Re-discovering Toronto as a mom: Let's talk about Toronto's new Aquarium

Forgive me, I'm a little late posting this. We visited Toronto's hot new tourist site during the cold Christmas break on Friday Jan 4th and let's just say the post is better late than never. After a long and tiresome Christmas holiday, 6 days with no power and way too much driving around southern Ontario in terrible weather, we thought it would be a good idea to enjoy the day with the family before the end of the Holidays and visit Ripley's Aquarium

What I thought was going to be a nice afternoon in downtown Toronto's newly established Aquarium turned out to be one of the most stressful and annoying touristic visits I have ever been on.

Getting there was fine. We were prepared to pay the standard 20 bucks for Toronto parking so - no big deal. We bypassed the ridiculously long line up to purchase tickets luckily and got in with no issues. And that's where it began…. Like anywhere else we go with the kids, our first stop is always the washroom. Something tells me this might be a common stop for most families at the beginning of a tour. To do this, we had to retrace our steps back towards the other side of the entrance, where you essentially end up back on the other side of the velvet rope stanchions. Of course, on the way back, it's "excuse me, ummm, we've already shown you our ticket…. just had to use the washroom." agent - "oh, o.k., let me move the rope here so you can get through" What! This is your lobby where you welcome your guests!! Weird but again, no big deal, let's move on right?
Oh wait, we can't move! Literally, the place is so packed of people, anyone claustrophobic would not have bared three minutes through that place. I spent more time trying to figure out how I was going to get through from one corner of the room to the next without barging into every inconsiderate person who thinks I'm driving a tractor trailer and as a result can cut me off every chance they get. All this, while trying to keep my eye on the two kids and my husband who of course are really exited to see it all and frankly don't really care how crazy busy it is. Look at the great fish!

I must say, the fish tanks are pretty impressive. It is obvious that the design of this place was focused more on the tanks, waters and wildlife more than the comfort of those who pay to see it. It is no doubt spectacular and worth checking out however, I think I would just wait for the hype to wear down a little before I would go back.

The place is not meant for a large crowd and can not entertain the number of people it has attracted. The one and only cafeteria in the centre of it is no bigger than a cafe, with very few seats and no other options like machines you can purchase snacks from. Not a very strategical financial move I would argue. It's a good thing we brought our own anyway. Of course, there is no where to sit to have them so we ate on the move.

As we left, we made it to what we (and everyone else) thought was the exit, where a security guard told us to turn around as the exit was through the gift shop. The gift shop of course that we originally chose not to go into. Surprise, surprise, as you leave the gift shop, do you think there is any room for you to get your coat on? It's like a factory: In and out. "Thanks, make sure you take your picture in the shark's mouth before you leave"!