Port Discovery (museum)

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Port Discovery is the name of a Inner Harbor, Baltimore, Maryland, children's museum that opened in 1998. Port Discovery was designed by Walt Disney Company and is 80,000 square feet (7,000 m²), making it the third largest children's museum in the United States. Port Discovery has received over 1 million visitors a year so far.

On July 17, 2004, 16 passengers and a crew member were stranded in a hot-air balloon for nearly two hours as a violent storm blew through the area. The balloon rides were an attraction on a site next door to Port Discovery. With the balloon 200 feet in the air, 50- to 60-mph wind gusts surprised the ride's operators, who were unable to lower the balloon. The wind nearly blew the balloon onto President Street and sent it crashing into a shed, while passengers in the steel gondola were tossed about. The balloon ride has been closed since then, and the city is considering new attractions for the site; Port Discovery is possibly considering using the site for a new attraction affiliated with the museum.

Port Discovery is located on the site of Baltimore's historic Fishmarket Building. The site briefly housed a 78,000-square-foot complex of dance and music clubs and restaurants called the "Fishmarket," although the endeavor was a failure, abruptly closing after having been open for less than a year (November 1988-July 1989).