Science and Industry Museum

Our first ever visit to MOSI might well be our last. We were trying to entertain our two grandsons aged 7 and 14 and I think we failed miserably to be honest. The main hall seemed to mainly house old spinning machines with no kind of explanation or demonstrations apparent and kids don't want to walk around reading explanations on nicely laminated placards, they want action. We then went upstairs to find an area that seemed to consist of chairs, tables and lockers. Further investigation brought us to the interactive experiment area which was the only meagre highlight of our day really. Even then a few things were out of order and looked unaltered for years. To be honest we weren't happy manhandling things that appeared to have had a million hands all over them before us. All the interaction was a bit low-key and not in reality that much fun for us or the kids. The Power Hall was closed for refurb unfortunately so I can't comment on the exhibits or interest level. We made our way to a really dingy Air and Space Hall to see a few poorly displayed exhibits mostly covered by large tarpaulins. This was mildly interesting as I work in the aircraft industry but there was nothing there I hadn't seen before. We then made our way to the 1830 railway station and warehouse which we could only reach by exiting the museum and walking some distance down Liverpool Road. The buildings themselves are fairly noteworthy but the station is basically empty rooms. It's a poor show when the most interesting thing about a museum is the near 200 year old brickwork. The warehouse does contain some interesting audio, visual and printing historical items but, once again, nothing to entertain the kids. To cap it all off we decided to grab a spot of lunch at the cafe and, to be honest, I could feel someone actually nailing my hat on before I got anywhere near the till. The £5 kids lunchbox is one of the worst rip-offs I've ever seen and don't even mention £2 for a can of diet coke. In total we had 3 sandwiches and 3 drinks along with the kids lunchbox and it came to a whopping £27. We would have been better off going to a burger joint.

Travelled here with my 2 year old daughter from Leeds by train and tram. The museum is a 5 minute walk from the tram stop, or a 30 minute walk back to Victoria train station (which we did on way back as was a nice afternoon). Firstly it has to be said the museum is free which has to be taken into account but compared to my childhood visit it was a big disappointment and I struggled to drag the visit out to 90 minutes. I would have been even more disappointed had there been a charge to get in. The 1830 area and other parts of the museum have been given over to either empty rooms, or the world of conferencing which no doubt brings in the money. The steam hall is closed at the minute so maybe that is a big miss but the aircraft hall has been left to go to ruin, the upstairs is no longer safe and holes in the roof caused most exhibits to be at least partially covered in tarpaulin.
The stuff on the first floor which was a bit like eureka had my daughter the most interested and entertained but the soft play up there was rather sad.
We used the cafe - it wasn’t really child friendly with posing stools the largest number of seats so my daughter had to sit on my knee, well staffed but slow queue which led to quite a stressful experience with a bored toddler. Leaflets say the bistro on the first floor is child friendly but it is very formal with table service - not what you are looking for with young children and I could guarantee she would not eat any of the meals off their menu.
Sadly don’t think we will rush back.

We travelled from Leeds to visit MOSI today with my family, we were looking forward to spending the majority of the day there like we did many years ago.

Sadly we were greeted by a lonely woman who handed us a map of the "Warehouse" we wandered around to see the old TV display which used to be at Bradford, and then that was it, the railway section is empty, we then had to around the corner to the main bit of the museum, this used to be great now it's all additional cost, £4 each to do a simulation, £9 for a VR experience, £££ for something to do with the sun

I remember when nearly every floor had something interesting to see and do, but sadly it has lost its appeal. We had looked forward to the sewers walk, that is now closed and it appears it had been for a while.

The interactive resources in most part of the museum also did not work.

The main reason my husband and I visited here was to see the planes and trains on display. On arrival you’re prompted to register online to book free tickets but as this was taking some time we approached the desk and a staff member did this for us. We were asked for a donation so donated £5 and only after all this were we told the section we were interested in was actually closed. This was extremely disappointing as it meant the museum only really had a textile area and an extra area where you had to book free tickets for. We tried to do this but would’ve had to wait 30 minutes in a place that had nothing of interest for us. We were told on arrival the first floor had lots of interesting things to see. When we went to the first floor it had screaming children and the things that you could see were items suitable for primary aged children. We feel this museum should explain to people as they arrive it’s part closed so you don’t waste time going in when there’s very little to see. Very disappointing and not caused by Covid, just whoever running it being slow at alterations

Very disjointed lack of information and signage lots of empty space and lack of imagination. The ticket offices at the railway section are empty it would look better if they presented the rooms in their original state. The staff were helpful and friendly that is the only positive. The gift shop were charging a tenner for a Manchester bee tree decoration which is a bit expensive.

So the museum itself is free entry which is great, but over the past couple of years more and more exhibits etc are no longer working or available.

The really annoying part is the cafe, which is a rip off, especially for kids food. They really do need to bring the kids lunch boxes up to an acceptable level and price. Basically, you get 4 items (all charged at £1 individually) on a box, that they charge £5 for!! Slices of cake at £4 per portion is out of touch too!!

I looked at photos of the museum and decided that much of it was exactly what would interest me on a visit. I booked online and at that point discovered that the things that interested me most, were closed as part of a multi million pound face-lift. This seems to be the case with most of Manchester. The face-lift culture is happening everywhere at the same time.

The ins and outs of the cotton industry was fascinating as was the wall of clever people all of whom had remarkable achievements. We had also prebooked the code breaking exhibition, which was very interesting indeed. We weren't interested in the exhibition on the first floor and the rest of that is essentially a children's play area. The ground floor cafe was pleasant, if a bit small and food and drink are reasonably priced. This should be a fabulous place to visit, when it is all finished but I would advise waiting until then before you go.

We visited the Science and Industry Museum and did the temporary exhibition "Top Secret" which was all about codebreaking throughout the war and throughout time. It was an absolutely fabulous day with so much to do and see. The amount of knowledge gained from the day was incredible. I would highly recommend a visit to this museum - it's for all ages and will inspire, intrigue and interest everyone who visits it.

We visited MOSI today after reserving tickets online. Admission to the museum is free of charge but tickets are required for entry.

Our arrival albeit early wasn’t an issue and we were able to scan our tickets and proceed straight away.

The ground floor has the gift shop, cafe and hosts the textiles gallery and revolution Manchester which explores our city’s legacy of industrial innovations and scientific discoveries. The Rolls Royce car was spectacular!

A large amount of the museum was closed due to restoration works with some areas due to open in 2021.

Level 1 was great for kids, mine are aged 3 & 4. There was plenty of interactive play for them to explore.

Currently there is a blockbuster exhibition ‘The Sun’ available on level 1.

This was a great venue that appeals to all, old and young alike.

Social distancing is in place with a one way system, hand gels and surface wipes are available. Masks are also required.

Thanks for a great day MOSI.

Hadn't been for 5 years and was really disappointed. It was much better 5 years ago.

It was still really interesting, and the kids being older took more of an interest. There was only 2 floors and 1 mezzanine) , more displays being on the 1st, which was about computers, technology, the mezzanine being about textiles and the 2nd floor being the more hands on with brain puzzles and scientific stuff etc. I remember there being alot more last time

There were a few displays that didn't work (but didn't have any "out of service" notices on.

When I enquired about the steam trains that we had seen last time we were there, I was advised the sheds were being renovated, so no trains :(

I found the museum easy to walk through and the kids enjoyed it.

I would have asked for my money back if we had to pay. Luckily it is free.