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| - I have been dying to check out the aquarium and was really excited to get the chance to go today! I will start by saying that I may have had unrealistic expectations about the experience - I was expecting more from a place that calls itself the largest aquarium in the Southwest. Don't get me wrong, it is a really cool experience, but it didn't have the WOW factor I was hoping for.
1. The staff is EXTREMELY friendly, but I was expecting a little more staff interaction. There were only a few areas where staff members were present to answer questions or give information (otters, piranhas, and the carousel) other than that it is very much self guided. I would have liked to have seen someone near the "touch pool" area to explain what we were seeing or near the penguins and the sloth.
2. Speaking of penguins, that was a terrible exhibit. Honestly, one room with one window and the glass was so dirty you couldn't really get a good look.
3. Don't skip the 3D movie, that was REALLY cool.
4. The carousel was pretty cool, and the first portion of it where the diver was in the tank and interacting with the speaker was a lot of fun. I would have liked to have seen a live speaker in each "portion" to interact with the audience and answer questions. The narration is kind of corny. The sea turtle part lost my interest right away because you couldn't see any turtles! A live speaker would have been able to point them out. Kudos to the guy that did the introduction, you totally got my mom and brother to look for their seat belts! LOL
Overall I had a lot of fun. I think the "more" that I was hoping for was a little more of an educational experience. I was also very pleasantly surprised that it wasn't super crowded for a Saturday afternoon/evening. I do have to mention, this place isn't cheap. At basically $35.00 a ticket it cost me around $200.00 for my family. That is extremely high in my opinion. It isn't somewhere I can see myself visiting very often, but I would like to check it out in a year or so to see any changes since it is still fairly new.
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