After visiting Paris myself in the summer, I was super excited to explore the UK equivalent in London. Straight to the point, I was disappointed.
The whole experience was incredibly disappointing and I will not be going back.
Getting into the aquarium was a rough experience. There was huge crowds outside with people pushing and shoving everyone. It was actually really unsafe and hazardous. At the bottom of the steps was a man in a fluorescent jacket directing people with tickets up, while the women at the bottom was telling people to go back down.
I booked a ticket online with an arrival time, we got there with perfect timing. While I waited patiently, albeit somewhat distressed, others were arguing with a seemingly unknowledgeable attendee. They had been waiting for an hour to get in, despite having timed entry, so I could understand their utter despair. Mainly I think it was the lack of communication between the public and even within the staff themselves, that was the biggest disappointment.
Once we finally got in, they didn't have the ticket machine so once again we were made to wait and queue for even longer. When they came back, the rush of people going in meant that there was very little organisation and I even got split up from my partner for a brief period of time.
The aquariums themselves were really well kept and there was a beautiful array or many different fish.
Unfortunately, it appeared at least two exhibitions were closed so that was a massive disappointment, especially as they were extremely big ones. I personally, didn't think that the prices were reduced but I have been told through twitter that they were. If this is the case, it definitely wasn't worth the price that I paid for it.
Also, the main tank which had all the sharks was completely overused. While it was interesting to see them, seeing it from 5+ different vantage points to me, felt like a cheap way to make it seem as though there was more to see.
Having said that, my child really enjoyed the whole experience. He loves sensory type activities and the whole experience was very calming to him. The lights make it a really great sensory experience and the soft and relaxing music really helps. I think the pace of the animals really helps children all around.
One of the biggest and easily fixable negative I had was that although their were signs above all the tanks, given how dark it was, there was no way to read. I don't wear nor need glasses but with the diminished light, there was no way to read. There either needs to be lit up signs or a small spotlight above each one. Admittedly, the low level lighting adds to the experience but it seems like a massive waste of money and time to have informative and interesting signs that can't be appreciated.
I guess it wasn't helped by the fact it was so overpopulated in their that you had very little time to read with many distraction. Oppositely, in Paris, I was one of only three people in the whole aquarium. If you want to visit an Aquarium, I would thoroughly recommend Paris because they even had sit down viewing points that were comfortable and enjoyable.
Overall, it was extremely crowded, very poorly organised and not worth the money. Having said that, my child thoroughly enjoyed himself and it was interesting to see a lot of the different species.
Ps. How crazy close did this shark get?! Luckily I found protection!
Comments
Post a Comment