Magic House review redue

Back in November, I wrote a review for the Magic House in St. Louis. At the time, I commented that I thought the expansion would help with some of the congestion. Unfortunately, I was totally wrong. It could have been the day we picked to go (Tuesday of Spring Break, not for STL schools but all the surrounding area schools) or it could have been just that busy. Either way, the expansion didn't really help and wasn't that impressive.

The new area starts with a new exhibit about fairy tales. It has the banquet table from Beauty and the Beast, some animal costumes to dress up with, a small Jack and the Beanstalk themed slide and the giant's stool from Jack and the Beanstalk.



TB proclaimed this area "for girls" and asked to leave shortly after we arrived.

On the 3rd floor are several new exhibits, including the forensic lab, the "sunshine classroom" (an outdoor area for growing things). TB wanted to be impressed with the forensics but being that he couldn't read and couldn't figure out the clues, he ended up frustrated and bored. We went through the "secret passageway" into the lab (parents, take note, this passageway is for short short people and there is a door nearby for those of us of normal height). In that area, there is a slide. It is a cool twisty black slide. The entrance to the slide is on the other side of the room. When you get there, there will likely be a line. After you stand in that line, you will find out that the slide is only for kids 5+. This will likely cause your under 5 child no end of torment and you will leave the area with a child in tears. You won't be alone. Every other parent of an under 5 child will be doing the same thing. If you are me, you are by now really angry and have written the 3rd floor off as an entire loss.

In the basement, they have a judicial process area with a mock Oval Office, a court room and a mock Congress. TB REALLY enjoyed this area.



It was very interesting for him to see how that stuff looked. Especially coming right on the heels of the election and all the time spent talking about it recently. MT was not so impressed but did like being the judge in the courtroom.

Also in basement, they have a construction zone.



There is a house frame where you can run wire and lay flooring. There is a skyscraper where you can practice bricklaying. There is a design office where you can learn about the layouts of buildings and how they are decorated. And the biggest draw of all is the rock pit, with shovels and brooms to dig or clean the area. Both kids really enjoyed it and played there longer than anywhere else in the whole section. the one major drawback to this area is that it is basically outside. It is enclosed on 3 sides and has a roof but the 4th wall is a plastic half fence, letting all the weather in. It was pouring down rain the day the we were there but it was about 65 so it was quite comfortable in there. When it opened in January, I'm sure that was a different story. There is a fan for the summer but I can't imagine too many people going there during either extreme heat or cold.

There is also one of the "airblowers" that is pretty much SOP for children's museums. It is the thing with the tubes that you put scarves or balls in and they blow out different places based on which switches you flip.

The basement also has direct access to the parking lot when you leave. This was especially great for us, with the pouring rain and all

In the new section, they have built a "climber". One of those things with platforms of varying size that kids climb around in, that also seems to be SOP for children's museums. Typically, there is one entrance so the child has to come out where they went in. Not so here. There are exits on all 3 floors of the new area, meaning if you let your child climb in, they may not come back to where you are. This is dangerous and stupid in all sorts of ways. Fortunately for us, MT is scared to climb in them and TB knows enough to come back.

They very best thing about the expansion was the new resturant! If you remember in November, I said that if not for the crowds and the lack of food, we would have stayed longer. Well they addressed at least one of those issues and it was done well.



The menu includes sandwiches, salads, soups, snacks and drinks. The prices are high, but that is too be expected when you have a captive audience. A sandwich, chips and a drink runs about $8.50. We only had the ice cream because we made a point of eating lunch before we went. The cafe area is kind of small and crowded but there is an outdoor seating area that is covered so if it isn't too bad, you can sit out there and eat.

The final issue I had was the "you can't get there from here" problem. Both sections have 3 floors but you can only get from one section to the other on the main floor. This was a problem when the kids wanted to leave the construction zone and go to the Lewis and Clark adventure. Both were in the basement, in seperate sections. Did it kill us to climb up then down the stairs? No, but it was difficult for my mom with her broken foot and it took unnecessary time.

I would say the expansion was geared mostly for older kids, which is disappointing because the rest of the museum already leaned that way for the most part. If you have kids 7-10, they would probably really enjoy this museum. My kids were just too young for most of it.

In November, I ranked it at 3.5 stars, stating that I thought the new expansion would bring it even higher. I was wrong. I give it an additional half star for the cafe but then deduct half a star for general lameness of the new area and a full star for making my kid cry twice because of no signs about age limits. Resulting in a grand total of 2.5 stars, including the new area.

St Louis Zoo

I will tell you right up front, this is THE SINGLE BEST ZOO I have ever been to. I love this zoo and use it as my measuring stick for every other zoo we've ever been to. Most of them don't even come close to this zoo. PS, with my dead laptop, I have no photo editing software right now. Once I get this issue taken care of, this post will have pictures as well. On to the review.

