. Well definitely be back. read more

I've been to the Schenectady Museum (now MiSci as previously mentioned) several times over my life and have usually been underwhelmed. It's old, it's got a ton of boring stuff about GE, and it's in a sketchy neighborhood. Why three stars then? Because it is improving, and I think it has a lot of potential for even greater improvement. I've been twice in the past year and the second visit with the Notions of Motions, and the Dinosaurs are a vast improvement over past visits. They got to touch and manipulate all sorts of things and what kid doesn't love a moving dinosaur! My kids (6 and 8) really enjoyed themselves and want to return. We invested in a family membership ($80) so we can drop in anytime and meander around and explore the exhibits more. Who knows maybe with one of visits they'll even start looking at the GE stuff. The membership also grants you ASTC passport privileges as well as well as Empire State Museum privileges. One family trip to a couple Boston museums and our membership cost has been more than covered. read more

: I'm gonna be honest here, we came just to lay under the stars. I shelled out thirty bucks, hoping that the size of the building, hidden to the traveler's eye, did not mean I'd be regretting my choices. We shared the museum with just a toddler and his guardians, who let him throw a block at me. Interacting with all the scientific toys made my inner child scream with joy. Wouldn't come on the regular, but for ten bucks, it was pretty alright. They were under some construction, a couple areas roped off, though it made sense considering it was a weekday with little anticipation of visitors. Gift shop was a bit steep in price, with the coolest of things trying to convince my too thin wallet to open up. We were the only ones at the show in the planetarium, and the emcee still put her all in, training us in the basics of the night sky. Make sure you get the right seat to view the movie at the right angle, as my neck grew sore as I gaped at the night sky. Overall, it was nifty. read more

A lot has changed since the last time I wrote a review of miSci. In a nutshell it's become a "must go to" place in the Capital Region, IMHO. My wife and I have brought our two daughters (ages 5 and 10) to the museum numerous times since my last review in the summer of 2012, and in that time we've all been blown away with the awesome exhibits, events and education opportunities miSci now provides. Some of the things we've seen at miSci over the last few years include: 1. a fantastic Dinosaur exhibit (this exhibit was so popular, the museum was mobbed ALL SUMMER) 2. real, live butterflies in their indoor butterfly house 3. the annual Trains and Toys holiday show, which has gotten better thanks to the inclusion of an indoor science play-space (which includes a really cool water table) 4. Grossology - the impolite science of the human body (this was prob my daughters' favorite exhibit so far) 5. a Massive weekend-long Science Festival (where my 10 year old got to hold a huge Madagascar Hissing Cockroach, among other things) 6. Three different amazing exhibits on loan from the San Francisco Exploratorium: "Seeing" (which focuses on visual perception), "Notion of Motion", and "Making Sense of Sound". This summer they will be getting a new set of interactive exhibits called "Earth Exposed: Discover Our Planet's Hidden Secrets" 7. both my daughters participated in STEM workshops over the winter and spring breaks, and they both LOVED the classes! 8. the planetarium has been renovated (nice new, comfy seats) and a cutting edge digital projection system complements their cutting Goto Star Machine. So, if you haven't been to the museum in the last couple of years, do yourself a favor and plan a visit now. You won't be disappointed. read more

Although the exhibits are few, this place also has an astounding planetarium that offers a few shows each weekend and a few shows during most weekdays. The museum houses multiple items that showcase some of the rich history that makes up the city of Schenectady. Although I wasn't quite amused at the amount of exhibits, one of their better exhibits features people generating electricity, one of the few hands-on exhibits available. Nothing was marked with any signage, anywheres in the museum, and the positions of each of the items seemed randomly placed. As for the planetarium, the chairs, although not ready to FULLY fall-apart, seemed a little bit rundown. The chairs had a heavily pushed in feel, no matter where I sat in the theater. However, the employees were very knowledgeable in their research though. And finally, be careful as to the show selection. They have several shows, and one geared specifically for young kids. I'm not a young kid, and I don't have any kids myself, and although the employee at the purchasing desk didn't tell me anything about the show and it's makeup being designed for this age-group, I felt very strange, being the first time in this planetarium. The show featured the (now deceased) Mr. Fred Rogers. Do the research, if you're planning to see this place's planetarium show. read more

We were in the area and needed something on a potentially rainy day--it is small and the exhibits we saw were traveling exhibits so my guess is that if they have an exhibit that really speaks to you then you're all set. It was a nice way to spend a nice few hours in the afternoon. I wish I could say more and it's probably a really great asset to the neighborhood (is the neighborhood coming or going? We couldn't figure that out) Planetarium was nice but again small read more

I came on here to see if there was any reviews for this place and obviously there wasn't. So I decided to go, when I first walked in I honestly didn't think it was going to be that great but I stayed optimistic. The staff there were so polite and high spirited and really put me in a good mood to be there. When I first started my walk around the museum there is a lot of activities for kids. If you have a sense of humor, you'll enjoy all of them. I stayed for a while just messing around with all the activities for kids. So in the end I would definitely go again. This place is an amazing place to take a bunch of kids to. I spent a extra buck and saw the planetarium, depending on the show you should really ask the person that is conducting it what side you should sit on because I sat on the wrong side and had to sit in a weird position to not hurt my neck during the whole show. But again, if you have kids take them here they will enjoy it! PS - Great find in Schenectady. You honestly don't think there would be such a nice little museum in Schenectady so I was pleasantly surprised. :) read more

Visited here over the summer with a 3 and 6 year old girl. When we first walked in, I didn't have a great first impression of the place, and didn't think we would last too long there. Boy was I wrong. They spent close to an hour just in the first area or two. They were absolutely engrossed. So many hands on things for them to do that kept them occupied and hopefully learning for hours. The mock grocery store was an especially big hit, but there was an awful lot that they enjoyed. I gave them a choice of planetarium shows, and they picked the dinosaur one. Pretty bad, looked decades old. However the girls enjoyed it, so there you go. The show concluded with a standard sky show talking about what you can see that night. After many hours there, I tapped out first, I rushed them through the last room or two because it was time to go. They enjoyed the museum store as well, which had some nice educational material. I wish we lived closer so we could go more often. We will certainly be back. read more

The butterfly and dinosaur exhibits were a big hit with my son. He also loves the huge bubble machine and the grocery store. The inflated planetarium show they brought to the library was also very interesting an educational. read more

We just returned from a fantastic trip to miSci The Museum of Innovation and Science with our three children. Our kids, ages 3, 6 and 8, were engaged in activity for our entire 2 hour visit. They didn't want to leave. While my husband and older children watched the Planetarium Show, my 3 year old built with Legos, engaged in pretend play at the Price Chopper kid supermarket and made rivers flow on the big water table. I would recommend this museum to young families looking for a 2-3 hour activity - they may even learn something as they have fun! read more