Citypass is Fantastic!

Citypass is a way to experience incredibly fun attractions in some iconic North American cities for a fraction of the price. With a Citypass you pay significantly less than you would to do each attraction individually, but get to do a whole bunch of fun things. There are some attractions that are automatically on the Citypass, and there are some that you have to choose. That being said, if you are choosing a Citypass for your vacation, you are probably picking a great deal. This is especially true if you are going to the attractions anyway. If you are going to one of the 12 Citypass cities, this deal is highly recommended.

Last week, I reviewed the GA Aquarium and talked about how this wonderful place was included with the Citypass. This week I will talk more about the offer as a whole. The price of the zoo and aquarium alone in Atlanta for an adult is $76 a person. With the Citypass, you can get added attractions for that $76 price for an adult. The box office price for the Atlanta attractions we saw was $134, but we only paid $76 as I just stated. We got a tremendous deal and had a tremendous time.

Here is what we got to choose between and what we did in Atlanta....

Georgia Aquarium

On this blog, I talked about our Georgia Aquarium visit from this summer last week. It is the best aquarium we have visited. We will be going back.

 Beautiful Family

Whale Sharks

World of Coca-Cola

This was a cool experience. We were fans and we are glad we did it once. Not sure how many times you could do it and still enjoy it, but I recommend that everyone do it at least one time.

 Family @ Coke Museum

 Jenna and Eli

 Team Noland with our 1st free coke

Team Noland in the tasting room

CNN Studio Tours

We actually ended up skipping this part of the pass. It was the least appealing and we wanted to do it the afternoon after the HOF before we went home. The boys naps went longer than expected and we missed it. However, we ate in the food court at the studio multiple times and that was pretty neat. They also had some cool gift shops downstairs and it is connected to Phillips Arena so we peaked in there a bit.

Zoo Atlanta or Center for Civil and Human Rights

This was our 2nd trip to Zoo Atlanta which is one of our favorite zoos. This time though, Jenna and I got to bring our kids and her mom. It was a cooler experience on that end. It is a great zoo. The zoo though didn't seem quite as epic this time around. Still, it is one of the best zoos we have visited and still top 5 overall. It just doesn't seem like the clear cut #1 anymore.

Jenna the boys and a gorilla statue

The real thing

Red Panda

Jr. in the petting zoo

We had a great time and the boys loved this sign

Fernbank Museum of Natural History or College Football Hall of Fame

The College Football Hall of Fame was the highlight of my trip. It was Noland Jr.'s favorite place too. It was such an interactive Hall of Fame and they had a surprising amount of awesome attractions for little ones. I loved visiting this Hall of Fame. One of the coolest things is that when you sign in you pick your team and it personalizes your visit for that team. Seeing the Hall of Fame catered to the Florida State fan was amazing. If you are a College Football Fan you absolutely have to go. Noland Jr.'s favorite part was the Chick Fil A fan section where he got to participate in some real football drills. He got to run through an obstacle course and then make a diving catch on a giant blue mat. He LOVED IT. We will absolutely be going back here in the not too distant future. This is one of the coolest places that I have ever been.

My favorite Eli picture to date. He was doing the warchant on the way to the HOF. No lie.

My little buddy and me in front of the trophy the Seminoles are bringing home this year!

Noland, my mother in law and me in front of the helmet wall. The FSU one lit up when we came into the museum. So cool.

Noland Jr.'s attempt at the Heisman. Maybe one day?

It was so neat to visit the Hall of Fame

As stated previously, Citypass is also available in 11 other cities. Below are the 11 other cities and the choices for where you may go in those cities....

Boston

Going to Boston to do these things and visit Fenway Park would be a fun vacation. It would have to be summertime though probably because we don't do cold in this house.

New England Aquarium

Museum of Science

Skywalk Observatory

Museum of Fine Arts or Boston Harbor Cruises

Chicago

I went to Chicago when I was little and probably won't be doing this city pass, but it seems cool. We liked the Museum and it had a traveling King Tut exhibit when we went about 20 years ago.

Shedd Aquarium - VIP Entry

Skydeck Chicago

Field Museum - VIP Entry

Museum of Science and Industry or 360 Chicago

Adler Planetarium or Art Institute of Chicago

Dallas

I have never been to Dallas, but I am dying to go. The zoo, Cowboys stadium and a Rangers game would be near the top of the list when we go.

