Every weekend whenever possible, we will plan for some family outing and if can, we bring along a niece and a nephew with us. Our 3 kiddos love spending time with their cousins and we enjoyed their companionship as well, so our latest outing was to a Chocolate Museum! I have previously mentioned this to hubby but he rejected my idea and I tried again for 2nd time and because of my nagging persistency, he relented hahahahah...
We fetched our nephew and niece from their place and went for our lunch first. Once done, we navigated our way towards the Chocolate Museum using the location I found on Waze which I sent to hubby's mobile. We reached the museum around 1pm+. Parking is ample, there was a female security guard pointing us towards an area for visitors' parking.
When we first tried to go in through the main entrance door, hubby couldn't get in. There was a group of about 10-15 people at the entrance listening to a staff explaining to them about the history of cocoa etc. We ended up going in through the Museum Cafe's side door which passes through the Museum's entrance.
According to their website, it is the latest, most interactive, one of a kind chocolate museum in South East Asia with interactive displays, etc. I am still scratching my head wondering where and what do they mean by that. I guess you will need to experience for yourself just in case you don't believe me. After all, I made the same mistake after googling around for other bloggers' reviews on their visit to the Chocolate Museum. All giving happy glory-mory feedback with around the same ol' same ol' pictures.
If by interactive museum they meant this display board with some LED lights blinking, I am utterly disappointed. No kidding. Never mind the visit we made to the museum, but I am expecting more from what I read on their website.
There are some machines and exhibits which you can read - about cocoa, how do you process them to become chocolate, who are the pioneers in the chocolate industry etc.
As a parent, I'm always on the look out for things that might pose a risk to our kiddos. So imagine when I see my niece and nephew playing with one of the machines in the museum (this is not barricaded or have any signs cautioning anyone). You can still pull or spin the lever/handle but still that means it can be operated on and is working. Now look at the picture below at the arrows I'm pointing at. I hope you can see from my point of view why I was concerned with the risks here. Imagine tiny hands or fingers slipping in while someone gives this machine a spin. *horror*
After going through the exhibits area, you will head towards an area with clear window around, where at certain times, you can actually see staff in the room making chocolates. Facing this chocolate kitchen is the Chocolate Galleria (aka where you shop for chocolates!) There is only 1 tiny Tripod Turnstile entrance and 1 tiny Tripod Turnstile exit in the Chocolate Galleria. You need a bit of dexterity and good handling of your child stroller to get into the Chocolate Galleria but we managed to get our stroller in and out.
When you exit the museum, you have this feeling of being the subject of a 'good riddance' thing, it's like you are not welcome there and quickly ushered out towards outside.
To sum up our review on Chocolate Museum @ Kota Damansara:
PLUS POINTS:
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FREE entrance fees
- You get to buy chocolates!
BAD POINTS:
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The entrance and exit are BADLY done. Limited space and no connectivity. Normally when you go to an establishments or places of interests, they will position the exit together with the souvenir shop or cafe so as visitors can browse and shop for some souvenirs etc. I'm not saying there is no shop in the museum, it is just that it was not nicely connected.
-
Museum Cafe is bland, snacks sold is really pathetic looking and lack of options (sorry didn't bother to take picture)
-
Machines (that you can play with) poses a risk - children who do not know the dangers and risks of operating it might get hurt.
- I'm not sure about other amenities like restroom or baby changing room as we did not need to use it during our short time there.
Definitely NOT going back there!
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