Discover & Learn with the AZ Museum of Natural History

Arizona offers a ton of different museums, national parks, and historical places to visit, many of which residents may not even be aware are available to visit. One of these places is the Arizona Museum of Natural History, I know several people who weren't aware we had a museum that features dinosaurs and history. The museum is located at 53 N. MacDonald Mesa, AZ 85201 conveniently tucked away by plenty of shops and places to grab a bite to eat. The museum is easy to spot, simply look for the giant dinosaur breaking out of the side of the building.

Before heading down to the museum I suggest checking their hours before going down, They are closed on Mondays, Tu-Fri they are open 10am-5pm, Sat they are open from 11am-5pm and Sundays they are open from 1-5pm. There is a ton of parking around the building including a parking garage behind the museum so you won't need to drive around searching for a parking spot. As soon as you walk through the doors into the building you are greeted by several large specimens before you even start walking through the actual museum. Tickets are $12 for adults and $7 for children, through the "Museums for all" access program EBT card holders can receive $2 off per ticket up to six tickets.

Along with dinosaurs, southwest history and more they also have a room dedicated to movies that were filmed in Arizona plus they have an interactive camera you can stand behind that will put you into the movie they are showing on the screen. Located directly next to this room is a dinosaur room, a mine you can walk through, a jail you can visit to sit in the cells and take photos and a small theater where you can select different short films to watch using a panel located on the wall. The one thing we noticed was that the layout of the museum made it to where you often looped back through the same areas a few times to get to sections you may have missed, which we didn't really mind but made you wonder if you missed anything.



One of the things we absolutely loved about the museum was how many interactive spots they offered for kids and adults to enjoy. They had a few spots which featured a camera/TV to where if you stood in the right spot you'd appear on the screen with the subject show, the room above which featured several dinosaurs had a crawl tunnel and a slide for kids (my son was going to go down the slide but when he want to crawl into the tunnel it was wet, though they could have just cleaned it.). They also had several spots where you could put together various puzzles, do trivia, search for fossils and even pan for gold which you get to keep. They provide a lot of interesting and helpful information on so many aspects of history, some of which I wasn't even aware of and was amazed to learn. They have everything set up quite nicely when it comes to including information with each piece in the museum.

If all of that doesn't sound entertaining enough, they even had a full sized waterfall in the middle of the museum and a few live animals (fish,lizard,turtle) to see while walking through the museum. Need to use the bathroom? No problem, they have plenty of bathrooms and all of them are easy to access plus they are clean and well maintained which is always nice. Depending on how long you stay at each interactive spot and how quickly you walk, you'll end up spending one to three hours at the museum. We spent about two hours here before we all decided it was time for lunch so we left to walk down main street a bit to see the shops and look for a place to eat. Before you leave the museum if you want to pick up something dinosaur or history related they have a wonderful gift shop located near the front of the museum. We had a wonderful time at the museum, they offered a lot of family fun and I think couples would enjoy visiting on their own as well. If you've never been to the museum or haven't visited in a while, I highly suggest heading out to Mesa to visit the museum for a few hours. Looking for something a little more this summer? The museum offers summer camps, prehistoric preschool and more the kids can enjoy just check their website for more information.

Disclaimer- The products mentioned above were provided by The Arizona Museum of Natural History for the review free of charge no other compensation was provided. However, no product compensation will influence the outcome of any review. My honest opinions are used in all reviews, they are solely my own & they may vary from others.My reviews are posted for readers in order to provide an informed decision before purchase.