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Fun, out of the box experience.

I was a little overwhelmed by all the memorabilia, but it was a lot of fun. We found 17 secret doors. My teenage daughter said it was one of her favorite experiences while visiting DC.

We attended on Girl Scout Day. My teenagers found the crowds overwhelming at times, but due to the nature of the mansion, we were always able to find a quiet spot to sit down and chill for a bit until they were both ready to return to exploring. We all agree that we'd love to come back and see if we can find more of the doors and secret compartments (the "doors" for tinkerbell). We found 18 but at least 5 of those were from other people coming through them as we approached. If we come again we're going to bring a notebook so we can keep a running tally of some of the things we spot. Next time we will also bring our lunch with us to eat in the garden. We didn't realize that was an option and left our picnic in the car to eat on the way home.We were a little disappointed that half of the garden was inaccessible due to the repairs needed to the pool, but we commend the staff for ensuring that safety of guests was a priority. Perhaps in the future some restructuring can take place to allow additional points of entry to the garden to avoid this issue. It would also have been nice if the introductory video, or the guide at the entrance, mentioned the buttons throughout the exhibit that could be pushed for information about the displays. Given the eclectic nature of the museum, we didn't realize that those were functional until we were about half way through our explorations. A mention of them and the need to be quiet enough to hear them, could go a long way towards making busy group days like Girl Scout Day more pleasant for everyone. Sometimes chaperones need guidance like that to be able to "blame" the need for quieter behaviour on the event when encouraging their charges to be respectful of others. Overall it was an outing we enjoyed and we heartily recommend it to others.

We had a great time at the O street mansion! There were so many cool nooks and crannies, and each room had a fun flair to it. We will definitely be visiting again!