The Greater Cleveland Aquarium won’t be the greatest Cleveland Aquarium — wink wink — until it addresses some pretty serious drawbacks, according to a recent PD poll.
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.”
For my part, voting was a real challenge, having visited the Aquarium and experienced a total re-introduction to the word “underwhelmed.” The genius of the poll was that you could only select one option; otherwise, everyone would likely vote for everything (with the possible exception of “increased hours of operation.” I mean, who’s going to the aquarium at dawn?)
Right now, they’re robbing folks blind. Adult general admission tickets are $20. Kiddies are $14. That’s an evening at the cinema (with 3D surcharge and refreshment), or a respectable meal at someplace trendy. The Cleveland Metroparks Zoo, for instance, charges $12.25 and $8.25 for adults and children (during the summer months) and Mondays are always free. Chicago’s Shedd Aquarium, among the nation’s best, charges only $8 for general admission. (Premium tickets with access to special exhibits cost a lot more, but still).
“I love aquariums and wanted to be there,” said a local twentysomething about her Cleveland aquarium experience, “and I had to really work to stay for 45 minutes.”
“People will always bitch about the price,” an Aquarium employee testified via Facebook message.
The problem isn’t the price alone. The problem is that the price isn’t commensurate with the entertainment value. The Powerhouse is actually a really nice venue for a smallish aquarium and the New Zealand aquarium designers Marinescape NZ Unlimited did a nice job with that walk-through tunnel thing. It’s not like there are tons of fish or the tanks are all that big, but the physical space is variegated enough for a sort of 15-minute casual exploration.
But it’s preposterous to charge a premium rate for a fledgling operation which on one hand is still working out its kinks and on the other will never be a major aquatic spectacle. Why not institute a Free Day like the zoo? Why not bolster attendance through other promotions — B.O.G.O.s for everyone under 30? Why not straight up cut the ticket price in half?
General Manager Tammi Brown told the PD that attendance dropoffs are common in second years of operation. She said the aquarium is right around where they intended to be, attendance wise.
Well, good for them. But if the PD poll is any indication, the aquarium could be (and ought to be) a much more popular, worthwhile attraction in the city. Without improvements, all this aquarium will do is sink.
This article appears in Aug 7-13, 2013.
Sam I love your idea but it doesn’t go far enough. Why stop at one free day? They should make them all free! I bet if we applied the concept of getting stuff for free to everything we could fix the Indian’s attendance woes too! Someone get Shapiro on the phone ASAP!
The price of a ticket to the aquarium did seem steep when I went, but it’s obvious there are high overhead costs as you walk around. I’d much rather spend my money there than the majority of the weekly concert slideshows that are featured on here.
$20 is a bit much to walk through an oversized fish tank. $80 for a family of four? Pass.
‘…..having visited the Aquarium and experienced a total re-introduction to the word “underwhelmed.’
Classic.
PD Poll = an ad rep will soon be calling with many reasons why advertising with the newspaper (or whatever the empty suits call the joint) can cure everything
The aquarium has no endowment, as do most museums in Cleveland, and no tax money to back it up as the Zoo does, it being part of the Metroparks. That’s why the admission is so high. We are pretty spoiled here in Cleveland. Still, I agree it is underwhelming. The Monterey Bay Aquarium, which is fantastic, is $34.95 for adults and $21.95 for children. The Shedd Aquarium mentioned above, is $28.95 for adults and $19.95 for children for admission to the entire facility – the $8 admission is for only a small part of the aquarium. The Georgia Aquarium, described as the largest aquarium in the world, is $34.95. The impression I get is that aquariums, in general, are very expensive to operate!
Another problem is that you also have to pay for parking! I went once and that’s all I will go. By the time four adult tickets, two children’s tickets and parking was paid for, I spent well over $100 for less than an hours enjoyment. If you could even call it enjoyment. More like pure boredom. Even the kids didn’t really enjoy it. I like the aquarium at the zoo better.
Asking premium prices for something nice is fine…placing it in an area or urban desolation where the only other nearby attraction is a strip club seems somewhat short sighted. At least I know if I go the place will more than likely be all to myself.
the place blows. we bought a pass before it opened and went 4 times. the last two were only because we wanted to get our moneys worth from the pass. bought a zoo pass this year instead and are much more happy with the purchase. even the kiddos thought the aquarium was boring and never wanted to go.
Obviously, people who voted for “increased hours of operation” didn’t mean open at dawn. They meant open later into the evening. People work.
As someone who enjoys this aquarium (I’ve seen worse), I do agree that the price should be lowered if possible. The way I see it, there are two options for this place. One: Keep the small space in the Powerhouse and lower admission, or Two: Build a new larger aquarium on the lake and keep the price where it stands.
If it’s an awesome aquarium, I’ll go ahead and pay a high rate to get in. It’s just like when you go to an awesome restaurant, you’re okay paying more for it because you know that it’s worth it. Yes, the aquarium has costs, and it’s expensive to run the place, but you have to consider the long-term implications of gouging people. People will always complain about prices, but when you get this much feedback that indicates the ones that have visited will not go back, that’s not a good thing. I’d like to see this place succeed, and if they don’t do something different, I’m not sure they will.
This self-entitlement with Clevelanders is getting out of hand. I saw the Eiffel Tower in Paris; how dare Cleveland not have one just like it!