Perot Museum

Reunion Tower Geo Deck

6th Floor Museum or Dallas Zoo

George W. Bush Presidential Library or Dallas Arboretum and Botanical Garden

Houston

I have been to Houston to visit a good friend of mine, but have done none of these epic attractions. You better believe that a Houston Citypass trip is in the future for the Robinsons.

Space Center Houston

Downtown Aquarium

Houston Museum of Natural Science

Houston Zoo or Museum of Fine Arts

Kemah Boardwalk or Children's Museum of Houston

New York

New York is one of the only cities to offer two options. The first option is 3 locked in choices and 3 choices you make. The second cheaper option is picking between all of the attractions 3 locations. For me the key part to a New York visit would seemingly be the Statue of Liberty so I'd just make sure I'd get that opportunity. Surprisingly only growing up a few hours away, I have never been to New York. Jenna has been several times though and we will likely take the boys at some point.

The Empire State Building

American Museum of Natural History

Metro Museum of Art

Top of the Rock or Guggenheim Museum

Statue of Liberty or Sightseeing Cruise

9/11 Memorial or Sea, Air and Space Museum

Philadelphia

I grew up just a couple hours from Philadelphia too and have never been. It is pretty crazy. I'd love to see the historical stuff like One Liberty and the Franklin Institute. By adding a zoo to the mix for an affordable price, it could make this trip pretty epic.

The Franklin Institute

Big Bus Company and Travel Works

One Liberty Observation Deck

Adventure Aquarium or Philadelphia Zoo

San Francisco

San Francisco is an American city that did not really appeal to me, but the Monterey Bay Aquarium would make a trip worth it. This is especially true if you throw in the other places and the ability to go to see Buster Posey in action in addition to these Citypass offerings.

7 day cable car and muni bus transport

California Academy of Sciences

Blue and Gold Fleet Bay Cruise Adventure

Exploratorium or de Young Museum

Aquarium of the Bay or Monterey Bay Aquarium

Seattle

Not super high on my list to visit, but I'd love to do this and go to a Mariners game.

Space Needle

Seattle Aquarium

Argosy Cruises Harbor Tour

EMP Museum or Woodland Park Zoo

Chihuly Garden and Glass or Pacific Science Center

Southern California

This is the most expensive Citypass, but it seems so worth it. This is the vacation at the top of my list. I just have to make it happen for my family at some point. Hopefully when Eli gets to be Noland Jr.'s age we can make it happen. I mean Disneyland is included!!!! I want to do each of these attractions so badly and I have never been to California.

Disneyland Park and California Adventure 3 day Park Hopper

SeaWorld San Diego

Legoland California

San Diego Zoo or Safari Park

Tampa

These are all pretty awesome attractions in our backyard for a great price. This could be a tremendous opportunity for a staycation that we just have not taken yet. Each of these can be visited for the price of one trip to Busch Gardens. That is a tremendous deal. Of course it isn't as necessary for me because FL Aquarium and MOSI are free for teachers.

Busch Gardens Tampa Bay

Florida Aquarium

Lowry Park Zoo

Clearwater Marine Aquarium

MOSI or Chihuly Collection

Toronto
This is the city on the list that I am least likely to go to. I don't really want to leave the country too badly, but if I did, Toronto in the summer time wouldn't be too bad. I'd probably buy this for my family and go the Jays stadium for a game as well.

CN Tower

Casa Loma

Royal Ontario Museum

Ripley's Aquarium of Canada

Toronto Zoo or Ontario Science Center

These are some great options for awesome things to do, that I actually really want to do now. I want to visit these cities more because they have Citypass and because we had such a great experience in Atlanta. It could be worth it to use a Citypass and have a staycation in Tampa. This offer is almost just too good to pass up in the locations which the offer exists. I hope that you get to visit one of the Citypass cities soon....

- Noland

Georgia Aquarium

We are once again at the time when we review an animal attraction. We visited two new animal attractions this summer, starting with the Georgia Aquarium. That is what will be discussed today.

