Chabot Space & Science Center, Oakland

My kids LOVED it! As a parent, I appreciate how interactive each exhibit was. Great experience from start to finish. We’ll definitely be back!

Feels more directed towards kids older than 5. They've taken some attractions that were more toddler friendly

Rather a letdown for the following reasons: a) Studio 2 which, before we bought our tickets, we'd read would be opened in September, was still closed on October 16. b) Chabot has wonderful artifacts, but the explanatory displays are usually aimed primarily at children and/or are insufficiently brief. One example: There's a cube-shaped item which is described as having been designed for an experiment comparing frog and tadpole development in G and zero-G conditions. That's fine, but why not elaborate and share what the results of the experiment were? Another: The wind tunnel fan blade appears to be made of wood. Why was wood, of all materials, chosen? c) We attended the Pink Floyd laser show. There were several disappointments there: i) No Chabot employees present to ask an irresponsible mother in the front to control or remove her screaming toddlers; ii) A mediocre sound system that almost painfully distorted the guitar solos, yet was not really "filling the room" with sound; iii) No noticeable advancement in laser show technology since I saw my first show 45 years ago! Really? And much of the show was devoted to figurative animation, which, IMO, is the LEAST interesting thing you can do with lasers, and if I ever see the animated businessman running ever again, I'm going to hang him up by his tie.

Our group of five ranging from 10-68 found our visit to the Chabot Space & Science Center to be very enjoyable, learning, with plenty of great presentations and hands-on projects to be enjoyed by all. The two younger ones (10 & 14 years old) were very excited about all they took in and spent their own money on learning and instructional materials at their Gift Shop. Very impressive!