Downtown Aquarium

12/20/09

We had an excellent time!

by jazzyjt at Citysearch

I decided to host my daughters 4th birthday party at the aquarium because my sister's employer was having a discount day. This made it affordable for me, but I was afraid it was going to be really crowded, however it was not. First of all, when I arrived at the aquarium, I turned too soon, and ended up getting lost. I called the restaurant, and someone stayed on the phone with me talking me through each turn until I finally found my way back to the restaurant. I had reserved space for about 30 people, and brought my own cake and decorations. The staff were very accomodating by storing the cake in the back until we were ready for it, providing plenty of plates, a knife, and a lighter. They even blew up a few balloons for me. The fried fish was not so great. It tasted as if it was probably fried in old grease, but the experience more than made up for it. We were on the 2nd floor of the restaurant, and it was not crowded at all, so the girls were able to run around and be fairly loud without disturbing anyone. We were also very impressed with all of the fish, turtles, snakes, alligators, and especially the white tigers. My daughter was able to get her face paited outside, and really enjoyed riding the train through the shark voyage. The girls were able to ride the carousel twice without having to wait in line again. My daughter is still talking about it and says she wants to go back. I would definitely recommend it.

• Pros: Staff were really helpful
• Cons: Fried food not so great

05/11/09

Will never recommend

by JerryFl at Citysearch

bad food, overpriced mother's day buffet! i think there is a hidden charge that goes with overpriced food to see the aquarium. they should have charged only 10$ per head for the food which was really bad! Will never return nor recommend to my out of town friends. fearless forecast: this restaurant will not last long.

• Pros: nice aquarium
• Cons: bad food

04/17/09

overpriced like crazy

by ashaiba91 at Citysearch

very overprcied. aquarium is bad. foods ok, but very overpriced for the quality. the restaurant looks like childrens restaurant. all fake...

tourist trap

• Pros: deent food.
• Cons: overpriced

04/16/09

GO to the ZOO INSTEAD, NOT Worth the money!!!!!!

by hwbishop at Citysearch

Expecting New Orleans quality aquarium; I was disappointed. The aquarium should not be even metioned in the same sentence as Houston's zoo, natural science museum and art musuem.

• Pros: 200% over priced
• Cons: 200% over priced

04/05/09

Touist trap for s*cker!

by WindDLK at Citysearch

I use to work at the Downtown Aquarium and quite because they had bad management team. Like most people said, this is a trap to make you spend money. The foods is overprice for the quality you're getting.

• Pros: None
• Cons: they use you kids to make you come.

03/08/09

TO THE PEOPLE WHO HAVE WRITTEN BAD REVIEWS......A**HOLES

by qt2009 at Citysearch

Who ever has something bad to say about this place is full of sh** t. They have nothing better else to do then talk mess. It is a wonderful place i have nothing bad to say about it.

03/04/09

Everything bigger in Texas includes ripoffs

by CSMobileUser2 at Citysearch

Pretty building and nice to hang out if the weather is cool. But prepare Rostand in line as five employees watch the one cashier. Major cash extraction for not so much. Zoo a Museums much better deal in Houston San anton.

03/02/09

Slow & expensive with horrible service

by CSMobileUser at Citysearch

Very costly have to pay for parking after waiting 20 minutes to get put of parking lot. Waiter told us it would take 30 minutes or longer for food. Service was bad. Went for a kids birthday party the waiter never took our order just brought out kids food that was prepaid then told us our party was close to being over & it would take too long to order food.

01/18/09

BEWARE!! The worst tourist trap I have ever been a part of. This place is GARBAGE!

by DaTravelingFool25 at Citysearch

I am warning everyone who is even thinking about going to the Houston Aquarium. That place is the biggest dump in Texas. It looks promising and misleading from the exterior, but it's a different story once you enter the joke they call an aquarium. Like another member posted, I waited in the ticket line for about 10 minutes before shelling out 20 bucks of hard earned money to walk through the entrance expecting staff to greet us and take our tickets. Nope, I wasted my time and money on the tickets because nobody moniters the exhibit. Just walk in! It will then be free, but even for a free exhibit it's still JUNK. My 2 year old son was zipping through the exhibits and occasionally being thrilled by the fish tanks filled with catfish and horseshoe crabs. The snake, iguana, tigers, etc. were lazy and looked dead because they didn't move. How exciting right? We walked for about 4 minutes through the aquarium and then BAM, we were stopped by a sign that alerted us stating the end of the aquarium. The bottom floor of my house is bigger than this aquarium. I had to double back and see if there was anymore that we missed. NOPE, that was all and I felt like someone had just kicked me in the n**s and took my 20 bucks. I headed outside to see how much the rides were and came to find out that I had to go back to the ticket line I waited in for 10 minutes just to get tickets for the rides. After I saw the overpriced figures, I quickly made a u-turn and told my wife we had to leave. $2.99 to ride a carusel...unheard of! That was the cheapest ride too. So as I was leaving, I gave my ticket to the parking attendant and asked if there were any shops nearby that I could get some souveniers. She looked at me like I was speaking another language and looked away. Top quality workers at this place! Managers must have conned them into thinking $2.00 is minimum wage. So not only did I not get directions, but I had to pay $6.00 for self parking. Be prepared to get ripped off if you go!

• Pros: Absolutely Nothing!
• Cons: Parking fee, small exhibit, expensive rides, overall value is a rip off. STAY AWAY!!!!

09/28/08

confused

by nosense at Citysearch

what the?

What was that all about.

was that all about black waters, animals, kids scared... i don't get it? at all. no not at all.