Georgia Aquarium

Atlanta, GA

Website

Hours: 9AM-9PM

Admission: $36.95 (Included w/ CityPass)

Date of Visit: Fathers Day 2016

Highlights: Numerous highlights at this aquarium as it was the best one we have seen so far. The highlights started with the fact that it was included with CityPass. Once we were inside there were a lot of fun areas to go to. Each area was filled with awesome sea creatures. The big tank with 4 whale sharks, giant manta rays, and countless other fish is the big reason people go to this place. That big tank did not disappoint, especially the tunnel portion of it when you walk under the sealife. My favorite thing to swim over us was the Giant Manta just because it was so huge. Outside of the big tank though, this place also had beluga whales, penguins, an electric eel, and so much more. Another big highlight is the best dolphin show imaginable. I thought the National Aquarium in Baltimore used to have a great dolphin show, but it turns out I didn't know what a real amazing dolphin show was until I visited the GA Aquarium. Everything was just amazing.

Disappointments: There were not a whole lot of disappointments for this trip like I said. The food was not spectacular, but it wasn't like it was bad. It is a tad disappointing that the aquarium is far enough that we can't go often. I also wish we had better pictures of the Beluga Whale, the electric eel, and the Dolphin show. That last one is on us though and not on the Georgia Aquarium in any way.

Additional Tips: Get there early! It got much more crowded throughout the day, I recommend going early. It was a good plan for us to go to mass Saturday night so we could go Sunday morning to the aquarium at opening. There was very little crowd until after the dolphin show and we really got to enjoy each exhibit. Do as many shows as possible too, especially the dolphin show! The shows are free, so make sure you get the most out of your experience!

Pictures

Jenna and the boys in front of the big tank

The whale shark

Eli sitting in front of the big tank

Family with the whale shark mascot

Big whale shark

Giant manta and a whale shark overhead. My favorite part!

Crawling through a tunnel with Jr and looking at fishies

Walking through the tunnel with my buddy

Holding my boys about to go into the aquarium for Fathers Day!

Eli staring at the fishies

Jenna and her mom in the tunnel with Eli

Jenna and Noland in the tunnel looking at the penguins

Final Rating
We gave this aquarium 5 out of 5 Elephants
The Georgia Aquarium is by far the best aquarium we have been to. It is twice the price of most aquariums, but it is so worth it. This place is worth every single penny. For comparison purposes it is less than half the price of Sea World Orlando and so much cooler. I wish that we lived closer so we could go every year. The aquarium should be on everyone's bucket list. We will certainly come back to the Georgia Aquarium at some point. It was a thrilling visit to the Georgia Aquarium and the visit here made our trip to Atlanta a success all on its own.

Next week, we will discuss the wonderful citypass and further talk about our trip to Atlanta!

-Noland

Zoo Atlanta

Zoo Atlanta

Atlanta, Georgia

Date of Visit: July 2, 2011

Highlights: So first off, I LOVE this zoo. We got through it in half a day but you could definitely spend the whole day there! They have an amazing "African" area and "Asian" area! The animals are all awesome! There are some spots where you can't see certain animals, but there are so many viewing decks, you could probably move somewhere and get a view of them! We went to the Snake feeding.. its kind of a casual show where you go from cage to cage watching the crazy zoo keeper feed the snakes.. Um WOW.. This was one of the coolest things I've ever seen. The snakes launch at the food and attack it like prey. Its crazy cool. If you go here, you have to check it out! We also got to see the feeding of the baby Komodo Dragon.. Very cool!

Pictures:

entrance

Elephant! 

Another Elephant!

warthog in the mud.. There were also baby warthogs but I didn't get a great picture.

This one just looked so chill.

rhino

here is a different shot of him

giraffe and ostrich

largest flightless bird

otters!

Red Panda - member of the Raccoon Family

Gorilla & baby

gorilla & baby

another gorilla

Momma & Baby Panda Bears

kangaroos! I've never seen them until these ones! so cute! 

This was the baby komodo dragon.. 

The picture is foggy but he was moving so fast!

And here we are! 

Disappointments: Honestly, the only one I can say is that the big Komodo Dragon was hiding! Komodo Dragons are our favorite.. but other than that, WE LOVED THIS ZOO! 

We gave it a 5 out of 5!

That's all for now! 

Leave a comment or your opinion if you have been to Atlanta Zoo!

♥ jen

Wild Adventures

Wild Adventures

Valdosta, Georgia

Noland's Wild Adventures Review

Wild Adventures had some interesting and unique animals, but left a lot to be desired as well. The animal attractions were definitely the highlight of the park so just know that going in. Having the rides and water-park is a plus, but they are not of the best quality. The service is also quite terrible so don’t go in expecting the same service as a Disney park.

