A Family Membership at the MOST costs $79.00. It includes 2 adults and all dependent children living at home. This membership lasts a year and has several major selling points:
- Free Admissions to the MOST
- Free planetarium shows at the MOST
- Free Admissions to over 300 science centers worldwide
- 10% discount at the gift shop
- Discounts on IMAX tickets and birthday parties
- Free subscription to the MOST newsletter
- Special invitations to members only preview events
Let's talk about "Free admissions to the MOST." Sure $79 might seem like a lot to spend on one visit to the MOST, but let's imagine that we are a family of four (2 adults/2 children). One trip to the museum, if we buy only general admission, will cost us $30. That means that within the year if our family visits only three times, we will already have paid for the membership and started saving money. And if our family visits every other month, than we save $101. In addition, if we had seen a planetarium show during all 6 visits, we would have saved another $48.
Museum Prices as of 12/21/2011 (click to enlarge) |
Please click on the table to the right to enlarge the image and read the prices for some participating science centers. I chose all these centers because they are within a day's drive from Syracuse. With my membership I can visit any of these places and not have to worry about paying to get in. If you do have a membership to the MOST or any of these places, I recommend checking some of the others out. Every science center offers a different experience. If you check the prices, you may be surprised to see that two of the places, the Boston Museum of Science and NYC's Intrepid both cost more for a family of four than the MOST's family membership itself. Let me repeat that: A Family Membership for a family of four costs less than the price of one visit to some of the other science museums that are within a days drive, and can be visited for free with the membership.
If you value visiting science centers enough to visit yours a few times a year or check one out while on vacation, than a membership may be a great deal for you. Or maybe a great present for someone you know.
If you work at a science center, please remember to talk to your visitors about memberships. You are helping your visitors to save money, while they also support the museum.
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