Ontario Science Centre

Outdated exhibitions that present a narrow view of science (for example, the Centre omits design, digital fabrication, engineering, and sustainability sciences only to focus on expected topics of basic human and animal biology, aeronautical/​space, etc.), and not intended for adults interested in science and museums.
Would be ideal for a public elementary school field trip as it is a ‘hands-on’/touch interaction environment? There are many more options in GTA, like the AGO art museum or Toronto Symphony Orchestra or something of that sort would be much more enriching, educational, and encourage better behavior from the children.
We left the Centre after less than an hour. Also, $ 10 for parking. Thoroughly disappointed.

My last visit to this place was in my elementary school, and after so many years, it was still fun to visit with my gf. You will learn a lot of interesting things but it is better to come with kids because 90% of them are families with kids.

I used to come here as a kid, because my parents bought gold passes, similar to a season’s pass at Canada’s Wonderland and it was amazing. Despite the fact I’m not really a sciencey person, I liked coming to the science centre. There’s a lot to do, and they try and make it fun for kids. Along with the huge theatre, tons of fun activities and lots of learning.
There’s a lot of parking, food and people that love science. There are groups and scheduled performances, so you can always be sure something is going on. There are children’s rates and seniors discounts as well.
Have fun at the science centre!

From childhood memories I always thought the science centre was the coolest place. I just took my niece today and the place seems soooooooo dated like they haven’t spent any money updating or modernizing things in ages! There have been so many technological advances in the last two decades that the Ontario Science centre could really benefit from.
Many things don’t work as they should.
Many exhibits could benefit from staff being there to explain how things work and improve interactivity.
Disappointed!

Nice place to kill time with kids. Remember to get 20% off tickets coupons from their website. Planetarium show lines were sooo ling we missed cut off on two shows and never got to see it. The science experiment show was good. The facility has a frustrating lay out making it tedious to make it in time to different shows. I think they need to rethink their clever layout they are very proud of. Food is mediocre as all science centers but they get a star for leniency towards outside food. The exhibits themselves are dated with hands on stuff more geared towards a 4 to 7 age range, making it very boring for middle school kids as they are left reading posters most of the time. Worth going only once.

We brought our four-​year-​old and two-​year-​old boys hoping for a few hours of fun, and we got it in some areas but not others.
Right off the bat, the children’s play area is incredible. There are musical instruments, a dancing stage, a supermarket, a house that can be built on with foam bricks, among many other play stations. There is a special infant/​toddler space, a nursing area and a family restroom right there too. My boys got the most fun out of this area.
Given their ages, we knew our kids wouldn’t be interested in everything the science centre has to offer, so we selected a few of the more interesting levels to visit so we wouldn’t lose their attention.
My oldest wanted to see the space exhibit, so we headed there first but couldn’t find a station that really grabbed him. Everything seemed to be over his head, so we translated as much as we could into language that he’d understand and then moved onto the next thing…
The boys really liked the human sciences level that showed skeletons and had more hands-​on activities. They enjoyed the rainforest exhibit as well. Looking back (as this visit was a week ago) I have a hard time remembering which exhibits that I recall were from the science centre and which were from ROM, because they had some exhibits that were very similar, so I do apologize for not being more specific about the particular exhibits.
Long story short, we breezed through a bunch of the levels because our kids were just too young and had too short of attention spans to really get much learning or excitement out of this place, but if you have older children, this is a must-​see attraction. With longer attention spans, there are many hours of knowledge for older children within these walls!

Very fun! I went with my brother and we are 18 and 21 respectively. Although it’s a very interactive place, it got us remembering what we learned in school and see how it’s applied. I highly recommend this place! It took us about three hours to cover about 90% of the place including the Mythbuster section which is very fun!

This place is a wonder for everyone wanting to add a dose of science into their day. The Ontario Science center has lots of exhibits. One of my favorite exhibits was the Aging Machine. Even though I doubt it’s accuracy, I like how it can predict what you will look like when you’re 70.
I would recommend this museum to everyone.

I don’t know if it’s nostalgia or maybe I secretively love science, this place never fails to disappoint. I’ve been visiting this place on and off for the past 15 years, from child to adult. I used to live just in the neighbourhood and we often had many field trips there. I was an odd child and a whole day was not nearly enough to explore the building. I used to love the Rube Goldberg ball machines. I also love the path right behind the museum which leads to a hiking/​biking trail that can take you close to downtown. The few revisits that I have had recently were just as fun. My friends and I had a blast and spent the entire morning and early afternoon looking at the exhibits. My favorite was the one about truth which did not appeal to me as a child so I got a chance to rediscover the area.
I can’t say anything about the parking situation or IMAX because I’ve never used either them but I would say that having more staff for little presentations or demos could make this place more interesting. I don’t see as many of those as before.

