Perot Museum of Nature and Science

Everything is bigger in Texas, apparently. Quite possibly the largest science museum I can remember visiting, something for all ages and levels.
Everyone had an especially fun time in the basement with the sports-​themed interactive exhibits.
And maybe I’ve become a wacky Bay Area liberal bleeding heart, but it did feel a little funny walking through the earth sciences floor — I couldn’t have been the only one questioning Big Energy’s take on fracking? Right?

I would definitely suggest coming here. It’s fun and entertaining with a lot of interesting exhibits. Some are quite interactive. For example, your twelve year old child can participate in a science lab where they can do something like analyze their own cheek cells. Cool stuff, especially if you’re developing your own curiosity for new and challenging things!
There’s exhibits for plant life, how the world came to be, astronomy, the human body, sports. The list goes on and on. We had a limited amount of time because we came in the afternoon, so we ran out of time to see it all, but it was all very interesting and for the most part, interactive.
I would not take a young child here. Any child less than six, and I can see one’s young eyes glaze over at the term «bioluminescence». Also, to add on to that, a lot of the vocabulary and terminology they use for each exhibit is quite complex. A young child could play with all the interactive stuff, but I think they would lose interest quickly if they weren’t constantly being engaged. There is a lot of engagement, but a lot of it is reading plaques (at a third grade level, I would say).
Overall, I wish I had more time here! There’s a lot to experience and some fun things to learn that perhaps you never covered in your traditional science classes ;) My favorite exhibit was the sports section. I loved learning more about how an orthopedic surgeon helps children with lower body birth defects find their footing for sports. It’s awesome and I’m glad it was highlighted in the exhibit!

This is such a cool place to visit in Dallas. We went here after checking out the JFK spot. Props to the designers of the building and exhibits.
We really enjoyed the animal models and the space & weather sections. We found the museum quite interactive. Some memorable parts were the «make a bird» area and smell samples at the landscapes section. The earthquake simulator was cool!
Everything was clean and the staff was friendly. ⁴⁄₅

Members here and love all the different exhibits they hold here. Children’s area is nice with lots of activities too! Totally worth of driving here from Frisco, so much fun and everything is well maintained and love the outside area too

We have visited the Perot a handful of times, and I can say it is hands down one of the best museums I’ve ever taken the kids to. Huge, several floors with tons of exhibits. Many are interactive and all are unique and informative.
Be sure to allot a full day to this museum, you will need the time. Our favorite part is racing against different creatures such as dinosaurs and horses. The architecture is just breathtaking. There’s so much to take in! Well worth the price of admission.

A little pricey, but overall it was good. One of the exhibits we were excited about, the earthquake simulator, was closed so that was disappointing. I think the engineering, human life, and rock areas were our favorite.

Excellent museum, especially for the price of free!
If you have Bank of America, this museum qualifies for the museums on us program where you get free entry during the first weekend of each month. However this doesn’t cover movies or special exhibits like the bio-​luminescence one that was going on during our visit.
We paid the small extra fee to see the glowing creatures exhibit. It was just ok; educational yes but mostly inorganic. We thought there would be fish tanks or the like but they had only one.
Otherwise the main museum was awesome. It’s huge (you can tell from the look of the building outside). You start at the top and work down. I’d say great for all ages but go early as it gets so packed that the line goes out the door!
There’s a café with typical grill food, but they did have salads and sweet potato fries.

Friendly staff, well-​maintained exhibits, very clean halls and restrooms. My only complaint (and this is likely not the fault of the staff) is that every time I come to the Perot it is SO crowded. Thankfully the exhibits are spaced out such that it makes room for the crowds. Still, I wish that perhaps the ticketing staff of the Perot would cut back on the number of tickets sold to special exhibits so that everyone could have a little elbow room.
Check out the Creatures of Light: Nature’s Bioluminescence exhibit before it closes on February 21^st. SUPER cool!

This was not as exciting as I thought it’d be. I remember loving the Museum of Natural Science in Houston as a kid.
First weekend of every month is free if you show a BoA card.

