Staying in downtown Seattle was the perfect jumping off point for most of the major family-oriented attractions. Reliable and affordable public transportation made car travel unnecessary also. We used the monorail system for less than $5/each round trip to get to Seattle Park. The Chihuly Garden and Museum, the Space Needle, the Museum of Pop Culture, and the Pacific Science Museum were all conveniently located in the Park. It would be possible to do all three in one day, but we split our time there into three days.
We used the Seattle Pass at the admission desk (Purchased in advance, $209 covered admission for one adult and one child to visit five Seattle attractions). The Museum of Pop Culture is a collection of small themed galleries that all branch off from a large central screen. Families with young children would most enjoy the Fantasy Gallery, the Sound Lab, and the Indie Game Revolution room.
Seattle Music Scene
Music Genre & Band Galleries
Music in pop culture gave a lot of attention to Seattle-based artists, including Pearl Jam, Nirvana (and other grunge musicians), and Jimmy Hendrix.
Sound Lab
The Sound Lab on the top floor provided detailed instruction for using drums, keyboards and guitars, and had sound proof rooms available for Jam Sessions. We had the most fun learnings the ins and outs of DJ sound mixing.
Film and Television
Science Fiction & Fantasy
The Science Fiction Gallery was nerd heaven, with much of it devoted to Star Wars. The Fantasy section fulfilled the needs for a different kind of nerd, with plenty of Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter costumes and props. There were spaces for children to crawl through to reveal the next world; I liked that they had famous characters noted by their fantasy archetype.
Horror Genre– Scared to Death
The section devoted to horror in pop culture had a PG-13 warning, and there was plenty of movie and television memorabilia to warrant the rating. Alice avoided it until we could explore the area and take her back with a tour more catered to her interests (the vampire section was pretty mild.)
