*this post was written pre-pandemic in 2019 so it’s a good idea to check to see if there are any ticket updates/restrictions in place. But recently we were just talking about how we want to return as a family -that’s how much we liked it – so I wanted to reshare it with you as you make summer plans
On our recent trip to Toronto as a family, we finally visited the Ripley’s Aquarium of Canada!
We love taking the kids to Toronto for a ball game or to visit family, but sometimes our schedules are too tight to fit in too much other tourist activities.
With nearly a week in the big City for the Blue Jays baseball camp that my son was attending, we knew it was the perfect time to check out more fun places with the kids, and the Aquarium was at the top of our list.
The first thing we did was purchase tickets online in advance. We found a discount code and saved by doing it all online (from our hotel room!). Usually, if you can purchase online you’ll enjoy a savings to check that out before you go – plus, who wants to wait in a long long?
Because we were visiting in the middle of summer, it was no surprise that the place was expected to be busy as it was peak vacation season.
The website indicated that they would be busiest until about 4 pm, which worked for our schedule because by the time my son’s day at camp ended, he changed, we regrouped and headed out, it was about 3:30.
We skipped the ticket line thanks to our online tickets, and quickly started our journey. Each section of the Aquarium isn’t huge (for us humans, the space for the sea creatures seemed large!) but it was fairly easy to navigate.
The highlight was the shark tunnel, although seeing the jellyfish in person was pretty impressive.
There are hands on activities throughout the Aquarium like a mini slide, and a tunnel where the kids traveled under the sharks. I wish I could share the picture I happened to snap of my eldest in the tunnel as he looked up and saw a shark above him. Ha, so much freak out. They repeated the tunnel over and over again!
In the end, we took about 90 minutes to pass through the Aquarium which in part was because we were ready for dinner (although there is a cafe on site) and in part because we had seen everything.
We all loved the experience and left with a greater appreciation for what lives in the sea, conservation efforts, and the importance of keeping our oceans clean.
A few other thoughts:
The Aquarium is in the heart of it hall – right at the foot of the CN Tower, near many hotels (including the baseball stadium hotel we love to stay at the Toronto Marriott City Centre) and with a lot of places to eat and play for all of us.
It’s also close to Union Station so we loved taking the train and not having a car for the entire 4 days we were in Toronto. We walked everywhere (and my daughter and I cabbed it to the Eaton Centre once!)
We had a wonderful time and would definitely go back!
