Outstanding place. Free to get in once they release the tickets about 6:30 a.m., get yours before 7:00 a.m. as they go fast. If you have a military or first responder ID you and your family can get in anytime. Because the history was during a dark time in U.S. history, I'm not sure it's appropriate for younger children. It is wheel chair accessible. We spent over 4 hours there and still didn't see everything. I like how it's laid out, how the timeline flows, from the lowest floor, the older time period, to the top floor, the more recent time period, a great way to end. The music and memories on the top floor were awesome, my time period.

This is hands down, one of the best Museums I have visited! Beautiful building, display, wonderful staff. The museum makes no compromise! The history found here are one's you won't find an today's school books. It's an important piece of history for Americans and others to learn. Highly recommended. Don't forget to visit the wonderful restaurant!

Very well done and very well attended. Go online and get your free passes as far in advance as possible. Same day and day before passes can be tricky. There are like 6 floors and a meditation pool. We broke it up in to an afternoon and a morning session, and totally glad we did it that way. The bottom floors have a plethora of content in varied mediums, including lots of actual writings from the periods. There are some very representative photos in the cafeteria dining room. Food was edible, but there were food trucks more or less surrounding the area with unlimited options.

It's hard to put this experience into words. Bring tissues. Tickets are still hard to get, but they are free. If you're online at 630am you can get same-day tickets, but they go super fast. If you're a veteran you can go without a ticket and bring 1 guest. Start at the bottom and work your way up. At 1130a there was no line, but by 1pm the line to get downstairs was almost an hour. We spent 4.5hrs and that felt like the right amount of time. Parking tip: The Ronald Regan building is the closest parking, but not cheap. We paid $25.

Objectively, an amazing museum. It is always very busy but not chaotic. You all move forward in the same direction and the general quietness despite the number of people present is very appropriate for the somberness of the downstairs exhibits. It's is all very powerful. As you move up, you notice people getting louder and there are smiles once you get to the upstairs exhibits which are more about the current African American culture. The whole experience is well worth seeing at the museum but you can spend many hours here.