To be honest I wasn't aware this museum existed until I heard the name pop up a few times over the past few weeks. I think it started with the Groupon 'deal' for reduced admission.
A beautiful sunny day and yes, we are going to go spend time indoors. I think exposing kids to scientific, artistic, cultural, or historical importance is a good thing however I wasn't sure if he was a tad young for the exhibits but we went anyhow.
The MOA is on the other side of the earth city so we had a bit of a drive. Google maps got us slightly lost but it is on the outskirts of the UBC Lands. There isn't great signage so you just need to find the Rose Garden Parkade and you are set. I chose to pay by the parking meter (stand) and use the ol credit card but upon exiting I realized there were meters (per stall) which would have been wayyy cheaper. It's $6.00 for the day or the meters. Mind you there were only a few meters. It wasn't busy so if I was paying better attention, I could have saved a buck or two.
We headed toward 'a' building which I assumed was the MOA (it was) and followed a path. There is another parking lot near an upper road but I have no idea how to get there. We wandering around the perimeter of the building until we saw signs leading to the entrance.
Prior to our visit, I had already visited Groupon to purchase my Groupon and by doing so I saved $8! It was simple to do and redemption was quick. Mason was free as he was under 6 years. We got these weird tag things to attach to our shirts and away we went. I scanned the entrance - gift shop to the left, entrance to museum straight ahead and a cafeteria/washrooms to the right. The first exhibits we saw were a lot of totem poles which Mason kept asking about. I didn't want him talking too much/too loud so I let him take pictures with his cool new camera he got recently (supposed to be a Christmas present but he saw it when I grabbed it at the store and convinced me to give it to him early. What can I say? The kid is cute..and convincing).
We wandered from room to room and there was a lot to see! Unfortunately Mason's interest was quickly lost and he repeatedly exclaimed that 'he' was done 'lookin'. I couldn't blame him, it wasn't a fun environment (no bugs, no bees) and I too, not a huge museum'y person. I probably would have spent more time looking sans child but we tried to go through each room before we exited. It was a bit hard finding the exit, it becomes an 'old school' ikea. All you need is the foot prints to tell you the way out.
We did not check out the cafeteria but did make a potty stop (diaper change stations in both the Mens & Ladies washrooms (kudos). There were a ton of lockers for people to store their bags.
One final room to check out and that was the gift shop. It had a ton of Native art and some really cool pieces (until you see the price. $800+. However we did manage to find one item that we purchased.
A Buddha board! What a cool website! It was reasonably priced at $12.95 + tax. I thought it would be also a good art thing for Mason to play with as he can't make a mess! Once I got it home and out of the box, I realized it was hot pink lol. There are other color choices. There is that 'paying attention' thing. Hard to do with a busy 3.5 year old right?
So that was the end of our visit. We were probably there for just under an hour. Since it was such a beautiful day, we headed outside to get fresh air and look around.
If you go: (buy a Groupon! *while the deal lasts)
Website: http://moa.ubc.ca
Address: 6393 N.W. Marine Drive, Vancouver, B.C. V6T 1Z2