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From admission cost to hours to exhibits, here’s what to know before a Discovery World visit

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Discovery World, at 500 N. Harbor Drive, is Milwaukee’s science museum.

Today’s kids — many of whom are familiar with the museum as a field trip destination in 4th or 5th grade or as the site of their summer day camp programs — are likely unaware that the museum ever existed anywhere other than at its scenic lakefront location. But older Milwaukeeans will remember the museum’s incarnation in various places. According to Discovery World’s website, it started out in an east side Boys & Girls Club, then moved to the Milwaukee Central Library on Wisconsin Avenue. Starting in 1995, Discovery World was in the same building as the Milwaukee Public Museum, and since 2006, it has been at its current location at the lakefront.

Here’s what you should know about Discovery World if you’re planning a visit.

How much does admission to Discovery World cost?

Admission to Discovery World costs $24 for adults, $20 for children ages 3-17 and seniors ages 60 and above, $18 for college students and military members with ID, and is free for children ages 2 and under.

Members of Discovery World receive free admission to the museum for a year, as well as benefits such as reduced parking fees, admission to members-only events and free or reduced admission to reciprocal museums throughout the country. Depending on the number of people included in the package, membership costs anywhere from $60 to $170. There’s also a $50 Family Access membership available for Wisconsin families in financial need.

Does Discovery World have free or discounted days?

Discovery World offers a few free and reduced admission deals.

On Mother’s Day, moms receive free admission, and on Father’s Day, dads receive free admission.

As part of the Blue Star Museums program, active duty military personnel and up to five family members can receive free admission from May 18 to Sept. 1, 2024.

Wisconsin residents who present a Wisconsin EBT card and a valid ID can receive $7 admission for up to five people in their party.

What are Discovery World’s hours?

Discovery World is open daily from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Check the online calendar for days when Discovery World is closed or has different hours, including on holidays.

What is there to do at Discovery World?

On its website, Discovery World separates its exhibits into the “aqua side” — the museum’s aquariums and exhibits that focus on the Great Lakes — and the “techno side” — exhibits and activities that emphasize the museum’s STEM side.

Here are the exhibits on Discovery World’s aqua side:

  • Caribbean Tunnel Tank: This 65,000-gallon saltwater tank is a highlight at Discovery World because visitors can walk through it as they look at animals that live in the Caribbean, including bamboo sharks.
  • Lake Michigan Tank: In this 80,000-gallon freshwater tank, visitors will see animals native to the Great Lakes, such as shovelnose sturgeon, northern pike, gar and carp.
  • Touch Tank: Visitors can touch sturgeon, stingrays and bamboo sharks.
  • Weird & Wild: In this exhibit, there are fascinating species from around the world, such as poison dart frogs, piranha, pea pufferfish and axolotls.
  • Great Lakes Future: This large interactive model of the Great Lakes allows visitors to see the geography of the lakes, and the exhibit’s weather cave allows visitors to “take control of the weather while up in the clouds.” The exhibit also has live fish, turtles, snakes and other creatures that live in the Great Lakes area.
  • Me, Undersea: This exhibit is filled with hands-on activities for young children that will teach them about things like bioluminescence, camouflage and the effect of underwater pressure on the human body.
  • Simple Machine Shipyard: In this exhibit, visitors can use the six classical simple machines to lift a variety of heavy things.
  • The Challenge: Visitors can climb aboard this replica of a Great Lakes Schooner to walk the deck, ring the bell, turn the rudder and learn more about 19th-century sailing vessels.
  • The City of Freshwater and Liquid House: In this exhibit, visitors learn about water as it travels from Lake Michigan to the Milwaukee Water Works to become purified, then on to our homes, and finally how the Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District cleans it to return it to the lake.

