This past Sunday was Austin Museum Day, where many Austin
area museums opened their doors to the public for free. Being new to Austin I didn’t want to miss
out on a free museum so we headed downtown to check out the Austin Toy Museum. The museum opened in March 2016 and will
soon be one of the largest toy museums in the world (according to their
website).
The museum has over 40,000 toys and cannot display them all
due to limited space so they rotate exhibits often. The
museum was small. It only had two rooms and took us less than an hour to go
through. There were a lot of people there
and it was hot inside. Not sure the AC
was working. The majority of toys were from my childhood
era the 80s. While it was a blast from
the past for me my kids were not that impressed. We started by walking past a large Bart Simpson
collection and then a Star Wars toy installation. We checked out Star Trek toys. Smurfs,
Cabbage Patch dolls, GI Joes, Ninja Turtles, Thunder Cats, a Teddy Ruxpin and
of course Pokemon. Most were set up and no touching was allowed but some
stations allowed and welcomed touching.
In the back was my husbands’ favorite area. There were video games, the original Nintendo,
Sega, Atari, Pong and Intellivision. As
well as a Wii with Mario kart. Some of
these are even set up and you can play with. There was
also a section of arcade games. We
tried Donkey Kong and Q-bert, but trying to explain to our kids the rules of the
game and how to use the buttons and joysticks was difficult. Plus short kids can not see the game board. They were not amused so we kept on moving. The arcade games all are free with admission
no quarters needed which was a bonus.
Since we were there on Austin Museum day they had a balloon twister
and face painter. We stopped and both my kids had their faces painted. They also have a few toys for sale as well
as t-shirts in the front. I purchased
my 2 kids some Shopkins as a souvenir of course.
While I enjoyed the museum it was very small with too many people you feel rushed and
have to wait in line to try out the games. Maybe checking this museum out on a cooler day when there is less traffic it could have been more enjoyable. The full price admission is a bit steep as well but it is tax deductible
so save your receipt. The museum is on
a busy street and you have to circle a neighborhood to park. I would recommend visiting the toy museums
website for upcoming specials so you do not pay full price.
Price
Adults $8
Children $3
Seniors / Military $6
Hours
11:00am to 7:00pm Wednesday through Sunday
Closed Mondays and Tuesdays
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