On a budget, California Science Center still earns its price.
Free (IMAX/specials extra)
Genuinely excellent as a free family museum — interactive physics, ecosystems and an aquarium that easily fill a couple of hours. The catch in 2026: the Endeavour is OFF public view. The old horizontal pavilion closed at the end of 2023 and the shuttle is now stacked vertically in the new Samuel Oschin Air and Space Center, whose construction finished in April 2026 but which has no announced public opening date yet (the goal is before the 2028 Olympics). So come for the free hands-on floors, not the shuttle.