Attractions

Zebras at Assiniboine Park Zoo

Located in Winnipeg’s Assiniboine Park, Assiniboine Park Zoo is a family-friendly Winnipeg attraction.  Not too big, not too small, with many typical zoo animals, our family enjoyed our visit there.

Begun in 1904, the Assiniboine Park Zoo has continued to grow and is currently working to add a lion exhibit.  Our children especially liked seeing the zebras, camels, polar bears, and caribou.  There are two play areas at the zoo; my children’s favorite was the camel slide. Read More »

The nursery is open and now is a great time to visit the Vancouver Aquarium. In June 2009, a baby beluga was born to Aurora, and joined Qila and her year-old calf Tiqa, born in June 2008. In an interesting twist, Aurora is also the mother of Qila, so the whale who just gave birth is also a new grandmother. Love the animal kingdom!

Beluga Whale

Read More »

Turtles at Great Lakes Aquarium

On the shore of Lake Superior in the Canal Park area of Duluth, Minnesota, is the Great Lakes Aquarium.  Opened in 2000 as an aquarium of primarily freshwater species, Great Lakes Aquarium is home to a variety of species found in the Great Lakes and around the world.

Exhibits at the aquarium range from educational to playful, and usually the two are intertwined.  My children enjoyed watching the stingray feeding session as well as playing at the water tables.  Fish, turtles, and other sealife are displayed, as are exhibits pertaining to Great Lakes ecology and history.

My favorite part of the aquarium was the vantage point of Duluth’s Aerial Lift Bridge and watching ships head out onto the lake.

The Canal Park area is home to many shops, restaurants, and hotels, as well as harbor tours, museums, and a convention center.

Great Lakes Aquarium

• Open daily, except Christmas Day, from 10-6.
• Adults $14.50, ages 3-17 $8.50, seniors 62+ $11.50, under 3 free.
• Parking $4; more during special events.
• 353 Harbor Drive, Duluth, MN.

Photo credit:  minnemom on flickr

Linda (minnemom) has visited many Minnesota attractions with her family.   She writes at Travels with Children.

Related Posts:

Aquarium of the Pacific

SeaLife Aquarium

John C. Shedd Aquarium

Lion at Chicago's Lincoln Park Zoo

Located in Lincoln Park, not far from downtown Chicago, is Lincoln Park Zoo.  Perhaps the best thing about Lincoln Park Zoo is that it is free, so that anyone can enjoy it.

Its paths meander in and around various animal spaces, with several entrances and exits from the park area.  A carousel ride (for a small fee) is available, as are concessions and various visitor services.

Lincoln Park Zoo is home to many “traditional” zoo animals, but also has a farmyard area where children can visit with cows, goats, pigs, and ponies.  It has been honored with an entry in America’s Best Zoos.

There is paid parking near the zoo and free street parking (if you can find it) a little farther away.  Other activities in the Lincoln Park area are the Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum and the Chicago History Museum, and there’s a footbridge across Lakeshore Drive to a large beach on Lake Michigan.  When we visited, we parked our car in the morning and spent the day on foot enjoying all of these things to do.

Lincoln Park Zoo is open daily and is always free.  Hours vary by season; please check the zoo’s website for details and parking information.

Photo credit:  minnemom on flickr

Linda (minnemom) lives in Minnesota and writes about her Travels with Children. 
Chicago is one of their favorite vacation destinations.

Uptake writers have also enjoyed these zoos:

• San Diego Zoo
• Fort Worth Zoo
• Minnesota Zoo
• Reid Park Zoo, Tucson, AZ
• Columbus Zoo
• Houston Zoo
• Central Florida Zoo
• Dallas Zoo

The Parker Manatee Aquarium in Bradenton, Florida isn’t the largest aquarium in the country nor is it the most impressive. As a “second stage facility,” it provides a temporary home for manatees that will be released back into the wild after having received treatment for illness or injury, thus its 60,000-gallon tank was designed to hold only three manatees at a time. However the Parker Manatee Aquarium has something that can’t be found at any other aquarium. They have Snooty.