Eh cool museum but nothing that I haven’t seen before! Great for families and kids however.
Park across the street or sometimes the private lot if there is room, walk past a cool variety of instruments, frogs, fountains, steps, pretty sweet architecture make your way in and then ask for directions and where to buy tickets.
The museum is cool and I’d probably come back and let my friends check it out, but have gone to the Houston museum it has set my standards pretty high. The dino exhibits are cool and walking up the stairs to check out some birds are okay and few cool things to check out.
The coolest part of the entire museum is towards the end where you can see future stuff, build stuff, drive race cars, little RC cars, infrared camera, etc this part of the museum is better than Disney’s EPCOT for kids section which is sad, so for that reason this is the best children’s exhibits I’ve ever seen in a museum.

Beautiful place and cool architecture. It’s what made me want to check it out. Really fun place. I would definitely recommend to families with children. There’s something for everyone to do. I was certainly entertained.
Check out the earthquake simulator!

The perfect family adventure is how I would describe the Perot Museum! This place is amazing and provides entertainment and education for the adults and children. The place is huge. There are 5 levels of wondrous sites. To start your adventure off you take the escalator up to the top and then work your way down. The escalator is awesome and provides a cool view of the city.
The levels are all different themes. There is a section for pretty much everything imaginable as it relates to nature and science. I enjoyed the energy exhibit where there is a thing to stand on to experience different magnitudes of an earthquake, weather and you can give a weather forecast in front of a green screen. I also enjoyed the robotics and engineering, rocks and gems and of course the dinosaur exhibit! It was all so cool! If you have smaller children there is a children’s museum where my 4 year nephew had a blast! Oh and there is a musical stair case that I loved!
This is the perfect family outing in my book! There is also a café at the museum in case you get hungry and outdoor play areas for kids to play and the family to hang out. If you are looking for a little fun and education this is the the place to hit up for sure!

I like this museum and we LOVE the children’s area. However, there should be a way to just pay for the children’s area and not the rest of the museum, because, let’s face it, toddler’s are not interested in anything else after playing in the sand and water. So yes, an option to pay for toddler play area only would be a serious game-​changer for me and most of my friends.

The Perot Museum is absolutely beautiful! I’ve driven past it a million times but have never gone in. My school went on a field trip but I’m pretty sure that we were banned indefinitely after some shenanigans so I won’t be able to go on a field trip. Luckily, a family friend rented out the museum for a college graduation party and I was able to explore the museum without the hassle of a crowd.
We were on the second floor and ate dinner amongst the gems. The museum was beautiful and I really enjoyed the oil exhibit. That’s an integral part of what I teach and I wish I could have that exhibit present in my class.
If my experience at a private party was so exquisite, then I look forward to going another day. Word on the street is that teachers get in free so I will certainly have to test that out.

Nicely designed place and cool exhibits that rotate out from time to time. I came on an adults only night and had a blast. You get to drink and play through the exhibit acting like kids. We were entertained, shared lots of laughs and interacted with so many cool things. You have to come here at least once. I’m not sure if the membership is worth it but coming here once in a while is a must. Parking is easy and nearby. The food they serve in the cafeteria is good too.

We spent 4 hours at the Perot Museum and could have spent twice as much time there. There are 3 floors of interactive exhibits and we could have easily spent several hours on each floor. Some of the things my kids enjoyed were the educational video games, earthquake simulation, robot and bridge building, and the oil drilling simulation, just to name a few.
We were also able to see one of several 3D films they play each day. I believe the films are produced by the National Geographic. They were very educational and kept my kids’ attention.
The museum also had a nice patio, great for a picnic lunch or just to enjoy the weather while the kids play on the leap frog exhibit outside. I believe the museum had a café’ on site, but we had already eaten lunch so we didn’t have the need to check into it.
If you decide to go, I would highly recommend getting the «City Pass.» You will save quite a bit of money by purchasing these, which give you tickets to several attractions in Dallas, including the 6^th Floor Museum, Reunion Tower, the Arboretum, Dallas Zoo, and the Perot Museum.

