Ripley's Aquarium of the Smokies, Gatlinburg

This place is always great. Living not too far away we visit every few months. The kids love touching the jelly fish and horse shoe crabs. The signs give plenty of detail but not too much so that it's a chore to read all the information about what you're looking at. The shark lagoon area now has a glass bottom boat you can pay to ride in if you really want a unique view of the sharks and fish in there. I love this place and will keep coming back with my kids.

I’m visiting from Florida and decided to add this to my list of things to do. First impressions were that the facility was clean, staff was friendly and there was a lot to see and do. I was visiting with my toddler and I absolutely loved the flow of this facility. It’s basically a walk through where you can enjoy 10,000 exotic species, then you go through a unique tunnel aquarium where you can view sea creatures all around you, then there’s a play area for toddlers, and touch tanks and you continue walking until you end up at the beginning. The flow of the floor plan is a great way to prevent high traffic areas. I also thought the play areas were neat. There were different levels of the play area, but you could only enter and exit the play area on the floor that you entered, so the you’re not getting separated from the kiddos. Perfect for toddler parents! There’s also food available for purchase, educational events, penguin encounters, camps, sleepovers, birthday party packages and much more. The pricing is affordable and I think it’s wonderful that Tennessee residents get to take advantage of a resident discount. There was also a glass bottom boat tour available. From the looks of it, it doesn’t seem worth it. There’s a section where you can learn about the facility operations and see what takes place “behind the scenes.” Although I enjoyed my experience, there were some tanks that were too small for the creatures that tugged on my heart strings a bit. I’m rating 4 out of 5 stars for the cleanliness, creative experience, professional staff and location. I would definitely recommend for a fun, family-orientated and educational experience.