Ripley's Aquarium of Canada Ripley's Aquarium of Canada News

I actually visited the aquarium for the first time today. I have never seen such a crowded place!

Overall I thought it was nice, but I've never visited any other aquariums so I have nothing to compare it to. The Canadian Waters was definitely the stand out section for me, and I loved the Great Lakes and Kelp Forest tanks. The shark tunnel was also very cool. Pictures should be up sometime soon, but since the aquarium was so crowded I couldn't take many.
 
Well you visit during March break your going to run in to tons of people no matter where you go.

On another note I look forward to your pictures. I have been wondering what its like. Not a big fish person so unless Im down town for some other reason and have a ton of time to kill Im unlikely to go but I like looking a photos.
 
Pictures are now in the gallery. Sadly I only had a few photos good enough to upload.

My main complaint with the aquarium was the signage. It was all electronic, so if I wanted to see what a species was, I would have to wait for the sign to go through all the other species first. Even though I don't love fish, I like knowing what species I'm seeing.
 
arcticwolf said:
Pictures are now in the gallery. Sadly I only had a few photos good enough to upload.

My main complaint with the aquarium was the signage. It was all electronic, so if I wanted to see what a species was, I would have to wait for the sign to go through all the other species first. Even though I don't love fish, I like knowing what species I'm seeing.
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The electronic signage drove me crazy, especially for the large tanks when their were 15+ species. Its good in theory, but takes way to long to scroll through all species.

I went on an extremely cold evening back in January and the place was almost empty. I enjoyed my visit, lots of interactives for kids, but I was expecting more and likely won't go back in the near future because the cost is too high for the short experience. There is no way that I would even think to visit it on a holiday, weekend, or school break, as I don't believe it was designed to handle the large crowds its drawing.
 
arcticwolf said:
Pictures are now in the gallery. Sadly I only had a few photos good enough to upload.

My main complaint with the aquarium was the signage. It was all electronic, so if I wanted to see what a species was, I would have to wait for the sign to go through all the other species first. Even though I don't love fish, I like knowing what species I'm seeing.
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Don't worry, as it is very difficult to take good quality photos in an aquarium without an incredibly expensive camera. Also, interactive signs with multiple species listed is perhaps my #1 pet peeve as it drives me insane. Dallas World Aquarium and Portland Aquarium are two examples of absolutely dreadful signage.
 
snowleopard said:
Don't worry, as it is very difficult to take good quality photos in an aquarium without an incredibly expensive camera. Also, interactive signs with multiple species listed is perhaps my #1 pet peeve as it drives me insane. Dallas World Aquarium and Portland Aquarium are two examples of absolutely dreadful signage.
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I wasn't actually planning to go to the aquarium that day so all I had with me was my phone. I had never seen electronic signage before, but after seeing it for the first time I have to agree with you. After a while I just gave up on figuring out what species were in each tank.

I probably won't be visiting the aquarium again soon because of the price, crowds, and annoying signage. It was a fun day though and other than a few small shark tanks, the aquarium seemed to have great exhibits.
 
I'm not sure how big it is compared to other aquariums, but it didn't seem to large to me. It took me about 2 hours to go through, but without the crowds it would probably take about an hour and 15 minutes. The largest tanks are Rainbow Reef which is home to a variety of small tropical fish, Dangerous Lagoon which is home to sharks, rays, turtles, and other fish, the Pacific Kelp Forest which is home to species such as rockfish, wolf eels, and anemones, the Great Lakes which is home to gar, paddlefish, sturgeons, bass, and more, and Ray Bay which is home to southern and cownose rays and bonnethead sharks. Other than those 5 large tanks, the rest of the aquarium is just lots of smaller exhibits that visitors quickly pass by.
 
I've been to the aquarium 2 times now. Once in October couple weeks after it had opened and earlier this week. First time there was barely anyone there. Thought it was pretty cool, and looked forward to another visit, although the signs were indeed annoying. I probably wouldn't mind as much if all the species were on website, but that's not the case. Second time I went, I found the place very boring, and this time it was packed full of people. The crowds to posed to be a problem to a point, but after seeing everything a second time, it was quite disappointment.

Now, just a little info on the reason for my visits, I go to take pictures. First time around was my first time at an aquarium, so it was a big learning experience. Second visit it was a realization that to get decent pictures, most of the exhibit are pretty close to being impossible to take a good photo. So it seemed like a waste of my time.

Also, on my second visit, the jellyfish seemed real down in numbers from my first visit. for the Pacific sea nettle's and Australian Spotted Jellyfish there were over 70% least on my second visit. I suspect that something went wrong and some of them may have died.
 
For those thinking of going, I heard going after 7 is the best time to go. It's the time the least amount of people will be there. The later the better. Haven't actually gone my self during this time, but I spoken to those that have, and they recommend it.
 
I saw this on the morning news couple weeks ago. Pretty cool idea, but you do need a SCUBA certification to do this.
 
geomorph said:
10 million visitors so far!:

Ripley’s Aquarium of Canada Hits 10 Million Visitor Mark - Ripley's Aquarium of Canada
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Hitting 10 million visitors in slightly less than 5 years is nothing short of extraordinary! Only two other aquariums on the continent (Shedd and Georgia) average 2 million visitors per year, and so Ripley's in Toronto is officially North America's 3rd most popular aquarium. Wow. The facility has a prime location at the base of the CN Tower and that has to be a major factor in its success.
 
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