Beach exhibit at National Building Museum - too crowded?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:A friend who went this weekend said the staff told her they are less busy in the afternoons than they are first thing when they open.

Which validates my whole theory of life in general and parenting in particular - go late, not early.

I agree! I can't convince my DH of this though, unfortunately. He always wants to get everywhere as early as possible.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I bought our non-member tickets online in advance. They were sent to my phone, which I showed at the member desk and got tickets immediately (the line to buy tickets was very long). We arrived at 2p, waited 20 min, then got it.

Girls are both 3; they loved it, I had to walk on the "pier" to make sure they didn't go under or get kicked by older kids (lots of older kids there, prob bc is late afternoon and the littler ones are napping…we skipped our nap to go).

Summary: kids loved it, I found it stressful but am glad I took them. There's metered parking that you can use your Parkmobile app to pay for. They sell snacks inside as well, there's places for adults to sit. But bottom line: buy your tickets online in advance:

https://secure2.convio.net/nbm/site/Ecommerce?store_id=2041

Thanks! I'll do this.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

I don't understand why NBM can't sell times entry tickets on line. The whole wait in line to get tix and then wait again to go into the beach is just ridiculous and outdated. It also annoys me that I can't buy timed tickets online for the playzone either. Don't the directors of operations have children? Clearly not.


#whitewhine

Are you older than 40? Maybe this webernet stuff is new to you.

Oh and should I check my privilege too? Its 2015, shit gets crowded. This is very very basic website stuff by the way

OMG -- Am I older than 40!!! not that PP, but my goodness that is the funniest thing I've read in a while.

The reason they don't sell timed tickets is because once you go in, you stay as long as you want. It's not like ice skating where you get a time colored band and they you exit when your time is up. That would make it really hard to sell timed entry tickets online

We went at about 4:30 on a weekday. It wasn't very crowded, and it we got in within 20 minutes of arriving. Bonus -- get the member price for tickets if you arrive between 4-5
Free at Four - Late Day Reduced Admission
Weekdays (except federal holidays) 4–5 pm, admission to the exhibition House & Home is free thanks to support from the National Endowment for the Humanities. During Free at Four, we offer reduced admission to the Museum’s other exhibitions: FREE for members, $5 for adults, $3 for youth. [/b]Free at Four does not include BEACH admission.[b]

There's no discount for "The Beach" exhibit.

There is free admission for DC residents on Ward Days.

http://go.nbm.org/site/Calendar/1794115238?view=Detail&id=119861

[Anonymous]

Bumping this thread to see if anyone had updates about crowds/times these days. I'm looking to take a 4 and 5 year old either tomorrow or Tuesday. Is it best to deal with the crappy traffic going into the city in the am to be there at opening time? Or is it better to wait until after lunch...
Neither of my kids will be good at waiting for long, so whatever time has the best chance of NOT having an hour-plus wait is best. Or maybe the exhibit has calmed down over the past month and wait times aren't as bad as they were in July...probably a useless hope lol...

Interested to hear from people who have visited the Beach recently.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't get it; is it like the ball pit at Ikea but bigger and with white balls?

With "beach scenery" added. Not worth it for the germs, but that's just me.

yuck

I just read this about ball pits - http://www.realclearscience.com/blog/2012/02/bacteria%20in%20playlands.html

We found stuff that causes meningitis, food-borne illness, skin, hair, eye infections... fecal contamination, coliforms, quite a few things can make children ill, and several of which are multi-drug resistant and potentially fatal.

can't do it - for as unique as this installation is . . .

Yup.

[Anonymous]

Went last Wed. Bought tix online the night before. When we arrived everyone was waiting outside one door. We went in the side door. Waited in short members only line to get wristbands. The non members line was long. We were the first few people in and it was glorious for 20 min or so. By 10:30 it got crowded. I say drive down and plan to arrive around 9:30! So fun.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Went last Wed. Bought tix online the night before. When we arrived everyone was waiting outside one door. We went in the side door. Waited in short members only line to get wristbands. The non members line was long. We were the first few people in and it was glorious for 20 min or so. By 10:30 it got crowded. I say drive down and plan to arrive around 9:30! So fun.

Thanks for the update! Just to clarify - if you are not a member you still have to wait in a long line even if you've bought tickets online? This makes it seem like it's not worth it to buy tickets online, or am I missing something?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Went last Wed. Bought tix online the night before. When we arrived everyone was waiting outside one door. We went in the side door. Waited in short members only line to get wristbands. The non members line was long. We were the first few people in and it was glorious for 20 min or so. By 10:30 it got crowded. I say drive down and plan to arrive around 9:30! So fun.

Thanks for the update! Just to clarify - if you are not a member you still have to wait in a long line even if you've bought tickets online? This makes it seem like it's not worth it to buy tickets online, or am I missing something?

No, if you're not a member and you buy tickets online, you go to the member line to show your email confirmation and then they'll give you your wristbands. Highly recommend. We went on Sunday, got there 15 minutes before opening and the line was insane. While waiting for it to open, I bought the tickets on my phone, so when we got in we went to the member line. Got inside in the first wave so no waiting other than for the 15 minutes before opening (but we *just* made the first wave).

[Anonymous]

Was thinking of going tomorrow, but now I see that it is "Ward 5" day, so those residents can get in free from 9-11. I'm rethinking going tomorrow. It will be a zoo, right?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Went last Wed. Bought tix online the night before. When we arrived everyone was waiting outside one door. We went in the side door. Waited in short members only line to get wristbands. The non members line was long. We were the first few people in and it was glorious for 20 min or so. By 10:30 it got crowded. I say drive down and plan to arrive around 9:30! So fun.

Thanks for the update! Just to clarify - if you are not a member you still have to wait in a long line even if you've bought tickets online? This makes it seem like it's not worth it to buy tickets online, or am I missing something?

No, if you're not a member and you buy tickets online, you go to the member line to show your email confirmation and then they'll give you your wristbands. Highly recommend. We went on Sunday, got there 15 minutes before opening and the line was insane. While waiting for it to open, I bought the tickets on my phone, so when we got in we went to the member line. Got inside in the first wave so no waiting other than for the 15 minutes before opening (but we *just* made the first wave).

Thanks for clarifying!

[Anonymous]

Went one day when it was really crowded. Got stuck, couldn't touch the bottom and couldn't get traction and had to get helped out by strangers because I was there alone with my kid. It sucked. I got twisted around in a weird way and my back is still hurting. I think if there had been less people it likely wouldn't have been an issue.