Ripley’s Aquarium at Christmas

Location:

288 Bremner Blvd, Toronto. You can get there by taking the Sky Walk from Union Station, same exit as the CNTower.

Price Break down:

There are 3 types of tickets: Timed Tickets, Express Anytime Tickets, and Sharks After Dark. HST is not included BUT you can use Alipay or Wechat pay. All money discussed in this post is Canadian Dollars.

Timed Ticket

• Adult (14+):$32.00CAD
• Youth (6-13): $22.00
• Child (3-5): $10.00
• Senior (65+): 22.00

Express Any Time Ticket

• Adult: $37.00
• Youth: $25.00
• Child: $13.00
• Senior: $25.00

Sharks After Dark

• Adult:$30.00
• Youth:$20.00
• Child: $7.00
• Senior:$20.00

Ease of Access

This webpage addresses some accessibility concerns at Ripley’s. This includes welcoming service animals and a contact form.

This museum is just south of the Union train station and can be accessed via the Sky Walk (an enclosed walking bridge running from Union to the CNTower). There is a long ramp hugging the building from the skywalk for those with walking aids and another on the south side from the street as well. Inside the entrance there is a large foyer leading up to the ticket and coat checks. Here party members can wait as one person get the tickets. My family and I went in the afternoon after visiting the Hockey Hall of Fame during Christmas holidays so there were some pretty trees up and a koi tank to entertain the guests.

Due to the nature of water creatures the aquarium walkways were fairly dark, especially in certain areas while the tanks themselves where quite bright. This coupled with sloping floors can make a treacherous route for mobility aid users or individuals who have unsteady feet.

I visited the aquarium with my family during Christmas. My siblings both live very far away so we take whatever time we have together to do fun things. My sisters partner had never been to Toronto before so we did a one-day cultural tour that included Ripley’s Aquarium. Unfortunately for my Autistic self – it was the day after Boxing day and it was busy! I really struggled in Ripley’s Aquarium and at the Eton Centre.

This means my notes are less helpful, my memory is a bit fuzzy but I can honestly say that for me, Ripley’s Aquarium at Christmas is not accessible.

Tour Notes

We went to the aquarium at a bad time. It was busy. We arrived shortly after noon during the week between Christmas and New Year’s so it was hella busy. I have a confession to make darl: I don’t handle crowds well. The first time I went to Ripley’s it was for a Sharks After Dark event and it was so quiet then! So if you, like me, want to avoid the crowds aim for later in the day. That said it was still a beautiful, educational visit.

Ripley’s is one of Canada’s premiere aquariums and boasts many great exhibitions including, but not limited to, petting tanks for Rays, Horseshoe Crabs, and Spotted Bamboo Sharks. They have a large saltwater tank with various types of shark, turtles, and far too many fish for me to name. Along with that there is interpretation on healthy waters, pollution, and aquatic life in general.

Unlike my visit to the Hockey Hall of Fame, Ripley’s Aquarium is full of seats for those in need, on such a busy day though it was still hard to find a spot! The pathways were wide and accommodating and the little interpretation I could get close enough to see was large print and short – easy to read for all ages and abilities. Some things felt out of order. One such instance was a sea turtle made of many plastic bags that came right before the end of the walk instead of right before the tank with turtles in it.

As I mentioned above there were a lot of guests with us. Mostly families like ours. During my early Sharks After Dark visit there were couples or friends groups – teens to early twenties by my foggy memory. So if that is more your speed and you have the luxury of being in the city after 7pm go for it. We also went of a Friday and Fridays and weekends are always busier in museums!

What is there to do?

Aquariums, like zoos, approach in-gallery interactives different to traditional museums: most of them are keeper talks, petting zoo areas, and things of that nature. This museum had a published electronic schedule of talks and shows. There was likely print ones available that I did not see. Ripley’s Aquarium has a few ‘analogue’ interactives (my term for non-digital) such as a crank to show how fast kelp forests can grow.

There is a bit of a cafe during your walk. I picked up a coffee and walked on with it. There is limited seating and a toilet available there. To get to the aquarium shop you do have to go through the path. Based on the map I think there is a ‘pass’ right at the beginning but I did not take it. You cannot re-enter the shop after leaving so make sure you pick up any items before you leave!

The Book

The booklet we got for our day (I believe it cost a few dollars but I cannot remember what the group mate who got it said) It has a fair amount of information about the exhibitions and what was, to me, a very confusing 3D map. I found the difficult because it is not how I think of space as represented in two dimensions.

It was neat though: it shows the rough volume of the tanks. It also clearly shows where toilets and food are. This is good as I definitely needed a drink of coffee when I got to the cafe!

There were a few games in the back and a page full of terrible jokes. My sister deliberately miss-interpreted one of the games and made it into some sort of surrealist poem. Over all the activities in the book are good fun for the whole family.

I know that Ripley’s Aquarium does have quiet openings during autism awareness month but it doesn’t seem to be a regular thing yet. I encourage you to contact them and ask when they think the best time for your visit is.

Useful Links

• Accessibility Bill of Rights – This page is what I found for access at Ripley’s Aquarium.
• Map JPG – Here is a digital copy of the map. If you are like me and like to have a physical map you can print this out.

Score out of 10: 4

For those of you new to Museum Spaces I give institutions scores with 10 being perfect and 1 being awful.

I struggled to score Ripley’s Aquarium: I honestly really enjoyed it and my first visit was perfect: hardly anyone around, lots of time to interact with exhibitions, I was less knowledgeable about museum practices so I didn’t really notice the disconnect between subject and object (turtle conservation specifically).

This score is largely due to the fact that I had a very bad overload during my visit. This is because I went once in the past and assumed it would be the same if I went right after Christmas. This is not only my fault though. The Aquarium should stagger entrance times better. Believe me, they know how long an average visit lasts.

What can be improved upon?

1. Volume control: There were just too many people in the aquarium. Even my neurotypical group-mates found it very hard to see anything because there were just too many people there.
2. Information placement. This wasn’t a big issue but one instance stands out: there are three turtles in the big tank with the moving sidewalk. Then, about three galleries later there was an exhibit about plastic waste and turtle population.

What went right?

1. The layout is brilliant. You follow the single path from the ticket desk/entrance to the shop/exit.
2. The information. There is lots to know if you have the time to look, including the filtration system used to keep the fish healthy and happy.
3. The aquarium is queer positive and disability positive. This is a great big plus for me. They hold events for different groups including 2 during pride: one for families, one just for the adults.

I would go back to Ripley’s Aquarium

Despite my terrible day I would go back to Ripley’s Aquarium. I think there is great potential and if I had planned my visit better I wouldn’t have had such a rough time!

That said I don’t want to go back any time soon. Maybe in a few more years.

Have you been? tell us about your visit in the comments below and don’t forget you can contact me via the Contact page!

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