Exploratorium After Dark

Really fun experience. Most of the regular daytime exhibits are open, but you don’t have to dodge school groups to get to them. Plus you can get a drink, which makes everything better.
Definitely checkout the tactile dome if you can. Totally worth the extra $ 10. You’ll probably get to go through twice and it’s something silly and fun to do with a partner or friend. Wear socks.

finally checked out the After Dark experience … had a great time

The Exploratorium is already a great place to visit, but it is even better after dark. If you are an adult, enjoy a mature party environment, don’t mind sipping on some cocktails, like to have your mind and body stimulated, and want to bring your curious inner child and playful adult sides out to interact together, stop by Exploratorium After Dark and play scientist for an evening!
When you go. .. arrive early. We had the place almost to ourselves for the first hour or so. The drink lines were short, there was no waiting for the exhibits, and we got to the view areas upstairs without any problem. It does get busy after that first hour, so take advantage of everything popular, including the Tactile Dome, as early as you can. Ask a staff member what activities are the most popular, and they will help you out. And. .. be sure to catch the lectures. They are really cool!
My tips for your visit? Hit the bar areas early (the drink costs are about right for an adults-​only evening), get your glow on, let your hair down, and be uninhibited for the evening. The Exploratorium is huge, so be sure to walk the exhibits early to determine which playgrounds you want to spend recess in.
As it gets more crowded, grab another drink and see how many new friends you can meet. Everyone is relaxed and playful, so you really can just be yourself and have some fun.

This was like a visit back to my high school and college days… because I was a science nerd!
My travel pal, Yuri, and I drove from Los Angeles to San Francisco on a Thursday just to attend this special event for adults. It used to be at the Palace of Fine Arts, but now it happens every Thursday evening (6pm — 10pm) at the Embarcadero’s Pier 15. We purchased our $ 15 tickets online and walked right in. Parking was no problem because we used Lyft.
Inside, away from the dark, cold, rainy, windy weather, was a very organized and spacious area to explore and play games. There are six areas:
1. Human Phenomena — Experiment with thoughts, feelings, and social behavior
2. Tinkering — Think with your hands and explore your creativity
3. Seeing & Listening — Experiment with light, vision, sound, and hearing
4. Living Systems — Explore life from DNA and cells to organisms and ecosystems
5. Outdoor Exhibits — Explore winds, tides, and natural phenomena
6. Observing Landscapes — Uncover the history, geography, and ecology of the Bay Area
There were stations to explain different concepts in Biology, Physics, Botany, Earth Science, etc. There were mirrors, puzzles, pendulums, and other devices for hands on learning. Oh — and there were bars for alcoholic beverages, but we didn’t have time for that! There was so much to do and see that they had to kick us out — LOL!
So, if you have time and are curious, you might want to visit on a Thursday evening without school field trips. It may be less crowded and calmer… enjoy!

I had a good time at Exploratorium After Dark. It’s not as overpriced as during the day and it’s perfect for a non-​bar date night. We roamed around and played with everything like we were kids. Although alcoholic beverages were available, I opted to skip out on those.
I loved the mirrors and the exhibits about light and sound. I find the Exploratorium to be a lot more fun than the Academy of Sciences. I suppose they are very different and the Exploratorium is much more hands on and you can learn more concepts.
I wish I had this level of interest in science in high school. Back then, I dreaded physics class and barely got by in chemistry.

Came here for a company event in the evening. Overall it was not bad, no kids, drinks and food. They had a band and a DJ in different areas. It’s an interesting space, and pretty cool concept.

event $ 15/​adult
6pm — 10 pm *try to push people towards exit at about 5 til
It was my first time at the Exploratorium since they moved from the Palace of Fine Arts to Pier 15, so prior to this visit — it had been over 10 years since I went to the Exploratorium. *Wooo! time flies
Since they opened at the pier, I have been hearing about their after dark hours for adults. Cool exhibits and booze, cannot beat that. So my boyfriend and I said we would check it out.
We totally failed and didn’t manage our time well, we got to the pier after 8pm to traffic and it was raining. *darn. BUT because we were in a bit of a rush, we did not bother checking for surround parking lots, we found street parking within yards of the museum entrance. *score! Since this is happening at night and the event was well in full swing, less likely chance of people fighting over parking spots.
Initially walking into the main entrance, you’re not really sure what to expect your first time in. I vaguely remember the setup at Palace of Fine Arts, so I was wondering how they could set this up on the pier. as soon as you walk into Gallery one (of 5) just surrounded and overwhelmed with intriguing exhibits. Each Gallery has a theme. Sight and sound, tinkering objects, wild life, etc.
Continuing into the museum, it opens up and give you an idea of how massive the space is. there’s work shops, labs and offices opened up for display for visitors where the contributing staff, during the day, openly work. Each exhibit has instruction on how to properly use whats available to use and an explanation as to what you may be looking for to happen. So if yoh do not want to read, this place is NOT for you.
I am not one for science but this place is so damn cool. I would spend hours on end to try and absorb the information that good be attained here. The possibilities are endless.
It is a great possibility that I will be coming back to the Exploratorium some time soon during the day or after dark. Whenever my little heart desires.

