Why a Liberty Science Center Membership Is a Steal

If we knew each other, you’ve probably heard me talk about how much my kids love Liberty Science Center (LSC)!  They love it so much we make our old membership cards into ornaments for the kids’ trees. I’ve lost count at this point, but we’ve been to Liberty Science Center at least 20 times as a family. 

We’ve been taking my oldest since he was two and my younger one has been tagging along in the carrier and stroller starting at 6 months.  We’ve had a Liberty Science Center Membership for multiple years and it makes going to an expensive place economical enough for most budgets. 

We go year-round and it is a wonderful way to keep the kids busy during the summer, school breaks, and even half days. They have a blast and it is educational! Parenting win for sure. 

But First, What is Liberty Science Center?

If you’re not familiar with the place, LSC is a 4 story, 300,000 square-foot learning center in Jersey City, NJ right off the Turnpike Extension. It is located close to Liberty State Park in Jersey City, New Jersey if you’re looking to hit them both up in one day. 

There are a lot of science museums that are geared towards older kids and adults, but this is a great place for toddlers and elementary kids to learn via play. (Shhhhhh… They think it’s just playing!)

They can never get enough of going over and over and at the end of each visit ask if we can come back tomorrow! It’s one of those parenting yes days, where you are like a hero to your kids! Even though we live about 45 minutes from Jersey City, it’s always worth the drive. 

What Does Liberty Science Center Offer?

LSC has twelve different exhibits including live animals, aquarium rooms, climbing structures,  live science shows, a 3D theater, science labs, and the Western Hemisphere’s biggest planetarium. For the adults, they have the largest IMAX Dome screen in North America, great views of New York City and super cool after hours events.  

They even have a room just the little kids, iExplore, one of our favorites! My kiddos don’t tire of the permanent museum exhibitions like Skyscrapers, Blue Blocks, Crank Race Cars, and Ball Launch.  There are so many exhibition halls sometimes we visit two days in a row over Spring or Summer Breaks. 

They love seeing the seasonal ones come through, too. These interactive exhibits are often tied to popular characters like Thomas & Friends, Dinosaur Train, Doc McStuffins, Sherlock Holmes, Angry Birds, Minecraft and even a LEGO exhibit. During the warmer months, they have outside activities like a dinosaur fossil dig, mazes, and playground set-ups.  It definitely more than you could do in a day! 

The Dollars & Cents of a Liberty Science Center Membership

It all sounds great, right?!?! But, I know it can be expensive to go there! Kid’s general admission tickets are $20, and adult general admission tickets are $25. If you want to go to premium experiences and theater shows those tickets are an additional $5.  That means for a family of four one visit starts at $90.

Groupons for this place are rare, there aren’t any promo codes or Liberty Science Center Coupons. If you’re a Frugal Fannie like me and are always looking for Frugal Living tips, you’re most likely looking for Liberty Science Center coupons. 

This is one of the reasons I recommend a Liberty Science Center membership because you practically break even in two visits. One year we asked my Mother-in-Law to give the kids a Liberty Science Membership as their holiday gift because a Thomas & Friends exhibit was coming to town and my son was a huge Train Lover. Boy did it pay off! Just for fun, (I’m boatloads of fun!) I tracked how much we used our LSC membership and the various perks that come with it. 

Drumroll, please! Our $189 Liberty Science Center membership provided $715 in value. That’s like getting for 75% off!

Here’s how we used our Liberty Science Center membership in 12 months. 

• 29 LSC Membership Tickets: $635
• 6 Premium Upgrade Passes: $30
• 3 Free Ice Creams : $10
• 10% Store & Cafe Discount: $10
• Free Entry to Museums In the US and Worldwide : $30
• TOTAL: $715

What Benefits Do You Get With a Liberty Science Center Membership?

There are five Liberty Science Center Membership options for different family sizes. A Family Membership, ideal for our family of four, currently includes:

• LSC Unlimited admission for one year. It covers 2 adults and 4 children under the age of 18 who live at the same address. A caregiver can be added to a Liberty Science Center membership account as well.
• Six single-use passes for the planetarium shows, films, and theater shows. They can also be used for admission to a premium exhibit. They keep these “on your account” at check-in so you can’t lose them or forget to bring them with you (PHEW!) 
• Liberty Science Center Membership exclusive events such as a Halloween party (my kids are obsessed), exclusive early access for new exhibits, and members-only hours to name a few. My train-loving son LOVED that he got to explore the Thomas & Friends exhibit first in a less crowded environment. 
  
• Discounts on practically everything else such as a 10% food discount at the café and gift shop, LSC After Dark Adult events, and a summer camp discount
• A Liberty Science Center membership counts as a $26 charity donation to a nonprofit institution providing some tax benefits.  
• LSC members receive free visit dates at local museums in New Jersey and New York. They are the Brooklyn Children’s Museum, Garden State Discovery Museum, Hudson River Museum, The Intrepid, Newark Museum, and New York Hall of Science. Some of these museums are very expensive to visit (I’m talking to you Intrepid) so this is a really valuable membership benefit
• Unlimited admission gratis to 340+ science centers and museums worldwide via The Association of Science and Technology Centers (ASTC) passport program. The options you have are fantastic! If you travel a lot, this benefit gives you free admission to science museums in so many cities as they cross honor your Liberty Science Center membership. They include museums in common vacation spots like Orlando, Fort Lauderdale, Chicago, Boston, Pittsburgh, Lancaster, and even international spots such as Canada and Israel.

What Benefits Did We Use With Our First Year of Membership and Their Value

• Nine separate visits with 29 tickets equaling $635 in value
• We used our six single-use passes as upgrade tickets to the LEGO premium museum exhibition over two visits equaling $30 in value
• We went on The First Day of Summer and LSC surprised all members with free ice cream in the cafeteria equaling about $10. The kids (and mom) LOVED this one! They do really appreciate their members!
• 10% off in the store and cafeteria equaled about $10. We don’t shop in the store much and we usually bring our lunch and water bottles so this equaled approximately $10. The cafeteria is huge, offers a lot of options, and is very popular. Between having one very picky eater and mom going with two kids by myself, it is a lot easier to just pack lunches for us.
• One visit to an ASTC travel museum while out of town on vacation totaling $30.  We went to the Fairfax Children’s Museum in Virginia in my hometown during a summer visit. It was tons of fun and free to us!

Try It Out to See For Yourself

Still not sure if your kids will like the place?  Take a trip there to see! At the end of your visit, you can stop by the box office and they will apply your ticket purchase amount to the cost of a Membership – cool, right?  After one fun visit, I think a Liberty Science Center Membership makes a lot of cents if you’re going to visit more than twice a year. 

This article was produced by Planner at Heart.