The Creation Museum Review

The Creation Museum is a museum about the origins of the earth in Petersberg, Kentucky. To begin with, it is a beautiful museum. The premises are large, and you can plan on easily spending an entire day – or two – there. It is worth noting, there is a lot of controversy over The Creation Museum. Of course, it is easy to find that information online.

For the purposes of this post, I am going to assume you already know all of that, and you are looking for a review of the museum itself.

Therefore, we are here to offer our perspective on why you should include The Creation Museum in your bucket list. First, we made a video about our latest adventure there:

To begin, let’s talk about the museum’s basic layout and amenities. Since we are wanting to make the most of the money we spend, we look for a lot of things in a museum, and The Creation Museum is no exception. For our purposes, for an attraction to be appealing to a large family, we rate it on:

• Location and quantity of restrooms
• Food (especially important for our family with food intolerances)
• Stroller/wheelchair accessibility
• ‘Chaos factor’ (is it overwhelming for small children)
• Ease of Layout (Is it easy to find your way around)
• Entertaining
• Engaging
• Inspiring &/or Educational

Location and Quantity of Restrooms

We gave the Creation Museum a 5/10 for Restrooms. They were clean, and easily accessible. However, they were difficult to find once you were out of the main exhibit area, and the areas they were in were quite crowded when we were there. In one area, the restrooms themselves were not busy, but it was difficult to navigate the crowd in the area where the restrooms were halfway through the museum. In another area, there were only 2 available, with a long line of little tikes waiting their turn. We could also only give them a 5 because we felt there simply should have been more of them around the museum so you did not have to backtrack so far should a little one need to tinkle urgently.

Food

On our previous visit, we enjoyed our lunch at The Creation Museum, and thoroughly enjoyed their food. As well as snacks, coffees, and regular fare, there were healthy options available. Thankfully, everyone was pleased with what they ate. The price was reasonable (for a museum), and I would recommend it.

This time around, we chose to bring our own food. of which you are not allowed to bring in. This is understandable, considering it is a museum. Usually there are outdoor areas we could have eaten, but the weather was unfavorable that day. First we ate a snack before we went in, but by the time we came out, we were starving again. Once you begin the trek through the museum, it is inconvenient to head back to the vehicle for a meal.

Recommendation: Plan to eat there, or eat a large meal before you go. Over both visits, we gave the food a 7/10. We would have improved the rating if it were easier for us to bring our own food, or if it was easier to get back to the vehicle halfway through our visit.

Stroller/Wheelchair Accessibility

First, the bulk of the museum is very accessible. The walking areas are wide, exhibits are easy to see without needing to be ‘up close’ to everything. You can tell this was thoroughly considered by the museum.

Then, there are a few areas where little ones can explore through ‘caves’, that are not stroller friendly. Also, there is an upstairs area to one exhibit where there is no elevator access. It is worth noting – if you were unable to leave your wheelchair or stroller downstairs for that part, you would simply miss out on that portion of the museum. However, it is a small area, and doesn’t affect your enjoyment of the entire museum.

Also, the outdoor grounds are completely accessible. Total rating: 8/10.

The Creation Museum was a great place to keep active ones busy

‘Chaos Factor’

This was our only real complaint about The Creation Museum. Some areas are peaceful, quiet, and allow you to absorb at your own pace. However, there were some areas where there were several screens all playing at the same time with different shows, and there were other areas in the middle which were loud and stressful for our young visitors. With the noise and lights, our elementary aged visitors were unable to process the information the museum was presenting, as they were simply trying to cope with the chaos around them.

**If you have sensory-sensitive children, consider bringing ear plugs/sunglasses/etc for this portion.

On the whole, we gave it a 5/10 for chaos factor.

Ease of Layout

This particular area is one where the Creation Museum shines. You follow a specific path that leads you chronologically through the museum. There is no guessing where to go next, and no solving squabbles about ‘who wants to go where first’. It is always obvious where to go next, and you never feel lost. The Museum receives a 10/10 for layout.

Entertaining

The Creation Museum is very entertaining. With animatronic dinosaurs, the kids were constantly in awe. The animation team that built their dioramas is world-class. Life-like human models, animals, and backgrounds are one of the reasons to put The Creation Museum on your bucket list. Our family rated it an 8/10 for entertaining.

Engaging

To begin, there were some areas of The Creation Museum that were very engaging. For example, there was a cave we could walk through that lit up under black light, showing rocks and animals with very interesting features visible under the light. There were interactive panels with Q&A flaps on them, and a ‘dinosaur dig’ area for kids. Comparatively, the rest of the museum was ‘museum style’. For these reasons, we gave The Creation Museum a 6/10 for engaging.

Inspiring &/or Educational

The Creation Museum is both inspiring and educational. This is perhaps my favorite part of the museum. For example, if you are approaching the experience from a like-minded, Christian perspective, you will leave being encouraged, validated, and strengthened to continue on your journey.

On the other hand, if you arrive at the museum from a different starting point (such as an atheist, evolutionist, or Old-Earth Christian), you will be challenged in your beliefs. By the end of your visit, you may or may not agree with the perspectives The Creation Museum presents to you, but you will be left thinking. Perhaps it will validate what you already know.  Maybe it will lead to discussions in your family. No matter what, you will be glad you chose to spend your time giving The Creation Museum a try.

This is another area we give the museum a 10/10.

The Creation Museum was approved by all our explorers.

The Cherry on the Sundae

In my opinion, I have saved the best for last. My absolute favorite part of The Creation Museum is the reason behind it all. The museum is uniquely built out of Love. Throughout the experience, every perspective shared is grounded in the premise of making sure every visitor knows they are loved and valuable.

As a matter of fact, if you have ever wondered what Christianity is all about, or who Jesus was and why all the hype about Christmas and Easter that Christians celebrate so passionately, then a visit to The Creation Museum will be the best time you have ever spent.

Thanks for joining us on our visit to The Creation Museum. If you liked our video, subscribe to see more of our adventures here.

Would you like to learn more about traveling as minimialists? Try reading here.

Maybe you would like to read about teenagers and minimalism?