Orlando Science Center

The Orlando Science Center, or at least its latest incarnation, opened in 1997. The new 207,000 square foot facility is six times larger than its predecessor.

Besides being packed with plenty of hands-on opportunities to have fun and learn, the Orlando Science Center has a science theater and exhibit floor for live demonstrations, a cinedome and planetarium that has daily shows, and the largest publicly accessible refractor telescope available for night sky viewing on Friday and Saturday nights.

The first Orlando Science Center opened in 1960 as the Central Florida Museum. For its first ten years of existence the center was dedicated to anthropology with a large collection of Florida and Caribbean artifacts.

In the early 1970s, the center’s board decided it was a good idea to make the museum more hands on, i.e. less boring. In 1984 the museum was renamed the Orlando Science Center. The next year a major expansion created a permanent hall dedicated to the physical sciences. The expansion also created a curiosity corner dedicated to the pre-school set, and a traveling exhibit hall.

The Orlando Science Center is a must-see during your next Orlando visit!