Have you heard of reciprocal admission? Well, we are here to tell you what it is and why the program can benefit you (and your wallet) when visiting museums and science centers across the US! We decided to test the benefits of an ASTC Passport Program during a family trip to see if it was a deal worth the money.
What’s The Deal with a Reciprocal Admission Membership?
I personally recommend that local families consider purchasing memberships to the attractions in our area. It’s beneficial on a number of levels. Being a member has perks such as providing year-round educational experiences for your kids, investing in local non-profits, and access to special parties and discounts.
But, another less tapped into benefit is access to reciprocal admission benefits at other attractions across the United States. These benefits include reduced (and usually FREE) admission to museums and science centers throughout the US, just by having a membership to a participating local venue.
Roper Mountain Science Center: Local and Reciprocal!
One of the most affordable local memberships (with reciprocal benefits no less) is the Roper Mountain Science Center family pass. Currently, priced at $125/family a year ($120/family for teachers and homeschool families), this pass is already a good deal. My family uses ours frequently to attend Summer Adventures, Afternoon Explorations throughout the school year, Friday Starry Nights Planetarium shows. The pass also gives my family first access to the popular RMSC summer camps.
When you purchase a membership to RMSC, you also gain access to over 300 different museums and science centers through the ASTC (Association of Science and Technology Centers) Passport Program!
Road Trip! Using the ASTC Passport Program Across the Country
We previously took a trip up to the Northeast with our pass in hand to check out the reciprocal benefits that the pass offered. We figured that we might see a few interesting places with our pass, but our pass ended up providing access to places much larger than we expected.
With a long drive ahead of us and kids in town, we decided to check out our ASTC Passport Program list to find a museum on our route. We chose to stop at the Science Museum of Western Virginia. Our family could enter for a reduced price with our pass and the museum looked small enough to be easily enjoyed in just an hour (crucial for getting back on the road). At this specific museum, the first guest enters free, and all other guests pay $6.20 for adults and $3.20 for children.
Science Museum of Western Virginia
SMWV was a perfect stop in route, located under 5 hours from Greenville. The museum had a full floor of hands-on exhibits including a touch tank, a fungi exhibit, and a parakeet garden among other exhibits. They have several amazing exhibits to explore, so plan to spend a couple of hours here (at minimum). Younger children would love The Bubble exhibit, where your child can explore an enclosed, multi-sensory space with toys and games. There is also The Eye Planetarium at SMWV, which is open Thursday through Sunday with interactive shows and full-dome shows to spark your imagination!
Our kids had a great time getting out all their energy (while learning no less). When we got back in the car, we all agreed that the couple hours out of the car had helped us all feel a little bit more patient about the hours of driving ahead of us.
Total Amount Saved: $45.40
Franklin Institute
Once we arrived at our destination in Pennsylvania, we decided to go to nearby downtown Philly for a day of fun. We consulted our list and came up with several possibilities but the Franklin Institute looked the most promising.
After eating Philly Cheese Steaks at the close Pete’s Famous Pizza (recommended by a local and definitely worth passing on to you), we headed to the Franklin Institute. We were amazed by how large the museum was, just check out the massive Benjamin Franklin statue (pictured above). And, the ticket price was equally large at a whopping $25/adult.
We were a little afraid our local RMSC reciprocal card would be rejected, but the admissions desk checked it against the list and then passed us our blue wristbands without charging us a dime. As long as your reciprocal museum is more than 90 miles away from the Franklin Institute, your program pass is valid.
The Franklin Institute was an experience that I think our kids will remember for a long time. There are over a dozen expansive exhibits and experiences to explore. The museum housed a “Brain Climber”, a Human Body exhibit, an observatory, a two story immersive space exhibit, a full-size plane replica that you could sit in, and more exhibits than I could ever list here. Everything practically was hands-on. We pretended we were in the circus, played sports, sat in a theater that tricked our eyes into thinking we were upside down, and walked until our legs ached. We could have also attended Planetarium shows and could have spent several hours more exploring, but even tourists have their limits.
Total Amount Saved: $92.00
Virginia Discovery Museum
Days later, we finally headed home. Our experience on the way up had been so positive we decided to find another museum to stop at on the way home. After a bit of research we chose the Virginia Discovery Museum which looked similar to our own Children’s Museum of the Upstate (only much smaller). The museum is part of the ASTC Travel Passport program, offering free admission, but is also a part of the Association of Children’s Museums Reciprocal Network, which will get you 50% off if you are a member of The Children’s Museum of the Upstate!
We were disappointed to encounter a significant amount of traffic, combined with the sort of bathroom break schedule that only kids can create and a gas station that lost power in the middle of our gas pumping. Our ETA ticked later and later until we finally arrived in Charlottesville, VA just 25 minutes before the museum closed. Our pass really saved the day at this point, because paying for just 20 minutes would have made no sense. For free, though, we hopped out anyway and decided to make the best of it.
We would definitely recommend the Virginia Discovery Museum as an excellent mid-trip stopping point with others with small children. The museum was very small but packed with interesting exhibits including a miniature Virginia history exhibit (log cabin and all), a play Panera Bread restaurant, a role-playing bee-keeper station, a hospital, and a movie theater.
The museum is open Monday – Saturday from 9:30 am – 5 pm.
Total Amount Saved: $40.00
We couldn’t believe how much value our RMSC pass added to our trip with a total savings of $177.40 of attraction passes. We could have seen and done even more too if we would have had time (and energy for it).
Don’t forget to call and research reciprocal membership benefits before making plans. Reciprocal arrangements are subject to distance restrictions and can change at any time.
What membership does your family recommend for Greenville, SC?
Bethany Winston
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