My kids have always had eclectic tastes. They’ve been into dinosaurs, causing me to know the name and facts about every known and possibly unknown dinosaur, penguins and sharks. Little did I know I could find them all in one place; Ripley’s Aquarium in the Smokies, located in Gatlinburg, Tennessee. We arrived early of a Saturday morning and found a place to park at the lot next door. From there it was only a hop, skip and a jump over to the aquarium and we were soon indoors and ready to see the fish. Travel Hint: There is no free parking in the area, but you can ride the free trolley almost up to the door.
When we stepped inside the first exhibit was the piranha tank. The fish were packed and sitting motionless. We joked that it looked like the traffic coming into Gatlinburg. The aquarium is divided into eleven sections, beginning with the Tropical Rain Forest. Kids will get a kick out of the Discovery Center, where they can engage in hands on interactive activities. Along the way, kids (and adults!) can touch hermit crabs and stingrays. We stopped in the Ocean Realm to watch a diver swimming among the fish, feeding them and performing underwater tricks. Our favorite exhibit was the Gallery of the Seas, which included my favorite fish, the beautiful but deadly Scorpion Fish. In this exhibit guests step onto a moving sidewalk and move slowly through an underwater tunnel, surrounding on both sides and overhead by seas creatures, like giant sharks, swimming overhead. There was plenty of time to snap photos and gawk at the size and beauty of these creatures as we moved leisurely along.
One exhibit I hadn’t expected to see was the Dinosaurs, a room that held the attention of large groups of children with the movable mechanical dinosaurs and an actual fossil of a triceratops horn found in the Western US. There’s plenty of interactive fun for the kids too. They can use iPads filled with facts, puzzles and games, dig for dinosaur bones, and take part in a scavenger hunt. I heard one harried mom tell her husband, “We’ll never get the kids out of this room!”
Our tour drew toward a close when we reached the Penguin Playhouse, an indoor and outdoor exhibit that had these adorable creatures swimming right up to us for an eye to eye view. Each penguin has a little tag on its leg with its name so kids will be able to greet them. For younger kids there are tunnels they can crawl through and be face to face with the penguins. Ripley’s Aquarium has tickets available for purchase online for anyone wanting to bypass the ticket lines. They also have a monthly homeschool program and offer a special rate for homeschoolers and group discounts.
I’ve always wanted to go to Ripley’s Aquarium! It looks so neat! Thanks for the tip about the free trolley!
That place looks so neat, something my fam would definitely enjoy.
the penguins would be my favorite- and my kids- a walk with the sharks would be a HUGE highlight for them!
I love going to aquariums, because sometimes it seems so surreal to be around animals that are so beautiful.
What a great aquarium. It’s been along time since I’ve visited Gatlinburg. I’m happy to see they added the aquarium.
Love this aquarium and love love love Gatlinburg! I have been there several times and can’t wait to go back now that I have a child!
This sounds like a place I would LOVE to take my kids. I wish I lived closer!
We love visiting the aquarium. Funny we have a trip to Tennessee in a few months and this is one of the places that is on our list.
I love aquariums, they are always such a treat for my son. Those underwater tunnels are awesome!
The scorpion fish looks so beautiful and i really love penguins 🙂 sounds like a great place for kids.
We love taking the girls to see things like this! Thanks for sharing!
This is a fun place to visit! I like the Scorpion Fish and the penguins are so cute. This would be a place that my family would love to visit!
Wow-that sounds like an awesome aquarium-one I most certainly would visit frequently if I lived in the area. As for the dinosaurs–I worked in a Science Museum at one time and we had that exhibit-NOISY-and no-you could not get the kids to leave!!
I would LOVE to go to this!!! I just adore aquariums and this one looks super awesome.
Wow what a great day out this looks like – I love watching penguins I just find them so funny x
Love the sound of that penguin room. My kids would go crazy in there. Putting this on our family travel bucket list!
Oh cool, this sounds like a ton of fun. I would absolutely love to visit the Penguin Playhouse, that must be such a good time!
Looks like a really fun place for kids and adults : )
This looks like a fun place for us to go on a vacation. My hubby has 2 weeks of vacation time to use by the end of the year and he wanted to install hardwood floors in our living room and his office, but I am trying to talk him into a real vacation to do something like this…
My son would love to visit here, especially to see the Scorpion Fish. That is new to me!
I want to go here! I love visiting places like this. The zoo and aquarium we have here is kind of pathetic and I so wish it was better. Looks like a great place!
That looks like so much fun. I have always been fascinated by aquariums!
That sounds like a fun place to visit!!! That swordfish is so neat looking!!
I would love to visit the aquarium and see al the life that lives in the water.
That looks like an awesome place to visit. My boys love when we take them to the aquarium. They are both SO into sharks right now, too.