Ripley's Aquarium of Canada is Sea-riously Awesome!

   

We visited Ripley's Aquarium of Canada this past weekend. Nestled right next to the CN Tower and the Rogers Centre, this unique & interesting attraction is definitely a must see for those residing in or visiting the Greater Toronto Area! 

Ripley's Aquarium of Canada features 12,500 square metres of aquatic enjoyment. With 5.7 million litres of water used to house some 16,000 animals, those young and old are sure to be amazed! It takes the average person about 2 to 2 and a half hours to experience the aquarium and all it has to offer. If you are visiting with young children, I highly recommend that you go first thing in the morning once they open. Most of the habitat areas are darkened to highlight the exhibits and I would not have wanted to visit with little ones during their typical peak time between 11am and 4pm for this reason.  Unless you have help with you to make sure one of your young ones don't suddenly get distracted and run off to another exhibit, then the early bird gets the worm on this one. Plus, there are a number of fun and interactive educational components throughout the aquarium which you can take full advantage of if it's not really busy. I would also suggest dressing your kids in bright colours, or patterned clothing so that they are more visible in the darkened areas.  Anything dark or grey in colour would be harder to see when it's busy with other attendees. 

For those requiring wheel chairs or strollers, they are both available for rent. Wheelchair rentals are free and umbrella strollers are available for rent for $3. But they are subject to availability, so remember what I said about the early bird? They also have a free stroller check in, if you don't want to bring your own personal stroller into the aquarium. Personally, I liked having mine as, although we didn't use it for our youngest, it was nice to put our coats and diaper bag in so we didn't have to carry it around. The aquarium does have a coat check and cubbies to rent for a nominal fee. Our youngest just turned 2 years old and he walked the whole way with no issues. He mostly tried to keep up with where his older brother went, so if you have an only child, then they might tire faster. 

Each of the galleries are neat to see, and will have something to fascinate you. Each gallery features a number of interactive learning activities to get the most out of your visit. I think they've done an excellent job at incorporating education into the exhibits. 

The Canadian Waters habitat displays a number of fish and plants from our Great Lakes, rivers and oceans. Our personal favorites in this habitat depiction? The Giant Pacific Octopus, and the Pacific kelp. The seaweed is unbelievably tall and the octopus is huge! And you really should get on the scale to see how much you'd be sold for if you were the catch of the day. Kids get a real kick out of this! In all honesty, so did I! LOL

The Rainbow Reef is beautiful! I could park a chair in front and sit there all day. Watching over 100 species of tropical fish from the Indo-Pacific region provides an array of colour and a buzz of activity.

The Dangerous Lagoon is where it's at! It's the largest exhibit and the most fascinating. You can either jump on board the largest North American slow moving movator or walk along side this 2.5 million litre tank. There you will pass through an underwater tunnel, seeing everything from sawfish & tropical fish, to sharks, sea turtles and stingrays. Seeing the sawfish glide by is quite the sight, as are all the sharks roaming about.We were lucky enough to see a sea turtle swimming above us. You will also see a massive grouper, the largest you've probably ever seen, or will see in your life. It's incredibly huge and I can't imagine how much that thing weighs! 

The Discovery Centre is where you can take a break, use the facilities, and get something to eat. In this section, there is also a playground area right beside the research submarine, which features a number of interactive bells and whistles, along with an underwater viewing bubble into the Dangerous Lagoon. There is also the horseshoe crab touch pool and the Great Lakes Locks water play area. Though this area is mostly geared towards kids, many adults were also taking advantage of what the Discovery Centre had to offer. You can also pop your head up into a puffer fish and clown fish tank which makes for some comical pictures. Kids will feel like they are right in there with Nemo from the Finding Nemo Disney movie. 

With regards to getting something to eat, you can purchase snacks and entrees from the Ripley's Cafe. Outside food and drinks are not technically allowed, but I'm sure if you had little ones, that their snacks would be OK to bring in. Obviously milk or formula wouldn't be an issue. If you are a nursing mom, there are a lot of chairs and tables in the Discovery Centre area where the cafe is for you to sit. There are also plenty of benches around the aquarium itself should you need to feed your little one. I snapped a picture of their menu so that you can see what's available and how much it would cost. Eating at venues like these is never cheap, so this way you can plan ahead! But to be honest, I didn't find the prices to be all that expensive, all things considered. We were there early, so I did not see the portions of these items, but compared to other attractions the prices aren't that bad. 

Moving on to the The Gallery, you'll see amazing creatures such as seahorses, leafy sea dragons, the electric eel, and the invasive lion fish. The seahorses and leafy sea dragons were particularly neat to see. 

The Perfect Predators area features an underwater viewing bubble where you can pop up inside a shark tank, and a clear tunnel tube to "crawl" through and view the sharks all around you. Most kids love these features, although a couple were a little hesitant to go in. There are also a number of interactive shark educational activities to do in this particular section.

Ray Bay is another of my favorites. Like the Rainbow Reef, I could park a chair here and watch for hours. Luckily there are benches there, so you can literally do that. Watching the stingrays, both large and small gliding about was mesmerizing. They appear to be so graceful and adorable. You'd never think that they could be dangerous in the wild. 

Planet Jellies is definitely a must see! It's amazing to see these little creatures moving about, and changing colour. Like the stingrays, they are also elegant in appearance. They are deceiving though, in that you'd never think they could hurt you. The saying "Don't judge a book by its cover" definitely applies to these beautiful but misleading little guys.

Upstairs, you can also check out the Shoreline Gallery.  There you will be able to touch small sharks (which I am pretty sure are bamboo sharks) in the touch pool, as well as the stingrays in the main area as they pass by. As I've said before, they are pretty amazing to watch! You can also look over the Dangerous Lagoon from up there as well and get a different perspective of the sharks, sea turtles and other fish previously mentioned in Dangerous Lagoon. 

The aquarium opens daily at 9am and is open most days until 11pm. Occasionally it closes at 6pm, so be sure to check the day that you plan to visit if you intend to be there or stay later into the evening. Regular admission for adults is $29.98, and $19.98 for seniors and youth ages 6-13years of age. Children 3-5 years of age are $9.98, and kids under 2 are free. HST is not included in those prices. There are discounted tickets available if you purchase Timed Tickets or Shark After Dark tickets. You can also check out their promo page to see if there are any further discounts or promotions going on. Military personnel are also eligible for further discounts.  

I think this attraction is not only fun but educational. And I'd be surprised if anyone did not enjoy their experience. The only downside for me is the crowd, because we have young ones. But that is simply fixed by going early when it's more quiet. For everyone else, it is likely not that big of a deal, as the aquarium does a good job of making the exhibits large and visible for a number of people to appreciate at one time. Whether you are an infant who enjoys watching things moving about to and fro, a school aged child who enjoys interactive learning displays, or an adult who appreciates the magnitude of our oceans and waterways, everyone will get something out of this unique attraction.  

All in all, I give Ripley's Aquarium of Canada 2 sharks, I mean, 2 thumbs up! 

***** These views are mine, and mine alone. As with anything, you are responsible for assessing whether this item and/or activity is safe and suitable for your specific needs. InfoMommy does not make any warranties of any kind, expressed or implied, and assumes no responsibility and/or liability for any actions taken as a result of this blog post.*****