We’ve been anticipating the Rory Meyers Children’s Adventure Garden for awhile, but now that the opening is so close — this Saturday, Sept. 21 — heads are turning all over the country.
There’s the New York Times, whose brief write-up focuses on the garden “giving earth science a Disney touch.”
There’s also a piece in the Los Angeles Times, written by a former Dallasite who calls White Rock Lake “my happy place … a park where Dallas drops the pretension.” Of the $60 million-plus children’s garden at the arboretum, where he and his wife took their children for concerts on the lawn, he says, “Indeed, sometimes things are bigger in Texas.”
Then there’s USA Today, which hails the garden as a museum where visitors can break the cardinal rule of “look but don’t touch.”
Local media has provided sweeping coverage as well. The Dallas Morning News devoted an entire section to the Rory Meyers garden this past Sunday, and online has an interactive map of the exhibits.
KERA’s sneak peek notes that, “sure, it’s got water blasters, CSI mysteries and secret garden mazes, but your kids won’t be able to escape without learning something.”
Culturemap points out that the children’s garden is like the recently opened Klyde Warren Park and Perot Museum of Nature and Science — places that “wear their kid-friendliness as a badge of pride” — but also asserts that the garden “just might be the best kids destination in the area.”
In a forethoughtful attempt to avoid repeating what we knew would be a avalanche of media coverage (the children’s garden is a 17-years-in-the-making, $62-million, big, honkin’ huge deal, after all), we’ve tried to focus on stories that will matter mostly to neighbors: the concerts and events leading up to opening weekend, a neighborhood science educator who was tapped to manage the garden, and what might happen with parking and traffic (an angle that the Dallas Morning News covered as well). People in New York and LA, or even Preston Hollow and Plano, don’t care about traffic and parking except for how much time it will shave off of their arboretum visit (and why would they?).
If you want to see this garden that everyone is talking about, here are a few of the most important things to know:
• Children’s garden admission is $3, and that’s only in combination with a general admission ticket ($15 for adults, $12 for seniors, $10 for children). Also, entrance to the children’s garden requires a timed reservation, similar to Perot museum entrance, which you can purchase via the arboretum’s brand spanking new website (did you notice the new logo, too?). Right this minute, slots are available on Saturday, Sept. 21 from 2 to 3:30 p.m., but that’s it. You’ll have a better chance Sunday or even next week.
• The day of your visit, you can buy a discounted parking pass ($5 vs. $10). Parking at the children’s garden is valet-only — $18 for general public and $14 for members. Also, kudos to the arboretum for this notice on its parking page: “Do not park in the neighborhood. The streets have signage advising they are in a tow-away zone. Arboretum staff will turn away those that come from the neighborhood and do not live in the area.”
• Your children will be hungry from all that learning. Save a little cash — the arboretum allows visitors to bring picnics, food, coolers and beverages.
Also, don’t forget that this weekend also is the kick-off for Autumn at the Arboretum — the busiest time of year for the gardens even without the children’s garden opening. We’ll have pumpkin photos soon, coinciding with the (hopefully) cool-down that weather forecasters are predicting. (And if none of this appeals to you, the coming week might be a good one to steer clear of Garland Road near White Rock Lake.)