The Perot is a beautiful museum. I live right next door, and the silhouette of the building against the sky in the early morning always makes me smile. Beautifully designed, and full of cool exhibits!
Honestly, the Perot that I have experienced (I’ve visited a total of three times) is best described as a children’s museum. There are so many great hands-​on exhibits for kids to see and learn from. Adults can have fun, too, and there’s plenty to learn (I learned things about dinosaurs I never knew!) but it feels geared toward kids. It’s a great place for kids to learn about nature and science. You can learn about technology, the human body, the universe, and pre-​historic Texas all in one (gorgeous) building.
I can highly recommend the «Late Nights» that they put on, for those 21 and over. There are performances, dancing, cocktails, photo booths, and cool hands-​on exhibits for grown-​ups. Those are a lot of fun, and worth trying out at least once. I can’t really recommend the «Creatures of Light» exhibit happening right now. It was mostly plastic representations of bioluminescent creatures (except one room with glowing fish). A bit of a disappointment.
Overall, it’s an impressive place. Visit with kids if you can, and plan to stay a while. Or if you need a little adults-​only time, definitely try the «Late Nights».

I give this 3 stars from the perspective of adults without children. I must say, for children it would be great. I feel like (in my non-​mother, non-​teacher perspective) the best demographic for this museum would be middle school age children who LOVE science and learning and can be on their feet for several hours.
For adults, it just doesn’t fit so well. Almost everything is geared in a child-​like manner; this is great for children and families, but leaves something to be desired for adults who just want to check it out. I did enjoy the dinosaur/​fossil exhibit and the gems, as well as the solar system. Most of the rest of it was boring, «below grade level» or just weird. The whole part on natural energy almost came across as advertising… maybe that’s just me though.
Unfortunately for my experience, I did not feel it was worth the cost. And definitely eat/​drink before… ended up paying like $ 12 for 2 small powerades. Ugh.
Beautiful building, simply stunning.

My friends and I were in Dallas for a very quick 36 hour visit. Our primary reason for being there was a concert that didn’t start until 11pm which gave us quite a full day to find something to entertain ourselves– and that was easily accomplished at the Perot Museum.
The entrance fee was around $ 20 (the IMAX movie offerings are additional) and it allowed for same day entrance if you choose to leave and come back. I’ve been to the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History a few times before and figured it would be similar but it was so much more interactive than that! It wasn’t overly crowded when we were there but I would imagine on a full day, you wait a while for those interactive exhibits. It’s kind of funny how we all revert to become little kids when it’s our turn to get silly and stand on the earthquake simulator, give a meteorology report in front of a green screen, create our own species of bird, or attempt to move a ping pong ball using only your mind and brainwaves– Yes, it is possible-​Who knew?!? It’s all available to do and so much more. That doesn’t even scratch the surface. You could easily spend all day in there and still not do it all.
Outer Space, Dinosaurs, Animals of land, air and sea, Gemstones, and Oil Drilling, are just a few of the main subject areas covered along with numerous hands hands on scientific experiments and brain teasers. You can even see some Nobel Prizes that were awarded in various scientific fields which was really cool if you’ve never seen one in person before.
If you have a day to spend in Dallas, I would rate this museum a «Must Do» for all ages. Plus, architecturally it is quite a standout so if you’re a fan of modern architecture be sure to check it out.

First of all, refer to Jay Y. review. Spot on!
Very impressive architecture. I hate to say this, and I wish I felt differently, but even after walking through the museum I thought to myself «damn that was kind of boring, the outside of the building is awesome though!» It just looks so effing cool on the outside! I mean I know it was a museum, but still. It partially had my attention the first 15 minutes. Walk through the space part (cool), the dinosaurs (who doesn’t love dinosaurs?!), and then it starts to become more appealing to humans age 8 and under? I mean kudos to the high tech interactive kids exhibit parts. I guess its worth it to check out on a boring, rainy day. Or if you have well behaved children.

This place is awesome — FIVE stories of nature and science with a lot of it being interactive. This is great for the younger kids, but there is plenty for the adults to see as well.
I honestly would consider this one of the hidden jewels of Dallas. It’s a must see!

Now that there are no more summer school field trips, I can sincerely laud the Perot Museum. We mostly love that it’s so close to us and that there’s an area for the little ones in the lower level.
The little kids’ area downstairs: No age limit is posted or enforced by the staff manning the desk by the stroller parking, but it looks fit for 6-​year-​olds and younger. It’s small though and only the art center is refreshed occasionally with new material.
General: Even members have to pay to park under the overpass ($ 3 vs. the $ 8 for non-​members) and there’s only one wheelchair/​stroller access on the south side of the entrance. Parking is free under 2 hours in the lot on High Market and Victory (put Naga Thai or Neo’s restaurant into your GPS), if you’re willing to make the walk. The escalators only go up. To go down, you have to take the stairs or wait for the elevators, which can take a while depending on the crowd.
Overall, the Perot is what it claims to be: a science and history museum in which most things are there to be seen, not touched. With the exception of the lower level, learning happens mostly through reading and listening here, not doing and experimenting.

