Seattle Aquarium — Attraction in Seattle

I haven’t been to this aquarium since I was a kid. We wanted to take our 3 kids especially for the Animal Crossing crossover, but after seeing that it would be about $119 for two adults and two ticketed children for a day, we decided to just buy a family membership at $199.

As a forewarning, on a weekend, paying for parking is atrociously high. For the option over 3 hours, it was close to $40 dollars. This isn’t the aquariums fault, but I wanted to mention. It is Seattle after all.

Overall, the Animal Crossing displays and everything were very underwhelming. They had a good amount of cardboard cutouts of some characters, a downloadable bingo, a special Nintendo member QR code for a free 100 platinum points, a small section of AC merch in their shop, and occasional displays of animal information on little screens with information by blathers (which had a ton of info but unfortunately they scrolled so fast!).

I will say that regardless I’m just happy and grateful for any AC event or crossover as is. And to be fair, there was no extra charge to general admission for this crossover going on. But I would say, if you’re wondering if it’s worth spending admission to go and see, then probably not.

The aquarium in general was also disappointing. Understandably it was the weekend but my gosh, this place was packed. It definitely took away from the experience. And I guess that wouldn’t be so bad, except the aquarium is pretty small, and honestly a lot of areas are not meant for the capacity walking through or stopping to look. We also had a stroller, so it made it hard to navigate. We didn’t see as many animals as we had hoped for. And honestly, the animal crossing bingo got our hopes up for seeing certain critters, only to look up later that there are a handful on there that aren’t even available at the aquarium to see.

The cafe was decently priced, and the food was tasty. The cafe area in general was very nice but pretty small as well.

We already bought a membership, so nothing we can do about that. But had I known what I know now, I would have just bought one time tickets, and not a membership. I think if we are able to, we will try and go during a week day and see if we have a better experience. I would say overall, this place isn’t worth the price to get in. I’ve had a far superior aquarium (and zoo!) experience at Point Defiance Zoo, which is amazing every time. Not to mention, that zoo is opening a second aquarium there which is in the works. It is way more affordable and so much more to do, and you get to see see creatures and mammals and...

If I could give this less than one star I definitely would. We purchased the city pass in advance. Once we arrived, it was evident that one would be better off buying tickets at the door to get in quicker. Purchasing tickets in advance did not allow you to get in early. Do not arrive early with hopes of getting early admission. Thankfully, we did not purchase single tickets at the door. The advertised price was 59.99 per adult. I would have been irate if we would have paid over $300 for admission. To say that we were all disappointed would be an understatement. Thankfully, the city pass allowed us to get a small discount on tickets for the aquarium. The only bathroom at the sister building is an “All Gender” bathroom with a single stall “family bathroom” right beside it. It was extremely hot in the place so make sure you have comfortable clothes on underneath your winter attire or you will smell like sour milk quickly. I am no expert in cleaning exterior surfaces but I would go out on a limb and say that the outside is not supposed to have an algae-like substance growing on it. If this is any indication how they treat the creatures there, they’d be better off in their NATURAL habitat instead of being enslaved. They do make above par pressure washers for the price of roughly 20 adult tickets. Do not set your expectations based off of the Georgia Aquarium or you will possibly cry real tears in this venue. The only positive statement I have regarding the aquarium would be the staff. They were polite and helpful. The most entertaining thing to both of my nephews would be the scuba diver that had his N-95 mask on underneath his scuba mask as he cleaned the tank. All in all, I say all of that to confirm that this was the worst aquarium experience I’ve ever had. Those precious animals looked miserable and...

This is a fun little aquarium. There is a nice mix of fish and other ocean/sea life like cephalopods, birds, and marine mammals. There's also a tide pool with urchins that can be touched. The sea otters steal the show, naturally, but the fur seals are also a joy to watch, and the octopus was one of the most unique and incredible things I've ever seen. The scheduled sea otter feeding event is a must-see. I was glad not to see any dolphins or whales in captivity as well. The exhibits are all nicely presented, and the aquarium staff are quite knowledgeable and friendly when asked questions. However, the aquarium is a bit small - it pales in comparison to aquariums like Monterey and Chicago, which was a major surprise given the reputation. The number of exhibits is surprisingly low, especially for fish. Many of the exhibits also seemed somewhat small for keeping the animals, though I think they rotate the mammals regularly. I probably spent more time with the mammals than I did with the fish compared to other aquariums, which is okay for me but probably would not make others happy. I would give the aquarium a 4.5/5 if possible for this size-to-price ratio. This aquarium seems especially suited for children. There were many interactive components. There was also an ongoing tie-in event with the videogame Animal Crossing, which I thought was a cool way to drive engagement. Overall, it's unlikely that more than two or three hours can be spent at the aquarium if you are reading the information placards and really taking it all in. However, that is not a bad thing, as it makes for an attractive day trip to the city, especially when combined with other nearby attractions. It was not crowded on a weekday afternoon in the...