Even if you never plan to visit the WNC Nature Center in Asheville, NC…you’ll want a membership, especially if you have kids! The value of the WNC Nature Center Membership lies in the free admission you’ll receive to hundreds of zoos, aquariums, and science centers across the United States!
My family has been to the WNC Nature Center once, but we’ve had a membership for almost 10 years! Crazy…right?! Not exactly.
What is Reciprocity Membership Mean
The WNC Nature Center is part of the ASTC and AZA reciprocity programs. This means that by having a membership to the WNC Nature Center, you can get reciprocity admission to ALL of the other zoos, aquariums, and science centers that also participate in those programs. Usually admission is reduced to a 50% discount or is entirely FREE! Yes, FREE!
A family membership for the WNC Nature Center can be purchased online and costs less than $100 a year. So I didn’t have to go there to get our membership…it’s all digital. Then you just show your membership card at any participating AZA (zoos and aquariums) or ASTC (science museums) location and you’ll get in free or for 50%.
How does the Free and Discounted Admission Work
This week we renewed our family membership to the WNC Nature Center because I knew we were going to the Greensboro Science Center. The Greensboro Science Center offers a 50% discount for AZA participating memberships. Since I knew it was going to cost us $60 in admission I went ahead and renewed our membership so we would get 1/2 off admission. So we saved $30 off admission for myself and my 2 kids to go. It doesn’t sound like much…but it adds up quickly….just watch.
Next week, we’re going to the Museum of Life and Science in Durham, NC. Admission is normally $24 for adults and $19 for kids which would cost us $62 to go. But, they are part of the ASTC reciprocal admission, so we’ll get free admission when we visit. Now we’re up to $92 in savings which makes our WNC Nature Center membership a break even.
Later this summer we plan on taking a trip to the Outer Banks of North Carolina where all 3 North Carolina aquariums offer 50% off through the AZA reciprocity. We’ll also be traveling down to Florida for a week and plan on using our member benefits at several of the science centers that offer free admission through the ASTC. Then in the fall we’ll probably do a day trip down to Columbia, SC to visit Riverbanks Zoo which offers 50% reciprocity through the AZA.
Since there are over 350 zoos, aquariums, and science centers that participate in these programs across the US, Canada, Mexico, and a couple of other worldwide locations…the value we get from the WNC Nature Center is worth far more than planning multiple visits (if any) to Asheville to visit it.
Just note that if you have a participating facility close to you, they probably won’t allow you to do the discount. The rule of thumb is, if you live within 90 miles of the location you don’t get the discount. But, that’s not always the case…it really depends on who you get at the ticket counter. It never hurts to ask!
Do I Have to Live in North Carolina to Use This?
Since everything is now digital, you don’t have to live in North Carolina to take advantage of these savings! Having a membership to the WNC Nature Center is easy to set up and will save you tons of money in the long run.
Just give yourself 24 hours before you want to use the reciprocity because it does have to be approved during regular WNC Nature Center business hours. But once it’s approved it’s immediately accessible through the Membership app and able to be used at over 350 participating locations.
How to Know Which Locations Participate
Not every zoo, aquarium, and science center participates in the reciprocity programs from the AZA and ASTC. You can easily check the latest list of sites through these links:
- AZA Participating Zoos & Aquariums (it will tell you whether they offer 50% or 100% discount)
- ASTC Participating Science Centers (all of these offer free reciprocal admission)