Most overrated kid-friendly attraction in DC?

[Anonymous]

My favourite zoo is Chiang Mai zoo in Thailand.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Wah, wah, wah. Bunch of big, entitled babies.

Oh, the national mall is soooo boring. Oh, the zoo is sooo boring. Insufferable!

We went to the zoo once and couldn't find any animals. They were all in hiding or sleeping or eating or something. Seriously that's boring.

What do you expect the zoo to do about that, poke them with electric prods so they can come out where you can see them? They're animals, they're gonna sleep and hide sometimes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Wah, wah, wah. Bunch of big, entitled babies.

Oh, the national mall is soooo boring. Oh, the zoo is sooo boring. Insufferable!

We went to the zoo once and couldn't find any animals. They were all in hiding or sleeping or eating or something. Seriously that's boring.

OMG, you sound like the ~8 year old I saw, and happened to be right behind one day. Entered the zoo, the first two exhibits had sleeping or hiding animals, he whined and begged to go home. This was 3 minutes in. Meanwhile my kid and I kept walking and saw several animals just in the Asia Trail-- and moved on through nearly every other exhibit, of which all (but especially the many indoor houses) had more than half of animals awake and moving around. Of course, we also enjoyed reading, watching a couple of zookeeper talks, riding the carousel, etc.

It's true we only saw maybe half a dozen animals "doing something really interesting," but that's how it is. They're not circus bears. I think a lot of kids (and adults) expect a constant stream of Disney World amusement at every turn. We had some cool, genuine interactions, but we had to take the time to find them. I feel like some people would hate safari and, you know, life in general.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I was really super let down by the Claude Moore colonial farm. The actors were really bored and uninterested in talking to us our our child. It was a big letdown.

Any others?

They are volunteers to help take care of the farm.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Air and Space on the Mall. I want to love it but most of it is really boring.

YES! I always feel like such a snob when I say that I don't like that museum. It desperately needs to be redone. The planes are cool to look at but anything you have to read is so, so boring.

My kids always loved Air and Space. The activity room, the flight simulators, the IMAX movies. Loved that place.

[Anonymous]

Upton Hill park - just generally blah.

[Anonymous]

I loathe the zoo. Always have.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Clemyjontri Park. It used to be so beautiful and I feel like it has fallen into disrepair.

+1 also parking there is a nightmare.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The Zoo.

That's crazy talk. It's a free, large wooded place for my crazy toddler to walk/run herself into a sleepy daze.

+1 Why is the zoo, of all places, overrated?

Because you have to pay $20 for parking and $6 for a basic hot dog!

^^Actual complaints I've heard.

(Never mind that there is no admission fee, saving you a bare minimum in other cities of $60 for a family of four-- maybe more than $80. Never mind that r/t public transport for four people anywhere in a major city is going to run you at least $15, and parking anywhere in a major city generally runs you at least $15 for six hours, if not much more. Never mind that same hot dog would still cost you $3 on the street and you're not forced to buy it anyway. Etc., etc.)

+1 or metro - or we are close enough to make it an insanely long walk.


Huh? We park on the street and pack our own lunch when we go to the zoo.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I wish we had an actual children's museum. Most other cities have awesome children's museums and I don't understand why we don't!

There was one at national harbor that was open for less than year before it closed because it was that terrible.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Nook in Arlington. $20 per kid and just not that much to do unless there's a performer.

I 100% agree with this one. There was so much hype but this place is so boring.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is just a craptastic area for kids.

This is insane. The freaking Smithsonian (including the Zoo) is here and FREE. Not to mention many other paid attractions and many great playgrounds. And not far from Baltimore, within 5 hours of Philly and NYC. Is it the most kid-friendly area in the world? Probably not. But craptastic? Really?

Agree. There are countless free, interesting, internationally focused things going on all over this city nearly every weekend. Look at blogs like "DC thrifty mom" for listings, there are TONS of things. If you think this area is "craptastic" for kids, the problem is you.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is just a craptastic area for kids.

This is insane. The freaking Smithsonian (including the Zoo) is here and FREE. Not to mention many other paid attractions and many great playgrounds. And not far from Baltimore, within 5 hours of Philly and NYC. Is it the most kid-friendly area in the world? Probably not. But craptastic? Really?

Agree. There are countless free, interesting, internationally focused things going on all over this city nearly every weekend. Look at blogs like "DC thrifty mom" for listings, there are TONS of things. If you think this area is "craptastic" for kids, the problem is you.

Yeah I grew up in Georgia. My friends who still live there with kids, omg. They seriously have nothing to do with those kids. The movies and church pretty much. Meanwhile mine are like, painting at the Swedish embassy, visiting Mount Vernon, seeing the Wonder exhibit. This is a GREAT place to be a kid.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
As a family of 5, we paid over $250 to go to the San Diego Zoo. Some people really don't know how good they have it.

Was going to say something along these lines. I don't live in DC anymore. The Smithsonian's are a national treasure (literally). Y'all have *no* idea how good you have it, and I live in a major metro area that people often talk about moving to on DCUM.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is just a craptastic area for kids.

This is insane. The freaking Smithsonian (including the Zoo) is here and FREE. Not to mention many other paid attractions and many great playgrounds. And not far from Baltimore, within 5 hours of Philly and NYC. Is it the most kid-friendly area in the world? Probably not. But craptastic? Really?

Plus 1.