When we went to the Milwaukee Public Museum (MPM) for the first time, we picked up a family membership for $75. It would have cost $48 dollars to get in for the day. We were hesitant to spend the extra $25 for membership. But it paid for itself and then some!
Our membership to MPM (http://www.mpm.edu/) gets us in free to the museum for a year. It also allows us free stroller rental while visiting the museum and discounts at the Food Court, the Museum Gift Shop, and the parking lot. We’d already be ahead of the cost of membership if we went just twice to MPM during the year.
But there’s more. So. Much. More.
Our MPM membership also gets us into dozens of other museums in the area. And hundreds around the country as part of a membership exchange called ASTC. Check out participating museums nation-wide at this link: http://www.astc.org/members/passlist.htm.
In our first year as MPM members we used our membership to get into the following museums for FREE: EAA museum (twice!), The Field Museum in Chicago, Discovery Center in Rockford, Burpee Museum in Rockford, WEIS Earth Science Museum in Menasha, and many more. Paying the door rate at these museums would have cost hundreds of dollars for our entire family. But instead it was all free! Plus we went to MPM three times. Membership is quite simply an amazing value.
We also use our list of ASTC museums to help us plan our weekends. It’s a nice shortcut to solving the “What are we doing this Saturday?” question.
Our MPM Membership is one of our top money moves. Ever.