Science has always captured my curiosity for as long as I can remember. How did the earth come to be? What is nature versus nurture principle? When X amount of pressure builds up along Y height of the pipe does it equal to Z seconds of explosion?
Why. When. How. What. If… Then.
Exploratorium lets you ponder all these questions and gives you the answers that you need with their thought provoking exhibits and fun displays. I love waiting for the geyser to spew out water; posing and capturing my shadow with high speed camera; marveling at the toothpick sculpture by Scott Meyer and last but not least, the very fun giant mirror!
Factor in CH3CH2OH (The most important molecule to know from organic chemistry) and you got yourself a match made in Janice C. Heaven! ;) my only complaint is, there aren’t enough bars to get your drink here versus Cal Academy nightlife.
If it gets too stuffy inside, don’t forget to check out the breathtaking views of the bay bridge and Alcatraz from their outdoor patio.
For only $ 10, your Thursday nights will never be boring again.

This was my first time at the new Exploratorium, and I was so impressed (and slightly overwhelmed) by how much there is to do. There are a truly astounding number of fun, hands-​on learning experiences here. I don’t think you could do everything in one night, but it’s worth it to come back. The people that work here as so bright and passionate and excited about the research the Exploratorium is doing, so it’s worthwhile to stop and talk to staff for a bit. The location is really wonderful; we grabbed dinner at the Ferry Building before and made it the perfect date night. I can’t wait to come back and see the rest of the place!

Came here after seeing their event page on Facebook for After Dark: Glow. The pictures on the page made it look like it would be a lot of fun with LOTS of lights/​blacklights/​neons/​glowsticks kinda like a mini-​rave! I did some research on it and was excited to see a whole list of exhibits/​installations/​demonstrations; I was intrigued by the «glowing bubbles» activity… O_​_​O
From 6PM-​10PM on certain Thursdays, Exploratorium After Dark mimics California Academy of Sciences’ Nightlife (But really, who started it first? Don’t know, don’t mind) in that they close off the museum to only adults 21+, serve alcohol at bars strewn around the museum, and play music. However, it seemed a lot more ~quiet~ than Cal Academy’s Nightlife in that the Exploratorium’s music only seemed to be playing in one area. Looking back on it, it’s understandable as a lot of exhibits require listening/​concentrating. The SO and I actually didn’t get any drinks that night since EVERY bar had a long ass line of people, and I counted at least 4 bars around the place… maybe they need more! We really did enjoy that there were essentially less people (aka no kids! :D), which made it easier to check out some exhibits we couldn’t before. For example, we were actually finally able to tinker around with that wall with the holes where you connect the thingamajigs to make the marble travel as slow as possible, only we tried to make it travel at top speed. That was fun.
Onto some highlights:
1. We were able to catch one or two magic tricks by this guy at one of the booths. He was really good and was very interactive with the audience.
2. Monochrome room: there was a candy machine full of jelly beans all sepia-​toned until you flash a flashlight on it. The SO was able to grab like three mounds of jellybeans to eat… dummy lol
3. The dry ice exhibit in the landscapes area was super cool. I could have sat and watched those things swim about all night. Check it out!
4. The Social Behavior area was probably the most interesting to me. Definitely a cool place to learn about someone when you’re on that first date haha… Trust me, I know… :T But that story’s for another time!
5. The Light Orchestra was cool to look at from afar. We saw a girl going HAM all up on it, really making the installation dance.
Some lowlights (in regards to the «theme» for the night):
1. The glowing bubble activity was basically a dark room with a blacklight and people not really doing anything. It also seemed really messy, so it was mainly the workers doing the bubble blowing and those brave souls who dipped their hands in the bubble solution and clapping their hands to create a colorful explosion. The SO pointed out «wow this is just like one of those hotel rooms» when we saw all the hand prints and streaks of neon on the walls hahahaha we nope’d out there pretty quick but since our way out was also the way in, people coming in didn’t care and just kept filing in while we waited for a chance to push through… really?
2. Though there were a bunch of exhibits about light, I was hoping that After Dark as a whole would be a little more upbeat. It wasn’t the mini-​rave I thought it would be in my head. STILL, the Exploratorium was extremely fun (especially without kids running around) and the SO and I learned so much, we burnt out by almost 9PM. Even then, we didn’t check out ALL the experiments.
Overall, for the $ 15 ticket price (about half price of general admission during regular hours and about $ 3 more than at Cal Academy), the Exploratorium After Dark events are totally worth going. It’s definitely a great place to take a date and explore together. I love that there’s so much hands-​on activity going on in this place, heh heh.

