The new Georgia Aquarium has been boasted as the world’s largest and most engaging aquarium, however upon entering this poorly planned attraction space it’s obvious that welcoming visitors is not what this place was built for. While there is one enormous window to gaze into the awe and splendor of sea life, there are many more small, unwelcoming and impossible to view windows into the other exhibits. The floor plan makes flow-through a logistical nightmare and with mandatory stroller parking before viewing the exhibits it’s extremely unfriendly to families with small children. When the sun sets, however, the inhabitants of aquarium are made to endure loud music and the disco lights of the after hours sponsored events.
Tickets to the aquarium are released on a timed entry basis. When you show up there’s no guarantee that you can just walk right in the door, though now that the initial anticlimactic awe has worn off walk-ups aren’t generally a problem on the weekdays. As you enter the aquarium through a small passageway you are forced to stop and figure out where you are and where you’re going, causing a backup at the front door. The exhibit halls stem off from the center, which is not one level plane, but a variety of stairs and random seating, making it impossible to easily get from one side to the other. The path through the exhibits themselves is mediocre and the windows to see the animals are pitifully small. If there’s a halfway decent crowd in there, as there would be on any given day of the week, there will be things you simply cannot see unless you bully your way to the front. Weekends are much worse. As a tourist attraction this aquarium is highly overrated. Even the exhibits themselves are poorly planned with African Penguins residing in the Cold Water Quest area.
If you happen to be lucky enough to get invited to a corporate sponsored event after hours it becomes apparent what the space was designed for and what could possibly be contributing to the death of the sea life. Georgia Aquarium opens itself up to weddings, birthdays and corporate events, mainly happening at night after the aquarium closes to the general public. With bars, food and DJs it transforms itself into a nightclub and while the animals are trying to rest, the band plays on. Two whale sharks have died in the past year, one as recently as June, with no explanations as of yet. The penguins, otters and sea lions can all be seen trying to sleep while party goers are gawking at them until almost midnight. Admittedly it’s quite possibly the coolest nightclub around but how about the poor animals?
Atlanta needs to take a hard look at what they built their aquarium for. As a tourist attraction and a provider of sea life information it is severely lacking. There are many more aquariums in the southeast, such as the Tennessee Aquarium in Chattanooga, that don’t have to boast the biggest and best of anything in order for them to truly BE the best. Atlanta needs to think about the animals that have been entrusted to them rather then how much money they can make off of corporations and in how many ways they can exploit sea life.