OdySea Aquarium Another Aquarium Attraction Planned for Phoenix Metro Area

Giant Panda said:
Some photos of the new facility:

Gorgeous new photos of sea life at OdySea
Click to expand...

Thanks for posting. I particularly like the photo of the shark tank view from the men's washroom, the outdoor courtyard is a bit odd for an aquarium, and I was surprised to see California sea lions at the facility. Someone from Arizona needs to visit and review this place! :)
 
As others have replied to David Brown's question, this is the new aquarium that is adjacent to the (grossly overpriced) butterfly place in Scottsdale.

As someone else pointed out, it is also adjacent to the upcoming swim with dolphin place, which has its own thread and our active forum member from Mexico points out is run by a Mexican company that on outward appearance does not seem to have the highest standards of zoo professionalism (that is how I read his statement).

Apparently I vastly underestimated the size and scope of this project. I am shocked to learn that it is well within the top ten in the country in terms of size.

That being said, the photo link above (26 photos total) do not leave me at all impressed. It seems most of the space is open floor and the exhibits (based on these photos) are very bland. There is nothing in that photo essay that makes me want to visit.

Arizona and the southwest are in a long term serious drought and I question the validity of opening an attraction that uses huge amounts of water in the desert.

So if you feel it is the duty of a local Zoochatter to visit and post a report, I suggest you look to Azcheetah2, as she lives closer than I do anyway.
 
I just took a look through their Facebook page, and reviews are mixed. At least two people said they appear to not be ready to be open with lots of empty exhibits and incomplete signage and amenities. However some other reviewers claim it is fantastic.

An interesting note is they sell timed tickets, which you can buy online (to reserve your desired time slot). If you arrive and buy your ticket at the window and there are too many people inside, you may have to wait outside until an available time slot. Does anyone know of any other aquariums that do this?
 
All new aquariums take time to fill their tanks. I can take almost a year to have all the tanks where the curators want them.

Georgia Aquarium for its first few years of operation sold tickets in a similar fashion. I imagine, this aquarium will use quite a bit of what Georgia learned in their operation.

Also courtyards aren't all that rare for aquariums - Birch Aquarium, the old Steinhart Aquarium, Tennessee Aquarium have courtyards and several more have large open plazas. Maybe this aquarium has long term plans for their courtyard.

The moving carousel theater to see the large tanks with sea lions, sea turtles, and sharks is definitely are rare form of aquaria exhibition.
 
A couple of videos to let Arizona Docent off the hook (;)). The first mostly shows things seen in the photos, but the second gives a better idea of the shark tank carousel. Is anyone else reminded of that ride in Jurassic Park? The one after the Mr DNA movie, when Malcolm, Grant and Satler push up the bar, and Gennaro's asking whether they can do that. No? Just me? Never mind. Anyway, it's a weird feature. I think I'd need ear plugs.

Get a look inside Scottsdale's new OdySea Aquarium

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9-zWIA5OmvE
 
That carousel theatre is certainly unique - I had not heard of that feature. The narration starts out ok but then it gets really corny - yes I would need earplugs too.

In the other (first) link, the underwater helmets at the end do seem kind of cool. Too bad they didn't show one in use. The administrator they are interviewing claims it is the first aquarium built in this country in ten years. Yea, except the two built in the very same area (Phoenix metroplex). I guess SeaLife and Wildlife World do not count as "real aquariums" in his opinion! (Not to mention other small aquariums in Austin, etc).
 
Arizona Docent said:
An interesting note is they sell timed tickets, which you can buy online (to reserve your desired time slot). If you arrive and buy your ticket at the window and there are too many people inside, you may have to wait outside until an available time slot. Does anyone know of any other aquariums that do this?
Click to expand...

The Monterey Aquarium did this when it first opened. Museums and theme parks do it - it is a common ticketing practice for popular attractions that have limited crowd capacity
 
Museums and theme parks do it for specific attractions. They do not do it (as far as I know) just to gain admission to the entire facility.
 
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