I agree. Here is the mini-review from my 20 day/65 summer zoo trip:
The World Aquarium is the most odd-ball facility in all of the United States. There are random curiosity shop items in all directions (werewolf masks, gorilla suits, dinosaur heads, elephant feet statues) and the manner of tanks and exhibits has to be seen to be believed. The place defies description as it is a ramshackle, cluttered, messy gong-show of an establishment that receives many of its residents as rescue animals or as abandoned pets. There are cords and pipes in all directions, an absence of tall guard rails around large tanks, low ceilings that force visitors to duck their heads and such an odd appearance (snake tanks in bookshelves, terrariums seemingly hidden behind mounted deer heads, a dusty 1970’s phonebook blocking the view of a lungfish exhibit) that a visit is a must simply to comprehend the chaos. It is much like the popular City Museum itself, which is essentially a sprawling labyrinth of a children’s play area with tunnels, slides and stairs appearing in all nooks and crannies. There are grandiose names like Rivers of the World, Stingray City, Sharks!, Amazon River, Wall of Eels, Hidden Forest and Sand Castle Beach but that does not make up for the sheer bizarreness of the overall aquarium. The City Museum receives over 700,000 visitors but it is not clear how many of them pay the extra fee to tour the World Aquarium.