Handler feeds Snooty by hand, but throws full heads of lettuce into the pool for the other two recovering manatees

A 61-year old West Indian Manatee, Snooty was was the first recorded birth of a manatee in captivity and is the oldest manatee living in captivity. He was born in a Miami aquarium in 1948 and was transferred to Bradenton Read More »

Moody Gardens is a huge tourist attraction in Galveston, Texas with three main features: The Aquarium Pyramid, The Rainforest Pyramid & The Discovery Pyramid.

Moody Gardens

The Aquarium Pyramid currently features a shark exhibit & offers an opportunity to meet a live penguin.  In addition to these new attractions, they also have eels, sea turtles, and thousands of tropical fish in the Caribbean exhibit.  The Antarctic South Atlantic Exhibit has at least five different kinds of penguins. The North Pacific Exhibit focuses on seals and sea lions, while the South Pacific Exhibit takes you into the world of the Great Barrier Reef and tide pools.

Penguins

The Rainforest Pyramid is ten stories tall with over 1000 species of exotic plants from all over the world.  Amid the lush flora you will find beautiful macaws, an anaconda, turtles and fish.  The Asian, African and American Rainforests are all considered the most complete reproduction of actual rainforest available.

Macaws

The Discovery Pyramid allows visitors to explore the world of science.  Currently they are hosting a bones exhibit called Bones: An Exhibit Inside of You,  where you can learn how modern technology helps us keep our bones healthy, as well as how bones have found their way into art, music and literature.  Other traveling exhibits from around the world provide interactive ways to learn and have fun learning more about the world around us.

Bones

Moody Gardens also has a golf course, a 4D theater, an IMAX theater, Ridefilm, Palm Beach and a bayou paddle wheel boat tour. It’s open 365 days a year and is one of those places that you need to spend several days exploring.

Photos curtesy of Wikimedia Commons

by Tamara Rice of The Rice Paper

The Entrance of the Aquarium of the Pacific

I’ve been to aquariums in Monterey, California and Seattle, Washington–heck, I’ve even been to Seaworld in San Diego, California. However, I truly believe the best aquarium on the West Coast is the Aquarium of the Pacific in Long Beach, California.

First of all, you need to know it’s in Long Beach, so no matter where you are coming from in California’s Southland (unless you are coming from the yacht parked next door) you are going to be on ugly freeways and stuck in traffic on your way there. (Some of us, truth be told, have caused four-car pileups on the 405 Freeway on our way to the aquarium–I’m just saying … )

But once you get there, the sight of the ocean takes all that stress away. (Well, not so much after the four-car pileup.) It’s not outrageously expensive–especially for kids. In fact, right now they are having special rates for their tenth anniversary.

It’s a very kid-friendly place. If I had a nickel for every time I pushed a stroller around the place, I’d be a rich woman. There’s sea life to touch (the stingrays are amazingly soft), but really the most memorable part of this aquarium–ask anyone who’s been there–are the insanely amazing creatures you will see in the aquarium’s glow-in-the-dark exhibit. Creatures who literally light up. Hold on to your kids–it’s pretty dark after all–but you will both be mesmerized.

Glow in the Dark Jellies at the Aquarium

Jellyfish at the Aquarium of the Pacific

These pictures are not from Animal Planet or stills from one of those fancy earth documentary series. These are pictures taken by a visitor at the aquarium.

Sure, he had a good camera. Still, I think they speak more highly of the place than I ever could.

The Aquarium's Finest Sea Creature

Photos by Woofiegrrl, Vihn! and mstickmanp of flickr.com

by Tamara Rice of The Rice Paper

Some fifth grade girls like unicorns. Me? Back in 1984, I preferred the panda. So it was only natural that my parents sent my brother and me running through the London Zoo to the panda exhibit by ourselves, just minutes before it closed.

We had been on a whirlwind European tour of museums and landmarks. We had seen the Rosetta Stone, King Tut’s golden goodies and even the Mona Lisa, but none of them satisfied me.  I just had to get to the rare panda exhibit (Ling-Ling and Chia-Chia, to be exact) to see them with my own eyes.

Well, I saw them, and–like everything else roped-off and caged-in on our 1984 European tour–the pandas were not quite what I expected.

A giant panda at the San Diego Zoo

Still, I couldn’t wait to drag my own children to the panda exhibit at the San Diego Zoo.

