CARS, PLANES, TRAINS, DINOSAURS...AND MORE!
This spot is every little boy's DREAM!
Really anyone's that likes to check out antiques and automobiles and things that go- there's a little something for everyone at this local museum in Lake County, Illinois.
We had been meaning to visit this museum for a while. It's only about 20 minutes from our home and we frequently drive past it to doctor appointments or other outings.
This awesome museum is located in Volo, Illinois at 27582 Volo Village Road, just off Highway 12.
It's open year-round, and only closed for a few of the big holidays.
Admission cost varies depending on the type of ticket or package purchased. But parking is free!
More admission information can be found on their website, www.volocars.com.
We finally found a good opportunity to go when our middle son turned three. He's really big into automobiles, trains, planes... anything with an engine... and DINOSAURS! So, this was the perfect birthday outing for him. Really all of us enjoyed ourselves.
The museum campus is made up of multiple buildings and various outdoor spaces. They also host an adorable playground to allow children to run around and stretch their legs and let energy out.
Vehicles
Most of the museum displays do not allow their displays to be touched or climbed on at all. And of course that's totally understandable! Everything looks like fun, but in the end it is a museum. And a lot of their items are even originals from the movies and TV shows! The others are replicas. So be prepared to stay on top of your little ones!
However, building 4, is more geared towards kids, with wall to wall displays of famous family-friendly, kid-friendly cars from their favorite movies. Some of our favorites to see were Lightning McQueen, Mater, and the Mystery Machine from Scooby-Doo.
The displays in building 4 still can't be touched, but there is a part towards the end where they can climb on and sit on the old ride-on attractions.
Dinosaurs
For our visit, we purchased the two-attraction ticket so we could also check out the dinosaur exhibit. It was so worth it! The dinosaurs were all in one building. But we probably had more fun there than with the cars.
The dinosaur exhibit included access to the playground outside. Inside, it had a fossil dig area, an educational video viewing space, multiple photo-op areas, and a bunch of life-size, motion activated dinosaurs!
While we loved looking at all the vehicles, we felt much more relaxed with the kids in the dinosaur exhibit.
Additional Attractions
A new permanent exhibit was added to the auto museum ticket. It's a tribute to the military community and reflects back on prior conflicts. We went in thinking it might be cool because my husband has served. And it kind of was for him. The hummer and a couple other displays were cool. However, some scenes were way too graphic and loud for children. We quickly circled around to the exit.
A current temporary exhibit (also included with the auto museum ticket) is for the Titanic exhibition. There are obviously references to the famous movie from 1997, but there are also cool artifacts to view such as automobiles and clothing from that era.
In the main building where tickets can be purchased, they have a delicious smelling pizza shop, a gift/souvenir shop, and a yummy little bakery.
Impression
Overall, this was such a cool and fun family outing! We only lasted about 3 hours because the kids were super cranky and ready for their nap. But anyone could easily spend all day or even multiple days visiting the Volo Museum's campus.
We hope to find time to visit again soon.
If you've been, feel free to leave a comment. I'd love to hear about your experience.
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