And I Thought I Didn't Like Aquariums!
Written: Jul 16 '05
|
Product Rating:
|
|
|
Pros: All the exhibits, especially otters and seahorses.
Cons: None
The Bottom Line: This is a great Aquarium. Would be a great place to take your kids.
|
|
|
| Alena's Full Review: Audubon Institute Aquarium of the Americas |
After going to the Monterey Aquarium (which I had heard was good) and being vastly bored and disappointed, I was hesitant to visit the Audubon Aquarium in New Orleans. My new husband and I chose New Orleans to visit for our honeymoon and spent the previous days prowling the city, and since it was June, meaning the weather was hot and humid we wanted to do something that was indoors in the air conditioning, so we decided to visit the Aquarium.
And what a wonderful experience it was. Unlike the Monterey Aquarium this Aquarium is laid out very nicely. The exhibits lead into one another and lead you into a complete circuit of the Aquarium. Each of the exhibits was informational, and the staff (we heard the information regarding the Penguins since we were able to catch their feeding time) seemed informed.
In the Aquarium, you begin in the Caribbean Reef Exhibit, which features various brightly colored coral, sea turtles, rays, and various fish. It also has a splendid glass tunnel you walk through and you can see the fish and rays swimming above your head. It is fantastic. From there you take an elevator up that leads you into the Amazon Rainforest. This features some plants plus some Amazon fish like Piranhas, plus some endangered rays that are exclusively bred at the Aquarium. They also had a python in this part of the exhibit as well.
From the rainforest you can wander into an area containing some African Penguins (see your map for the feeding schedule). You can also see tropical sharks, and even pet a shark at the shark touch pool. Next they have several species of Seahorses including the Sea Dragons, which look like seaweed that has come alive! The Aquarium supports a breeding program for these endangered species as well. From the Seahorses you can wander along to see the otters, which are always fun to watch.
The next exhibit you can look at is the Mississippi River habitat featuring animals from Louisiana and from around the Mississippi river. Things like garfishes, and an Albino Alligator, plus other various fishes and turtles native to that environment.
From there you can go into the Frogs exhibit and look at various and sundry frogs of various shapes, sizes and colors. They feature 25 different species of frogs from around the globe in this exhibit along with some interactive exhibits to help you learn about frogs.
Then you can go into the Pacific Coast Adventures featuring various pacific coast fishes. And a photo booth where you can immortalize your visit. From here you go back downstairs into the Jellyfish exhibit which displays many beautiful jellyfish and into the Gulf of Mexico exhibit which features many species of shark and a sampling of the vanishing ecosystem of the Gulf.
The aquarium also contains a food court featuring a couple of recognizable fast food places, and it has, of course, a couple of gift shops--one of the second floor featuring Otter souvenirs and one large shop on the bottom near the exhibit. We didn't eat in the food court so I have no idea of what the pricing was for food, but gift shop items were normal for that kind of venue. $20 for the seahorse shirt I bought, and $6 for the color photo book they had about the Aquarium.
Other Information:
They are open from 9:30 to 7 in the summer.
Ticket Prices:
Adults: $16
Children: $9.50
Seniors $13
They also have combination tickets for the Aquarium and the Zoo and IMAX Theater that can save you money on tickets. We didn’t check out either of these venues.
They have various events at the Aquarium such as animal feedings, chats and shows. Times for these are on the tour map so check it out before you get started. We got to see the Penguin feeding.
We really enjoyed the exhibits and being out of the heat. It was a bit pricey, but we paid more to see the Aquarium in Monterey and didn't have nearly as good of a time. I would highly recommend seeing the Aquarium if you happen into New Orleans, its worth the money.
Recommended:
Yes
|
|
|
|
Epinions.com ID:
Alena
|
 - Top 1000 |
|
Location: San Fernando Valley, CA
Reviews written: 465
Trusted by: 48 members
About Me:
Finally got a real job. Start teaching full time on Sept 1st!
|
|
|
- Add to My Yahoo!: 
- Add to Google Homepage: 
© 1999-2009 Shopping.com, Inc.