This place absolutely pales in comparison to any other family-​friendly science museum I’ve ever visited. I challenge anyone who has visited the Montréal Science Centre, for example, to give the Ontario Science Centre more than two or three stars.
Firstly, the location really is poor. Anyone who doesn’t either own a car or live in the direct vicinity of Don Mills and Eglinton will have a tough time getting here. I don’t live super far away, but it still took me an hour and a half to get here on the TTC’s Saturday service.
The hours aren’t great (10−5pm), which makes the crappy location even more of a nuisance.
The best way I can sum up the museum itself is by saying that most of the exhibits are too ‘dumbed-​down’ to appeal to most adults, but still somehow too detailed to really grab the attention and enthusiasm of children. I realise how critical that sounds, but that honestly is the impression I got from a lot of the stuff here. I didn’t learn anything new, but from observing the hoardes of uninterested, rowdy children not being impressed by any of the exhibits, it looked as though the kids weren’t learning anything, either.
The interactive displays were really disappointing and severely lacking in technology. The diving simulator was laughably bad. You basically went into a room, sat down in seats and listened to an automated voice describing the diving experience. Woeful. The ‘lie detector’ game just gave instructions with pictures describing how you could tell if someone was lying or not. And the ‘face your fear’ type exhibit, where you walked on a few tiles on a glass floor, simply described at the end symptoms of fear and encouraged you to ask yourself if you experienced any of those signs when standing on the tiny piece of glass.
The most interesting part of the museum was the room dedicated to human cultures, yet it was painfully politically correct and preachy in its delivery. (eg: showing faces of different ethnic backgrounds and describing how most of the biological composition was essentially the same. Sweet, but save me the sermon.)
The layout is unnecessarily huge and confusing. It spans six floors yet there was so much unused space. I can’t recall how many elevators and escalators I took during my two-​hour stay.
Additionally, the amount of obnoxiously rude people — adults and kids alike — who were there on the same day as me was unbelievable. Parents taking ten minutes to take family selfies in front of exhibits that had obvious lines of people waiting in front of them. Bratty kids pushing stranger adults out of the way yelling «my turn!!!» I love kids, but really, some of them (well, moreso their parents) really tested my patience here. I honestly don’t think I had ever been anywhere with as many rude people in the one place.
There was an unacceptable number of broken or under repair exhibits and lots of out of date information, eg: using «2011» in the future tense, etc. The centre was also understaffed for a Saturday afternoon — two cashiers at the entrance — and we waited twenty minutes in line with only two people ahead of us.
I can see how this place is valued by local parents as if you’re a member it’s cheap and it gives kids a chance to do something vaguely educational at the weekends. Plus, I’ve heard great things about the Imax part of the museum (which I didn’t have time to go to).
Overall though, very disappointing. I dread to think of visitors staying in downtown TO and making the journey out here to see something as underwhelming and dated as this.

Remember when you were young and this place was the latest and greatest? Well it hasn’t changed. I mean, it’s still the latest and greatest circa 1980. It’s too bad, since science and technology evolves in leaps and bounds, only this place stays the same. It’s more of a history museum by now.
Also, I’m not a fan of seeing the science of sports and Rock ‘n Roll. Really? Even in a science museum we have to dumb things down and appeal to the masses with sports and Rock ‘n Roll? Why not show us what scientists are doing, instead?

TIP: This is an ASTC member, so if you have a membership at your local ASTC museum, you can get into OSC for free. This is perfect for a good half day excursion.
Pros:
–Has some exhibits from when I visited as a kid 30 years ago. I can relive part of my childhood.
–Many interactive exhibits that are appropriate for kids of different ages. Kids love and want interactivity and the interactive exhibits are far better than the «watch this short film» exhibits.
Cons:
–Has some exhibits from when I visited as a kid 30 years ago. Get more new stuff in there.
–Not in the same class as museums in NYC and Chicago (Museum of Science & Industry, which is the largest science museum in the western hemisphere), but Toronto is quite a bit smaller than those cities.

I agree with some other reviews about lack of updating. I saw an IMAX movie and they used the same intro when I was there as a kid…10 or so years ago.
Prices are somewhat steep too. $ 13 for a 45min movie? And still charging $ 10 for parking? Come on. Put some of that into upgrading the bland front of the building.
That being said, the theatre itself is pretty good. Great, huge screen. It even surpasses your field of vision in the vertical direction. As for the movie (Hubble), they could’ve spent a little less time showing people talking and more cool visuals.
Would not return any time soon.

We have the silver membership which is a great value for the money.
Thus time around we went to see the lemur movie and the rock and roll science show. Both were good and fun for the kids.
Kids love this place and is a great thing to do with them on a lazy Sunday afternoon.

