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January 2024 by Travis Laird
Growing up here was a kid this was one of the coolest places around and it hasn't changed. With the addition of the super screen theater and a few new things over the years it's become a place my kids love to go as well.
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October 2023 by Robert Dixson
I found it amazing that they had that much stuff inside the confines of the museum walls without being crowded. We gave it 3 hours on a Sunday and didn't see even half of the exhibits. Our next stop was Kearney, and on a day where one of our attractions fell through, we drove back to Hastings and spent another 4 hours going through the rest of the museum. I'm from Omaha, and our museums aren't half that well stocked. Hats off to Hastings for preserving the past! This was money well spent!
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August 2023 by Achterberg hardwood floors
When I was a kid in the late 60's or early 70's my dad took the family to this museum on the way to Colorado from Illinois. I vividly remember one of the displays was a native American found mummified in a cave somewhere. He was in a reclined position and wearing a soldiers cavalry jacket.
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July 2023 by kendellbrink
Who knew that Hastings NE was the home of Kool-Aid? Fortunately Marge, one of the attendants at a roadside rest area, knew and steered us in the direction of this fun museum. Lots of taxidermy and Nebraska artifacts. The highlight for me was the Kool-Aid exhibit of the lower level. Loved watching videos of the commercials from the 1960’s and 1970’s….a real trip down memory lane. Check out the beautiful sculptures at the outdoor entrance and be sure to read the history. Well worth the $10 admission. Plan an hour or more.
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June 2023 by Dennis Schneider
The mix of local, state and natural history throughout the museum is awesome. The planetarium is pretty cool and if the kids get bored, take them to the nature nook! They'll love it, mine do!
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May 2023 by jennifer poindexter
This museum is really fun for the kids. It allows them to be interactive and have fun. The Planetarium is awesome.. Especially when they get new shows in. Then, to top it all off, there's the IMAX. That is a great experience.
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March 2023 by MNDoodles
This museum is a delight for all ages. We loved the beautiful large dioramas containing superb mammal and bird taxidermies. The extensive exhibits on transportation, fossils, geology, history (including a fun Kool-Aid exhibit) and communications are excellent. The planetarium program on ‘stars you will see tonight’ was awesome and was included in our museum admission. Great gift shop especially for kids. The museum is very creative and engaging in its approach to delivering information. We spent 2.5 hours here and enjoyed everything. Highly recommend a visit when in Hastings.
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March 2023 by Rosey Blankenship
Very cool place to bring family and even little kiddos
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September 2022 by Brittany Bearss
The Hastings Museum was bigger than expected (3 floors)!! It was well worth the drive from Lincoln. The planetarium show was very interesting. The shows also have listening and captioning devices available for those who request them. Also a great place to go for Nebraska history, as they have displays of native species from thousands of years ago and fossils/bones of mammoths found in Nebraska. They also have replicas of local shops and newspapers from Hastings in the 1900s. They have so many things to see. In many of the exhibits there are draws below the top viewing area with just hundreds more things to see. Definitely a great place for families with kids, especially young ones. However it was still very fun as two adults going without children. Would highly recommend!!
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August 2022 by JnTLibby
Upon our arrival we noticed there was an ev charging station, which throughout our entire road trip we had not seen anywhere we visited. Our rented vehicle is a hybrid so we decided to give it a try as there was not a cost. You do have to tap your credit card, but it only puts a $1 hold on your card. Our vehicle was charged fully by the time we finished at the museum. While in the area for a wedding we decided to take some time to be tourists. We took the kids here so they would have something interesting to tell their teachers about their summer vacation. We are from Florida and telling people they visited the place where Kool-aid was created is pretty exciting. We visited the planetarium for the 2:00 show and walked the museum the rest of the afternoon. Our youngest wants to be a paleontologist so the area dedicated to paleontology excited him. It was really cool to see the history of all the board/card games and to actually go hands on with the games. You could literally spend all day in here just playing games. I loved going back in time and reading all about the local history, which you don't seem to get at bigger museums. Most of the history here had some sort of connection to a local business or person. The basement held all the different types of vehicles used throughout history, locally. The best part was probably watching the old kool-aid commercials throughout the years.
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August 2022 by Myron Jackson
My goal was to actually see the Kool-Aid exhibit at this museum. But I was very impressed and surprised at the rest of the facility. There is a planetarium with regular shows. There are a bunch of antique vehicles in the basement area. Their dioramas with various animals on the main floor. It is quite a collection and well worth the admission price. There is an elevator for those who need that accessibility. It was interesting seeing the history of Kool-Aid. Museum included everything from a replica of a store to costumes of the pitcher. There are lots of photos and displays of advertising and products from that time. Including variations on kool-aid. Museum is easy to get to. It's adjacent to an arboretum which is another pleasant excursion. There was a nice museum gift shop. It's very well done.
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July 2022 by Rick Newman
Fun for the WHOLE family...highly recommended!
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April 2022 by Chris L
What a cool museum! We were travelling to California when my daughter so a billboard for this place. I decide what the hack and drove the 15-20 miles off our route to visit it. I was not disappointed. The place is well layed out with some great displays of animal life, Indian displays and rock displays. I didn't even know about the kool aide part until we went down stairs.
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March 2022 by ckarabin
This museum had a bit of everything and all very well done. Excellent animal dioramas, an outstanding car collection from the very early 1900's, a unique exhibit on Kool Aid that was first invented nearby and a collection of rocks and minerals and guns. Also, an exhibit on native Americans. All was extremely well done and it seemed like the museum just kept coming at you with more, more, more. I highly recommend this as a great stop if travelling across the plains on I 80. For kids and adult alike.
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January 2022 by Lizzy Cunningham
Love this place! I go atleast once a year. If you can help if plan your trip around a planetarium show timeing. A variety of different info cook for adults. The gun exhibit is really cool. The children interactive zones are so great!
