Ripley's Aquarium of Canada A new aquarium for Toronto
- Thread starter kiang
- Start date
I went during the friends and family preview. It is spectacular! And I'm thrilled to see they have memberships now available (and fairly comparable to TZ memberships for adults, so that's nice).
No surprise the best part of the aquarium is the Dangerous Lagoon. This is the tunnel where the fish, sharks, rays and a turtle named Chewy, swim beside and above you. You can walk the Lagoon or stay on the conveyor belt that takes you through. I was told the conveyor belt ride was approximately 20 mins long. We did it three times! Seeing the sharks resting over our heads was amazing. The Saw Shark is by far the most incredible shark I've ever seen! I'm very curious to find out how come the sharks don't eat the fish!
While we went through the Lagoon there was a scuba diver in the tank. I'm not entirely sure what he was meant to be doing, but we (being me and my 4 year old friend) enjoyed waving at him!
The Jellies is also spectacular! I had just been to the Shedd Aquarium in Chicago which I understood has one of the largest Jellyfish exhibits in North America, so seeing a lot of the same specifies of Jellyfish at our aquarium was wonderful. The changing lights in the main tank was amazing!
There is a playground at the halfway point in the aquarium. The best part of that is the tank with all the Finding Nemos! The kids love it. The tank is circular with a hole in the middle so the kids can crawl under and then stand up and be surrounded by dozens of Nemos. That was ingenious!
Because I was with my 4 year old friend, I didn't get a chance to spend much time looking at each of the tanks but I'll go back on my own soon and do so.
No surprise you end your visit at the gift shop. That doesn't bother me, after all it is a business. But I know that will irk some people.
Over the past week I've been trying to plan my firm's summer party at the aquarium. That's not going so well. They do not really have the means to accommodate mid-range companies that economically cannot do a whole buyout. But we're still working on it. I just think it would be such a great event to have there. So fingers crossed I can make it work.
The staff at the aquarium, whether it was when we visited, in advance of opening by email and post-opening emails have been amazing! I hope their enthusiasm for their jobs continue. They were so excited to share details about the aquarium it was infectious.
Without a doubt Ripley's got it right. It is without a doubt a fantastic addition to Toronto and will undoubtedly attract many visitors. I expect we will hear that they have joined the City Pass promotions with other major TO attractions. Being on the subway/GO line I expect it will be one of the easier TO attractions to get to. The crowd that goes to the CN Tower will also likely stop here too, particularly if the aquarium joins the City Pass.
I loved everything about the aquarium and am looking forward to taking my nephew and young friends there on a regular basis!
No surprise the best part of the aquarium is the Dangerous Lagoon. This is the tunnel where the fish, sharks, rays and a turtle named Chewy, swim beside and above you. You can walk the Lagoon or stay on the conveyor belt that takes you through. I was told the conveyor belt ride was approximately 20 mins long. We did it three times! Seeing the sharks resting over our heads was amazing. The Saw Shark is by far the most incredible shark I've ever seen! I'm very curious to find out how come the sharks don't eat the fish!
While we went through the Lagoon there was a scuba diver in the tank. I'm not entirely sure what he was meant to be doing, but we (being me and my 4 year old friend) enjoyed waving at him!
The Jellies is also spectacular! I had just been to the Shedd Aquarium in Chicago which I understood has one of the largest Jellyfish exhibits in North America, so seeing a lot of the same specifies of Jellyfish at our aquarium was wonderful. The changing lights in the main tank was amazing!
There is a playground at the halfway point in the aquarium. The best part of that is the tank with all the Finding Nemos! The kids love it. The tank is circular with a hole in the middle so the kids can crawl under and then stand up and be surrounded by dozens of Nemos. That was ingenious!
Because I was with my 4 year old friend, I didn't get a chance to spend much time looking at each of the tanks but I'll go back on my own soon and do so.
No surprise you end your visit at the gift shop. That doesn't bother me, after all it is a business. But I know that will irk some people.
Over the past week I've been trying to plan my firm's summer party at the aquarium. That's not going so well. They do not really have the means to accommodate mid-range companies that economically cannot do a whole buyout. But we're still working on it. I just think it would be such a great event to have there. So fingers crossed I can make it work.
The staff at the aquarium, whether it was when we visited, in advance of opening by email and post-opening emails have been amazing! I hope their enthusiasm for their jobs continue. They were so excited to share details about the aquarium it was infectious.
Without a doubt Ripley's got it right. It is without a doubt a fantastic addition to Toronto and will undoubtedly attract many visitors. I expect we will hear that they have joined the City Pass promotions with other major TO attractions. Being on the subway/GO line I expect it will be one of the easier TO attractions to get to. The crowd that goes to the CN Tower will also likely stop here too, particularly if the aquarium joins the City Pass.
I loved everything about the aquarium and am looking forward to taking my nephew and young friends there on a regular basis!
Bib Fortuna
Well-Known Member
What about that "Tsunami Simulator" ? Have you tried it out ? What is that excactly ? German Newspapers have written , it is a Little bit"tasteless".
I haven't been to a tonne of aquariums. But so far, I'd say this is one of the best!
The dangerous lagoon exhibit is the aquariums flagship exhibit. What makes it unique is the the eclectic mix of species that you wouldn't expect to share the same tank. There's Sandbar, Sand tiger and nurse sharks, green sea turtles, several species of stingray, sawfish and a wide variety of fish species. The tank is beautifully landscaped. There's lots of hiding places for the more elusive species, and the tunnel ride gives you a great overview of the tank.
The Canadian water exhibit was also really well done. Lots of smaller tanks mostly.
The aquarium really excels at being educational and interactive. Each exhibit at plenty of informative signage as well as staff/docents/volunteers at every exhibit giving presentations and/or answerng questions for visitors. It's a great place to take children too.
Unique to this aquarium is the tank support/filtration room, where visitors are able to see the aquariums filtration/heating systems.
The museum lacks any sea mammal species, which can be seen as both a strength and a weakness. If it were to add an aquatic mammal species, It should probably go with Sea Otters somewhere in the Canadian Waters exhibit
The dangerous lagoon exhibit is the aquariums flagship exhibit. What makes it unique is the the eclectic mix of species that you wouldn't expect to share the same tank. There's Sandbar, Sand tiger and nurse sharks, green sea turtles, several species of stingray, sawfish and a wide variety of fish species. The tank is beautifully landscaped. There's lots of hiding places for the more elusive species, and the tunnel ride gives you a great overview of the tank.
The Canadian water exhibit was also really well done. Lots of smaller tanks mostly.
The aquarium really excels at being educational and interactive. Each exhibit at plenty of informative signage as well as staff/docents/volunteers at every exhibit giving presentations and/or answerng questions for visitors. It's a great place to take children too.
Unique to this aquarium is the tank support/filtration room, where visitors are able to see the aquariums filtration/heating systems.
The museum lacks any sea mammal species, which can be seen as both a strength and a weakness. If it were to add an aquatic mammal species, It should probably go with Sea Otters somewhere in the Canadian Waters exhibit
I posted some of my pictures, I got a membership recently and it's been a fun place. I love how they have wifi and are open really late (11pm)
Yi Qi
Well-Known Member
Thoughtswise, I'd give it a 7.6/10. The whole aquarium can be blazed through in just an hour and under, but most of the exhibits are very good such as the Dangerous Reef (I particularly liked the sawfish swimming over the tunnel). The signs being on screens, which while appreciated and save on space, somewhat detracted for me.
Yeah it is a bit small and easily covered, it can be frustrating to wait for the fish to appear on the screen and learn what it is but they also have a guidebook and some non screen signs for some species.