We have a running list of all the things we want to do and see in Oregon and Evergreen Aviation & Space Museum has finally been crossed of the list. We started at the aviation museum making or way through the entrance and into a giant hanger featuring planes from a variety of time periods. Including the star of the show the original Spruce Goose which was built entirely of wood due to wartime restrictions on metals, this massive airplane stands as a symbol of American industry during World War II.
The kids were amazed by all of the planes and of course wanted to try each one of them out but since they couldn’t actually get in the planes they settled for testing out every single plane seat the museum had.
Once we had made our way through the aviation side we took a little space shuttle across the parking lot and over to the space museum. The kids were pretty amazed by everything but loved getting inside of this space shuttle the most.
We had one most stop on our visit and that was to the Wings & Waves Indoor Waterpark so we ended up cutting our space museum time short so the kinds could enjoy the water before the overtired meltdowns occurred.
Edith and Alder went down these slides in the little kids area over and over and over again but the start of the show was the big wave pool. They both thought it was just the best thing ever and once Neil made his trip down one of the big slides we spent the remainder of our time riding the waves.
Pros:
- Museum
- Large space filled with a variety of planes to see.
- Small kids area in the aviation museum
- Excellent outdoor playground next to space musuem – we unfortuantely didn’t get to try it out because it was pouring the day we went.
- Good for a variety of ages.
- Waterpark
- Small and easy to navigate.
- Keyless locker system
Cons:
- Museum
- To go in any of the actual planes it cost extra.
- The museum had a few videos but it was mostly a bunch of planes/space related displays with signs. Would love for it to have been more interactive.
- Due to the lack of interactiveness it isn’t some place I’d return on a regular basis. We talked about going again in a few years when the kids are older but overall it was a one hit type of museum.
- Waterpark
- Limited play areas for children under 5 years of age.
- Locker area congested.
- For families with littles I would say value versus cost was a bit high. I’d recommend the water park for families with kids 8+.
Overall we had a really great time and would like to thank Evergreen Aviation & Space Museum for gifting us admission the museum and waterpark. While there are a few cons we really enjoyed our visit and would return in a few years when our kids are older.