About
Location :
Added by Jopie, at 11 June 2017
Opening Hours
- Monday 9:00 AM – 9:00 PM
- Tuesday 9:00 AM – 9:00 PM
- Wednesday 9:00 AM – 9:00 PM
- Thursday 9:00 AM – 9:00 PM
- Friday 9:00 AM – 10:00 PM
- Saturday 9:00 AM – 10:00 PM
- Sunday 9:00 AM – 10:00 PM
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15 Reviews
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02 January 2018
Definitely out of all the aquariums I've been to this is my favorite. Adult tickets are about thirty five dollars a piece but they do offer a military discount. I got here and bought tickets and we spent hours here there is so much to do especially for kids. They even have glass bottom boat rides over the shark lagoon, a small playground area in the center for kids, an area to pet stingrays, jellyfish and feed the stingrays. They have an escalator type walkway built in once you go underneath the aquarium and into a tunnel where you can see the aquarium on all sides and above you. I go here usually every year and they are always adding to it. They have a penguin exhibit as well as a large gift shop with lots of souvenirs and they have two seperate areas where photos are taken that you can purchase after you tour the aquarium. We always have a lot of fun here and I highly recommend it.
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01 January 2018
We absolutely love the Aquarium! Our only disappointment this time was that the penguins were sleeping. We didn't realize they had a bedtime with all the lights off. I wish there was a way to easily access the kid place structure from the end of the tour because I didn't like them to interrupt the tour of all the sea creatures with recess time and would rather save it for the end. My girls loved loved loved learning all about the animals and looking at each exhibit. :) The tunnel is the all time favorite. They also loved the jellyfish (and getting to touch them!!) and watching the diver feed the fish.
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18 December 2017
It was a fun adventure and great experience. Just a fair warning, it is quite expensive. ( so save so.e money if you plan on going) my 1 1/2 year old loved it too. She loved walking under the shark tank , and touching the jelly fish. The only complaint is that the adults kept getting in the way of the little ones being able to see and interact with the animals / fish. ( and not one staff member asked the to allow the little ones in)
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28 November 2017
Love this Aquarium! Second year of annual passes as the aquarium makes a great escape from the HEAT during the summer, and COLD during the winter while we are in Gatlinburg, which is a lot! Staff is always very friendly, aquarium is always very clean, and when I visit (during the tourism downtime because I'm local) it's never crowded!! My most recent trip (the day I wrote this review) we only passed about two other people in the entire aquarium!!
For tourist, or even locals who have never been, you can spend hours in this Aquarium and have fun.. I'd say if you take it slow, enjoy the sites, watch the shows, and do all the hands-on stuff it probably takes an 1.5 hours at least to get through, and that's still rushing it.. I know folks who have and have personally visited this Aquarium for 3+ hours.. for those that don't take that long or those that say the Aquarium is to small that means you rushed and didn't give yourself time to enjoy it.. for me, I spend roughly 20 - 30 minutes when I visit. Having an annual pass, we stop here to warm up or cool off and relax for a few.. maybe grab a soda and burger.. They have great food!! So my trips are fairly quick and short but we love it!!
Ripley's as a company spends a lot of money and really gives back to the area so while they aren't local, they really still help us out!response / report this review -
19 November 2017
This is Justin's wife speaking: I absolutely love aquariums, and I love this one!! The only aquarium I would rank as better is the Georgia aquarium simply because it's bigger. This one is great with many different fish and great opportunities to learn about the animals. They have great things to do for kids (or big kids like myself) such as petting horseshoe crabs, stingrays, and even moon jellies (which I have never seen before and was ecstatic about). You can also feed stingrays, interact with penguins, and there is a small play area for kids. Overall a great attraction!
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04 November 2017
One of the best aquariums I've been to. There tough tanks are amongst the best. Interactive for all age groups.
Ripley's has a section on Pearl Harbor and the USS Arizona. Displays were super informative and interactive.
This time around we did the swim with the sting rays. Wife and kids had a great time.response / report this review -
26 October 2017
Pricey but fun! Touch the horseshoe crabs or jelly fish. Walk through the tunnel and watch from under the sharks and fish. It was a much better view than what the glass bottom boat offered. Many different species to see and friendly tour guides to answer questions.
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19 September 2017
Went with our 5 yr old grandson for his 5th birthday😆 He had so much fun! We decided to keep it simple since we had not been there before, so we just bought regular admission tickets , no extras. We may do extras next time but it was perfect for a 5 yr old.. Staff was friendly and helpful. I was concerned about visiting an aquarium with my leg in a cast but I had no problems. Highly recommend buying tickets online. Walked right in.
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30 August 2017
Best aquarium I've ever been to. My family and I all had a really nice time. This place is enormous but fairly easy to navigate. They have a huge McDonald land style play place right in the middle for kids. I could spend hours in there I took my seven month old baby girl. I loved watching her eyes light up as she watched swarms of fish swim over head 😊🐟🐠🐡🦑🦀🦐🐙😍
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07 August 2017
Our family (me, wife and 2 college age kids) absolutely loved the aquarium here. It was one of the high lights of our trip in the area. We visited on a Tuesday, and after seeing the crowds on the weekend I would strongly encourage visiting on a Monday- Thursday (true of most attractions). Longest shark tunnel I've ever seen, with incredible views in it. A great variety of different animals and exhibits, and several places to get "hands on" with animals like mantas and even jelly fish! They also had what looked like a great climbing/ play area for the kids, but we were a little old for that. Plan a few hours to walk through and see everything. Absolutely a don't miss attraction in the area.
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09 July 2017
This is the absolute Best!!! aquarium we've ever been to. And we've been to some aquariums. Very seriously ginormous. Great multi point views of the same HUGE displays(literally they take a glass bottom boat out on this display). Not that there's only one this place has everything. You will not be disappointed if you go here.w
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05 July 2017
It was huge with diverse marine wildlife on display in informative and fun habitats. There are shows such a the mermaid dive and interactive displays such as the Ray Bay. There is an additional interactive penguin experience available for a fee. I had a blast! On my way out the largest manta ray splashed the hell out of me for taking too long to pet it after I fed it. Cool experience!
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01 July 2017
This place! If you come to tr he Smokies on vacation there are 2 tourist attractions you MUST visit while you're here. Go to Ripley's Aquarium and Dolly Parton's Dixie Stampede. Lucky for you, they offer package deals for tickets to both. Plan to spend several hours at this attraction. Plenty to do for the young and old. Huge play area, sharks, iguanas, sting rays, penguins and you'll get to see Sandy the sea turtle if you're lucky! Awesome place. I've been there several times!
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23 June 2017
We came here for our honeymoon and went to the penguin experience and it was incredible! The staff was extremely knowledgeable and friendly. The walk through the aquarium was great too! There is plenty of information to take in and the animals were all very active. I can't wait to come back!
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18 June 2017
This exhibit is wonderful for the kids , no matter the age group they will all have fun. From the beginning to the end , there are tons of options to look and feel your way through the self guided tour. The underwater tunnel always amazes everyone and is a modern marvel. New additions such as a 3 story play area for kids and the pearl harbor side museum and a nice touch as well. Overall a great experience.
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