SEA LIFE Michigan Aquarium

4316 Baldwin Rd, Auburn Hills, MI 48326, USA

Address:	4316 Baldwin Rd, Auburn Hills, MI 48326, USA
Phone:	+1 866-622-0605
Site:	visitsealife.com
Rating:	3.5
Working:	10AM–8PM 10AM–8PM 10AM–8PM 10AM–8PM 10AM–8PM 10AM–8PM 10AM–5PM

Location

Photos 100

Reviews 4

Gwen Farrand

My 4 year old son really enjoyed the aquarium. He had a great time with all the portholes and bubbles. And the exhibits are really well tailored to little ones. I, however, was very disappointed with the value of this attraction and the experience in general. We didnt pre-purchase and waited in the walk up line. We only waited about 10 minutes but during that time 7 families walked away. There were 2 registers open and the cashiers were reasonably quick. But anytime someone was in the pre-purchase line they would completely stop with the walk ups. I understand that they have priority but I feel it would be a better experience to have one register dedicated to pre-purchased tickets and one to walk ups. As the pre-purchase transactions were significantly faster they could still have priority and both sets of customers would feel equally valued. I was most disappointed with the value of the tickets. I feel the price point of admissions is unrealistic. I purchased 2 adult tickets and 1 childs at right around $70. I dont even know what to say about a $20 childs ticket. Honestly, the only reason I even bought the tickets was because I was already there and had told my son we could go. So for $70 we got about an hour of entertainment. We even sat down a few times and played in the play area for a bit. Ive been to other aquariums with similar price points but they were significantly larger and had much more impressive exhibits. For example, admission to the Shedd Aquarium is only about $10 more per person and includes an oceanarium and aquatic show or a year membership at the Detroit Zoo for a family of 8 is $80. I was also unhappy with the amount of information available at the exhibits. They had nice interactive touch screens but they often only featured a few of the species in the exhibit. They were also nearly impossible for an adult to get to due to their position on the wall and the amount of people. It would have been nice to at least have some nameplates with pictures a little higher up. I was asked if I would like to purchase a guide book at the front desk but as I was already in a bit of sticker shock I declined. It was a bit of a low blow to discover that only minimal info was available inside after such a high admission. On top of that the playscape was pretty sad. Our local McDonalds has a bigger one. It wasnt even ocean themed. I have no idea why they bothered. The space could have been used for something better like a decent coral display. I really wanted to like this place. I love aquariums and was very excited to have one open so nearby but this was very disappointing and I wont be taking my family there again.

Lisa Koski

I recently had my son’s Birthday party at Sea Life. I would not recommend this place to host a Birthday party, especially on the weekends! The entire planning process was extremely disorganized so I should not have expected anything less the day of the party. First of all, the party host, although extremely nice and helpful when setting up the food and drinks, was not very creative when it came to games that were to be played with the kids. Several weeks prior to the event I provided the ages of all the children that were attending so the party coordinator could come up with crafts and games to play that were age appropriate. Unfortunately this was not the case. I was asked what kind of games I thought would be good to play. I have no idea, which is why the party coordinator was hired. So, long story short, we ended up playing no games and the kids just ran around the room. Secondly, when it was time to visit the aquarium we stepped in and it was insanely hectic and crowded. I thought Sea Life restricted ticket sales so the patrons could actually enjoy their visit and view the sea life? This was absolutely not the case. I understand that weekends are peak times to visit the aquarium but the crowd was just ridiculous. Half of my party ended up leaving because they couldn’t even walk through; there were so many people. Lastly, the bathroom situation for the guests that hold parties in the party room was unreasonable. To use the bathroom, guests had to go down flights of stairs or an elevator, several different hallways and then through the aquarium. My 86 year old Grandmother got lost and somehow ended up outside of the aquarium. When she tried to get back in she was told “NO” by an employee, even though she stated she was with a Birthday party and got turned around trying to find the bathroom. They accused her of trying to “sneak in for free”. This was very rude and I cannot believe this is how they handled this! I had to leave the middle of the aquarium, fight through crowds, just to meet my Grandmother up front to tell the employee she was with my party. Overall, the sea life aquarium is very nice but I am highly disappointed with the events that took place during my son’s party. I will not recommend any of my friends or family to host events there until they get more organized.

Chrystal Mahan

My besite and I decide to take a trip to the Sea Life Michigan aquarium. I had been wanting to go since it opened, but it was so busy at the time, I felt it best to just wait until the excitement wore down a little bit. The aquarium isnt a zoo, so dont expect to be walking around for hours and hours. It is also meant more for kids, so dont expect to have a lot of the fun things up at adult level. It would have been nice to have a few of those fun looking glass tanks up at adult level. Despite that, we did enjoy ourselves. There is plenty to gaze at in wonderment. I know one reviewer mentioned the amount of kids, and while we had a lot of them around us, we learned that if we were just patient and watched the creatures in their tanks and just took our time, the waves of kids would pass. I mean, their attention to each exhibit doesnt last as they get excited to to move on to the next thing. I really enjoyed the large aquarium with the sharks and turtle. It was enjoyable to just sit and watch them go around you as well as above your head. I found it to be quite relaxing. One of the things I really enjoyed was hearing about the Breed. Rescue. Protect. project. Often we hear about zoos, circus and other animal establishments where animals are taken our of their natural homes and forced to live by human standards for our enjoyments. Sea Life is not like that. Benson, the turtle you can see floating around is actually a rescue. Sea Life Michigan is also big on watershed cleanup and helping the Great Lakes. I think everyone should come see the Sea Life Michigan aquarium at least once for the experience. Life is all about experiences and making memories. This could be a great one for you.

JENNA NEILL

Great for younger children, as it is basic and gives them a thrill. My son who is 4 enjoyed having things at his level. For my daughter who was 10 and myself it was very boring and basic. I would have appreciated some more information and it would have been nice to have some fun facts that were easier to see when my kids had questions about what they were looking at in the tanks. Another downside is that when there are crowds around some of the smaller tanks you get pushed through. I would really like to have gotten a better view of the octopus tank as well. I know they like to have the dark areas, but the tank is so small that had the staff not walked by when they did we never would have known there was an octopus in the tank. I realize that this is a smaller aquarium, but there are a lot of details that could be added to make it better. For a 2 hour drive I cannot say it was worth the value that I was hoping for, but the fish were healthy and active and it was clean. On another note; the staff at the front desk need to be sure that they are all aware of training procedure and are all on the same page when people who purchase tickets online come in. It took 30 minutes for me to get access to the aquarium even after verifying names because the gentleman at the counter was insistent that my credit card number was not the same credit card, so I was turn away 3 different times before I finally got to speak with a manager. Needless to say I was already a little upset before I even got to walk in to see any of the fish, but overall it turned out to be an ok experience.