Loveland Living Planet Aquarium — Attraction in Draper

Website and Customer Service Review

Originally 1 star, updated to 4. Update is at the end.

My wife and I both work full-time, but we wanted to visit the aquarium for a date night. When I went to order tickets, there was an entire section about Monday night Family Night where it says they are open until 8:00 PM on Mondays for this and offer $5 off of tickets. Sounded like a great opportunity. Though, when I went to select a date in that feature, it said there were no dates available. But the text literally says "We offer $5 Off Family Night every Monday from 4:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m". So I decided we didn't need the $5 off, and I would just order regular admission tickets for a Monday night and we'd go after work. During the order process, it wasn't clear to me that the tickets would be valid for the 10:00 - 5:00 time only, even on a Monday. It wasn't until after I paid for them and got the tickets sent to me that I saw the limit of 5:00 PM specified. I did this on a Sunday ordering tickets for the next day.

When I realized my error, I thought that a simple phone call and explanation would allow me to get a refund or at least reschedule the tickets for another day. I saw they were open on Sunday, so I gave their phone number a call. There was no answer and they requested I leave a message. I did so, explaining my situation and asking to speak with a representative to explore options. Now 24 hours later, and I have not gotten a return call. Today (Monday), the day of my tickets, I also called multiple times, trying each of the options their computer gives, just hoping to talk to someone. Nothing. I see that they have a "Send an Email" option in the contact section of their website. I selected that, and nothing happened! So now I'm stuck. My wife and I can't use our tickets for today because of work, and I'm afraid the day will pass without me being able to reschedule them because I can't get a hold of anyone!

I really enjoyed my childhood experiences at this aquarium, so it pains me to give a 1 star, but this website is not built very well. It sends mixed messages regarding Monday night availability. If they aren't offering that anymore, then that section should be taken down completely, or at least a notice shown that it's not offered currently. Also, the link for emailing them is broken. These are simple things that they should be on top of.

Additionally, you can't even get a hold of customer service! That's unacceptable. They need to have people on the phones. I called twice during hours on two different days, and nothing. They asked me to leave a message, implying they will call me back, and I get no call. I find this to be very low quality customer service.

So my recommendation: Make absolutely sure you know what you're doing before putting payment information into their website, because if you end up having a problem, your money is most likely down the drain.

UPDATE: The reply I received from my review gave me an email to reach out to, which I did, and a representative named Ashley helped me out and was very good to work with. She explained why the website was a bit confusing (winter light show project), and was clear about the options and flexible with me, as well as generous in her offer. I was able to reschedule the tickets with her for a day that worked, and my wife and I visited on that Saturday and had a wonderful experience at the aquarium.

Thanks to the company's efforts, the experience overall became positive for my wife and I. We will definitely be visiting again...

Loveland Living Planet Aquarium is a MUST visit if you are in the Northern Utah area. I will start with my only two gripes about it before I spill my praises. The first is the ticket prices. They are not cheap at just over $20 per person. If possible, you should buy in advance for the discounts. The other gripe I had was with the EECO Voyager experience. It does come free with admission, and younger children may enjoy it. That does not make up for the incredibly poor visual quality of the headsets, which completely threw me out of the "4D" experience. It was also very short. Again, it was free with admission. Now, I must spill my praises for the aquarium. The first is an overall comment. The sheer amount of information you learn here is incredible. Every exhibit in every section of the building has information about the animals, including their endangerment status, diet, location, and more. It is both educating and interesting to learn about. Now, to the sections, which you can skip to the end for if you don't want to know what sections there are or just want a final opinion. The first section my family visited was the South America exhibit, which was not the most memorable and yet is still absolutely beautiful. The plant life surrounding you is stunning. Birds also fly in the exhibit. The snakes are fascinating. The caimans were also amazing to see. The sloths on our visit were hiding away but were still neat to see. The best part of South America was the bright, colorful, and deadly Posion Tree/Dart frogs. The next exhibit was the Asian exhibit. This one featured a multitude of amazing mammals, including Clouded Leopards and Binturong, and others like the Komodo Dragon and Vine Snake. The next exhibit was the Utah exhibit. Easily, the most memorable part of it is the otters, which I could watch for hours as they zoom everywhere. The next was the Penguin Research Station. This will have your kids entertained and you as well. The penguins are adorable because they relax in the holes in the wall or swim in the deep of the pool, which you can see from a different angle further down the exhibit. Last but not least is the Ocean Explorer. It features stunning jellyfish, touch pools (including stingrays), and the shark exhibit (also including stingrays. There is no greater sight than seeing a stingray and a bull shark swim above you whilst you are underneath in a tube. If you can not tell by the rambling, this place has a lot to offer. Overall, Loveland Living Planet Aquarium will have your whole family enthralled. The unique animals and the boatload of information you can learn about them is amazing. The experience is unmatched, and all throughout, you will learn more than you could ever imagine. Once you are done, you can also relax outside and take your children to the playground. Make sure to visit this place at least once if you can, and if you have, go again! There is always something you catch the second, third, etc. time you didn't...

I love bringing my children here at least once a year! Their favorite exhibits include Ocean Explorer (where you get to touch the mantra rays, starfish, sea anemones and sea urchins- then walk through the shark tunnel with a jaw dropping view. They want to spend about an hour at the outside area, especially in the summer when the water features are running. There’s two playgrounds there and zip lines! My favorite things there are the poison dart frogs- it’s always so fun to try to find all the tiny, jewel-like hidden varieties. I really love the penguins (they are super enjoyable to watch above or under the water). The jellyfish and sea horses are other hidden gems to me.

We got to try the new VR experience for the first time- it’s included in admission. You pick a time and then you need to check in five minutes before your show time in the little door by the zip lines outside. It’s right under what my children call “the giant white octopus”. It was worth keeping track of the time for! My five year old was scared and tried to back out several times, but once the experience started he realized it wasn’t scary and relaxed. Everyone enjoyed it! I get motion sickness very easily from VR, as long as you close your eyes while your “traveling through space” in a crazy light tunnel, you should be fine. Now- the price is pretty steep. Here’s some things you can do to get cheaper tickets. First, book in advance. If you book several weeks before you’ll get about 6 or 7 dollars off. Second, children in pre-k through sixth grade can get a free admission each year by completing the PBS Kids yearly reading challenge in the month of November (they need to read twenty minutes each day in November). They get a ticket to the aquarium, but also the Hogle Zoo, Red Butte Gardens, Tracy Aviary, Thanksgiving Point, Discovery Gateway Museum, Museum of Natural History- and a bunch more! Totally worth it to do a quick Google search and...