Finally got the chance to see the new Exploratorium thanks to Janice C! The last time I went, it was years ago when it was located at the Palace of Fine Arts, so this was a treat. We all met up last Thursday, October 29^th around 6:30pm.
The views of the bay are amazing! Thanks Rodney H for showing us the outside patio upstairs. Lots of photo ops. Perfect to share with a significant other or a good friend. They also have benches in front of giant glass windows where you can enjoy the views from inside if it’s a little too chilly outside.
Now to me, the point of going to After Dark is the liquor! I’ve been to the Cal Academy of Sciences for their version of this and I remember there were bars everywhere! I never had to wait long for a drink. This was the only thing I found lacking at After Dark. We’d have to search for a bar and then there was always a line. It took a good 15 mins to grab a drink. They provided a good array of spirits: Hanger 1 vodka, Rhum barbancourt rum, Pueblo viejo tequila, Great king street blended scotch whisky and Blade gin. I stuck with the Four roses bourbon. They also offered beer and wine.
The exhibits always appeal to my inner child. Whether it be something I can play with or just an interesting educational display, it’s always fun walking around and seeing what appeals to me. I especially liked the Illuminated fog, Geysers, Giant mirror, Colored shadows, Slinky trampoline and Scott Weaver’s Toothpick sculpture. The giant mirror kept us entertained for quite some time as it was super trippy walking around in front of it. Bobby L showed his skills with the slinky trampoline. When none of us could do it for longer than 5 – 10 seconds, Bobby made it go on forever. The toothpick sculpture is impressive as well. It took the artist 40 years to make it, but he recently added his face to the sculpture. It was frustrating for some to find, but I found the whole process amusing. You should drop by to see if you can find it.
As always, I had a great time at the Exploratorium. Even more so with a little liquor. Now if they could just work on having more bars. I’d be able to quench my thirst more often!

SO. MUCH. FUN.
We got there a half hour after the doors opened and we didn’t even get close to seeing everything. The little presentation on Nitrogen was fun and informative and the sheer amount of clever contraptions is awesome. A throwback to high school physics class but with the addition of red wine.
Perfect date night!

this was super fun! we had previously done the CAS after dark, which was also super fun, but had heard that the Exploratorium had a lot more hands on things to do… no kidding! it was a throwback to those science experiments I did as a kid, learning about physics, colors, light, etc… there was so much to do, I don’t even think we got through half of it!
lines to get drinks were long. I only saw two drink stations so it might be quicker to go to the seaglass café and grab a beer.
if you’re looking for a fun night of activities, this is the place to go.

Exploratorium After Dark is pretty similar to Nightlife at the CA Academy of Sciences. It’s 21 and over only, most of the exhibits are open, and there are bars located throughout the museum. It’s one of the few times where you can go to the rooftop outside the conservatory and enjoy a lovely view of the bay.
Like Nightlife, it’s a nice change of pace to visit with an adults only crowd without kids running around and fighting for the exhibits. Though even though it’s an older crowd, sometimes you’ll have to end up waiting in line for some of the popular exhibits.
One nice thing is that Seaglass Restaurant is conveniently open during this time if you need some food, since there aren’t too many food options around. The food is decent, but priced at a premium though.
If you haven’t been to the Exploratorium, simply because of the busy weekend crowd, Exploratorium After Dark is a great way to get acquainted with the museum. It’s $ 15 for After Dark, which is actually much cheaper than going during general admission hours at $ 29. And similar to what I said in my earlier review of The Exploratorium, even though you’ll be with a more adult crowd, when you’re tinkering around with the exhibit, you’ll simply feel like a kid again.

$ 15 ticket is very worth it
started at 7 pm and was extremely burnt out by 9 pm. it’s a lot of information and very fun but way too much information. would recommend seeing the entire exploratorium over a span of 2 – 3 visits.
go with at least a friend since there are many partner activities. definitely a good date option.
dont smoke in the restroom– you will set off the fire alarm and waste 30 min of everyones time

I haven’t been in the Exploratorium since I was 8 at the old location and had decided to come here with a friend of mine to see the new place. This place is pretty cool! I’ve gone to this event twice now and I have to say that for 4 hours of interactions with the museum with drinks (sold separately) for $ 13 is a fair deal to me!
What makes this a great place to go out with friends or going out on a date are the interactive stations (from sight, sounds, feels, to even mental experimental stations) that you can hop on do the experiment with them. Another cool thing about this place is that every week is a new theme so there’s at least one new exhibit in the place. I haven’t tried the tactile dome yet but I plan on trying that sometime in the future.
Definitely recommending this place to anyone that wants to have fun time with friends or a couple that wants to go out on a date. I will be back!