Here are the exhibits on Discovery World’s techno side:

  • All Aboard: This model railroad exhibit is a replica of mid-20th century Milwaukee.
  • Automation Everywhere: Visitors can explore how automation is used in everyday life by seeing if they can beat AI at games, watch a foam toy being created by a machine, and opening and closing the wings on a model of the art museum’s Burke Brise Soleil.
  • BIG: Visitors can learn about and try their hand at some of the mining equipment used for drilling, digging, loading and hauling.
  • Block Party: In this area, there are drawings on the wall showing the simple shapes that make up various Milwaukee buildings. Visitors can follow the drawings or create their own designs as they use various-sized blocks to construct their own buildings.
  • Drive Sim: Visitors can learn about physics as they use a driving simulator to race a car.
  • Flight: Visitors learn about the principles of flight through a flight simulator and a Bernoulli table.
  • Innovation Station: This is where visitors will learn about innovations throughout history through various interactive exhibits, including lying on a bed of nails, sending Morse code messages through wireless telegraph, and using pneumatic power to make a “dinosaur” dance.
  • Kohl’s Design It! Lab: In Discovery World’s makerspace, visitors can make and take home their own creations. They can either follow directions to create projects from a museum-designed menu of options, or use items like egg cartons, old magazines and yarn from the Upcycling Wall to design and create their own projects. The lab is typically open on Saturdays and Sundays.
  • Les Paul’s House of Sound: Visitors will learn about the history and instruments of Waukesha musician Les Paul, as well as be able to mix and create their own music.
  • Milwaukee Muscle: Visitors learn about motors, engines and power to discover how some of Milwaukee’s innovations are engineered and powered.
  • Physics & You: Hands-on activities teach visitors about different principles of physics. Examples include launching rockets, building circuits, sailing air cars and sending vertical flyers in the air.
  • Power On: Several hands-on activities allow visitors to learn about different types of energy. Examples include “touching lightning” in a Tesla coil exhibit, putting your hand inside a simulated tornado and powering up different points on a map of the city by pedaling a bike.
  • The Distant Mirror: Visitors can explore the technological tools used by archaeologists to discover past stories — things like CT scans to see inside a mummy and maps to see how the city has changed.
  • Virtual Explorer: Visitors can don VR headsets to explore a variety of virtual reality environments.

What kind of programming does Discovery World have for kids?

There are several activities that happen at Discovery World each week, including the opportunity to see divers and a mermaid as they swim in the aquariums, and the chance to meet the reptiles in the Great Lakes Future exhibit. Check the calendar for activity times.

Discovery World also runs a summer day camp with offerings for children in first through eighth grades. The five-day camps range in price from $325 to $400 and run from 9:30 a.m. to 4:15 p.m. Mondays through Thursdays and 9:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Fridays. Themes include amusement park science, junior robotics, icky science and junior clothing designer.

Is there parking at Discovery World?

Discovery World has an underground parking garage; here are the parking rates (although they are subject to change):

  • $10 for 0-1 hour
  • $13 for 1-2 hours
  • $15 for 2-3 hours
  • $17 for 3-4 hours
  • $22 for 4 or more hours
  • as posted during special events and festivals

Metered street parking and other lots are also available around Discovery World and at the lakefront.

Is Discovery World accessible?

Discovery World has a limited number of wheelchairs and strollers available free of charge on a first-come, first-served basis.

There are six accessible parking spaces near the elevator in the underground parking garage, and Discovery World allows visitors to be picked up and dropped off at the main entrance.

An all-gender family/companion restroom with an adult-weight lift table and height-adjusting sink is on the first floor near the admissions desk.

A private room for nursing mothers or anyone who needs a private space is available; inquire at the admissions desk for access.

Discovery World has partnered with KultureCity to provide a number of accommodations for people with sensory sensitivities, including:

  • an app with a social story so people know what to expect on their visit to Discovery World
  • sensory bags to check out at the admissions desk which include fidget tools, noise-canceling headphones and feelings thermometers
  • quiet areas near the BIG exhibit on the 2nd floor on the Tech side of the building and near the Upper Mezzanine restrooms on the Aqua side of the building
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