Atlanta, Georgia Aquarium

[Ann1965]

This is spring break week for us, so my family took a day trip to see the new aquarium in GA. It's touted as being the largest in the world. Well, I'm no world traveler, but I have been to aquariums in the Bahamas, Tennessee and South Carolina. This is by far not the largest. The viewing areas are extremely small and it's hard to see with the hoards of folks ignoring the "No flash photography" signs. Between camera phones and regular cameras, it's a wonder the animals aren't blind. It costs us well over $100 bucks for admission as well as the small fortune to park and then walk to the aquarium. For my money, go to the aquarium in Chattanooga, TN or the one at the Atlantis hotel in the Bahamas, it will be a much more pleasurable trip. Oh, and many of the animals were not in good health, that was obvious to the naked eye. When we asked the attendants about it, they all said they didn't know but the aquarium was asking experts to try and find out why some of the species were not doing well.

[scarlettdouble]

That's very disheartening. I was planning to take my 3 year old to the GA aquarium for his birthday next month. Maybe we will go to Riverbanks Zoo instead...

[SouthernStyle]

Riverbanks is such a nice zoo and I really love the botanical gardens.

We visited the GA Aquarium a couple of weeks ago and did have a nice time. My kids thought the penguin exibit was a hoot, especially the little cave/tube deal where you climb into the habitat - though you still have plexiglass between you and the penguins. It has several areas where you can touch and feel creatures and a fun play structure to let the little ones burn off energy. I was also pleasantly surprised to find their "food court" offered many healthy and fun choices. It was busy and has exceeded the expected # of visitors by leaps and bounds since opening.

[LisainVA]

I started a thread some time ago about this. I saw the grand opening on the Today Show and it looked really nice. The other day the Today Show did another segment on them and was showing the trainers with the small mammals. I really enjoyed it. If you ever have an opportunity to be in Baltimore, MD their Aquarium is really nice. The dolphin show is great and the feeding of the sharks is super also. Six floors with the last being the rain forest. Great shopping and restaurants surround the area along with being able to go on some ships harbored in the dock. Very nice.

Sorry you didn't enjoy your trip Ann.

[Capucine]

The exhibits were not as big as I had expected. Otherwise, I enjoyed it though. I haven't been when it was really crowded though. I was fortunate enough to be invited to an event at night and we got to tour it as part of that. My guess is that when they say it's the largest they are talking about the whole thing. There are some behind the scenes tours also. And, I believe there are some other parts that generally aren't open to the public.

I agree that it is very expensive.

[BlackEyedSusan]

I went over xmas and it was not the best time since everyone in the world decided they wanted to go too -- I enjoyed it and think it is definitely worth seeing but I was dissappointed that they did not give you more background info on their mamals. Like something you can read up on...hopefully this has changed since I went right when it opened and maybe it was not done by then. But I really liked the Bulga whales -- thought the spider crabs were amazing! They can grow up to 20ft!!! I would wait till it is not as busy -- I bet spring break is a zoo!

[Kaler]

That sounds wonderful Lynn. It's great that the children are getting this field trip at no cost to them. Is this a direct result of the education lottery. I know about the Hope scholorship but does it trickle on down to you too?

I ask because our state just passed an "education" lottery bill and I'll believe it when I see it.


**For those that might be concerned. I know that this is off topic and could be controversial. I am not asking so to start a discussion on the lottery for or against. I'm only asking because I'm really interested and don't know the answer.**

[Kaler]

Congratulations, that's something to be proud of I'd say.

I was afraid someone might take the subject and run with it, turning this thread away from it's original subject and the last thing I want to do is be bumped from this site for being political. Although I would love to talk about current events, those threads can sometimes go south quickly. Unfortunately.