Sammamish Families: Are Museum, Zoo or Organization Memberships Worth It?

Family memberships to local museums, zoos and attractions can be a great solution to filling your family's schedule with fun activities. To figure out if you should buy a family membership or individual, one-time visit tickets, consider realistically how many times in the next year your family will visit that museum or attraction.

For many places, if you know your family will want to return more than twice – the membership is the better deal. 

Marketplace at Factoria (also known as Factoria Mall), Bellevue

Memberships: Family Fun Memberships, $85 a year

Single entry admission: Under age 1, free; ages 1 - 59, $7.50; ages 60 - 100, $6.50

Free: The first Friday of the month from 5 to 8 pm is free.

This children's museum in the  has a special enclosed area for toddlers and infants complete with comfortable chairs where parents can lounge. Other popular exhibits are a water play area and a treehouse.

Membership includes parents and dependent children plus two guest passes per year and two for one admission at selected other children's museums around the Puget Sound area. You also get "members only hours" every Tuesday and Saturday from 9 to 10 am and a 10 percent discount on parties and gift store purchases. Occasionally you'll see "half-price" membership offers for the museum on coupon sites such as Groupon.

Membership or Ticket: For families with toddlers, this could be an ideal place to spend an hour or two on a regular basis on a rainy day. But families with kids older than seven may find an occasional visit is enough and the pass doesn't pay for itself.

1116 108th Ave. NE  Bellevue, WA  98004

Annual Family Pass: $50

Single tickets: Children 4 and under - free; children 5 - 17, $5; Adults 18 - 64, $8; adults 65 and older, $7

This is a charming museum in downtown Bellevue with an extensive collection of dolls. Members receive a 10 percent discount at the museum store, invitations to private receptions for new exhibit openings and member only events. 

Membership or Ticket: The membership is worth it if you have a doll-crazy child under the age of six, otherwise, pay the single ticket admission.

32610 NE 32nd St., Carnation

Summer pass: $44 per person

Single tickets: $12 per person

Remlinger Farms is one of my family's favorite place to meet friends in the summer and spend a few happy hours playing with the animals, riding ponies, feeling the breeze riding the train and whirling up and down in the metal pumpkins. You can bring lunch or eat in the café. If your kids play with the animals make sure you have them wash their hands immediately afterwards in the nearby sinks. Pack sunscreen and hats, as you'll be outside most of the time.  Also note that while the park is delightful and uncrowded during the week, that is not always the case on the weekends.

Pass or Ticket: I love having a summer pass as I can come for a few hours with one or both of our kids whenever the mood strikes and leave whenever they tire out. There are several rides just for toddlers and little kids and kid-pleasing live entertainment. 

200 2nd Ave N., Seattle, Seattle Center

Membership: $80 "Silver" membership covers up to six household members and includes 15 free regular IMAX tickets and five guest passes.

Single tickets: Kids under age 3 - free; kids age 3 to 5, $7; kids to tweens, age 6 to 15, $9, teenagers and adults, $14

A remodel has created new updated exhibits and a special area just for babies and toddlers including a comfortable area where mothers and children can breastfeed. For families who join, $75 of the $80 annual membership is tax deductible. For higher levels of membership you also get additional benefits. Pacific Science Center members also get admission to the Portland's Oregon Museum of Science and Industry (known as OMSI). 

Membership or Ticket: Our kids love visiting the Pacific Science Center again and again and we renew our membership yearly. One word of caution for parents of toddlers who like to "run and hide," the science center, with its many levels and outdoor areas, is an easy place for a toddler to escape, so keep your child close to you at all times. Also for babies and toddlers, many find the IMAX movie experience overwhelming and that is a treat probably best saved for older, elementary age children.

305 Harrison St., Seattle, Seattle Center in the Center House

Membership: The Leaps & Bounds membership for $85 covers up to two adults and all dependent children. A third adult, including a nanny or grandparent, may be added to the membership at no additional charge. Best of all you can bring up to four guests with you each visit – so you are set for play dates!

Single tickets: Children and Adults, $7.50; Grandparents $6.50

Free: The last hour of every weekday - 4 to 5 pm is free with donations accepted.

The museum has some new exhibits but some of the older exhibits are looking worn. There is a special play area for infants and toddlers but it is not an ideal space to breastfeed. Instead walk back into the "international village" which is charming but often deserted to find a quiet, more secluded spot.

Pass or Ticket: When our children were toddlers, they adored this museum and we went often enough to make the membership worthwhile. It is also a fun place to have a birthday party. But now that our children are older, they are not as enchanted, and we rarely go. I suggest going for a first time visit and gauge your child's level of enthusiasm before investing in a membership. 

601 N. 59th St., Seattle.

Membership: Adults are $40 each, children are $10 with a "flexible guest adult" option for $55. 

Tickets: Almost $17 for adults during the summer, $11 for kids, free for toddlers under age 2.

The zoo was always a fabulous place to spend the day with children but now is even better with the addition of the indoor playground and education center Zoomazium. Open year round, babies and toddlers enjoy their own enclosed play space at Zoomazium and older kids will love the tree house complete with a giant slide. Parents appreciate the clean restrooms and cubbies to store coats and backpacks while the kids play.

Membership or Ticket: Unfortunately the zoo did away with its popular family membership plan and now you pay per family member. Single entry fees are high, so if you go to the zoo several times a year, the membership is a better option. Also if you travel, take note of the free admission to many zoos in the United States, including the Oregon Zoo in Portland.

9404 East Marginal Way S., Tukwila (next to Boeing Field)

Passes: Aviator - $75 – admits two adults and any children and/or grandchildren under age 18, and you get four one-time-use passes.

Single tickets: Kids 4 and under: free; children 5 to 17, $8; adults, $15

Free: Every first Thursday evening of the month museum admission is free from 5 to 9 pm.

There are a number of planes outdoors to explore and many exhibits indoors, including several that especially appeal to kids. One is a kid-sized Blue Angel simulator ride (great photo opportunity) and another is a computer-simulated glider ride that my kids truly enjoy.  

This is one of the best places in town to take your kids during the Seafair festival to enjoy watching the Blue Angels. The pilots often pop by the museum to mix with their fans.

Pass or Ticket: If you have a budding pilot in your family, you'll love the Museum of Flight.

Discounts  - AAA discounts are offered at the KidsQuest Museum, Pacific Science Center, Rosalie Whyel Museum of Doll Art and the Museum of Flight. If you buy a Seattle City Pass, $59 for adults, $39 for kids, you can save half off of single ticket admissions on six highly popular kid-friendly attractions including the Museum of Flight, Woodland Park Zoo and Pacific Science Center. The pass is valid for nine days so plan ahead for a week in the summer and be a tourist in your own town and save some major bucks!