I have attended the NightLife events at Cal Acad and was excited to see what After Dark would be like. I actually haven’t been to the new location until now. I went to the photography themed event last night and bought my ticket through Citi rewards but didn’t know I had to print out a copy for the Exploratorium to keep (I didn’t read the small text, my fault). So, I had to deal with that for a little bit at the ticketing desk. Staff was helpful and we got everything resolved! My friend and I arrived a bit after 7 so I was anxious to get in ASAP.
Finally walked in and immediately hit up a bar. Canned beer is $ 5, cocktails $ 9 and wine for… I don’t know haha. I got an Oskar Blues Old Chub and a Maui Big Swell IPA during my night. Prices are fairly affordable for such an event. Bars were in abundance! They weren’t hard to locate either — and we were provided with a map if we needed help. The smaller looking bars seemed to be cash only, and the larger ones took both card and cash.
The event was busy but it wasn’t uncomfortably crowded, which I was actually expecting it to be like. A group of ladies was there for a bachelorette party which I thought was such a great idea. There were a bunch of exhibits to explore and I definitely was not able to cover all of them! My favorite was the Living Systems areas, as I like the natural sciences, and also the phone/​safe exhibit! There were a few talks going on and some activities that we didn’t make it to in time. But we were able to attend the cow eye dissection! My friend and I were able to interact with a lot of the exhibits.
We hadn’t had dinner yet (drinking on an empty stomach, you know that feel) so we decided to check out what they had available. I don’t know if there were any other stations but we found the main dining area. They were already sold out of tacos, which looked like the best dish. The prices were in the teens… which I kinda expected but also didn’t considering that the drinks were affordable.
After exploring a bit more, I noticed that the fire alarm was going off! No one was making a big deal yet so we started walking around again. A staff member near us began to tell patrons to make our way to the nearest exit. Everyone, including staff, was calm and cooperative. We stood outside for a bit until we were told to make our way towards the Embarcadero. Firetrucks arrived shortly after (so fast!) and then we were told the Exploratorium was now closed for the night. It was about 9:45 so the event would have ended in 15 minutes anyway.
Kinda sad we had to leave a little early but we still enjoyed After Dark. Good event for groups and dates — similar concept as NightLife except obviously in a different kind of museum. The crowd at After Dark actually seemed a little older than the ones I’ve seen at NightLife — I assume it’s possibly because NightLife usually hosts DJs and musical guests. I’m not sure if After Dark has hosted live music before, but if they did, that would be cool too. I hope to be back to experience another theme — photography was cool but not really of my interest. Sooooo, I love drinking and I love museums — put the two together and I’m there!

I love After Dark! It is held the first Thursday of every month from 6:00pm to 10:00pm. Tickets are $ 15 for general admission, and they are best bought in advance. There are so many interactive exhibits and special showcases at the Exploratorium. You can check out the upcoming programs on their website when you purchase tickets.
They call this the «intellectually stimulating playground for adults» and I could not describe this more perfectly. Enjoy a cocktail… or two… or three… with your friends or date while wandering around everything that the Exploratorium has to offer. There is so much to learn (and drink) in four hours. I have not heard of such a concept anywhere else except for SF, so this is even a good place to bring your crew from out-​of-​town!

The old STEM folks were in heaven… three ex-​labbies and a programmer played for several hours.
We took our daughter many times to the old location and she in-​turn has taken the DGD’s here, but we had not yet been to the new facility. Not far from BART, very big with many, many fun displays. Wow… location location! Beautiful views at night…
I love that this is adults only… then you can get your hands on without risking taking a young persons turn.
My personal favorite? A clear sphere that demonstrated the concept of particle acceleration. Just resonated!
We could not get to everything…
We did attend a lecture on Lasers. For the three ex-​labbies it was cool to see our joint ex-​project featured as an application. Did we learn anything… maybe not ;-)
What fun!

For $ 15 I was entertained for a solid 4 hours– and that’s not easy to do!
First of all, the Exploratorium is much larger than it looks from the Embarcadero. After wandering around for 4 hours I still don’t think we covered every exhibit! This is ok because we are definitely going back next month :)
There is certainly no shortage of bars throughout this event and the lines to obtain a cocktail were non-​existent or minimal. Seriously– even the auditorium that we ducked into for a presentation had a bar in the back! Sweet!
The far east end of the Exploratorium has a terrific view of the water and the Bay Bridge light show. We spent the last 30 minutes or so of this event hanging out and taking the view in. Oh, and of course a bar was nearby so that was cool too!
Side note: My group of friends had a few happy hour cocktails at PIer 23. This was an awesome meeting point and it’s very close to the Exploratorium!