Greater Cleveland Aquarium

Reviews 6

AN

Anne Evans

The one-time admission price is really high, but a membership is a great deal for locals. For $20, you can go once, but for $50 you can go all year (plus you get free parking. Paying for parking is hard to swallow on top of the one time admission fee!). Kids under two are free. Adding a kid to an annual membership is $25. A one time admission for a kid is $14. If you go more than once a year, its worth the membership. I bought a membership on my first visit and my daughter and I have gone a lot over the past year. Its not usually crowded and its a lovely and peaceful place to hang out for a while. My daughter literally learned how to walk here. There are a number of opportunities to interact with the animals. Theres an animal encounter every day, tortoises whose shells you can touch, a touch pool with cleaner shrimp and a huge tank of rays to pet and feed. Theres a question and answer session with a diver in the big shark aquarium every day, and the staff are always friendly and willing to answer questions. The powerhouse building itself is fun to explore and is really an awesome setting for the aquarium. Its especially cool to see the jellyfish in the base of one of the plants old smokestacks. Theres a play area upstairs with books and some toys and crafts. It doesnt feel fully utilized, but it isnt really necessary to the enjoyment of the aquarium anyway. Theres a cafe upstairs, which is a fairly disappointing offering. The decor and setting are awesome, but the food is overpriced and underwhelming (think reheated frozen pizza and hotdogs). If youre paying $20 per person for a day at the aquarium, youd expect classier fare (or at least tastier food). If you get the membership, the aquarium is great. We love going. If not, its overpriced for what you experience in one visit.

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Greg Predmore

What it comes down to is why one chooses to go to the aquarium. True enough, one can go through quickly looking at different fish and leave disappointed. Going with our daughter and 7 year old grand daughter, we chose to take a closer look at the different exhibits. We compared the markings and shell shapes and types on the various species of turtles - painted, slider, box, Blandings, and others. We listened as staff members explained different exhibits and their habitats. We watched the large tortoises eat and try to push each other over. We were permitted to touch (2 fingers on the back rule) the tortoises, sea cucumbers, sea urchins, and others. We "pet" rays that swam around their tank and often came by to receive pets. Cleaner shrimp - well, youll have to find out about them for yourselves. I could have watched the sea horses and their very unique way of navigating for a longer period of time. The jellyfish mesmerised us (particularly as the background lights changed colors). We saw the difference between starfish, sea stars, and the octopus. Totally fascinating was the tube where various sharks and other fish swam beside us and above us. Looking at the shark straight in its eye and seeing the teeth that close was something I hadnt expected. I cannot say enough about the staff, the information they offered, and the questions they answered. I have no idea what it must cost to maintain such a facility with the large amount of fresh water and salt water animals, but we thought the admission fee was well worth it. Go prepared to spend time watching and learning. We spent over two hours there (without going to the cafeteria) and could have stayed longer. (I agree with the reviewer that didnt like the fake plants.)

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John Harchar

Most of the reviews I have read are from 4 months ago so I assume much has changed since that time. They must be investing the entrance fee back into their operations. I went on Friday and walked right in, only a few people ahead of us and busloads of children leaving at that time. Perhaps just good timing. No, it’s not the biggest or the best aquarium I’ve seen but it is an enjoyable place for kids. Obviously they heard some of your complaints and corrected them. Such as, they do allow strollers, the tanks were all clean, they have a touch tank and the fish are not all small a la PetSmart. I was pleasantly surprised to see fresh water tanks with local fish that you’d find in lake Erie; Walleye, Yellow Perch, Striped Bass, Rock Bass, Sunfish, Etc. They also had many other varieties of fresh and salt water fish from all around the world. If I had gone by myself I would have spent much more time reading about the fish than I did. But with children in tow we spent more time in the petting tank and sea tube. The sea tube was a big draw, how often do you get to walk under a 6 foot shark or 3 foot ray? They do not offer any discounts other than Service Connected so it’s a bit pricey, but still an enjoyable afternoon.

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lisa gogol

took my son here for his forth birthday. he loved it. the tanks are beautiful. the exhibits are very well lit most with crystal clear water, which made for many wonderful photos. the space between exhibits has great flow and most rooms have plenty of space,(which is a plus for my husband and i who have crowd issues). staff was friendly and knowledgeable. everything was clean. they must have changed things since the earlier reviews were posted because we didnt see any real problem. the touch tank and tortoise exhibits were pretty cool and definitely caught my sons attention. two small complaints: the walk through sea tube didnt have much within view and the cafe was slightly expensive. 7 bucks for a personal peperoni pizza doesnt make me happy...however, best.pizza.ive tasted. no joke, fresh and delicious. id eat it every day if i could. my family and i were not disappointed and know that the heavy admission price is because its still new and requires a lot of upkeep. oh! and when you reach the jellyfish lifecycle wall, dont forget to look up! :)

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AL

Alyxandria Bronson

Very small and kind of tacky. I was very underwhelmed because when you approach the FirstEnergy Powerhouse, it looks like its going to be a huge exhibit, and then it turns out to be a basement fish collection. Most of the fish were hard to see because the tanks were at waist level and you had to stoop down to see them. Small info plaques with very little information on the animals inside or fun facts. Everything except for the shark tank was underwhelming. In fact, it was so small, my boyfriend and I bought a "sting ray feeding experience" for an extra $6 total, but it was for 1 hr 30 minutes after we arrived... we got through the entire exhibit, including time to stop and touch the sting rays (which was a free experience and they dont tell you that at the ticket booth), and walk through the shark tube twice, in 45 minutes, but they refused to refund the add-on tickets because we didnt want to wait around any longer. $20 admission + $6 parking = not worth your time or your familys. Boo!

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CO

Corey Samson

Im rating this not only on the aquarium itself but on the experience as well. Of all places I decided to propose to my girlfriend here, as she is a huge animal lover, and the atmosphere was beautiful and suited the moment. We got our picture taken at a green screen where the photographer, Henry, was very helpful in snapping some shots of my engagement. When we bought our pictures, Henry and his boss (didnt get his name!) decided to give us our pictures free. We thanked them both ten times but it felt inadequate so I figure I can at least leave a review that maybe they can one day see or someone above them so they can recognize their exceptional service. Aside from that, the aquarium was really nice, and there was a very knowledgeable young man in a small section telling us all about a species of turtle from Africa. So thankful for the staff and the nice trip to Cleveland to discover this and a few other attractions like R&R Hall of Fame, Christmas Story House and Museum, etc.

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