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Meet Me in the Gift Shop
336 Patrick Circle
Melbourne, FL 32901
Skeleton
Museum
(Museum
of Osteology)
441 International Dr Suite 250,
Orlando, FL 32819
Orlando, FL 32819
407-203-6999
The
Museum is open 365 days per year, from 10 am – 10 pm.
AT A GLANCE Museum of Osteology (Skeleton
Museum)
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Date of Visit:
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Saturday, April 8,
2017
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Parking
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Nearby parking
structure.
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Amount of time needed
to peruse exhibits:
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30 – 45 minutes
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Amount of time needed
for gift shop
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25 – 30 minutes
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The “must have”
souvenir
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The penile bone from
a coyote, fox, beaver, or mink.
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Online shopping
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The Skeleton Museum
has extensive shopping available online at their website.
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Kid friendly shopping
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Definitely
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Kid friendly
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Yes
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Dress code
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Casual,
but not too tacky.
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Be sure to…..
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Buy
ticket online and save $4.00 off regular price of $19.99, or search
Groupon. As of this writing, Groupon
was offering 49% off the admission price.
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Nearby/other
establishments to visit
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The Orlando Eye
Sea Life Aquarium
Madame Tussaud’s Wax
Museum
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Walkability, general
downtown area / amount of traffic
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The Skeleton Museum is
located in a pedestrian-only area.
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Safety, in terms of
type and number of crimes committed in general area
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Generally safe, but
keep in mind that Orlando draws 62 million visitors per year. Some of those visitors might not have your
best interests in mind, so stay alert.
Lock your car and put valuables out of sight. Finally, make a mental note as to where you
park so you aren’t wandering aimlessly in the parking structure.
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Last week’s discussion
on the Sebastian Fish Museum got me thinking about the importance of
location. The physical location of a
museum, shop or attraction should render just as much thought as other
factors. Often, it doesn’t. Since I was thinking about fishing, my mind
wandered to a formerly fantastic fish place here in Melbourne, Florida. Let me tell their story and illustrate why
Moon’s Seafood Market is an example of what not to do. Until recently, Moon’s was located on a
somewhat busy street at the entrance to a subdivision. We used to make stopping at Moon’s a weekly
habit for wonderfully fresh fish and felt that fish bought elsewhere wasn’t as
good. Additionally, they had a varied
selection of fresh shellfish. Moon’s was
almost always busy because of their selection of fresh seafood, superior
customer service and great location.
Until now. Moon’s Seafood Market wanted to expand their
shop, so they leased a larger building across town located in a mini-mall about
five miles from the original location. They
are now located on a road where folks are busy trying to get from one place to
another in the shortest time possible. No
incentive exists for customers to casually stop by looking for something to grill. No other shops in the mini-mall appeal to the
same demographics. What was once a spur
of the moment stop is now a planned destination. We went there a few times and decided that
the extra time it took to get to the new location wasn’t worth it. We mainly buy our seafood from Publix
(grocery store) these days. What
happened to make us avoid this unique shop and buy our seafood at the grocery
store? The shop is the same and has the
same great customer service, but the location changed. There weren’t the customary crowds that
always seemed to be at their original location.
The fun vibe was gone because the crowds of buying customers were
gone. Making the extra effort to drive to
Moon’s isn’t worth the hassle for us anymore.
While Moon’s Seafood
Market is a good example of the negative consequences of a poorly thought
decision, this week’s Skeleton Museum provides a positive counterargument. The Skeleton Museum is located in the tourist
district, which is along International Drive in Orlando. It’s that in-between section of Orlando which
is north of Disney World and south of Universal Studios and SeaWorld.
“The tourist district” is what
locals call that area of town, so call it that if you want to sound knowledgeable.
What does this have to
do with location? Quite a bit. If you’re going to open a “different” museum,
location is especially crucial. Locate
it by popular tourist destinations to get their overflow visitors. The Skeleton Museum is indeed a distinctive
museum. In my opinion, they stretch
their advertising dollar by situating themselves near other popular
destinations. Sea Life Aquarium is two
doors down from the Skeleton Museum, and four doors away from Madame Tussaud’s
Wax Museum. All three museums can easily
by visited in one day, with enough time left over to have lunch and to ride the
Orland Eye, a gigantic Ferris wheel, located in that same pedestrian area. Location selection was genius.
