Zeum in San Francisco, CA 94103 | Parents Connect Local

in San Francisco, CA 94103

about Zeum:

The winner of our 2008 Parents' Picks quest to find the best Indoor Playspace/Partyspace for Teens in the Bay Area, Zeum is a hands-on arts & technology museum for kids and families. Families can experience, firsthand, everything from animation to video production. Children who've spent time here light up when describing their experience. Comments include "really cool," and "you get to experiment with anything you want."

A child can choose to become an animator, which involves first creating a 3D clay character, and then bringing it to life at one of Zeum's animation stations. Kids can even take the animation home on a DVD.

Visitors can play at being a director, which means collaborating with friends to produce a multimedia show in Zeum's production lab, and creating special effects, acting out different characters, operating professional video equipment, and making music for a soundtrack.

Kids can also work with artists from media arts and technology fields - during special weekend workshops on topics ranging from DJ arts to robotics.

Parties: Bring up to 20 guests (one adult chaperone is required for every five youth) and reserve a room on Saturdays and Sundays for any of the following 90 minute time slots: 11am to 12:30pm, 1:15pm-2:45pm, or 3:30pm-5pm Guests can enjoy the fun at Zeum before or after the party. A Zeum staff member will show guests to the birthday room, distribute carousel tickets, and answer questions about Zeum.

Basic Birthday Party Cost: $225 for Zeum Family Members, $250 for Non-members. Additional theme-party options such as "Mad Hatters" or "Music Video" are available for $450-$600. Add 20 carousel tickets, good for two rides per guest, for an additional flat fee of $30. Party hosts are welcome to bring their own food and beverages for their guests. Decorations, serving items and party favors can be purchased for an additional fee. To reserve a birthday party, call 415.820.3515. Reservations should be made six weeks ahead of time.

During the summer, Zeum offers unique one- and two-week summer camp workshops taught by professional artists in multimedia arts and technology topics. Kids (ages 6-13) can create animations, produce digital videos, make their own comic books, and much more. Sessions run from 9am-3pm (extended hours are available).

The Zeum Carousel, built in 1906, features a menagerie of elaborately hand-carved animals, including horses, giraffes, camels, and more. The carousel, formerly a fixture at the San Francisco amusement park, Playland-at-the-Beach, resides right outside of Zeum.

I had paid for one of Zeum's Themed Parties which costs a hefty $450 & up. Seemed decent price to pay since the package came with balloons, streamers and the theme lead by your own personal party coordinator, right? Except that I only saw my "party coordinator" once and that was to execute the theme then she was nowhere to be found. The balloons where deflating (they might have inflated it the night before), the party room was hot and stuffy per complaints from my guests, the refrigerator wasn't cold enough to keep ice cream cake from thawing even at its highest setting. Which in a nut shell gives a less than stellar accommodations for the price? You'd think they can afford to fix these aspects. The party coordinators lack communication with each other, lack a standard operation procedure and attention to detail in terms of planning, execution & details to say the least. Lastly, their web page has old information and the coordinator didn't know how to command the attention of the kids 3-7 (seemed chaotic) and depending on which coordinator you ask you'll get different answers. But they do that with a smile of course, that's not the problem. It's a rush to have a party in 1.5 hours, they really need to make it 2 hrs at the least. A training program is in order and their manager needs a more hands on knowledge of front desk procedures. The $50 discount off of party package isn't worth the $70 membership that I'm no longer interested in using. I wouldn't recommend this place to my mommy friends for parties. You'll do best to look at a map and guide yourself to each exhibit that really is more for older kids. Parking garage is 3 blocks away at $3/hr. I wish there was more reviews about their parties which would have given me more to think about before deciding to hold mine here.

momforplaydates

added: 04/19/2011

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I had paid for one of Zeum's Themed parties which costs a heafty $450 & up. Seemed decent price to pay since the package came with balloons, streamers and the theme lead by your own personal party coordinator, right? Except that I only saw my "party coordinator" once and that was to execute the theme then she was nowhere to be found. The balloons where deflating (they might have inflated it the night before), the party room was hot and stuffy per complaints from my guests, the refridgerator wasn't cold enough to keep ice cream cake from thawing even at it's highest setting. Which in a nut shell gives a less than stellar accommodations for the price. You'd think they can afford to fix these aspects. The party coordinators lack communication with each other, lack a standard. operation procedure and attention to detail in terms of planning, execution & details to say the least. Lastly, their web page has old information and the coordinator didn't know how to command the attention of the kids 3-7 and depending on which coordinator you ask you'll get different answers. But they do that with a smile of course. A training program is in order and their manager needs a more hands on knowledge of front desk procedures. When I called to plan my party the phone rang and rang. Happened several times. The $50 discount off of party package isn't work the $70 membership. I wouldn't recommend this place to my mommy frineds for parties. You'll do best to look at a map of the museum and guide yourself to each exhibit. Had I seen reviews about their party I would have had more to think about before planning to have mine here.

I agree with Cecilia's review. We went with an 8 year old, and two 5 year olds August 2009. No help from staff who were consumed by summer Zeum campers...staff members were not even available at many of the labs. Maybe a great place for older kids, but being billed as a childrens musuem...I don't think that is accurate at all. The few staffers we saw did not engage with the kids, they were uninterested. Really disappointing.

Mom of One

I recently visited Zeum with my son, and was treated to a wonderful and informative adventure. I never knew this little treasure was in the heart of the city. We were able to make our own movies filled with backgrounds and images in their movie production lab. They can even burn a copy of your performance onto a dvd so you can take it home. Next we were off to the animators studio to make claymation movies. With wire frames and lots of clay we made characters and made silly movies with them. After claymation we went to the karaoke stage on the second floor where we picked out songs and sang them in front of the camera. My little one had a blast, and I found the staff to be friendly and helpful. When it was all said and done we rode the carousel and called it a day. Thanks Zeum for such a terrific time.

Alex, father of one

The Zeum is a special San Francisco museum for all ages. It showcases the many sophisticated and creative talents unique to our beautiful City. I highly recommend the Zeum weekend workshops. The Zeum staff and volunteers are wonderful and works hard to offer great programs. Give it a try and experience it for yourself and your family!!!

Roberta

I can't help wonder how long ago this review on Zeum was written. Because I remember going there when it first opened (a while ago) and thought that it was a very cool place. But I just went back recently, and it was bad, I mean very bad... All of the staff had written on their forehead "we are bored", they were just sitting there yawning, and rolling their eyes, they were absolutely not helpful what so ever. And yet most the equipment there need a minimum of knowledge to be used, we were clueless. Our kids ended up dressing up with the worn out costumes hanging there, and we went to play with playdough! That was a waste of time, not to mention a waste of money!

Cecilia, mother of two.

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