I have to admit, I wasn’t expecting much. An aquarium in Denver Colorado? The square landlocked state? Please. I grew up in Florida for 30 years! I know aquatic animals. So you can imagine my complete surprise when I walked out of the Downtown Aquarium Denver looking into a family membership!
This was a fun field trip for many reasons, but my favorite being Hubs was able to go with us. He hasn’t been on many “homeschool field trips”. Sure – the museums in Italy and the canoe tours in Thailand. But the regular every-day type of field trips, he hasn’t been on any.
I grabbed discounted tickets for Homeschool Day, which was about $10/person off. That was enough for me to consider going. Otherwise I would have passed. We arrived and received 1/2 off parking, $4. I did not sign up for classes, we just wanted a self guided – Layton Pace – tour. Which means we can leave early if it was a bust. It wasn’t!
I was so impressed with the setup and inside decor. When we went to Sea Life in Orlando, I had high expectations. They are competing with Sea World and Epcot’s Aquariums. Sadly, they fell short. The Downtown Aquarium got it all right. Each section is broken up into different aquatic habitats and I saw some of the BIGGEST fish I’ve ever seen in my life.
Let’s recap. I’ve been to the Monterey Bay Aquarium in California on the Pacific Ocean. By far the best hands-on learning facility we’ve visited. We’ve been to Sea World in Orlando. Far more show entertainment than educational. Epcot was far less entertaining and more educational, but little hands-on learning opportunities. Just huge tanks. We’ve been down to the Florida Aquarium in Tampa on the Atlantic Ocean. This would definitely rank 2nd as far as hands-on educational right behind Monterey Bay. I’ve been inside the small sad aquarium in Washington DC. Zero hands-on learning stations, little tanks, little viewing area – not worth a stop. Not to mention living in St Augustine I’ve been to GatorLand a few times. Again another entertainment spot. so, I’ve been to a few aquariums in my time.
Downtown Aquarium at Denver was amazing. So when I say, “I saw some of the BIGGEST fish I’ve ever seen in my life” I mean it! I was hoping for more hands-on learning stations, but they offered a ton of information.
My only negative comment would be concerning the lame animatronics. Once you see the robot orangutan you don’t believe the tiger is real at all. My son required a lot of persuading. I know they can put something else there far more interesting. Again, since we had Disney Passes we’ve seen better furry robots than that. However – we skipped it quickly and kept on reading about the piranhas.
I wish I had more photos to share but I was too busy freaking out over the giant moray eel. Did you know they’re really not green?! Check out some photos on Instagram!
Lesson learned – not just about eels & otters. Give things a chance. You might be surprisingly, pleasantly surprised!!
Additional Learning
The otter exhibit was great. My son read the signs about bubbles, fur & oxygen. He wanted to learn more when we got home. So we hit the library and grabbed a book on River Otters. He wanted to share the information, about otter pups, as a presentation at Classical Conversations. Win win!