Free San Diego Museum & Attraction Passes By way of Library Uncover & Go

Do you know your San Diego Public Library card is a key to unlocking free admission to a number of the metropolis’s hottest museums and points of interest?

It’s referred to as the Uncover & Go program. Since my husband didn’t have a library card, I had him apply for one to benefit from these San Diego reductions for a latest journey to Balboa Park. Right here’s the way it went.

Step 1: Get Your Free San Diego Public Library Card

Getting a library card is step one, and the method is surprisingly fast.

1. Begin On-line: Fill out the Non permanent On-line Library Card Registration kind on the San Diego Public Library web site. When you submit it, you’ll instantly obtain a short lived library card quantity.
2. Go to a Library Department: Subsequent, take your non permanent card quantity, a sound picture ID, and proof of your present handle (like a utility invoice in case your handle isn’t in your ID) to any San Diego Public Library location.

My husband arrived on the La Jolla department proper when it opened at 9:30 a.m. on a Friday. (That’s additionally normally when there’s the out there free avenue parking close to the doorway.) He offered his non permanent quantity and ID on the entrance desk and walked out with a everlasting library card in what he described as just some minutes.

Step 2: Discover the Free Sights Via Uncover & Go

Now that you’ve a library card, you possibly can entry the Uncover & Go program on-line.

• What it’s: This program gives San Diego Public Library cardholders with free day passes to numerous native museums and cultural points of interest.
• Taking part Sights: The record adjustments however sometimes consists of unbelievable locations like:
  • The New Kids’s Museum
  • Museum of Us
  • San Diego Museum of Artwork
  • San Diego Kids’s Discovery Museum
  • Skateworld
  • MCASD in La Jolla (tip: ages 25 and youthful are all the time free)
  • Mingei Museum
  • SDSU Athletics (these get reserved shortly)
  • and extra

Step 3: Reserve Your Free Passes

Utilizing the Uncover & Go web site is simple, but it surely does require superior planning. Not many points of interest have same-day and even next-day tickets.

1. Log In: You’ll want your library card quantity (discovered on the again of your card) and your PIN. If you happen to don’t have a PIN or forgot it, there’s a hyperlink on the login web page to set one up. My husband arrange his PIN throughout this step.
2. Browse Provides: As soon as logged in, you possibly can see which points of interest have passes out there on what dates.
3. Reserve: If you happen to discover an give you like, click on on it to order your move. You’ll be able to normally select between a cellular move or one you possibly can print at residence.

The web page you browse seems to be like this.

My husband printed a move for the San Diego Museum of Artwork a couple of week forward of his go to (extra on this under).

Necessary Suggestions

• Availability: Passes availability is restricted. It’s a good suggestion to examine the location recurrently and plan forward.
• Restrictions: Most presents have particular guidelines, equivalent to limits on how many individuals the move covers or how usually you possibly can reserve a move for a selected attraction. All the time learn the small print of every provide rigorously earlier than reserving.

Professional Tip: Mix Resident’s Free Tuesday with Uncover & Go

Balboa Park’s “Residents Free Tuesdays” program provides San Diego Metropolis and County residents free admission to pick museums every Tuesday of the month. Totally different museums take part on totally different Tuesdays, following a month-to-month rotating schedule. A legitimate picture ID exhibiting native residency is required free of charge entry.

My husband was headed to Balboa Park on the First Tuesday of the month. These are the free museums:

But it surely had been some time since he’d been to the San Diego Museum of Artwork, so he selected that as his Uncover & Go free attraction. Common admission to the museum would in any other case be $20.

All I heard about for the following two days was how he was capable of spend a day at Balboa Park visiting museums free of charge. Sure, he’s a historical past and artwork buff, but it surely does present the worth of mixing these two promotions. All you could do is:

1. Examine the Free Tuesday Schedule: See which museum(s) provide free admission on the particular Tuesday you propose to go. Do not forget that free entry generally has exclusions. For instance, the IMAX dome movie show at The Fleet isn’t included. You’d purchase a separate ticket in case you needed to see a film.
2. Examine Uncover & Go for Extra: Seek for passes out there on that very same Tuesday for a Balboa Park museum that will in any other case be full value.
3. Reserve Your Second Go.
4. Go to the Free Museums: Arriving early on Tuesdays is a good suggestion. We shoot for about 9:30-9:45 a.m. and park within the lot behind Fleet Science Middle.

By planning forward and checking each the Balboa Park Free Tuesday schedule and the Uncover & Go move availability, it’s straightforward to take pleasure in a free and enjoyable time out!