The Creation Museum Review
The Creation Museum is a museum about the origins of the earth in Petersburg, 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 that there is a lot of controversy over The Creation Museum. Of course, it is easy to find that information online.
This review is from our family’s visit in December 2017. Exhibits, hours and prices may have changed since then, so check the museum’s website before you go.
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 want 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 and/or educational
If you’d like to use the same criteria for your own family outings, we’ve turned them into a printable checklist at the end of this post.
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 around them, halfway through the museum. In another area, there were only 2 available, with a long line of little tykes waiting their turn. We could 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 ate 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, which you are not allowed to bring in. This is understandable, considering it is a museum. Usually there are outdoor areas where we could have eaten, but the weather was unfavorable that day. 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 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, and exhibits are easy to see without needing to be ‘up close’ to everything. You can tell this was thoroughly considered by the museum.
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 with no elevator access. It is worth noting that 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 it doesn’t affect your enjoyment of the entire museum.
The outdoor grounds are also completely accessible. Total rating: 8/10.
‘Chaos factor’
This was our only real complaint about The Creation Museum. Some areas are peaceful and quiet, and allow you to absorb at your own pace. However, some areas had several screens all playing different shows at the same time, and other areas in the middle 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 and so on 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
Some areas of The Creation Museum 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 and/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 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 where we give the museum a 10/10.
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 Christians celebrate Christmas and Easter 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.
Our family attraction checklist
These are the same things we rated above, turned into a checklist you can use before any museum, zoo or attraction day with a big family.
Before you go
- ☐ Restrooms: Where are they on the map, and how many? Are there any in the second half of the route, or will you have to backtrack?
- ☐ Food: Is outside food allowed? If not, is there an outdoor or picnic area nearby? Are there options that work for any food intolerances in your family?
- ☐ Food plan: Decide now: eat a big meal before you go, buy food there, or plan a return to the vehicle.
- ☐ Stroller and wheelchair access: Are there elevators to every area? Are any exhibits stairs-only or crawl-through?
- ☐ Chaos factor: Are there loud, dark or screen-heavy areas? Pack ear plugs or sunglasses for sensory-sensitive children.
- ☐ Layout: Is there one set path, or will you need to choose a route? If it’s open-plan, agree on the order before you arrive.
- ☐ Hours and prices: Check current hours, closures and family pricing.
- ☐ Weather: If you’re counting on outdoor areas to eat or let kids run, check the forecast.
On the day, rate it out of 10
| What we rate | Our score | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Restrooms (location and quantity) | /10 | |
| Food | /10 | |
| Stroller/wheelchair access | /10 | |
| Chaos factor | /10 | |
| Ease of layout | /10 | |
| Entertaining | /10 | |
| Engaging | /10 | |
| Inspiring and/or educational | /10 |
Scores make it easy to remember which places deserve a return trip.
For packing light on a day like this (or a whole weekend), see our guide to becoming vacation minimalists.
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