While the Vancouver Aquarium is only partially outdoors the message that it promotes goes with what Little Adventures Co. is all about!
Before I even write this review I have to warn you that this trip is costly. You can figure out what the cost will be on the admission page on the Vancouver Aquarium website.
I will also say that our admission kept us there for 4 happy hours.
Before we even went in I could tell that we were going to have a great time (says the happy hippie)!
Once we paid for admission and took the fun family photo (that you’re not required to buy at the end, of course) we stopped at the washrooms right by the entrance.
After everyone used the washrooms we headed to the Amazon Gallery where the kids were mesmerized by the fish. My 2-year-old was pretending she was a cat and was trying to scare them, but the older girls stood in awe.
We made our way into the Tropics where we found the Sharks, Tortoise, and Stingrays. The glass dome shape allowed for all the kids to be able to see without them having to fight for a spot. Ok, well, obviously there was still a little bit of fighting…because: sisters.
The promise of a movie really got my kiddos excited. We headed over to the 4D theatre for the Shark Movie. *I took all my kids into here. I was a little worried about my 2-year-old because a 4 D movie hits on all the sensations: the chairs vibrate, there’s wind, bubbles, sprays of water, and it’s 3D. She did really well, aside from the sprays of water; she wasn’t a huge fan of that, but got over it quickly.
When you exit the movie you’re led down a hallway that brings you to a fun little kids zone. There’s some look tables and a vet clinic. It’s a nice little spot for Ma and Pa to take a break and let the kids play for a few minutes.
Once we pried the kids away from playing “marine biologist” we went outside.
We could tell it was time for the Sea Lions to eat. They were pretty darn vocal about it!
Their hunger song was in the background while the kids got to gently touch some Sea Anemones and Starfish. You could see the delight on their faces as they gently experienced the tactile portion of our trip to the Vancouver Aquarium.
There’s a lot of information available about the mammals that live at the aquarium. When we were checking out the Otter and the Seals there was an available volunteer or Vancouver Aquarium staff to answer any questions the kids had!
We got to watch the information session on Walrus’. They explained the research they were doing to help protect the species at the Vancouver Aquarium. The kids learned a lot about these huge mammals; did you know they use their tusks to pull themselves up on the ice? Interesting!
The girls were PUMPED to see the Penguins so we headed in their direction.
Once we compared the size of the kids vs the size of some penguins we made our way inside to the frog exhibit.
The kids got an up close and personal look at the frogs here!
We knew that our trip home would be fairly long thanks to Vancouver traffic so we made our way to the Teck Connections Gallery to have a snack and check out the exhibit there.
The exhibit that was being showcased was to portray the amount of plastic in the ocean. An artist gathered rubbish that drifted onto shore in Haida Gwaii, some of which originated in Japan and made it’s way to this coast during the Tsunami in 2011. This display was in the gallery as well as throughout the aquarium and boy oh boy did it catch my kids’ attention. They couldn’t believe how plastic affects our oceans.
The Vancouver Aquarium is jam packed with information regarding conservation, research and education. It’s aim is to help guide our children into wanting to help protect the planet. My kids were motivated by seeing the life that they could be helping to preserve by making sure that their actions didn’t affect them negatively.
Summary of Vancouver Aquarium
While the Vancouver Aquarium is costly it was worth it for our family. The activities available were suitable for all members of our group: from age 2-senior and kept everyone very captivated until we had to insist we leave to go eat dinner. If you’re going to go all the way to Vancouver you could try and make time to explore Stanley Park a bit, depending on your kids. Overall, we had a great day and try to visit the Vancouver Aquarium once a year.