Wonders Of Wildlife National Museum & Aquarium — Attraction in Springfield

While the free museums at the Springfield Bass Pro are great, this attraction is totally amazing! There are good reasons this aquarium and museum have been recognized with annual awards since it opened. It is filled with hundreds of beautiful fish of various sizes and colors, multiple jellies, eels, rays, sharks, king crab, alligators, flamingo, otters, snakes, penguins, bats, and an octopus. Those are the majority of the live animals on the aquarium side, and it is extensive, weaving through a walking path of switch-backs that features glass enclosures with digital touchscreens to tell guests about aquatic animals they're watching. The aquarium also displays a gorgeous assortment of shells in various sizes, shapes, and colors. A person wanting to enjoy watching the fish swim and reading a few signs could easily spend over half a day here. Those with need to move at the attention span of young children would still need at least 3 hours just to walk through the aquarium alone. Included in the aquarium is an extensive feature on the history of fishing with many tributes to award winners and the tools they used to be successful.

The National Wildlife Museum is a separate attraction that now begins with a video from Johnny Morris encouraging families to spend quality time together and enjoying God's creation in nature. This interesting museum features taxidermy animals in vividly arranged settings to present them in their natural habitats. On the museum side, the winding path goes by a thundering buffalo herd, several large bears, a pack of wolves, big horn sheep, a group of water buffalo, a few large wildcats, a family of giraffe, and many other animals from earth's deserts, jungles, and plains. Again, there are many signs to read, and a nice feature of the museum includes quotes from Native American Indians as well as stories, articles of intricately beaded clothing, and detailed statues of people and animals. There are many carved arrowheads, tools, and jewelry to admire, as well as over fifty paintings of animals and people from around the world. If you enjoy pictures, there's also a stunning feature on the award-winning nature photography in one dimly-lit hall where the brilliant, slowly changing pictures are displayed on large LED screens and the photographers have a small amount of information you can read. The photos are another breathtaking part of animals in nature from many parts of our world. Like the aquarium, the museum can easily be appreciated over the course of 3+ hours and if you are pressed for time, it would be sad to rush through this remarkable museum in less than 90 minutes, but that would be possible. It is a thrilling, immersive experience where every place you look there is something unique to see and learn more about.

The Springfield MO Bass Pro building includes several small, totally free museums that are wonderful! There are amazing collections of guns, bow-and-arrow, and fishing displays, all at no cost to visitors. These are well-worth your time and very enjoyable! The main attraction of Wonders of Wildlife aquarium and museum is truly a memorable experience, showcasing many wild animals in nature from around the world. The ticket price is considerable, but it's a thoroughly enjoyable experience for the...

Let me preface this review by saying I had no idea this was a Bass Pro Shop until AFTER we started our self guided tour. I saw the signs but thought they were separate establishments sharing a lot; I was clearly mistaken. I'm not a fan of Bass Pro or its history of prejudiced hiring practices. With that being said, my review is solely from the perspective of a nature/aquatic ethnusiast. This aquarium is THAT impressive to earn a 5-star from me. It is absolutely MASSIVE. Like, it was bigger than we thought, and even then, we don't know the true scope of this place because we left before we could explore it all. We spent 5 hours (almost 6) in total here and still didn't see every single thing this location had to offer. So, I strongly recommend putting aside ample enough time to really soak in the exhibits because ohhhweeee–is there a ton to see.

We purchased our tickets at the aquarium for nearly $70 for 2 adults on a Sunday.

Here are a few highlights to take note of:

♡The ENTIRE aquarium is tastefully and lovingly decorated to enhance the overall immersive feel as you take in each exhibit. ♡Comprehensive self guided tour so long as you follow the signs correctly. ♡Wheelchair and stroller accessible. ♡Several resting spots. ♡Clean bathrooms ♡Clean, well maintained facility. ♡Friendly and helpful staff. ♡Several floor to ceiling tanks. ♡There are plenty of fun photo opportunities for kiddos (they have tanks where kids can "become" a part of the animal tanks) ♡2 touch tanks. ♡You can buy tickets to be shark bait. JUST KIDDING. You can swim with the sharks. ♡ALBINO ALLIGATOR ♡They house more than just marine animals; aviary, marsupials, reptiles and more. ♡Indoor waterfalls. (Plural) ♡5 free museums in the Bass Pro Shop; Archery Hall of Fame (my favorite), NRA Museum, Bass Pro Shop Musuem, Motorsports Musuem (Bass Pro Shop sponsored motors) and the American Musuem of Flying Fishing. ♡Bass Pro Shop signature aquarium tanks PLUS an alligator. ♡They sell everything Bass Pro Shop has ever had to offer (don't quote me on this one coz I didn't go throughout the whole store, but given the size, it's safe to assume). ♡Several food kiosks and 3 restaurants (or at least that was what we saw). ♡The biggest and most impressive taxidermy collection I've ever had the *displeasure of seeing. ♡Home to the largest Largemouth Bass in human capitvity. Genny-Mae is a beaut. ♡A sizeable collection of native american history. ♡Incredible art: paintings, photos, and statues of various sizes depicting nature and fishing history. ♡GETTO PENGUINS (the funny trio from Happy Feet :D)

*Disclaimer: I personally don't believe in making nor keeping animal trophies as I believe everything must return to Earth and preservation of carcasses prevent that but, I also recognize the importance of having tangible representation of animals that no longer exist. It's just a bitter taste to see 2 white rhinos and a Bengal tiger amongst the exhibit tbh

[If we can put aside differences to appreciate the amazing and good things about each other, we could go further than anyone could...

The Aquarium felt like one massive, confusing circular maze. The fish were all beautiful, even if it was a little hard to photograph them. The concession stand in the Shipwreck portion of the aquarium had prices on items that were out of the water (as in, very much higher than what they should have been). The shark dive experience isn't as scary as it seemed, the small sharks didn't even go near the cage. The feeding frenzy was a dud, just a few dead fish and that's it. Some of the exhibits were empty without any explanation (like the black bears, the otters, etc). Stingray feeding is only $5 and it's worth it. The beginning and end portions of the aquarium showcases only the history of fishing. The photograph exhibit by FedEx was so beautiful, I was left absolutely yearning to buy prints of the photos displayed. The gift shop for the aquarium was insanely expensive.

The conservation museum portion was better. It displayed many species of creatures, as well as their calls, in various life-like positions and situations. The quality was so good, one could almost feel as if the creature was breathing. I would definitely love to see this portion featured in a Night At The Museum film. This section heavily talked about the impact of Native Americans and the impact of Teddy Roosevelt when it came to the conservation of animals; but the floors were so god awful loud and creaking. The next sections heavily showcased many types of mounted deers and animals, so well-maintained that it's tempting to reach over and pet it. You could tell that the builders had fun coming up with the layout of how the animals are posed; however, the penguin exhibit was a dud. It was quite small and not as exciting as described.

The main shopping area had entrances to other miniature museums, such as: Bass Pro, Fly Fishing, Motorsports, Guns, and much more. There was quite a large variety of things to buy in the store, yet none of it included prints of the photos or art shown in any of the exhibits.

I disliked how guests had to walk through the parking lot to the other side of the building just to get to their car once the aquarium closed. If it had been raining, or storming, it would have been bad. The entire time there felt like a large maze; have good shoes, and be prepared to face one-way escalators.

I also recommend printing out your tickets instead of having them digitally because they will be scanned...