City: Charlotte, NC

Category: Tours & Attractions

Telephone: (704) 372-6261

Address: 301 North Tryon St.

Description: Now’s a great time to visit Discovery Place because this hands-on science and technology museum is born again after a $31.6-million renovation. Discovery Place, which opened in 1981 on Tryon Street in Uptown, was in need of a face-lift, and a multi-stage upgrade was completed in mid 2010.The first of the new exhibits to open was Cool Stuff, which allows families to discover the strangeness and beauty of physics. Launch objects into the air, rest on a bed a nails, or crush a garbage can. It’s an eccentric world of physical phenomena right in your hands.Other new exhibits include a digital 3-D theater, a large, diverse aquarium, and new lab stations for investigating with real science. The renovation also features improved infrastructure and the ability to rotate exhibitions more frequently.Longtime fans of Discovery Place can still enjoy their favorites, like the three-story rain forest, five moving dinosaurs, and the IMAX theater, a 79-foot domed planetarium.The IMAX boasts one of the largest movie screens in the Carolinas and shows films days and weekend evenings. The Planetarium projects more than 10,000 stars, along with planets and special effects.Discovery Place has built a reputation as one of the top science and technology museums in the country, and it is a field trip staple for children throughout the Carolinas. The museum draws more than half a million visitors annually and is regularly ranked in the top 10 most visited museums and attractions in North Carolina.Discovery Place KIDS, a spin-off community-based children’s museum will open in late 2010 in the Huntersville Town Center.Discovery Place hours are: 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Mon through Fri; 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sat; and noon until 5 p.m. Sun. Museum admission is $10 adults and $8 children and seniors. Combo tickets that include an IMAX showing range from $16-$19 for adults, and $13-$15 for children and seniors. Separate rates for the IMAX theater are also available.