Perot Science Museum’s architecture is simply amazing! Although it is conceptually a simple concrete slab square, its grandeur emanates a beauty of simplicity. Its extruding escalator and lower roof with various vegetation that represent different parts of Texas make this impressive building even more interesting, and the small front park is a great place to relax even if you do not plan to enter the museum. Inside, the building design is even more impressive especially with its goal toward sustainability and view of the Dallas skyline.
However, only the building itself was interesting to me unfortunately. Aside from the «open-​able» geode in the Mineral Hall and the signature Alamasaurus dinosaur skeleton, the majority of the exhibits were disappointing in size or intrigue compared to other science museums I have been like Houston Museum of Natural Science and Philadelphia’s Franklin Institute. I think this museum was designed to appeal to children more as the information presented was rather basic and seemed to aim toward to be fun more than informative.
Perot Museum is definitely a great family fun destination, but if you are already familiar with science or not interested in such, you are not missing much if you don’t go. If you plan to go, consider getting a CityPASS which also gives you the 3-​D theater admission (Aim for James Cameron’s Deepsea Adventure or Airplanes dubbed by Harrison Ford!)
—
tl;dr version:
1) Impressive architecture and building design
2) Extremely kid-​focused science exhibits
3) Great for family fun, not so for solo or non-​science fans

A rich man who ran for the Presidency, dinosaurs, stars, fracking, rain cycle, running contests with a T-​Rex or a cheetah, musical stairs, gems, Sherlock Holmes… These may seem random without any unifying logic, but these were what we encountered at the Perot Museum.
The beginning paragraph may be a bit misleading. There was no special section reserved for Mr. Perot, but it is through his generosity that this museum was established. And what a wonderful museum it is! Truly informative and just such a great place to visit in Dallas.
They have different exhibits that cater to each visitor’s interests. How the universe started, how fracking works, how human running speed compares to dinosaurs and other land animals, dinosaurs and how they lived and shaped present-​day Texas… There really was a plethora of information that could easily take up half a day of a visitor’s time. When we visited, they also had a Sherlock Holmes exhibit which encourages visitors to give sleuthing a try. It was great fun!
The Perot Museum is a must when in Dallas.

The Perot Museum is simply amazing and shouldn’t be missed. Everything that everyone else says is true. The good stuff, anyway.
If you’re a local, here’s a pro tip that will optimize your visits: Buy a membership.
~ A 1-​year Family membership is $ 110. This gives free exhibit entrance for two adults and all of your 17 and younger aged kids for an entire year. Considering you’ll drop $ 56 for 2 adults and 2 kids on one visit (not even counting parking) this membership pays for itself in less than 2 visits. You’ll also get 2 single-​use guest passes for the grandparents (who will have just as much fun as the kids).
~A membership discounts parking from $ 8 to $ 3. Just park and head inside (do not pre-​pay at the parking lot kiosk) to the ticket counter where you’ll show proof of membership and pay for a parking ticket, which you’ll use when you exit the parking lot. If you’re visiting during member-​only hours, be sure to do this before you head upstairs to the exhibits as you’ll stand in a huge snaking line once the doors open to the public.
~Speaking of member-​only hours, being a member allows you to explore the museum 2 hours before the doors are opened to the general public (and sometimes after hours during the week). Since this is a hands-​on museum, being able to actually put your hands on the exhibits and not wait in line to see everything can make or break your visit. Your little ones who have teeny attention spans will thank you. Simply log in to your online account, reserve your tickets and show your confirmation email to the ticket takers.
~Memberships give you $ 1-​$ 2 discounts on the films as well. This may not seem like a big deal but if you don’t have all day to explore the museum and just want to take in a movie, you don’t have to worry about squeezing every cent out of your entrance fee. Pop in for a movie and head to Klyde Warren for lunch, no worries about wasting that entrance fee without exploring the exhibits.
Of course there are many other levels of membership, from the $ 55 student membership to the $ 25k Founders Circle level. The website explains what each level of membership gives you.
The only way a membership to the Perot Museum could be improved is with free ice cream. Seriously.