SeaQuest Utah — Attraction in Layton

My experience here today was so bad I’d like to call the mall management about it as well. I preferred the experience here with the previous owners much more however, I’m not gonna give them a bad rating because of the changes they’ve implemented. I understand there are reasons for those changes and although the parakeets were my favorite part, I understand that the new owners don’t allow interactions with them. I will, however, give a bad rating for the lies or misleading sales pitches. I think they owe us a refund of our annual passes, even though we got them on sale. We had come here for years and when we came back earlier this year, they couldn’t find our annual membership we subsequently bought new ones. Again, I’m fine with that. I understand that the previous owners give out a lot of free memberships to teachers, and the new owners are much stricter about that however, our first visit under the new owner ownership was very pleasant while we had to get new passes. They told us they would honor any of the guest passes we had left over as well as any feeding tokens through June They even gave us four new guest passes, which I gave to a friend and suggested they come because of the wonderful experience we had. We came back today with my parents (The grandparents) My siblings and some nieces and nephews. My daughter and I have a pass as as my sister and my nephews and my brother. I went ahead and paid for my wife’s pass and asked if the grandparents could use the guest pass and certificate of achievement passes we had. They told us no they no longer accept the guest pass, even though they had already told me they would. They then told me they would accept the certificate of achievement pass, but in our situation, they wouldn’t because it has to be redeemed by an adult and a child and my child who is seven didn’t need to redeem it since she has an annual pass. So we then asked if our nephew who brought his certificate of achievement pass could redeem it with grandpa and they told us no because he’s 15. I find that to be a little absurd because the school gave him the pass as an award so why are they saying it’s not valid because he’s too old? But also that argument doesn’t make any sense because my daughter is seven and they wouldn’t accept it for her either. Mind you they both had their own separate certificate of achievement passes. My brother has one of their newer passes, asked if he could use his free membership guest pass for one of the grandparents. They told him no because he should have said that when he checked in, but he wasn’t planning on needing to use it because we had all of our guest passes. The sign in front of us clearly stated that the annual membership allows unlimited visits for 365 days so even on a technicality, they should be able to let him have his guest pass. He can come in as many times as he wants. But also These people didn’t come in after us. Our whole family was standing there at the register talking through this, they should’ve just let grandma come in. After my sister argued with them and finally got a manager to speak with her, they let her son in with his pass however, they did not let the adults in with the other passes we have. In total, we had three older passes that should have admitted five people and one newer pass. Of the six people we should have been able to admit they only honored one. We ended up paying for three other people, but I doubt we’ll ever come back. Which is a shame because we’ve loved this place for years and we just bought 5 annual passes earlier this year.

On a sidenote, I did have a problem with the cashier lady. My assumption is she just wasn’t trained well she kept asking me to stand aside while my wife filled out forms so that she could help other people however, I was trying to buy food. I also tried to book Animal experiences with my daughter who was already checked in and she just kept telling us to step aside, so I got back in line and waited till the one person behind us checked in and then asked her if I could book my...

This place is ruined under new management. Anyone else who is upset, please leave a review explaining why - not just under the old SeaQuest name for prior customers to find, but especially under their new name "Layton Aquarium and Wildlife Encounters". I don't think the new owners realize yet how many of their local/loyal customers they are losing, I'm rooting for them to get their act together as I don't want to lose this place. That said, for now and probably at minimum 3 months if not forever, this place is no longer worth going to.

They basically told me we're lucky they're honoring the annual passes we bought just 2 months ago, because initially they weren't. The perks that came with that membership are gone though, such as guest passes - they told us if we still had paper tickets we could use those, but we've never been given any. Tokens are gone, and they aren't honoring the $50 or so already bought. We were instead forced to pay for $10 wrist bands each for the day, but were promised it's actually a cheaper and better deal because "all of the encounters are included". Issue is, ultimately, none were available. Not only did they depart from the on demand and go-at-your-own place model with the food out in vending machines, but the few things that had scheduled times like parakeets had the availability slashed (those went from every 30min to 2hr intervals between feedings). I asked before going in which feedings were available, and they listed only 2 which were scheduled, and said everything else would have times listed. They don't. The two that were scheduled didn't have any staff manning them. Where this place used to be packed this time of day (and yet managed effectively with self-service), now we only saw 2 groups and they were just waiting alone outside of the supposed scheduled encounters. We waited for 10min at each before giving up. We were also promised the chance to feed the sturgeon and the sharks according to the wristband schedule, but each was 20-30min late. Our guests had given up and were leaving when we saw the staff member finally rushing through with the food. I raced after her, but the other 3 members of my party had strollers and kids and didn't make it. I witnessed them use up all the food meant for everyone with wristbands in just seconds for the couple of kids that just happened to be nearby, and it was all gone before my party got around the corner in time to see her rush off to the sharks to do it all over again, and they again missed it. We left without getting to do a single encounter, after having the pleasure of waiting a half hour for nothing and getting to pay much more to do so. I can't blame the 1 staff since the feeding and encounter were scheduled at the same time. I asked on the way out what we did wrong and was told we needed to ask the staff members to do the encounters with us. Not only were there no available staff that we ever saw, but the couple we did see were late to everything and wouldn't have time for us even with us being one of the only groups in the place. I saw other reviews who had the same experience. The staff had no answer to this, and could only acknowledge that most of the staff was laid off. I asked when to expect more staff, to which they said they're under a hiring freeze for the next 90 days. Maybe things will improve once they can potentially hire new staff, but frankly even still, none of this is sustainable under the new policies. $10 is too expensive for 2 encounters at best in the time someone would generally spend here.

