Disclosure: This article about The Strong may contain affiliate links. Been There Done That with Kids makes a small commission from these links if you make a purchase, but it’s at no additional cost to you.
The Strong National Museum of Play is located at 1 Manhattan Square Drive in Rochester, New York. The museum features an enormous amount of play opportunities, along with displays that highlight the history of play.
A parking garage is attached to the museum for ease of parking and access. The outside of the parking garage is just as colorful as the museum!
Upon entering the museum, tickets can be purchased at the ticket counter, or you can reserve your tickets online to guarantee entry. As with most ticketed venues, it is best to reserve online before visiting. There is a small savings for purchasing tickets online.
The museum has two floors of exhibits, and you may start on any floor. When we visited, we headed straight to the video game rooms located on the second floor. Level Up is an entire area dedicated to interactive video games. A wristband given at the entrance to this area tracks your progress on the games in this area.
ESL Digital Worlds: Level Up
These games can make you feel like you are in the video game, needing to move your body to interact and progress in the game. Some other games in this area are more traditional, including large versions of simple games, including cars, cities, music, and more.
World Video Game Hall of Fame
In addition to the interactive games in Level Up, there’s also a video game hall of fame. In this area, experience the history of video games, from Pong to modern day games. This area also includes versions of the historic video games that you can play.
Wegmans
One of the most popular spots in The Strong is the kid-sized Wegmans grocery store. Inside, kids can visit the bakery, meat counter, and shop the aisles with their mini shopping carts.
The best part of this amazing little grocery store is the registers which actually work. Each item can be scanned. There are instructions on the register for getting an order total and printing a receipt.
Kid-size registers make it easy to scan the groceries, and the belts even move. Pro tip: There is a station at the front of the store, where you can change the decade of music that is playing in the store.
Playful Putters – Mini Golf
Mini golf is another fun spot in the museum. With fun elements like a windmill, light house, and loop, it makes for a great change of pace after so much pretend play. This exhibit is temporary, and will remain until September 2, 2024.
Carousel and Train
If you have a train-loving child, be sure to check out the miniature train and the large train table located on the first floor, around the middle of the museum.
This train costs $1 per ride and can be paid by credit card right at the train. There’s also a carousel ride closer to the front of the museum. It also costs $1 to ride.
One additional upcharge experience is the Skyline Climb. The large ropes course is for children with the height of 48 inches and above and adults. There is a smaller ropes course for children under 48 inches.
Under the skyline climb is one of the museum’s eateries, Bill Gray’s. There’s also a “Main Menu” food court and a café at the rear of the museum. The food court has a wide variety of foods, including sandwiches and wraps, quesadillas, and kids meals. The kids meals choices are PB&J, grilled cheese, chicken nuggets, and turkey wrap. Menus are subject to change.
Sesame Street
For Sesame Street fans, there is an entire area dedicated to the long-running show. The muppet taxi stand, the neighborhood, and a separate section for Elmo’s World rounds out the area of Sesame Street.
Kids can “work” on the engine of the taxi and get their picture taken in front of the famous neighborhood door.
Elmo’s World is a section which incorporates Elmo’s favorite things.
Berenstain Bears
Another childhood classic is located on the first floor toward the back of the museum. This is a great place for Berenstain Bear fans, as they can play like they are inside one of the books!
The area is highlighted by their home, a large tree built into the wall.
Reading AdventureLand
Even more childhood reading classics are available for play in the middle of the first floor of the museum. Many fairy tales are represented in this area.
HASBRO Game Park
A new area of the museum includes the outdoor play section which highlights famous board games, called HASBRO Game Park. There’s a section for Candyland, Life, Jenga, many Monopoly-related structures, and even a large, interactive Simon game.
The focal point of the outdoor area is the scrabble pieces and the giant dog from the Monopoly. It’s important to notice that even the building gets into the theme, as it is also in the shape of popular games.
Comic Book Heroes
Back indoors, there are exhibits dedicated to the American comic book heroes. In this area, find out if you have super strength, super memory, or super balance, much like the heroes on display in this exhibit. Over seven decades of heroes are covered, perfect for the comic book fan.
How much time do we need to visit The Strong?
We spent over six hours at The Strong and did not we had enough time to see and play with everything they had to offer. It may be best to plan to stay for an entire day, from open to close.
Need a place to stay while visiting The Strong?
There’s a Hampton Inn hotel across the street from The Strong Museum of Play. Book this Hampton Inn (affiliate link) for its convenient location.
Looking for more to do in Upstate New York?
Check out Robert Treman State Park, Watkins Glen State Park, Thatcher State Park, The Wild Center and Letchworth State Park.
Disclosure: This article about The Strong contains affiliate links. Been There Done That with Kids makes a small commission from these links if you make a purchase, but it’s at no additional cost to you.
