A few weeks ago, my husband asked me what I wanted for Mother's Day. I told him, all I wanted was to spend some quality time as a family, so we took the kids to Ripley's Aquarium in Toronto.
This was our second visit to the aquarium. The first time was opening weekend when my son was 2. Now that he is almost 4, I can't believe how much more fun he had. He was so excited to see all the fish and sharks.
We were very lucky it wasn't that busy. Ripley's Aquarium is a tourist attraction, so the lines can get pretty long. The wait can sometimes be 1-2 hours. I strongly recommend purchasing "Time Tickets" which are discounted on the website instead of the "walk up" prices.
Once you enter, you start at the "Canadian Waters" Gallery. It was nice to show our son what type of fish were in our waters. Some of the featured animals were the Largemouth Bass, American Lobster, Giant Pacific Octopus and China Rockfish.
Next we went to the "Rainbow Reef" Gallery. All of the tropical fish were so beautiful, colourful, and vibrant.
The "Dangerous Lagoon" is by far the most popular gallery at Ripley's. It's also our favourite. The best part is everyone gets a great view going through the lagoon. They achieve this by have a moving walkway that takes you through the underwater tunnel full of fish, stingrays, sharks and many more animals. Like I said, the aquarium gets very busy, so having this moving walkway gives everyone an un-obstructed view. It moves very slow so you can enjoy all of the amazing animals swimming all around you.
After you leave the "Dangerous Lagoon" you enter the "Discovery Centre" that has a lot of things to do for kids. They have a "Shark Reef Kids Crawl" which is a small tunnel the kids crawl through to see sharks. They also have a submarine that the kids can play in, a slide, and a horseshoe crab touch pool where the kids can get their hands wet.
Also located in this area is a restaurant/ snack centre if you wanted to grab a quick snack or sit and have lunch!
"Plant Jellies" Gallery is pretty cool. It's a giant wall full of jelly fish that is back lit and has colour-changing displays.
The "Life Support System" is a pretty neat area. It shows you a behind-the-scenes look at the life support and filtration equipment used to maintain the Aquarium. It also has real-time stats about the water quality and conditions.
While visiting "Ray Bay" we saw a proposal which was so sweet. I didn't even know they did that! There is a fee, but it includes admission and a gift.
Finally, you come to "Shoreline Gallery" where you can touch small sharks and stingrays.
They do have a gift shop where you can purchase a souvenir. They have everything from stuffed animals, books, clothes and toys.
For more information or to purchase tickets, visit their website HERE. There are so many other fun things to do at the aquarium such as sleepovers, yoga classes, photography classes and so much more. You can even have your child's birthday party there as well!!
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