National Aquarium in Baltimore

Amazing Underwater Experience

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what a bust
Not worth the price of admission. Bought my tickets on line and waited 45 min to get in only to see a lot of birds and turtles. Experienced small weak exhibits , extremely over crowded which made it very stuffy and hot. Best thing to do is go to your local pet store and check out their exhibits and save 100.00+ dollars or go to San Francisco Aquarium. Everything else in the Baltimore was ok a lot of rude people (but there was a Red Socks game in town) City was clean and felt safe. Pricey food and parking. Bring lots of money.....

Reviewed by: Brian from on Sep 20 2009

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Nice, but not worth the price of admission
My family was really looking forward to our trip to the aquarium. What we didn't realize is that we had to buy our tickets, then wait three hours to enter. It was very busy, being a Sunday.

Reviewed by: Steve from on Jul 27 2009

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Disappointed
I suppose if I had never been to an aquarium I wouldn't have been so disappointed. There is no comparison between the aquariums in New Orleans before the hurricane or to the aquarium in Chattanooga. It was very crowed, hot and noisy. The exterior of the Aquarium was impressive, but not the displays. It certainly wasn't worth the 11 hour bus trip to and from this aquarium. The Dolphin show was below average. Perhaps if I had attended during the middle of the week when school is in session it may have been less crowded and more enjoyable. Will never know as I do not plan on going again. First time goers to an aquarium will probably like it here.

Reviewed by: A Yahoo! Contributor from on Jun 22 2009

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Impressive!
The National Aquarium in Baltimore is an exceptional aquarium!! The immersion exhibits like the rainforest and austrailia are amazing like your really there and while it may seem that there is very few animals when you stop and look around you realize that you are surrounded by amazing animals like slothes and kookaburras that you may not have noticed. The other exhibits are fantastic as well and the layout flows very well. I saw animals that I had never seen before like a zebra shark. You can also learn about their research and rescue efforts and in the ray tank you can see the rescued sea turtle! The guides in the exhibits are very helpful and really know their stuff too! They weren't stumped by any of my sons questions or mine and they were really friendly. I can't wait to go back! Just a tip, to really stop and look at the exhibits and around you and you will appreciate it so much more!

Reviewed by: erinB from on Apr 09 2009

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Great Family Outing
My family and I really enjoyed the aquarium. We purchased our tickets ahead of time, so we didn't have to wait to get in. We arrived at 10:45 AM, so we were able to find parking less than a block away (at a price of $8./HR)- it wasn't a pkg garage, but one of those outdoor, smaller lots. We have a 13 month old son, and were disappointed that strollers weren't allowed. We thought that would make for a difficult time, since our son isn't walking yet, but found it to be a non issue after watching him enjoying every thing he was seeing so much that he didn't mind being carried. Even being so young, he loved pointing at the sharks, turtle, frogs, etc. He was very entertained, as we were, to say the least. There were also several open areas where we could let him down, where he could stand, and put his fingers up against the glass, looking at all the fish. We purchased a magnet and a child's t-shirt, which were typical gift shop prices that you'd find at any aquarium in America. Lunch was a bit pricey at their cafe- $3.00 for a bottle water, $9.99 for a panini, $6.25 for a hoagie. I thought it would be more crowded, but it was a Saturday, so there were no school tours, etc.; and it was a rainy day, so maybe less people wanted to venture out to the inner harbor. We were able to see the displays easily, getting right up to them. We did not do the Dolphin show, because we thought that since it was an aquarium, that that kind if thing should be part of the package. We stayed about three to four hours total. It was a lot of fun and we'd recommend it to any of our friends who have kids, even little ones.

Reviewed by: Hillary from on Mar 30 2009

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Dolphin show was disappointing
We took our 2 1/2 year old grandson and he was excited about seeing the dolphin show. We saw about 5 min's of the dolphins preforming tricks and abut 15 min's of watching the big tv screen about how dolphins are trained. Our grandson became antsy because he was too young to really understand the tv screen. It was a waste of money.