My family used to come every 2 weeks and spent a ton in tokens. We're not the only ones. It's become very scammy, and they're disappointing their regular local customers that were likely the primary income source. SeaQuest went bankrupt, and we're worried at this rate it'll go out of business completely under the new management. We will be calling back to see if the policies have changed in a few months before considering spending money here again. RIP to a great place to entertain kids and out of...

I'm happy for aquariums to just have fish.

That's completely fine with me. You can even have bugs in there too. What we don’t need is mammals, birds, or large reptiles squeezed into a mall space. Trying to include them here does more harm than good. There's just not enough space, and it doesn’t feel ethical or well thought out.

One of the biggest concerns was the feeding setup. Every ticket bundle includes animal food, and it’s clearly central to their business model. But letting visitors feed animals constantly causes stress and chaos. The koi pond is a clear example. It’s overcrowded, and the fish have been conditioned to swarm toward people. They're fighting for position, clearly overfed, and some appear injured. Koi are supposed to be peaceful, but here they seem desperate. It’s eye-catching at first, but the longer you watch, the more uncomfortable it becomes. These fish need to be rehomed, possibly to a larger aquarium like the Living Planet Aquarium in Salt Lake City. The numbers need to strictly reduced and kept lower.

The same applies to stingrays and other species. Feeding should be limited, supervised, and purposeful. Aquariums should feel calming and educational. This one felt overstimulating and commercial.

The bug enclosures were also troubling. Tarantulas were displayed in tiny boxes, far smaller than even the minimum pet care standard of a 5–10 gallon tank. Even if you don’t like spiders, they still deserve proper treatment. These setups felt rushed and cheap.

Tank size was another major issue. Only about half looked adequately sized or peaceful. Some appeared dirty, and in a few cases, I couldn’t tell if the water was supposed to be murky or if it was just poorly maintained. For example, the stingray tank had green water, it's possible that this was intentional, but with no signage or habitat explanation, it felt like guesswork. In contrast, the Salt Lake City aquarium clearly labels habitat types, making it easy to understand what's natural and what isn't.

Overall, the experience left me feeling sad and uneasy — and guilty for paying to support it. I love aquariums. I go to relax and appreciate the beauty of aquatic life. Instead, I left stressed, much like the animals appeared to be.

The mammals and birds shouldn’t be there at all. The pigs looked miserable and the reptiles didn’t have enough room to stretch or move. I even saw a fish that looked close to dying, but there were no signs telling visitors what to do, and I couldn’t find any nearby staff. The few I saw seemed quite young, and likely untrained for animal care situations.

That said, I don’t think the staff are careless. One man mentioned they were delaying bringing in a new reptile until the tank conditions were right, which shows some responsibility. But even that tank looked small. It feels like they’ve grown used to low standards. The “wow” factor is clearly prioritized over animal welfare. It doesn't seem malicious on the staff or owners, it just feels like they're pushing the boundaries in such a small space. Everyone is just doing there job without real responsibility.

There was a sign about the sharks being rehomed, which is good, but it didn’t explain why. More transparency would help build trust. Were the tanks too small? Were they only meant to be temporary? Visitors deserve to know.

I understand that many families enjoy this place — especially those with young children — and that regulations may differ between the U.S. and the U.K., where I’m from. But I think people deserve a higher standard, even in small aquariums.

With a focus on fish and bugs, better care, and a peaceful atmosphere, this place could be truly special. Fish care is comparatively manageable, and a calm, well-designed space could attract return visitors. No one expects a full zoo in a shopping mall.

They might even benefit from a tiered annual pass instead of pushing feeding so hard.

As it is now, I wouldn’t go back or recommend it. It made me feel worse, not better, and that’s the exact opposite of what an...