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October 2024 by Necole Jacobs
We visited the Virginia Living Museum before heading back to SC. The experience was very nice. A number of the exhibits were temporarily unavailable, but we did enjoy our time there. We purchased a couple of things from the gift shop, but they were not placed in a bag. That was weird. Overall, we enjoyed ourselves and would definitely visit again.
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October 2024 by Gordon Allan
One of the best places we visited on our road trip. Our 3 year old loved it. There were lots of animals, there was the play area where she could pretend to be a vet, dinosaur statues and more. It was also educational and great to learn about the local wildlife. The staff also gave an excellent alligator talk.
Would definitely recommend for young children.
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October 2024 by Cynthia Gibbs
Had the potential to be amazing but just kinda fell flat. Most animals off the exhibit. Dinosaur section was cute. Definitely more appropriate for very young children.
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October 2024 by Jessica Poole-Cox
We love VLM and our family has been members for 12 years. I did however, have a strange and negative experience on our most recent visit that made me a bit hesitant to return for now.
My 6 year old son is autistic, non speaking and often times displays some stereotypical stimming type behaviors when excited (I.e. hand flapping, repetitive vocalizations, etc.). While in the “waterfall” aquarium room, he was at the glass, happily and quietly looking at the fish and hand flapping. A woman who was giving some sort of presentation to a group of about a dozen people at the opposite end of the room suddenly stopped her presentation to aggressively scream at us “STEP AWAY FROM THE WATER NOW” and other things I couldn’t quite make out because I was just sort of stunned. I was flustered and taken aback and just awkwardly shuffled my son out of the room past the group who was now staring at us and I’m sure assuming that we’d somehow behaved dangerously or offensively based on this staff members reaction. Reflecting on it, I’m not quite sure what the issue was. My son was not behaving inappropriately at all or doing anything that could possibly harm any of the fish or property. I doubled back to make sure that there wasn’t new signage I’d missed, or anything indicating that you need to remain a certain distance back from the aquarium. The only signs are the same old ones that state “please keep hands out of water”. Neither of us were putting or attempting to put our hands in the water.
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October 2024 by Adriene Liggins
Kids had fun, a lot to see, and do. They loved the dinosaur exhibit.
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September 2024 by Catherine Filipowski
Very disappointing visit. I had been to VLM years ago and thought it was fairly nice. I'm also a huge supporter of their message.
Sadly what I saw this time was a poorly managed, slightly run down and very short staffed facility.
The habitat displays were poorly presented. One aquarium tank had a trashed blue storage bin as "shelter," that was not a statement about littering. Another reptile display had red plastic hearts hanging in the habitat. Tacky and inappropriate.
A staffer was cleaning various habitats. Something that should either be done behind the scenes, or possibly turned in to a learning opportunity for guests - engaging with people about the animal's needs.
The lighting on information plaques was frequently missing/removed leaving guests to use phone lights to read them.
There were no docents, guides, audio or even background music to enrich the experience.
The staff at the admissions desk did not reflect well on the museum. I understand that they are volunteers and get that they are the backbone of organizations like VLM, but there are still standards for dress, grooming and behavior when you're the first thing guests encounter.
The facilities needed repairs such as misaligned doors, broken chairs in the planetarium, threshold trip hazards that should be painted, missing display railings and plumbing leaks in the women's bathroom in the planetarium. I realize this is a non-profit and that it is the end of tourist season, but wow.
The planetarium shows were mostly canned presentations only suitable for very young children. The free presentations at the Chesapeake planetarium are infinitely better.
The grounds are a poor example of how beautiful native plantings can be. The infrastructure itself is great - including paths, seating, statuary, waterfall and boardwalks. But the plantings are very poor, and the fact that invasives such as privet, mimosa and mulberry are not removed sets a poor example.
I was embarrassed to have brought someone here as a guest and will NOT be coming back. Total disappointment.
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September 2024 by laura cantu
I would have given this a 5 star but I had a concern for the wildlife exhibits.
1.The Deer:
(who knows why there is a deer exhibit we've all seen deer) exhibit was very small the two deer had eaten all the green foliage they could reach and were just in that small enclosure when there is so much more room in the park. Just rubbed me wrong, just let the deer go.
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September 2024 by Adriana Lopez
My family & I love this place! Can’t wait til my son gets older to be more interactive! I love the lil discovery places they have for the lil minds!!
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September 2024 by Chris Chisholm
A must stop for anyone interested in local wildlife and geography of Virginia. Great place for kids to come and learn.
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August 2024 by Henry Whelchel
I would recommend at least one visit to the Virginia Living Museum, especially for children. World travelers like myself will be hard-pressed to find unusual and interesting exhibits there. For example, the planetarium projector is nothing like those in major cities, but the lecture is informative and engaging for kids with little or no knowledge of astronomy. In July 2024 some things were undergoing maintenance, and the cafe was closed. The beehive with glass walls is my favorite installation.
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August 2024 by Tammy Algoe
Always fun for the whole family. The kids are loving summer camp too!
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August 2024 by Beau Wickham
We had a fantastic visit to the Virginia Living Museum! The exhibits were engaging and educational, making it a perfect spot for families and nature enthusiasts alike. Although we were surprised by the number of exhibits closed for renovations, it didn’t dampen our experience. The highlight for us was the dinosaur area – even though the dinosaurs weren't real, the dedicated section was incredibly cool and brought out the kid in all of us. Overall, a great time and definitely worth a visit!
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August 2024 by Pat Loonam
It's been 6 years since I last visited and there are far fewer animals than I remember / have pictures of from my last visit, less than 10. The highlight was the alligator and the presentation. The alligator has a pillow she carries around so she can lay her head on it to rest. The dinosaurs, artifacts, & digging spots for the kids are neat.
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August 2024 by Leah Goodwin
They were doing construction but in the areas that were up and running, a lot of the animals weren't in the exhibit. Also, the space for the animals were very small. The flying squirrels were inside in (what looked to be) a closed in 3 by 2 space. No room to really fly! The staff was very friendly. I only saw staff at the front desk so there wasn't anyone walking around to assist with anything and if you use your WIC card, the price goes down from $25+ to $3. Overall, it was a good place to go just to get out of the house with small kids but I wouldn't say it was a trip to go out of your way for or pay the $25+.
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August 2024 by Ashley Brown
THIS MUSEUM NO LONGER PARTICIPATES IN AZA RECIPROCITY
Museum Cafe is also apparently permanently closed so plan for that ahead of time, especially if you have kids.
This is a decent museum, pretty large when you factor in all the outside areas and trails. I was quite disappointed to learn they no longer offer reciprocity with other AZA museums so no discount for members of the VA aquarium.
There were several exhibits closed.
Really good place for small children, my 2 year old loved it. Changing tables in all the bathrooms, as far as we saw, including the men's room.
