Houston Interactive Aquarium & Animal Preserve — Attraction in Aldine

Edit Update: Final Edit. Very cool experience for the kiddos. My kid absolutely loves the stingray experience and the birds area. The only cons imho, while some animals seem to be living their best lives, like the stingrays and the fish in that specific sting ray tank, some of the others, I just can't imagine they're happy. There's not enough space for it. The penguins are in a space no bigger than a small childs bedroom. There's a small body of water that is no bigger than one of those toddler kiddie pools you'd buy at Walmart. And neither it or their area is ever all that clean. They kind of just sit there, no playing, and there's no way to swim. Would be nice to imagine that at the end of the work day they're able to be let out to go enjoy some open space. But there is no outside space for them to go. Same thing for the otters. Even smaller space for them. & There's no space for them to swim at all. One giraffe and Idk, I'm no animal whisperer but he seems really lonely to me. They do actually seem to have enough outdoor space for him, but no other giraffes for him to socialize with. Same thing for the Camel. Though they did try to put a donkey in there with it. From my understanding these animals are very social, herd animals. So it doesn't make sense that they'd have one of each, no real companion or herd for it, of its kind. I wish places like this could exist but also atleast try to make SURE the animals have the best chance to be happy in the circumstance. Im not pro peta shutting down all the petting zoos, but from this, I can see how there should be SOME standards the petting zoos would have to adhere too, making sure each enclosure truly has enough space to be comfortable,should definitely be one. And animals that are water animals, should definitely have atleast a community center outdoor pool-sized set up to swim back and forth in. Some major animal lovers don't like the idea of the public interacting with animals at all. But honest opinion, it seems like getting affection from the public is all some of these animals have to look forward to.

Outstanding concept, very friendly and helpful staff, it would be top notch if some how to space issue could be adjusted. Nit seeing as there's a company to their left and another to their right, I dont see that happening. Even if they truly wanted to.

I honestly do imagine that those in charge of the place are trying to do their best with the space they have. I wish someone could figure out spacing and like companions for those animals that are herd animals though.

And I'll leave my rating at 4 out of 5. 49.99 for 12 months is a steal. And it's so many things to do and so many animals to interact with and see, we couldn't even get to them all on this first visit. Happy to know that it wasn't all for nothing and now every time we come for the rest of the year we get in for free 😁

And yes there is still a little fee when you want to feed and interact with some of the really exotic animals, but imho, there are still many animals that are covered with your pass, free of charge, that the deal is still a pretty sweet deal imho.

Kiddo loved the bounce houses. And that play space came free with the pass. I love that there was no time limit or line for that. My baby was able to run to this one and that one without limitation until his little heart was content lol.

With other spaces that have petting zoos, all of their animals are outside. I love that this place has soo many animals indoors and outdoors, and so much to entertain yourself with inside. That way when Houstons brutal Summers come we can still have fun without being miserable.

I definitely plan to come again. Loved seeing the Camel and feeding it, the giraffe and playing with the turtles. Most of all I love how delighted my kid was, and knowing that for the rest of the year, I can take him out for some out of the house fun, even on days I'm broke lol.

Added pics, but they don't do the place justice. Rating the place a 10 out of 10. We'll be...

Well of course we went on the first day of their soft grand opening. And they were obviously still working on getting things finished and opened. I don’t believe we ever received our admit two free tickets with our membership. I have tried to contact them and ask if they are uploaded to your membership or if we were supposed to be handed the tickets when we received our membership, but unfortunately we never received a reply. I was asking because the young lady helping us was having issues with the system and finding our membership. It turned out the computer she was using was not working at the moment and we had to go to another booth. And I know our child was being impatient and she just handed us our membership and sent us on our way as soon as she was able to find our membership and have it activated.

Regardless of all that, we did have fun! My son enjoyed it! And insisted we bring him back. My sister ended up buying her own membership the following week for her family after seeing some of the pictures my husband took. And the membership pays for itself, if you have a family of 5 that’s about the cost of the tickets to get in without a membership at the 1/2 price membership they are running right now. And you get to return as many times as you want within a year without having to pay that same amount every time just to get in. Plus it includes a 10% off at the souvenir shop and free unlimited access to the bounce houses. Among other special membership offers.

Of course the other attractions like feeding or interacting with the sloths and kangaroos along with the other numerous animals is an extra added expense. But with the membership you just save for your interactions the most expensive being the sloth interaction. But the rest ranging at 30 credits to 240 credits. With that being said we purchased their best offer which was 1000 credits which gives you an additional 500 bonus credits free = 1500 credits total for $100 +Tax. And whatever credits you don’t use remain on your membership for your next visit. Our child is indecisive and as we were walking in and went to the bathroom they decided that they wanted to add credits to our membership for the interactions, so we turned around to add them on. But as we walked around and asked if they wanted to participate in any interactions they were all of a sudden too scared and changed their mind. 🤦‍♀️

We were very impressed with how true they tried to keep with the natural habitats of each animal and even the care of the plants of each habitat. They were very specific to detail.

We absolutely love this place so far!

I would also suggest if you’re coming from the northwest on the Beltway, make sure you exit one exit before Lee Rd. which is the JFK exit I believe. And you will see the giant wooden Lemur on your right.

Google Maps tells you to exit on Lee Rd. And to continue going down the feeder, which makes you overshoot the Houston Aquarium & Animal Adventure, and eventually tells you you’ve arrived at...

Man what can I say...this place and the staff members deserve a raise and about 100 more stars. This was a last minute trip due to our original plans of going to the big bounce house of America being canceled. So my daughters said they wanted to go to a zoo. And I'm truly grateful we came across this place. From the very moment during our ticket purchase the young man was closing his window and opened it back up just so we could purchase our tickets to get in. He was extremely nice I thought it was hidden camera or prank how nice he was. But I discovered he is just a really nice human being/employee. You all did such a wonderful job with your hiring each employee we came across from the beginning to the end was extremely nice. And we came so last minute it was 7ish when came so we were rushing. I know how it is to have people come in last minute and wanting to go home but the staff was not rushing us at all. The sweet lady by the penguins where we go to purchase tickets was so wonderful and helpful as well not to mention the lady we passed by feeding the giraffe and the incredible sweet nice young with the goats she was feeding Simon at first she even allowed my daughters to go pet the goats. I mean I would give this place and the employees a million dollars each if I had it because they were so awesome and kind and caring did not rush us at all. As a single mom this really was the highlight to our mini vacation which we don't get to go to often because of my job and me and the girls are in school. This was our first trip to Houston and I must say the staff members located at this zoo make me want to move there and work for you all. I feel like I'd be happy coming to work everyday and leaving happy😁 I can tell the staff members love what they do. Their interactions not only with the guests but each other was well respectful. We will definitely be coming back and sharing this wonderful experience with everyone. This place should be packed everyday with this awesome staff. I can't believe I'm about to say this but the staff here is better than Raising Canes and Chick fil a combine. The staff here would run circles around them with it comes down to customer service. Thank you all so much I which I remember their names but I know the date was March 15 around 710pm to 8 which is you all closing shift and the young man had on a dark green work shirt and the women had yellow shirts on I hope your able to find the staff members I'm talking about and give them a raise and take them out to dinner! They really do deserve it. Thank you all again for making our experience the best. We will be back....