You may be wondering if the USS Midway is worth your time and money, especially if you have young children. We were to. Would they have fun? Get anything out of it? Be bored out of their minds?? We decided to take a chance and check it out. We were SO glad we did. It was incredible. Our kids loved it. They really did. There were so many amazing planes to see- 29 restored aircraft to be exact, 60 exhibits- several that are hands-on…but more about that below 🙂
TICKETS are available at the main gate for $20 per adult and $10 for youth ages 6-12. 5 and under are free. There is a $2 discount available online if you buy in advance here. The museum opens at 10 am daily and closes at 5 pm, although the last entrance is at 4 pm. We would say to plan for about 2-3 hours in the museum, although you certainly could spend a lot more time inside this large ship. Parking is available adjacent to the museum for $5 per hour, $10 maximum.
JUNIOR PILOT PROGRAM
Your first stop (after receiving your headset and earphones) should be to this information desk where the star is. It is right across from where you get your headphones. Here you can pick up a little map/booklet for each child that is filled with different clues/stops that will take you throughout the ship. There are about 60 stops on this family-friendly tour. Our kids loved it. Each stop will have a special code you put on your headset that will allow you listen to a small audio snip related to your exhibit. It is very engaging- we listened to it along with our kids and learned a lot in a fun, story format. Check out a sample of the tour here.
The tour will take you on all levels of the ship! Our kids had fun climbing in the many different planes.
It was definitely easy to imagine what life on this ship must have been like. Our appreciation for those who serve our Country has only doubled after this.
These are only pictures of the few of the stops on our tour. Not pictured are the Sick Bay, Chow Line, Post Office- all of which are located below deck and stops the kids thought were really interesting.
After you’ve completed the tour and filled out your brochure (they check!) stop back by the information desk and pick up a pair of wings! Our kids proudly wore their wings the rest of the day.
We also had to check out the Unconditional Surrender Statue of the of the iconic photo taken of a sailor kissing a nurse in Times Square as they celebrated the end of World War II in 1945. We ABSOLUTELY had to make the kids blush (cue the eye rolls) by trying to recreate the pose ourselves. Have some fun with it 🙂 This is located just outside of the USS Midway.
That’s how we did the USS Midway? How do you?