Our first visit to the science centre. Was kind of disappointing really. I found the layout wasn’t very simplified. The equipment was old and could use some updating. Some of the signs were so old that the print was literally worn off. But other parts were very fancy and up to date.
We arrived around 11am and the place was jam packed with children that were running around screaming, totally out of control. Now I know this is a place for children, but these children were so out of control! It was then we were told that Fridays were not a good day to visit? We only had one day in Toronto, so we didn’t have a choice.
I felt that the staff could have, perhaps, talked to the children’s teachers about their behaviour. That’s just my opinion.
Prices were good, the IMAX was awesome. Parking was decent and reasonably priced. I would probably come back and see another IMAX again, just not on a Friday !!

Took my two nieces to the Science Centre for a day of fun (more to give their parents a break for a day). They are 15 and 11.
It is the only time in the last year that I’ve seen the two of them agree on anything… they were laughing, they were playing with each other, they didn’t roll their eyes at each other… it was almost as though they liked each other. Any place that can do that is purely magical.
The OSC encourages, no it demands, that you explore the exhibits with a hands on approach. Brilliantly conceived, it teaches kids science and biology and astronomy and aerodynamics and chemistry and geology and, and, and… without them realising it ! OMG !
Buy tickets on-​line as they’re cheaper than at the door. It is a great place to spend the day… although the restaurant is packed and the food selection isn’t the healthiest of choices…

We went the Science Center this Aug specifically to check out the Video Game Exhibit they had for a short showing. It was like walking in to the arcades… when I was 17. Very cool exhibit, so many games I had not seen since a child or teenager and the best part was you get to actually play them.
Other than the exhibit this place is pretty incredible. There are an amazing amount of really neat interactive exhibits through out the center. There were some imax .I think .lol did not have a chance to attend tickets were out and we arrived around 1p. m after traveling back from Niagra Falls.

Such a bad experience, I get its a place for kids but even if I had a child I wouldn’t bring them there ever. Smells and seems so gross and germ filled. Killed my expectations hard and quick.
The website makes it seem to awesome and its all over toronto websites but its not even close.
All the exhibits were so cheap and most didn’t even work! Ya there was some cool things in there but not worth 30 dollars. Only took us an hour to be in and out super disappointed.
No staff helped us and it was hard to find our way around. Just don’t do it — telling you now. If you want a science centre to go to and enjoy drive up to Sudbury. They have S
Science North an its cheaper for a MUCH MUCH greater experience.

I have not been here since I was a kid, this place seem to have changed in some areas and not changed in some areas.
I always enjoyed all the learning at this place because it was in such a cool place, plus I got to leave school. It made me realize that school was not the only place to learn and get educated. It made me want to get a job at the museum.
I hope to have more time to visit again.

PROS
+ Easily accessible by public transport (bus)
+ Some unique exhibits, e.g. Mindworks & A Question of Truth
+ Variety of hands-​on interactive exhibits
CONS
— Exhibits are disappointingly outdated
— Many broken, missing, or removed displays
— Many interactive exhibits are run-​down and not well maintained
I am a Certified Nerd in my mid-​20s and I love any sort of museum or science center where I can geek out in glee. I gave the Ontario Science Centre a try as I had purchased the Toronto CityPass. The OSC is a bit of a ways out of downtown Toronto (about 45min via public transit) so going here will essentially be a full day trip.
Sadly, I was fairly disappointed by what the OSC had to offer. The permanent exhibits here are terribly outdated. Many displays are old, run-​down, broken, or simply are no longer relevant. A few examples:
— The Living Earth exhibition: Displays were citing predictions for how climate/​global warming/​etc might be like in the year 2000. Hmm…
— The Human Body exhibition had a display for new birth control methods «in-​the-​works.» Some are laughable, but many are available today — e.g. the nuva ring, reversible vasectomies, etc.
— The aging machine in the human body exhibition takes THREE WHOLE MINUTES per person to generate images of progressive aging. The printer that should allow you to print your images of why you’ll look like 80 years later is broken. This really is a cool interactive activity but 3 minutes per person and a million demon children crowding the machine does not bode well for you getting even a remote chance to have at it.
— A good number of interactive displays in the Mindworks and Science Arcade exhibitions are in poor condition, broken, or removed for what I hope to be repairs
Ok, how about some redeeming qualities?
+ The Question of Truth exhibition offered some interesting perspectives on race, gender, sex, culture, etc. Perhaps when this exhibition was first debuted, addressing such issues would have been fairly novel and refreshing. While perhaps no longer surprising or eye-​opening, the themes in the displays here are worth taking a gander.
+ The Live Rainforest is pretty cool, albeit small. This area is well maintained (it’s alive! Guess it has to be) with several live creatures on display. The frogs are cool and the simulated «rain» is a nice realistic touch
I didn’t check out any of the IMAX features as the one available that day was similar to others I’ve seen before many times («To the Arctic»). If you are spending the whole day at the OSC, you may find this worthwhile if you’re willing to pay extra for it.
Note: The Human Body exhibition will close on 7÷3÷12 for «renewal». I sincerely hope they update everything in this hall because the info really is interesting and would be intriguing for both kids and grownups alike.