Review: Greater Cleveland Aquarium

A full year plus after the opening of the Greater Cleveland Aquarium (GCA), our family finally got to step foot into the establishment recently. Back in June, our family took advantage of a discounted Family membership via Groupon. For the first time, the economics of visiting the Greater Cleveland Aquarium made sense for our family.

However, I had very little expectations of the aquarium due to the abundance of negative reviews online. While I had continued to harp on the high cost of admission, others echoed my complaints, as well as noted exploring the museum took less than an hour to visit, the additional costs of parking, and the lack of quality of fish and the overall experience.

The Cleveland Plain Dealer recently conducted a survey asking the consumer what their biggest complaints were about the aquarium. Cleveland Scene magazine followed up with an article highlighting the despair that the GCA has to overcome in the years ahead.

More than half of respondents (55 percent) said that ticket prices need to lowered before the aquarium can expect increased attendance. Twenty-two percent voted that an increase in the facility’s size is the most pressing improvement. Fifteen percent felt that better exhibits would draw larger crowds, and a small fraction voted for “increased hours of operation.”

While I was delighted that the cost of admission for an adult had finally dropped below the $20 price point earlier this year, there were still some hurdles to overcome as noted during our visit.

As I have said many times before, the $20 cost of admission is fine provided there is a great return on investment. Make the establishment large enough to last several hours, and the intrinsic value is there for the consumer. The Newport Aquarium on the fringes of Cincinnati, Ohio is the perfect example, in that we visited last year, and were blown away by the size and incredible exhibits throughout the facility.

Greater Cleveland Aquarium Review

Our visit took us roughly an hour from the moment we parked until getting back into the vehicle. We happen to visit on the weekend of Shark Week, so there were a handful of additional events lined up to entertain the guests.

The GCA is located in a former powerhouse that was constructed in 1892 to power the abundance of streetcars on the streets of Cleveland. The facility itself is a gorgeous venue, which over time has seen its share of restaurants, bars, and entertainment venues.

The aquarium has been constructed in the lower level of the powerhouse. What is remarkable to fathom, especially when you get into the shark tube, is the sheer size of some of the tanks in relation to the building. Here we have over a 100 year old building, that has successfully been transformed into a landmark that embodies the industrial history of the city. That in itself was impressive!

Once we processed our membership, we were off to explore the aquarium. The museum starts with some rather lackluster aquariums with fish from the various Great Lakes region. While the initial tanks do encompass the fish of the region, they left a lot to be desired.

The first thing I noticed, since we were traveling with all three of our boys ages 4 and under, was the GCA was not designed with young eyes at mind. All of the tanks were constructed at adult level, leaving the kids wandering right past the tanks. It was tough to get our boys attention since they could not see into the tanks at their level until we got to some of the larger tanks.

In the middle of the aquarium resides the touch tank, which was a rather amusing activity. During our visit, the touch tank was divided into two halves; one side had smaller crustaceans and horseshoe crabs. Guests were free to touch the animals with the assistance of the keeper. On the opposite side resided the sting rays, which guests were free to touch.

Since our visit, the GCA has since modified the tank so both sides are now combined into one.

Undoubtedly, the most impressive structure within the facility was the ginormous shark tank. The tank was filled with an assortment of different shark species, and had plenty of room to swim around within the aquarium. Guests could view the sharks from large walls, or walk through the tube and be surrounded by the sharks.

Due to the sheer massiveness of the large shark tank, I would have liked to see more fish, as they tended to congregate in select areas, leaving other areas rather desolate.

What the GCA does right?

– For what it is worth, the GCA did a decent job providing a new tourist activity within a historically relevant structure.
– The shark tank was excellent, though once you have been in one, the attractiveness is detracted.

What the GCA can improve?

– The initial exhibits going into the aquarium are nothing short of being rather boring. My initial reaction was I have these same fish in my aquarium at home.
– The size of the aquarium needs to be improved and/or the quality of the tanks. The size of the facility tended to match that at the Waikiki Aquarium. Though I never thought about the size of the aquarium in Hawaii, possibly due to the abundance of salt water tanks and the Hawaiian atmosphere.
– Make the exhibits more kid assessable. While the touch pool has step stools for the kids, the rest of the aquariums were left with no means of viewing for those shorter than 3 feet.
– My biggest desire is that the GCA will join forces with our world class Cleveland Metroparks Zoo, and become part of the accredited zoo programs.

The Pittsburgh Zoo offers an amazing aquarium and packs a lot of punch into a small facility with some impressive displays. I only hope the GCA can take a hard look at some of its predecessors and really see the experience that other aquariums can offer.

Our family can now say we have experienced the Greater Cleveland Aquarium, and even are the owners of a new annual pass. Outside of purchasing a Groupon to cover the cost of our pass, I would never in the future purchase a pass, as the value just is not there. Ours boys were rather bored and unimpressed, and were more enthralled with climbing up and down the stairs in the lobby of the building than viewing fish.

During our visit to the GCA, we just so happen to be in the right place, at the right time. I overheard that if we met a staff member at an assigned location in the aquarium, upon singing a Happy Birthday tune, we would receive four (4) tickets to that nights Beach Boys concert next door. It had always been on my wife’s bucket list to see the Beach Boys, and since we tend to live a Jimmy Buffett/Margaritaville lifestyle, I jumped at the chance for tickets.

A short tune later, we were going to be seeing the iconic Beach Boys on the shores of the Cuyahoga River that evening.

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Source: InACents