The San Diego Zoo panda habitat is completely unlike the up-close 1984 panda setting at the London Zoo (no wonder Ling-Ling couldn’t conceive). Those on a panda quest in San Diego wait in a line that stretches on forever–as if a rollercoaster is waiting on the other side of those thick privacy walls. (Only, instead of cheers, there are whispers and signs everywhere reminding visitors that noise will scare the precious beasts.)

San Diego Panda Sunning Himself

Behind the walls, the calming voice of a park employee on the mic urges visitors to keep moving (quietly, that is); and you can feel the anticipation build as the humans shuffle through.

At last the lovely panda habitat is exposed and lucky visitors, like my family, get to see at least one panda. (Sure, there are four, but the chances of several of them being behind a rock, in a cave, or otherwise out-of-sight are fairly good.)

On our visit we saw one panda sunning himself (as seen here in my picture), but he only looked at us for a few precious seconds, then turned away. Another ate his bamboo and refused to look at us at all.

Thus, I was not surprised that my children looked slightly confounded as we exited the great and world-famous San Diego panda exhibit, because I knew exactly what they were thinking.

Yes, I wanted to say to them. Yes, I know they aren’t quite as white and cuddly as you pictured them.

And, yes, it’s true. The Mona Lisa really is that small.

Photos courtesy of Epukas (Wikimedia) and Tamara Rice.

by Tamara Rice of The Rice Paper

Butterfly at the Living Desert

Spring in Southern California is the perfect time to visit the Living Desert in Palm Desert, just a stone’s throw from Palm Springs. However, if I’ve learned anything at all from my frequent trips to this outdoor garden and zoo, it’s that if you can’t lug around a bottle of water with you, you probably shouldn’t bother with this one. Even when it’s not hot, it’s still dry.

Don’t get me wrong, it’s a great place to visit. If you love desert plants, birds and animals, you’ll like what the Living Desert has to offer–including a large model train, run by a friendly group of retirees in old-fashioned conductor uniforms. (What model trains climbing the Swiss Alps have to do with the desert, I’ll never know, but it works and kids love it.)

An Elusive Giraffe at the Living Desert

Admission is never more than $12 per person (depending on your age and the time of year that you go), and kids under 3 can go for free, which makes it a fairly good deal.

My only complaint is that the park’s greatest attraction is also its most elusive attraction: the beautiful giraffes. I have made my kids stand quietly for fifteen minutes at a time (a long time when you are 7 years old) and still we’ve barely had more than a peek at them over the years. These shy creatures tend to stay on the other side of their massive hill, much to my children’s chagrin.

Still, it’s less expensive than most other Southern California zoos, and for younger kids (and grown ups) still fascinated by trains, lizards, cacti and rabbits, it is just as much fun.

Photos courtesy of MrPhancy and Rockin Robin (Flickr.com)

by Barbara Ann Weibel at Hole In The Donut

Despite the fact that I’ve lived in Florida for more than two years, I still hadn’t been to Walt Disney World. Last week, however, I seized the opportunity to rectify this when my sister called from Illinois to say her daughter’s choral group would be performing at the park. Not only did I have the time, I now had the perfect excuse to visit what I have always considered to be one of America’s greatest theme parks.

Unfortunately, what began as an eager enterprise soon became mired in frustration. First, I found the Disney website to be virtually unnavigable and lacking in the most basic information. When I finally drilled down to the page where I could book tickets, it hung and refused to go anywhere. Even when I called the toll-free number, I could not reach a customer service representative who was able to adequately explain how the myriad “park passes” worked and was forced to buy the one I thought might work the best, given that my niece’s numerous performances were scheduled in several areas of the park over three days.

At the Magic Kingdom, Disney characters were only seen during the parades

Next, I needed to determine the driving distance from Sarasota to the Magic Kingdom so that I could arrange to meet my family at a specific time the following day. After at least 30 minutes of searching through Disney’s various websites, I finally discovered a page with driving directions, but it said only: “Drive east on I-4 until you get to the signs for Walt Disney World.” Not at all helpful. I know the park is in the Orlando area, but where in the Orlando area? I resorted to mapquest, but it would not work using “Walt Disney World” as an address, so I returned to the Disney website and was stunned to discover that there is no address or town name to be found anywhere on the site.

