You will enjoy this aquarium if you do two things: forget how much you just paid for it and lower your expectations if you have been to other major aquariums.
We finally went to the aquarium on Father's Day (dads got in free!) because we felt we could justify the cost. I ended up leaving with an annual pass so I guess they won me over. This is a great aquarium for young children who are easier to entertain. They have a variety of local fish as well as fish from around the world. I enjoyed the cylinder tanks as opposed to everything being in rectangular tanks. It did make my head hurt after awhile.
The tortoise exhibit was pretty neat as we could've touched them if we wanted. The staff are all really nice and encourage you to ask more questions. I was really impressed by the final exhibit. They have one of those tanks you can walk through. They have some pretty large sharks and I got a good look at those teeth! I was frightened when I walked by the end and saw a person in the tank!! We missed most of the Q&A session but I'm hoping to catch that next time. My other favorite part was the jelly fish and just seeing the colored lights.
My son loved the sting rays! You could also touch these if you'd like (I passed on that as well). The sting rays are in a big circular tank so they basically race round and round so the repetition was perfect for my 9 month old.
I ended up getting the annual pass because I'm going to have more time to go in the near future, but probably would not have if I was going to continue working full time. It is an expensive trip, especially if you are paying admission for several people. However, it's worth at least one trip and it works well if you are planning on having lunch on the other side of the flats.