The Georgia Aquarium is one of the highlights in Atlanta, GA and a wonderful attraction to enjoy with kids. Use this guide to get the most out of your family’s visit to the aquarium.
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A Visit to the Georgia Aquarium in Atlanta, GA
Our recent trip to Atlanta was a great way to start the year! (And I hope it’s just the first of many adventures in 2019.)
We were there to see family, so we spent most of our time lounging around and eating leftover Christmas cookies. But we did manage to extract ourselves from the comfy couch to venture out to one of the city’s highlights: the Georgia Aquarium.
Wow, it’s big!
I feel like we barely dipped our toes into what it has to offer – in a 600,000 square-foot facility with 10 million gallons of fresh and salt water.
Needless to say, entering one of the world’s largest aquariums can be a little overwhelming.
Use this comprehensive guide to make the most of your family’s visit to the Georgia Aquarium.
Related post: Check out what I had to say about the Oklahoma Aquarium in Tulsa.
Aquarium Highlights
The aquarium is organized as a series of loops that begin and end in the grand atrium. You’ll always find your way back there eventually.
Each section has a theme and main attractions, such as penguins in Cold Water Quest or whale sharks in Ocean Voyager.
Here are some of the animals and shows you shouldn’t miss!
- Dolphin show: To be honest, I found the show to be overproduced. But even the loud music and strobe lights couldn’t distract too much from the moving beauty of the animals and their impressive acrobatic abilities. Ask about show times when you arrive and go early for good seating. If you don’t mind getting wet, sit up front in the splash zone.
- Whale sharks: This is the world’s largest fish species! Four specimens swim around in a huge tank with manta rays and other beautiful fish. We loved walking through the 100-foot-long underwater tunnel and looking up at the animals above. The kids also like the people-mover.
- Beluga whales: There are several of these giants swimming about in subarctic-temperature water with their harbor seal buddies.
- California sea lions: Their Under the Boardwalk show is free with general admission. Conditions are similar to the dolphin show: get there early.
- African penguins: I have a soft spot for penguins, as well as the puffins they hang out with at this aquarium. Kids can get a close-up view in a capsule at the end of a tunnel. Catch them strutting their stuff on the daily Waddle Walk through the main atrium, sometime between 10 and 11 AM.
- Aquanaut Adventure: This slightly quieter section offers seven routes with seven adventures around fun STEM challenges. Complete five routes to receive Georgia Aquarium Aquanaut certification.
- Touch pools: There are touching stations with interesting species such as starfish, rays and sharks throughout the galleries.
- 4D Funbelievable Theater: I’m afraid we missed this (due to an ongoing meltdown), but the 3D movie and interactive seats sound fun.
- Animal feedings: Look up posted feeding times for various animals. It’s fun to watch.
Note: Don’t forget to peek into some of the smaller displays. That’s where you’ll find a few of my other favorites, such as the Japanese sea nettle.
If you just can’t get enough…
For additional fees, you can get behind-the-scenes looks at how the aquarium works and meet all the major animal species on a variety of tours.
Tickets
Pay for your tickets and parking ahead of time on the aquarium website. You’ll save a ton of time because you get to skip the lines!
Plus, you’ll save on early-bird (before 11 AM) and evening (after 4 PM) entry, as well as occasional special offers, such as 20% off the walk-up price.
Because of an incident involving misplaced car keys, we came about 10 minutes late to the early-bird entry. Luckily the tickets scanned just fine, so maybe there’s a grace period?
Children 2 and under get in for free.
Bonus tip: If you happen to be a GA resident, your entry is free on your birthday!
City Pass
Looking to experience more of Atlanta? Consider a CityPass to see additional attractions such as Zoo Atlanta and the World of Coca Cola.
Prepare for your visit online
There’s a ton of information on the website that I wish I’d read before our visit. It’ll help you narrow down what you and your kids are most interested in, so you can prioritize.
While you’re on the website, check out the webcams to get you excited for some of the animals you’ll see.
Now, I was going to recommend downloading the Georgia Aquarium app. It gives you showtimes, a map (I appreciate the effort to save paper) and other features. BUT a quick look at Play Store and iTunes reviews tells me it still needs some work. So, try your luck if you feel so inclined.
Parking
The aquarium’s website has pretty good instructions for parking.
Book your parking ticket in advance for $12. There are $10 lots right nearby, but I didn’t mind the extra $2 for cover on a rainy day.
Signage in the garage can be a little confusing. Ignore the blue “ballroom” signs and head towards the yellow-orange elevators that take you down to the walkway towards the aquarium entrance.
Getting around
A small umbrella stroller was helpful for pushing around tired Max and not having to carry diaper bags etc.