Guests are herded like cattle through the Swiss Family Robinson attraction at the Magic Kingdom

Still not sure of the exact location of the Magic Kingdom, I set out early the next morning, and it is a good thing I did. Upon arriving I caught the tram to the transport center, picked up my tickets at will call, and hopped aboard a ferry to the main entrance, reaching it just as the turnstile computers broke down. Entry requires not only scanning of the barcode on each ticket, but also fingerprint scanning; lacking this, a guest could potentially use a two-day pass for three days. No one was being allowed through until the computers came back on line. People groused and grumbled as we cooled our jets for half an hour while park employees tried to rectify the problem. Finally, everyone was allowed to enter, even though the computers were still not working.

One of the few good experiences at the Magic Kingdom, the nightly fireworks display is spectacular

Once inside the park, I fought my way down a crowded Main Street during the midday parade and finally located my family – thank goodness for the orange T-shirts they all wore! The kids headed off on their own for a few hours and I joined the adult chaperones to explore the park. I wish I had better things to say about the rest of the day, but unfortunately the rides were lame and seemed designed solely to expose us to stores full of Disney merchandise. Aside from the two parades, where Mickey Mouse, Minnie Mouse, and the other Disney characters appeared in several incarnations, I never saw a character in the park the entire day. Frankly, the only really enjoyable event was the 9 p.m. fireworks show at the castle – it was truly spectacular – but the overwhelming experience was one of crass, in-your-face commercialism.

Topiaries of Cinderella and her court frame Epcot's iconic sphere at the park's main entrance

My second day at Epcot was a much different experience. I was fortunate to arrive during the annual International Flower and Garden Festival, which features dozens of intricate topiaries. Beginning with Cinderella’s grand coronation and her court, which frames Epcot’s iconic silver globe at the main entrance, each of the Disney characters were crafted from plants and blooming flowers and scattered throughout the park.

Beauty and the Beast topiaries at Epcot

Epcot’s grounds are stunning and the rides in Future World are educational and interesting, however the most fascinating part of this park lies in its World Showcase. Built around a circular lake, each of its eleven Pavilions showcase a different country. Walking into the Mexico Pavilion is like being transported instantly to the central plaza of a Mexican village. The biergarten is the main attraction in Germany and at the United Kingdom Pavilion visitors can relax in a town square and munch on authentic fish and chips. The absolute best part of the day was attending the 360 degree Circle-Vision travelogue films presented by China, Canada, and France, although munching my way through a smorgasbord of international food all day was great fun as well.

Mexico Pavilion in Epcot's World Showcase

With one bad Disney experience and one good experience behind me, it seemed that my visit to Downtown Disney on day three would be the tie-breaker. Comprised of three sections – West Side, Marketplace, and Pleasure Island – Downtown Disney is nothing more than one long shopping center built on the shore of a large man-made lake. The development seemed out of place and neglected; in fact, all the nightclubs in Pleasure Island were closed in September of 2008 in preparation for a “transformation,” although there was no apparent work underway.

Pleasure Island at Downtown Disney is sad and deserted

Disney advertises the center as: “an appealing place to take a break from Disney Theme Parks and Water Parks—especially if you’re in search of Disney merchandise. Check out the largest Disney character store in the world.” Let me see if I’ve got this straight. Even though I have already been subjected to endless displays of merchandise at the Magic Kingdom and Epcot, Disney suggests that I “take a break” and immerse myself in the relaxing experience of shopping at the largest Disney character store in the world at Downtown Disney. Puh-lease!

Fortunately, I was not there to shop. I was there to hear my niece perform. Grabbing a ringside seat in the lakeside open air amphitheater, I thoroughly enjoyed the choir’s program of big band, renaissance, and patriotic numbers. Now that was an appealing break. It’s also the only reason I’d ever return to Downtown Disney.

I was more than disappointed with my visit to Walt Disney World and, with the exception of Epcot, would not return. Although I could have stayed longer and checked out some of the other attractions like Hollywood Studios or Animal Kingdom, I was convinced that they would be more of the same, so I headed home. For me the only saving grace was that as a Florida resident, I could purchase a two-day pass for $99, but I pity the folks that fork out the full price of admission.

Photos courtesy of Barbara Weibel