We went Wednesday. According to the weather we had tracked all week, it was was supposed to be in the mid-60s. Unfortunately, TWC was showing us mid-50s, which marred our enjoyment somewhat (not much but it was a little colder than I would have liked). I-64 is totally under construction and simply gone for a large stretch, which made actually getting to the zoo a little difficult. However, because of the detour, we found a section of the zoo we had never seen, called "Turtle Park". It has huge statues of different kinds of turtles for the kids to climb on and play around. We didn't stop to play (see the previous mention of cold) but did make a note of it for future trips. The zoo being all about conservation and saving the earth has installed fancy toilet flushers where you lift it up for liquid waste and push down for solid. MT thought this was the coolest thing ever and took to announcing, loudly, which way she was pushing the handle.

The zoo itself is free. Parking costs $11, unless you get there early (or are willing to hike in). We got there about 8:50 (the zoo opens at 9) and were able to get the second free space so I was happy with that. They also not allow but encourage people to bring in their own food and drinks. There are several outdoor eating spots throughout the zoo and people can take their food into the cafes to get inside for awhile. I would suggest taking your food if at all possible. The food at the zoo is marginal at best and pricey. It was $8.50 for a single cheeseburger, an order of fries and a small drink. The kid meals are also lacking in variety. It was a hot dog or chicken fingers. They do have some healthy side options but my kids, being my kids, opted for the fries.

Some of the attractions, including the "Endangered Species" Carousel, the Children's Zoo, the 3-D movie, the motion ride and the train do cost extra. You can get a "Safari Pass" that is $10/person and includes admission to the Children's Zoo, Zooline Railroad, Sea Lion Show (while in season), Conservation Carousel, Motion Simulator and 3-D Movie (while in season).

The Children's Zoo and the Carousel are free for the first hour. My suggestion would be to hoof it back to the carousel, ride it first and then go to the Children's Zoo and spend as much time as your kids would like. There are a bunch of climbing things, the otters, some animals the kids can touch, and in the summer, there are water sprayers to help kids cool off.

Because of my mom's broken foot, I encouraged her to rent a motorized wheel chair and it came in very handy. The process to rent one was a little tedious, including leaving a driver's license and doing an inspection of the cart before being allowed to leave with it but it was an absolute blessing to have it. Being our second straight day of going full tilt, there is no way she could have managed all the hills and stuff without it. I do need to mention that many areas of the zoo simply aren't set up for scooters or large strollers. Both the gift shops had aisle too narrow, the seating in the cafe was too crowded, and the exit to Peguin and Puffin Cove was hard to navigate, thanks to sharp turns and close quarters. Other than that, she got around remarkably well with it.

Since we were there in the off season, there was quite a bit of construction going on. they are building a new exhibit in the center with sting rays and the like and they have most of the reptile house (including the alligators, TB was devistated) roped off and inaccesable. Most of the stands weren't open as well. This was both a blessing and a curse. It meant I didn't have to keep saying no to junky toys and candy but it also meant we had to hike halfway across the zoo for a drink. Personally, I prefer the off-season because it is less crowded and the animals are more active. It was 11 before it felt like there were more than a handful of people there. We were able to get right up the exhibits and see the animals without anyone being in our way or us being in anyone's way.

The 3-D movie was LAME and so not worth the $4 per person we paid for it, but it was a new one that we hadn't seen and now we can say we've done it and don't have to mess with it the future. We didn't do the motion ride but I have in the past and they aren't for people prone to motion sickness or younger children. It is often violent motion, combined with scary scenes and generally best suited for the late tween/teen crowd.

The only con is that this zoo is BIG. If you have young children or children who aren't used to vacationing at full throttle, this is not a one day zoo. We have been many, many, many time and we have only once or twice hit every exhibit in one day. And those were the days we dropped into bed at the end of the day, wanting to die from exhaustion. Not fun for anyone.

My recommendation would be to pick up a zoo map on your way in (or check out the one on the website before you go)and spend a few minutes figuring out the must see exhibits for your family and making a point of seeing them. Our must sees were the alligators, the monkeys (we saw ONE monkey habitat out of 3 different ones), the elephants, the penguins and Bear Row (they have several different types of bears all along one pathway).









Of course, we saw the animals around those animals as well but we completely skipped the big cats, most of the primates and several other areas.

This zoo is clean, the exhibits are well cared for, the people are friendly and helpful and the price is right. Other than the 3 hour drive to get there (and STL has TONS of other things to see and do, much of it free as well), there is no reason not to make this trip at least annually.

I give St Louis Zoo 5 full stars and highly suggest you check it out.