Free Indoor Kansas City Activity: Journey to Oz at Crown Center

This post is sponsored by Crown Center.

One of the most iconic films of the midwest celebrates 80 years, The Wizard of Oz. To celebrate, Kansas City’s premiere attraction Crown Center has unveiled, Journey to Oz, in Level 1 on the south end.

The exhibit is a free, all-ages indoor activity. There are maze-like structures with slides and interactive buttons that play songs and clips from the film. The KCMB team got a sneak peek, and all of our kids loved it! The toddlers loved working on some motor skills going up and down inclines and steps. The older kids ran off some energy going through and pushing all the interactive buttons. 

Journey to Oz is located on the first floor, at the Northwest end, right by the family restrooms. The exhibit is open for a limited time through May 12; 10 a.m. – 6 p.m. Monday – Friday, 10 a.m. – 7 p.m. Saturdays, and 11 a.m. – 6 p.m. Sundays.

KCMB Insider Tips

Parking

Crown Center offers three hours of free parking for all guests with a validation slip from any Crown Center shop or restaurant. Get another three hours free, six hours in total, when you spend $25 or more at any shop or restaurant.  Just take your receipts to Crown Center customer service for the validation slip. Or after 6:30 p.m. on Friday, it is FREE all weekend long! Have babies in a stroller? Make sure to park on levels 2a and 3a for a stair-free entrance.

Lunch Time

Crown Center is full of options for food from pizza to tacos. Fritz’s, KC’s famous burger restaurant that brings your food by train, has just completed a remodel and is a fun experience for the whole family. Other options with kid friendly options include Spin PizzaUnforked, and d’Bronx. Need a little caffeine, mama? The newly remodeled Einstein Bros Bagels sells Caribou Coffee, and Sheridan’s frozen custard also sells lattes. All of these options are on the first floor.

Make a Day of It!

Crown Center Ice Terrace, KC’s only outdoor ice skating rink, is open until March 10th and offers two-for-one Tuesdays after 5 p.m. On your way to the Journey to Oz exhibit visit Chip’s Candy Factory, where there are more than 450 candy options. One of our favorite kid theaters, The Coterie, has a new show opening at the end of February, Mr. Popper’s Penguins, for ages 7 and up.

Hannah Niehues
Hannah was born in Colorado and raised in Kansas. While attending Kansas State University she met her husband, Ben. They moved to Kansas City in 2011 and couldn't imagine calling anywhere else home. Currently, they live in Columbus Park with their sons, V and Chauncey. When she is not chasing almost two-year-old V around and wearing Chauncey (2mo old), Hannah is supporting families as a birth and postpartum doula. Her happy place is in her kitchen preparing food for her family. While breastfeeding V she had to stop eating and drinking dairy. Since she was never really a fan of meat, this led her to plant-based cooking. For the past two years, her family has been primarily plant-based, which has opened up a whole new way of looking at food and cooking for her family.

1 COMMENT

  1. The exhibit was fine my 9 year old Loved it. But the attendant on duty reminded me of a trip to my grandparents house. All I heard was don’t! Don’t run don’t touch stay out of that don’t do that. But the point of coming was for the kids to have fun really? Because all play areas are intended for children to walk through in a orderly manner with their hands in their pockets right? But by all means have fun! Good thing the cost was nothing because that’s what the experience was worth.

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