I asked the hubby what he wanted to see while we were in Kansas City -- the World War I Museum or the Arabia Steamboat Museum. I knew what my choice would be but I wanted his important. He went with the World War I Museum (not my choice).
My cousin has spent a lot of time at the WWI Museum doing various research and volunteer project. She told us we needed a good half day for the museum but could spend several days there. We realistically had about 3 to 4 hours to go through the museum. I wasn't too concerned because we went through the Country Music Hall of Fame in record time and in general, we tend to be fast museum visitors.
The museum is open daily 10-5 Memorial Day to Labor Day and closed Mondays the rest of the year as well as major holidays. Depending on what you want to see, admission is $18-$23 for an adult. $18 is for general admission and then you can add on an extra special exhibit gallery or the Liberty Memorial tower. We opted to do neither. The special exhibit was women's clothing during WWI which even I wasn't too thrilled to see. The tower was closed during to storms but the hubby wouldn't have gone up in it anyways. We could have added a virtual reality experience for about $25 each as well. I personally didn't need to experience the war up front.
You enter the main exhibit hall by walking over a poppy field which is kind of freaky since it's poppies suspended in air and the floor is see through. You can actually go down to the research level and view the poppy field from below as well which I didn't know until later.
The main gallery is split into two galleries -- East (1914-1917, pre-US involvement) and West (1917-1919, US involvement). There are several theaters and interactive areas as well.
The museum is very well done with a lot of artifacts. You can see the trenches the soldiers fought in and the weaponry used. It is actually very somber and moving at times as well. I didn't realize how old this war was until I saw the cannons. Tanks and airplanes were just in their infancy and were really being tested as methods of warfare during this war.
Words can not describe the museum and everything that is in it. I know why my cousin said it can take hours to go through it. We did not rush through the museum but we did not pore over every single artifact either. We probably spent about an hour at the museum which is far less time than most. As the hubby said he prefers WWII as so do I. We did skip the Ellis gallery downstairs which I did not realize until we got home.
It is definitely worth checking out when you are in Kansas City. It is ranked the number 1 attraction in Kansas City according to Trip Advisor. Just make sure you allot enough time to go through it and don't park at Union Station and walk up. That hill is a killer and the stairs are very misleading.
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