Georgia Aquarium

Reviews 3

ST

Stephanie Ryan

Wow....where do I begin. I spent quite a few hundred dollars for this visit. Purchased many prepaid tickets and was expecting an experience of a lifetime. "Experience" describes the exact opposite from what we had. The aquarium was allowed to become so overcrowded you could barely move. If you were lucky enough to even catch a glimpse of any of the aquatic displays, you would almost instantly be shoved aside by the next patron. I had approximately 6 strollers run over my feet within the first two hours of being there. Showed up for the dolphin celebration show....it was full and no longer permitting entry. Showed up for the 4D theater show....we were asked to leave because there were no more seats available and they would let in too many people. We went to the "touch zone" with the sting rays...and were promptly yelled at by a rather rude worker because the stingrays were on touch break. We gave up and went to go get food from their cafeteria. Cafeteria workers blocked the salad bar for 8 minutes while playing with the tomatoes. Finally stepped aside to let the line that had gathered get food. Eventually paid $30 for a "9 inch" pizza (actually measured 6.5 inches), two drinks, and a salad. Checked out with an even ruder cashier. Attempted to walk through the ocean voyager exhibit....gave up after 5 minutes of not moving because the tunnel was blocked by the crowds. Revisited the dolphin show and managed to grab a seat. The dolphins were amazing and the trainers were very professional. Moved along to our "penguin encounter" which is actually sitting in a group of 6 for 20 minutes watching the trainer interact with the penguin. We were allowed to touch the penguin one time on a single designated spot on the back to see what they felt like. The trainers were nice and professional, but the encounter is certainly not what was advertised and the "professional photo" was actually a random worker given an old camera. Not worth the $60/person (go to Myrtle Beach and pay the same amount to get a far better experience with Tigers). We were told 20 minutes until we could pick up our photos. 20 minutes later we were rushed aside at the picture kiosk saying they needed another 20 minutes. Got yelled at by someone at the drink stand for attempting to go into the refrigerated display to grab a drink. Apparently only the workers are allowed to go into thereafter you point out which drink you would like. Went back for the photos. They were blurry and out of focus. We were told we could purchase another photo if we didnt like those ones. We finally just gave up and left. What a horrible waste of money and completely NOT what was advertised. Do not waste your time or hard earned money here. Staff is rude, food is grossly overpriced, they do not monitor how many people are let in. Its more of a money grubbing tourist trap than an actual learning and interactive experience.

A

A Private User

We (our family of 3) had been planning for some time to make a trip to Atlanta to see the Georgia Aquarium. We read all the recent reviews and based our plans accordingly. We arrived at opening on Friday and were met by a string of no less than 8 school buses parked in front of the aquarium unloading. We were a little concerned but of course continued on our trip as planned. Parking at the aquarium was not a problem, as we prepaid with our tickets online, so we parked in the aquarium parking garage. There are reasonably priced alternative garages across the street if you need to find other parking. After a slight delay we were able to find the area that they called the entrance. They have a reception area inside the parking garage that looks like an entrance (it had a BIG sign that says “Georgia Aquarium” and large double glass entrance doors with carpet) with a gentleman sitting at a reception desk. But if you venture in there, he will send you on a short walk out to the street and around the corner to the actual entrance. We are still not sure what that was an entrance for… Despite all the school aged children unloading from the buses and lining up to enter, we quickly found the ticket booth and entered the facility. Maps were available at no cost, you can purchase an upgraded guide version but, we did just fine with the basic map. When you enter it opens in to a huge common hub area with all the individual exhibit entrances spaced along the wall. It is a nice and cleanly maintained facility and despite the large amount of buses that unloaded, it was not overly crowded. The teachers and administrators did a great job of managing the children and they were not the least bit out of control. We moved around and saw all the sites and finished in about an hour and half. This was surprisingly quick. We went back around to our favorite exhibits and burned about another 45 minutes. We had planned to be there all day or at least a half day. So for our trip, I would say the aquarium was very nice, but the cost of general admission plus parking (for what we received) was extreme. They charged us $26 (tickets climb steeply from there) for each adult and an unspeakable $19.50 for our 5 year old son. Also adding the additional cost of parking it was again overpriced. For those with kids I don’t want to leave out the extreme price of eating or drinking. All families with kids can understand that a little juice and snack is a staple for kids to tie them over to lunch. If you buy it at the aquarium you will spend close to the cost of another admission. For us, a little more money and we could have spent the day at Disney’s EPCOT Center. We would have gotten a great large aquarium view and all the other niceties that to be honest are a whole lot more fun and entertaining.

AN

Andrea Collins

This was one of the most depressing activities I have ever participated in. I came away feeling like a piece of my soul was missing. Seriously - Im all for kid-friendly educational entertainment. I have a 7-month-old, and I encouraged his babysitter to take him to the aquarium while I was working at a conference this week. Then, I attended a private reception at the aquarium that night. Lets leave aside the whole debate on whether or not facilities like this promote environmentalism or "educate the next generation." Heres what I saw: 1) Two whale sharks (the oceans largest(!) non-mammal), several manta rays and one large sea turtle crammed into a tank so shallow there was barely enough room for the animals to pass each other. They were clearly under stress in a tank designed to force them "up close" to the passing crowd. 2) Belugas. Wow, this one was enraging. What business does a small aquarium facility have housing multiple whales in an inadequate tank? I did some research and found that this organization has made a big show of its new "no wild caught" policy . . . AFTER contracting with Russian researchers to trap and ship 18 wild belugas. 18. WILD. Belugas. The plan? to force them to "interact" with visitors in a "discovery" activity. Come on. These are wild, intelligent animals that need miles and miles of open ocean to survive. Indeed, it turns out that the aquarium has a long history of Beluga deaths, including several adults and at least two infants since its program started. And in case you want to give them the benefit of the doubt (as I did), all you need to see is this quote (from a story in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution) to understand how little the emphasis is on anything but maximum exploitation of their animals to make money . . . “Everything lined up,” said Eric Gaglione, the aquarium’s vice president of zoological operations. He worked out an arrangement with Russia to trap the whales. “This could have been a good acquisition for us.” Beyond all of this, the practice of holding private events at this facility is depressing beyond belief. I walked in to attend my event and immediately encountered music that was so loud I could barely hear the people I was standing next too. The reverberations of the beat could be felt throughout the facility. Considering that they house several animals (whales/ dolphins) that have (a documented) and incredible sensitivity to sonic waves and reverberations, this is unforgivable. What are we teaching our kids exactly? That these lives are less real, less important . . . that they are disposable? That trapping another creature in a living hell of an existence is acceptable or justifiable for any reason? Im no activist, but yesterday I think I became one. Leaving that place, I felt deeply sad, ashamed and hollow.

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