Really, there’s still a grass roots effort in Cleveland for a serious destination aquarium. The one at the Powerhouse in the Flats is purposely a boutiqe-scaled attraction, privately owned, without an endowment or government subsidy — either of which would simply evoke more wrath of never-happy Clevelanders.
You want a better one? Go out and start working on it. Anyone can complain, and there’s nothing profound or useful of bragging about seeing something bigger.
My issue was that none of the fish were exciting. I don’t need an aquarium to see local Lake Erie fish, I can just walk down to Edgewater and see them all dead on the beach. Give me something exciting!
I went to the Aquarium for the first time this February and I enjoyed it. It certainly isn’t the equal of aquariums I’ve been to in Myrtle Beach or Mystic, CT but I also didn’t have to drive for more than 8 hours to get there. I agree that the price is a little steep when paired with the pay-to-park situation but it’s nice to have the Aquarium here. I’ll continue to support it.
Last Christmas we were so excited to have an aquarium in Cleveland!!!! So we bought a yearly pass. We went 1 time! It was over in like 1/2hr! kids zipped right through. To us… there is just not enough to do there! The walkway is the coolest thing…not to mention I LOVE that it is one of the old buildings! The brick is so cool. However….for the price of a ticket….NO WAY would I recommend it. They have the potential… but need more fish! More FUN exhibits for kids! More hands on stuff… maybe a little cafe or restaurant that was like an ocean type atmosphere! I keep asking my 6yr old and my 11yr old when they want to go back b/c its expiring at end of this year. They say….NO…. tooo boring! 🙁 Sorry… I think its wonderful potential if you could get more stuff and make it more fun! Good luck. Hope you can do it!!!!!! Would LOVE to see shows…more holiday events…more special events and esp. MORE SEA LIFE!!!
We went to the Cleveland aquarium today after a change of plans due to not wanting the zoo in 90 degree plus humidity in the sun..it was $80 and we took pur time and it was only 45 min! And we drove longer than that to get there! Not happy..prices need to be lower for sure! I wish I knew this before going. It was nice but not worth the price. Ended up going to the lakeview cemetery for free and it was great so our trip wasn’t completely wasted
As an annual family pass holder, I found the price to be just fine. Why? Because 1-2 hour blocks of time are perfect for my young kids. We go several times a year and the cost of the membership averages out pretty quickly. The parking is included, and the venue of the converted powerhouse is classy, unique, and adds great value to both Cleveland as a whole and the West Flats.
It’s true… anyone expecting this to be The Shedd will be sorely disappointed. But I also don’t recall the Shedd having near the same amount of child accessible displays and activities as there are at the GCA. (i.e. half-height displays that kids that lean over, touching the tortoises and stingrays, the sharktube, the octopus archway).
I do hope with time, the ticket prices will come down, and the exhibits will grow, but kudos to them for taking such a huge risk and making an enormous investment in our city. I certainly don’t mind paying an “early-adopter” price to support this kind of development. And while other people are swearing it off, I’ll be spending hours enjoying the displays and not getting crushed by throngs of people Shedd-style.
The price was steep compared to what they were offering in terms of exhibits & in comparison to other good aquariums in the country.
The other problem I had was that we couldn’t spend money in the gift shop! Even though items were overpriced I wanted to buy 2 stuffed animals for my grandchildren. There was no one working the register but an aquarium employee was monitoring the store to make sure no one stole anything. After a while I suggested maybe he could run the register he said “I don’t know how”. When I suggested he get someone there that did know how he said “that person is, I think, in the bathroom”. 15 minutes later I left purchasing NOTHING. What a way to run a business. They must have taken lessons from retailers like Macy’s & Dillard’s.
I think the price is a bit high, but my family enjoys the place. We have gone 3 times now and each time it seems that the exhibits have evolved. The animals are growing and changing and have become more social. I will admit that our first trip wasn’t as exciting as I had imagined that it would be. The place is fairly small but well put together. I am a huge fan of anything ocean/animal related and will certainly continue to support the aquarium as well as the zoo.
I have gone a few times and I have been to aquariums all over the country. It’s not the biggest or least expensive but it is beautiful and it is ours.
Ever since 1985 I hoped an aquarium would return to Cleveland. Groups would try for years to bring it back and nothing would ever happen. I hope greater Clevelanders don’t force our aquarium out by lack of support. If it brings in money it will be improved, if not it will wither and die.
On my most recent trip I saw some neat new animals such as the jellyfish in the ceiling (for the grand opening there were spiny lobsters running around above). I also saw the most amazing thing I’ve ever seen sitting in a tank in the kids play area upstairs. I had only seen a dead one once before (coincidentally during a talk about bringing back the aquarium in 1992 at Baldwin Wallace). It was a football sized deep sea isopod (relative of our backyard roly-polies) I had heard and read about for years. My kids haven’t been young for a long time so I was glad we accidentally walked through there.
What about the old site. I remember it was a nice spot. Could they work with Gordon park and become as one plus people could walk and ride bikes there.
I was so excited to know that Cleveland was building an Aquarium. When the ticket prices came out, I was less than enthused. I visited the Aquarium in Atlanta Georgia, it was spectacular, and jaw dropping, I decided to wait to hear feedback from other visitors… I’m glad I did not go. If you charge a premium amount of money for something… make it worth people’s while… They need to remember who the aquarium is for. A family of 4 or 6 could barely afford admission, let along eating and souvies…