Reviewed by: T.J. from on Mar 17 2009

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Dolphin show...MAJOR DISAPPOINTMENT!!!!
We are from Boston, MA. Our aquarium is great but yours is superior in almost every way In spite of the cost, we loved the exhibits. Our VA grandchildren(5+7) were delighted with the place....THEN we went to the Dolphin Show. We figured it would be the highlight of our $90 day.....NOT!!!Sooo much talk;so little dolphin!! Education is vital but not to the extent of 4/5ths of the show. Our grandsons were the average age of the kids in attendance. They were SOOOO disappointed as were we! We have been to other shows in Florida/Boston etc...this was WAY below expectations. Sooo much so, that I am writing this e-mail. PLEASE reevaluate this presentation.As it was the last thing on our visit, it left a real sour taste. Finally, we gave our kids the receipt thinking they might take an annual membership. If they do...I can assure you they will NOT be going to the Dolphin Show

Reviewed by: A Yahoo! Contributor from on Feb 02 2009

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Worst Aquarium I have ver seen....
Me and family - wife and 3yo daughter - are from Brooklyn, NY. We've been visiting Baltimore so decided to see Aquarium... Oh my God... That place is just a wasting a money, wow... we paid something around $70 to get in... I thought as far I know prices for a tickets in a places liek that - Im professional Photographer - I said to my wife: I believe tahts gonna be something really good cuz its little expensive so we can expect something really nice and special... after 10 minuts I said that something is wrong and we probably kind of lost and we just didn't see exhibitions yeat cuz Aquarium is so big... eeeeee wrong... that was main exhibition... it took us maybe an hour to walk around Aquarium and see everything... but the biggest surprise was ahead and called: Dolphin Show... I think the biggest attraction of the Aquarium was Clown Fish... and thats probably it... no more nice tropical exhibitions... I start asking stuff members where is Jelly Fish Exhibition... ok there is no Jelly Fish Exhibition... in National Aquarium in Baltimore you`'' not find any Jelly Fish... I was shocked.... I was so disappointed.... I haven't seen nothing interesting in this Aquarium... maybe Rays tank was something nice but for $30 a person i expected to see something more than Rays and one Clown Fish... ok but the best I left for end.. Dolphin Show... about 15-20 minutes show... u`ll see 4 dolphins 2 Jumps for the whole show and one "splashing round" 95% of the Dolphin Show is a watching document movie about Dolphins.... that was too much for me... for over $70 i saw one Clown Fish, Rays Tank, 4 dolphins and no "dolphin show" thats all I saw for over $70 My 3 yo daughter after the show asked me " "Daddy u told me we will see a Dolphins and jumps.... but I haven't seen any dolphins" ... That was crazy, that was the worst museum - aquarium I have ever Seen in my life.... we start comparing National Aquarium to our small Aquarium on Coney Island in NYC... for less than half price in Coney Island u`'' see exactly the same exhibitions like in Baltimore plus u`'' see Jelly Fish Exhibition, Sharks are not in dark cave, tropical exhibitions, u`'ll see probably around 50 Clown Fish, very nice outside exhibitions, there is no Dolphin Show but there is free sal show 30 minutes of fun and tricks Dolphins just can dream to be good like seals from Coney Island Aquarium.... My advice : Don't go there... Take your kid to toy store and make him hapy for a months for that over $70....

Reviewed by: Agnieszka from on Nov 11 2008

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Loved It
The Baltimore Aquarium has terrific exhibits and a huge variety of aquatic life on display. You'd spend half as much money on a movie and not see anything live, so the price seems reasonable by that standard. We spent about 3 hours total in the building, and that was without seeing any of the add-on shows. Highly recommended.

Reviewed by: a Yahoo! Local User from on Nov 01 2008

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Ride the Ducks instead
Overpriced and the Frog and Australian "special exhibits" were small in scope and not particularly SPECIAL. The so called Dolphin show was really a disappointment - why hold back animals whose natural instinct is to show off? We've tried this aquarium on numerous occasions - especially with out-of-town guests and have always been disappointed. Save your $$$ for a trip to The Monterey Bay Aquarium or The Shedd - either one of these aquariums can easily qualify on a "National" level.Oh, and don't forget The Ducks - now there is $$$ well spent.

Reviewed by: A Yahoo! Contributor from on Aug 03 2008
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