The Big list of Zoo, Museum and Nature Center Memberships Within One Hour of Grand Rapids

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Memberships are Great for Your Kid’s Gift List

When the grandparents ask me what my kids would like for Christmas or birthdays, my first response is always memberships.

We don’t need any more clutter around the house and having memberships to one or more places around Grand Rapids makes it easy for me to take them out to have fun.

Memberships Offer Many Benefits in Addition to Free Admission

There are so many places to choose from when looking for a membership for your family. Important things to keep in mind when deciding if a membership is right for you:

  • Will you visit the attraction enough times for the membership to pay for itself?
  • What is included? Usually unlimited free visits for 12 months (or the open season), but there are often other perks like gift shop and concession discounts. Are there any exclusions?
  • Who is included with your membership? Is it just the people living in your house or can you bring a guest?
  • Where else can you visit with your membership? Sometimes there is one place a month, other times there is a permanent list.
  • Are there any special member-only events?
Grand Rapids museum memberships

 

Where to Get a Membership

Now that you know what to ask, the next step is to decide where you want to be a member. Here’s a list of places in and around West Michigan where you can buy a membership.

Special Note: Grand Rapids Children’s Museum, Grand Rapids Art Museum and the Urban Institute for Contemporary Arts all participate in the Museums for All program. EBT/WIC cardholders qualify for a reduced admission rate to these museums. Additionally, Kent County residents can visit the Grand Rapids Public Museum for reduced rates with valid ID.

memberships for Kids around Grand Rapids

Grand Rapids

John Ball Zoo | Membership grants unlimited free admission for 12 months, discounts on parties, events, gift shop purchases and concessions, occasional regional exchanges, over 150 reciprocals

Frederick Meijer Gardens | Membership grants unlimited free admission for 12 months, presale on concerts and events, member only events, over 200 reciprocals

Grand Rapids Children’s Museum | Membership grants unlimited free admission for 12 months, special member-only days, one regional exchange per month at all levels, ACM level includes discounts at over 200 reciprocals

Grand Rapids Public Museum | Membership grants unlimited free admission for 12 months, free carousel rides and planetarium shows, one regional exchange per month, over 300 reciprocals

Grand Rapids Art Museum | Membership grants unlimited free admission for 12 months, early access to exhibits, discounts, member only events

Urban Institute for Contemporary Arts | Membership grants free gallery admission, discounted movie tickets, reduced prices for events

Blandford Nature Center | Membership grants free admission for 12 months, free snowshoe rentals, discounted pricing on events and experiences, 150 reciprocals

Grand Rapids Metro

Deer Tracks Junction, Cedar Springs | Membership grants free admission to both hands-on areas for entire season

Boulder Ridge Wild Animal Park, Alto | Membership grants free admission for entire season, 10% off gift shop, 50% off Park Before Dark event, $1 off kid’s train ride

Forever Curious Children’s Museum, Fennville | Membership grants free admission for 12 months, discount in gift shop and on programs, member events

Lakeshore – Holland, Muskegon, and New Era

Lewis Farms & Petting Zoo, New Era | Included in a season pass: Unlimited visits to the farm during the season, Special Events, Fall Festivals, and a coupon book full of additional savings each month.

Dutch Village, Holland | Membership grants unlimited visits to the park during the season (April through October)

Outdoor Discovery Center, Holland | Membership includes member only events, access to the archery range, discounts on programs, 150 reciprocals

Michigan’s Adventure, Muskegon | Membership grants unlimited visits to both parks during the season, special Bring-A-Friend Days, food and merchandise discounts; platinum pass has 13 reciprocals including Cedar Point and King’s Island. Additional season passes available for meals, drinks and parking.

Battle Creek and Kalamazoo

Binder Park Zoo, Battle Creek | Membership grants free admission for 12 months, discounts on camps and events, over 150 reciprocals

Kingman Museum, Battle Creek | Membership grants free planetarium shows, gift shop discounts, over 600 reciprocals

Air Zoo Aerospace and Science Experience, Kalamazoo | Membership grants free admission for 12 months, discounts at many local businesses, discounts on camps and experiences, family level includes over 1,200 reciprocals

Kalamazoo Nature Center | Membership grants free admission for 12 months, discount in gift shop and on classes and events

Lansing

Impression 5 | Membership grants free admission for 12 months, member night events, discount in gift shop and on programs and events, over 350 reciprocals

Potter Park Zoo | Membership grants free admission for 12 months, discount in the gift shop and on rentals, parties and camps, members night, over 100 reciprocals

Woldumar Nature Center |Membership grants free parking and trail access, member only events, discount in gift shop and on select programs and events

Fenner Nature Center | Membership grants discounts at the gift shop and on programs, members only events

We hope this gives you a great starting point when searching to see what memberships are right for your family. Do you know of other family-friendly places that offer memberships? Let us know in the comments below!

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10 thoughts on “The Big list of Zoo, Museum and Nature Center Memberships Within One Hour of Grand Rapids”

  1. Erica Foster Yotkois via Facebook

    If you are trying to be very frugal about your memberships you can buy your family membership to Meijer Gardens at the time of Butterflies and it will get you into The Butterflies again next season… we alternate memberships with the zoo. When we added foster kids to our house we realized memberships were a must!

  2. Jackie Darmogray Fornetti via Facebook

    Not local, but we maintain membership at the National Aviary Society. Family membership is $75, but we use the reciprocating benefit for free/reduced entrance to JBZ, Binder, Meijer Gardens..essentially all places with flowers and birds.

  3. Alison Westhouse via Facebook

    Just curious, for Java Gym, i didn’t have to pay to get in, just had to pay for my child. Only 2.95 total.. Did i happened to go on the day that Adults were free? Or is that info need to be updated? Curious if anybody else had to pay?

  5. Cheri Schrenk via Facebook

    I heard a lot of the free passes are no longer available too. Our local library used to have passes for John Ball zoo but no longer offer them. 🙁

  7. Laura Muresan via Facebook

    It’s important to remember that many of these places have free days throughout the year. For GR residents, the public museum is free every single Monday, so if you can time your visits, there’s no need for a membership. The art museum is free during Festival and Art Prize, which satisfies our art museum needs for the year. The children’s museum has $2 admission on Tuesday nights. The zoo has free days at least a couple of times a year.

  8. Jennie Betley Hodges via Facebook

    Funny, I was just thinking about this when we visited the Public Museum this week. We have been members of the Children’s Museum because we liked that they recipocated with other local places during the summer. It seems, however, those options aren’t as enticing as they once were (to my family). I think this year, we’ll ask the grandparents for the Public Museum membership instead. Also, we have the JB Zoo membership – it’s $10 cheaper than Binder and it gets you into Binder for 1/2 price and Potter Park (in Lansing) for free.

  9. Chris Jennifer via Facebook

    JB Zoo, Meijer Gardens, GR Public Museum and, of course, the Michigan State Parks Passport program. Seasonally we have Millennium Beach also. We have never done the GR Children’s Museum because it’s just too loud in there for us.

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