It wasn’t always easy to navigate through the crowd, though, and having to park and retrieve the stroller for shows can be a hassle.
If you’re bringing a stroller to the dolphin show, for example, you’ll be directed to the back where you’ll leave it in exchange for a tag. Don’t bring too much stuff! Because after the show, you may have to carry your kids as everyone slowly shuffles to the exit into the ballroom, where you’ll retrieve the stroller.
If you can get away with a carrier, just use that. (Here are some good options for babies and toddlers).
The aquarium does not offer stroller rentals.
Just in case: Agree on a meeting spot. When we visit busy public places like this, we tell Max where to go and whom to talk to if we get separated for some reason. Take a photo of your kids for good measure, so you know exactly what they were wearing.
Food and restaurants
Kid-friendly fuel is a key component for a fun day at the aquarium! If you’ve ever experienced a hunger-induced mega meltdown, you know what I’m talking about…
The Georgia Aquarium doesn’t allow outside snacks, so you have to be strategic.
First of all, fill up on a good breakfast and snacks right before you head into the aquarium.
Once inside, your dining options are pretty much what you’d expect: Somewhat pricey, addressed to the masses ($14 burger with fries, $8.25 individual pizza, $5.25 PB&J with snacks for the kids). You’ll save a little by prebooking the $15 special online. The salad and hot buffets ($0.75/oz) actually looked surprisingly palatable.
You can also take a break from the aquarium and seek out nearby restaurants. (Ask about re-entry at the security desk. You get one hour.)
The most frugal way to refuel may not be for everyone, but I get a kick out of not overpaying for mediocre food: Keep a cooler with sandwiches, snacks, or thermoses of hot soup in your trunk.
During your lunch break from the aquarium, tailgate right in the garage or head outside for a city picnic. (For all my best tips on saving money on food while traveling, click here.)
Hotels near the Georgia Aquarium
To make things as convenient as possible, consider accommodations near the aquarium.
I love the idea of taking a break for a quick nap at the hotel and heading back in to the aquarium to make a day of it – and the most of your tickets!
There are loads of hotels nearby, many within walking distance.
The Atlanta aquarium also offers a number of package deals.
Special kid events
If you live in Atlanta or have a little more time, check out these great special events:
- Toddler Time: I wish I could attend these themed, special story and song times with my kids! They take place once a month, for 1.5 hours, in the Ocean’s Ballroom, where you can watch beluga whales, whale sharks, manta rays and others. There’s a separate admission fee.
- Sleepovers: Sleeping over at the aquarium sounds like a blast and a pretty good deal! And it’s available to adults (groups 15+), as well…
- Summer camps: Week-long camps for kids of all ages.
Accessibility
Free wheelchairs are available at the entrance and information desk. Several touch pools are accessible, and during our visit staff made sure to remind visitors to keep the blue wheelchair mats in front of exhibits unblocked.
There are also a number of tactile and audio exhibits, as well as visual transcripts of the cell phone tour.
A heads up: This aquarium is LOUD!
We loved many things about this aquarium. The crowds and noise level were not among them.
Maybe it was an especially busy day, but on top of the basic buzz of all the visitors a bunch of attractions were layering on the decibels: interactive displays, TV screens with short films, staff giving instructions at the petting stations via microphone, a musical with (good) full-throated singing in the middle of the atrium, random music near displays.
That was probably my biggest complaint: It felt like the aquarium is trying too hard to Disney-fy the experience of something that is exciting all on its own.
We don’t need a soundtrack to tell us that we should be impressed or feel reverence. I’d love to enjoy my jellyfish in silence, thank you very much.
So if you or your children have a hard time with crowds and noise, try these strategies:
- Come early or late to beat the crowds.
- Bring ear plugs or noise-canceling headphones. (For the kids, try these. For adults: My husband loves these, but mine are a little less conspicuous.)
- Seek out some of the quieter sections, such as the acrylic tunnel in Ocean Voyager (whale sharks and schools of fish are oddly calming) or the Aquanaut Adventure. We literally chilled out at the ice wall.
- Plan to take breaks. Maybe leave for lunch or a nap and come back later.
I hope this will help you to avoid our fate: a noise-induced screeching meltdown by our 4-year-old.
Outlook
Keep an eye out for the 2020 expansion that will include a redesigned entry and shark habitat, adding tens of thousands of square feet to what is already the Western hemisphere’s largest aquarium.
The floor-to-ceiling acrylic windows sound like a promising way to experience hammerheads, sand tiger sharks, or sandbar sharks!
Headed to the Georgia Aquarium? Let me know how your visit goes! Did I miss anything? Comment below!
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This is so informative especially for us with kids. Thanks for sharing.
Thanks, Amara! I’m glad you find it useful.