The Arizona Museum of Natural History (and Nightmares) - Wanderlust 2018
Website: arizonamuseumofnaturalhistory.org
Hours: Monday: Closed
Tuesday - Friday: 10am - 5pm
Saturday: 11am - 5pm
Sunday: 1pm - 5pm
Admission Prices:
$ 12 - Adults $ 7 - Children 3-12 $ 10 - Seniors 65+ $ 8 - Students 13+ with ID Free - Children 2 and under
Lets kickoff 2018's Wanderlust mission with the Arizona Museum of Natural History (and Nightmares).
This museum is SNEAKY in it's advertising. It presents itself as a family friendly environment and in 80% of it's collection - it is. There are dinosaurs galore with tons of kid friendly puzzles and hands on attractions. They even have a animatronic dinosaur displays that move and make noises. This is all wonderful for children!
Then you run into stuff like the Jeholopterus which to me looks like a creature straight from a Guillermo Del Toro movie.
After a while you turn a corner and run right into the Apache Gaan statue and - OMGWTFBBQ - that damn thing gave me nightmares!!! I mean - just look at it!
When you try to run away from that you enter a room dedicated to the Spanish colonization of the Arizona territory and come face to face with a suit of Spanish Armor. Now, is it just me or does that things body language scream out, "Ahhhh, finally I found you."
You run away from the Spanish Armor and dive into the recreation of an Arizona mine - but when I was there the lights were out half way through the exhibit. So you find yourself alone in pitch blackness with the sounds of dripping water and hammers striking rocks echoing all around you. Now, I've been to a number of haunted houes and none of them got my heart hammering like that damn tunnel. Oh and to freak you out more - the mine exits into the recreation of a jail. So yeah. . .
On the whole, I recommend visiting this museum with the gentle warning that some kids might get freaked out by a few of the displays. . .