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Port Discovery Children's Museum
Rating Details »
- Hours:
Tue-Fri. 9:30 a.m. - 4:30 p.m.
Sat. 10:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.
Sun. 12:00 p.m. - 5:00 p.m.
- Good for Kids:
- Yes
5 reviews for Port Discovery Children's Museum
We took the carpet primates (3 and 6 years old) here on a cloudy-blah Saturday, which turned out to be a very good choice.
The main attraction here, at first glance, would seem to be the three-story-high (and then some) climbing/sliding structure, which while attractive to the kids is big and sturdy enough for adults to climb on. This may become necessary if your little ones get stuck somewhere, and given the enormity of the edifice it's advisable to follow them around in it. Not that you have to worry about a kid getting lost in here - they are diligent about checking armbands upon exit to make sure you leave with the ones you came in with.
But the real star, for our kids, was the Water Wonder room (raincoats and crocs available to keep your clothes dry, no charge!) where they got to splash and float boats and blow giant bubbles and generally try and get soaked. Good times. Just be warned - the exit from the bubble thing gets really slippery; just about every kid we saw in there took a fall on the way out.
The Egyptian tomb area and the "mystery house" bit will appeal to the 7 and older crowd, especially if they like puzzles. They're actually pretty well laid out and non-trivial to solve, so put on your deerstalker caps and play Holmes.
All in all, this is a great place for the kids, although the price may keep some away (figure $12 each + $16 for parking next door).
Oh yeah, a note - there's a McD's right next door which is somehow completely unfair and convenient at the same time.
The Port Discovery is nice, however I think the massive structure is geared for older kids causing heart ache to my 3 year old who could not play like the big kids!
Many parents were not watching their children as well causing mass confusion and alot of yelling.
The girl assisting with crafts was pleasant, however there was not much staff interaction.
Back when I worked as a nanny, I visited a friend in Baltimore on a day off. I noticed this place called "Port Discovery" near the Inner Harbor. When I got home, I googled it and immediately said, "I need to take my kids here!" So, in my last week of working as a nanny, I made a date with another nanny, and took my two charges, a 17 mos old and a 3 1/2 year old, on a field trip to Port Discovery. The other nanny had slightly older kids, around 5 and 7 yrs old.
This is not an inexpensive excursion (currently $11.75 for anyone older than 2, but free for the under 2 crowd), especially when you add in parking, which ain't cheap in downtown B'more. A lot of people would also not consider PD an educational experience. I am of the belief, however, that kids learn through play, and even if they don't -- kids are meant to play! This place is lots and lots of fun. My 3 yr old could not stop talking about it afterward, and her parents later decided to have her 4th b-day party here.
PD has a variety of traveling exhibits. When we were there, they had a Mr Rogers' Neighborhood exhibit. I have a slight obsession (but not unhealthy, I think -- I just associate him with my carefree childhood days) with our old friend Fred, so I was far more excited about this than the kids, who watch(ed) very little TV.
PD also has permanent exhibits. A lot of kids love "The Diner", a room that's set up like a typical diner from the 1950s. They get a kick out of serving food to their caregivers, putting things in and out of ovens, etc. For caregivers this is a good opportunity to sit down and take a breather, as the rest of the time you'll be running around. The older kids get the biggest kick out of the three story (yes, you read that right -- 3-story!) jungle gym in the middle of the building. That can get a bit crazy at times, and you wouldn't want to let your 4 or 5 yr old run around unsupervised here. There's also a great playroom for the littlest kids -- with the typical ball bin, little jungle gym and books.
There are no dining options on site, but there is a room with a lunchroom set-up (tables, chairs and a couple of vending machines), so we brought lunches from home, and took a break from all the playing and gleeful joy to eat here. PD has plenty of lockers in which to store lunches, diaper bags, sippy cups and all the other items kids nowadays need. As at Chuck E Cheese and such, every child and adult is matched up for security purposes upon entrance -- I believe they use the invisible ink method here -- and must be properly matched to exit.
Personally, I enjoyed watching the kids have so much fun here, and I've been looking for a chance to go back (with kids in tow, of course). Obviously, if dozens of laughing, screeching, running children are not your cup of tea, then I suggest staying far away from this place!
it's often hard to find a place that will actually engage and excite a little 4 year old. even the aquarium is like a game of "lets run through the walls of fishes and sharks as fast as we can." but port discovery does the job. and the cool exhibits and gadgetry are engaging enough to interest adults too.
from a kiddie whodunit exhibit where you search for clues and try to figure out what's happened to your character to a huge rope gym with a zipline and a long tube slide to a mini soccer field with a blowup soccer ball and a room filled with drums just for banging... the permanent exhibits are pretty cool. the diner was a boring letdown for us though. the current temporary exhibits are also very cool, including a robots (based on the movie) thing where you can build your own mini robot and also try to manipulate a claw/crane-like machine. also in the robots section are tons of dominoes for you to build intricate paths and make the dominoes hit bells. there's also a water play area where kids can shoot a water gun at instruments or play with a waist-high river setup or try to make a huge ring of a bubble that goes around their body. we also did a face painting activity-- but look at the daily activities lists to see if you need to sign up ahead of time.
i think the ideal age for this place is right around 5, although i saw kids much younger and much older. there are enough interesting things to see, touch and try out to last about 3 hours, in my opinion. unless your kids get REALLY into an activity... but in general the place is really not that huge.
admission is $11.75/adult or child and make sure you get validated parking for the harbor park garage for $7.
if you're military... you get a discount! $2 off per person.
also just a note on the location. if you know the power plant for being a rowdy bar area, you would be right. but for some reason, port discovery is right smack in the middle of the power plant. it's a convenient location for checking out the rest of the inner harbor though.
This place is really overpriced and I'm pretty skeptical of the "educational" content of the place because the shallow "exhibits" are overshadowed by the large jungle-gym type structure in the middle of the place. Kids do seem to enjoy that part of it at least but you might as well call it a SuperFunZone instead of a children's "museum." So, if you want to pay to give your young children access to the big playground inside then go knock yourself out. If you're looking for something more educational, the Science Center on the other side of the harbor's probably a better choice.