What is real name of this
museum? It depends. In normal conversation call it the “Skeleton
Museum;” else it’s the Museum of Osteology.
Since this is a normal conversation, let’s agree to call it the Skeleton
Museum. The Orlando Skeleton Museum opened
in 2015, being only the second such museum in the United States. The first one opened several years ago in
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, and is run by the same family. The issue I have with this is that admission
to the Oklahoma location is $8, while it’s $19.99 for the one in Orlando. As much as I grumble about the steep
admission charge, I have to admire the Skeleton Museum for understanding the
dynamics of Orlando’s tourist industry.
This part of the state targets out-of-town visitors with unique things
to do and experience. Orlando’s 62-million
yearly visitors is one of the highest visitor counts in the world, and the
Skeleton Museum makes that an advantage.
Orlando, Florida is one of those destination spots where folks know
upfront that it’s going to be more of a costly vacation than visiting a quiet
lakeshore. Using that perspective,
$19.99 doesn’t seem expensive, especially when compared against Disney’s $125+
admission.
I wasn’t certain that I
wanted to visit a bone museum. In
addition to earning my bachelor’s degree in wildlife biology, I was the senior
nature director at a Boy Scout Camp for four summers and believe me when I say
I have seen more than my share of skulls and skeletons. After some time, the uniqueness of it starts
to fade. Enter the Skeleton Museum and
get a good chuckle out of the first two skeletons on display. The first is a human skeleton doing a funky
yoga position and the second is that of a jockey on a race horse. I never saw anything like that, and I wanted
to see more of the displays. I loved the
coyote skeleton posed mid-howl, and the bird skeletons posed in flight. Bone structure made more sense to me than the
way I had learned in college.
Besides selecting a
fantastic location, and incorporating whimsical skeleton poses in the museum, branding
is another thing the Skeleton Museum does well. Take a look at my photos of the displays
inside of the Museum, and notice their logo in many of them. There is no doubt as to where you were. The same thing holds true in the gift
shop.
Speaking of the gift
shop, I was pleasantly surprised by the variety and quality of items for sale. For example, real skulls, claws and bones are
available for purchase. Seriously, where
else could someone purchase the penile bone of a mink? Such a good story arises when folks ask about
that odd bone you have on your desk at work or at home. The Skeleton Museum gift shop has items for
sale that are suitable for all ages, genders, and skill level. In all honesty, I would just as soon buy a
few books than one of those “put-it-together” skeletons. As I said:
all skill levels. This is a
wonderful place to purchase stocking stuffers for the holidays. It has cute and small items to buy as personal
souvenirs: bookmarkers, bottle openers, refrigerator magnets, art work, socks,
or posters. It took me a few trips
around the gift shop to see everything, so take some time to look around here. Even though I have absolutely no place to put
it, I would have loved the lava lamp that had octopi / squid blobs bobbing up
and down instead of the round, pedestrian blobs.
Please practice the rule of good gift
giving: if you buy a gift for someone
else, you must purchase one for yourself. Technically, it’s our unspoken rule, but it’s
a good one.
Ready for lunch? There are many options located within the
pedestrian area that houses the Skeleton Museum. Some cater toward children and families, some
cater to the barbeque enthusiast, and some are local chains of national
eateries. We selected Paramount
Restaurant, for no other reason than it looked like a nice place. Thank goodness we weren’t wrong. We discovered Paramount specialized in Middle
Eastern food, something that we have missed since leaving the Metro Detroit
area. Paramount had falafel, gyros, kebab,
hummus, and many tempting desserts to select from. It’s a good restaurant for families or for
the solo traveler. Settle in, have an adult
beverage or iced tea, and check out the menu for authentic ethnic dishes. Give
it a try, because I heartedly recommend it.
When finished with lunch, go outside and explore the great location
around the Skeleton Museum. You won’t be
bored.
A primer for iced tea in the
South:
Sweet tea is a very sweet tea, just
like what its name suggests. There are two alternatives, though. One is to order a drink called the Arnold
Palmer which consists of ½ iced tea and ½ lemonade. The other option is to order unsweet tea,
which has no sugar added. I find that
the sweetness extremes between sweet and unsweet tea are too much for me, and I
have since learned to order unsweet tea provided extra sugar packets are next
to the salt and pepper shakers. Start
with adding two or three packets and adjust from there.
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