I went to the California Academy of Sciences this past weekend for its big opening. I bought a membership about a month earlier (only $99 and allows a guest; pays for itself in 2 visits!) but I missed out on the pre-opening members only times. It was definitely worth the wait for the reconstruction over the past few years; its really an amazing space. I really liked how they used the space; they leave open space all the way to the top of the building rather than a standard sandwich of layers.
The aquarium is fantastic, though very crowded during the opening. I was worried the living roof would be too crowded to even consider visiting, but there weren't that many people up there. Its definitely worth a visit however. I'm hoping there will be some additional California wildflowers that will pop up over time.
We left the planetarium and the rainforest exhibit for later since they both had very long lines. We'll those in a few weeks.
I attended the members only events and even got to see everything up close before the building got opened, then went back again for the member hours on sundays . Overall it's a pretty great building and I can't wait till everything grows in place, word of caution never eat anything if you plan on visiting the planetarium ..
Posted by: Ivysgrandkid | 10/30/2008 at 11:33 PM