Highlights

Tigers of India Show

This show was fantastic. By far this was the most appealing thing to do in the entire park. If you happen to go to Wild Adventures you do not want to miss this show. There are usually 3 or 4 shows offered each day. I bet you could probably tell from the name that the show features tigers. Several different types of tigers are featured in the show. In addition to your standard fascinating orange Bengal tiger with black stripes, they have the white Bengal Tigers white black stripes. No it doesn’t stop there they also have three snow white Bengal Tigers featured in the show. There are only about 40 snow white Bengal Tigers in the entire world so this is a rare treat to see these massive animals up close. There is also one golden colored tiger that the show host said was also rare. Apparently there are about 70 of these animals in the world. My fiancé and I absolutely loved this show and we went both days. Definitely be sure to make this show part of your stop at Wild Adventures.

Swamp Thing Ride

The swamp thing roller coaster was pretty neat and was our favorite ride attraction for the park.  The ride was actually well made, and seemed to be of a higher quality than a fair ride, which can’t be said about all the rides in the park. Anyways, it is a 2 minute ride over the alligator exhibit. This is really cool because you get a much better view of the huge alligator from the ride than you do from the viewing area next to the exhibit. Pretty well designed ride with a cool theme to it.

Safari Train Ride

This train ride was pretty neat. It is only about 10 minutes long, but it is a similar design to the safari ride at Disney’s Animal Kingdom. The best picture I can give you is telling you that this is a C rate version of that ride. Still very cool, but not quite as cool. The water buffalo and wildebeest were my favorite animals during this ride. They had a baby giraffe, but you could barely see it from the train. It is always neat to see animals up close though and free to move so this ride is something you should check out if you visit the park.

Water Monitor

I just think water monitors are awesome and this seemed to be the only animal with its own exhibit that had an exhibit that was an adequate size. These animals are so cool and look like dinosaurs to me. We looked at this guy for a while. Very Neat!

Disappointments

Size of Exhibits

 All of the exhibits seemed too small with the exception of the water monitor exhibit, the red tailed hawk exhibit, and the animals along the safari train exhibits. The exhibit with the rhinos was especially frustrating. The rhinoceroses were in small red cages that weren’t bigger than my room. They seemed to be incredibly boxed in and unable to even move. Rhinos are my favorite animals and I was quite excited to see them, but you couldn’t even see their fronts because they have their backsides facing toward you in the only viewing area. I would like to see more than the rear end of my favorite animal and I would like them to be treated better. This is probably the main reason we won’t go back to Wild Adventures unless we hear of serious changes.

No Shows/Animals no longer on Exhibit

The wallaby is no longer on exhibit or it is just too difficult to find the exhibit. Believe me we tried to find where they might have even had wallabies before and couldn’t figure it out. After asking some staff they said they didn’t know which animals were or were not in the park. This was quite disturbing. Asking at least 10 animals about an animal that is advertised on the park’s website should at least yield a productive answer. Very frustrating.

The bush baby was a different story because we found the exhibit where the bush babies were supposed to be. None of them seemed to be on the exhibit and the staff didn’t seem to know if they were still in the park. We were also looking forward to these guys a great deal

Snake/Small Reptile House

It was kind of small and not well marked. It was also very stuffy. Doesn’t seem like a lot of people knew about or cared about this exhibit. Not the worst part, but far from impressive.

Overall Review

The park was quite different from any park I have seen in the past. It is a three and one park so it is a good value if they fix a few things. The rhinoceros exhibit was the biggest drawback of the park. Other than that exhibit it is a pretty nice park with some cool exhibits and fascinating animals. Unfortunately far too many of the exhibits were a very small size.  Definitely not a first rate zoo, amusement park, or Water Park, but not the worst I’ve seen either. Wild Adventures needs more quality and less quantity in my opinion.
-Noland

3 out of 5 Elephant Review



Wild Adventures

Last weekend, we went to Valdosta Georgia to experience

Wild Adventures

Valdosta, Georgia

Date of Visit: May 29-30, 2011 (Memorial Day weekend)

Logistics: We stayed at the Hampton Inn in Valdosta, GA. It was about 10 minutes from the park and they had a deal for $189 for the night with 2-day passes for up to 4 people. So we drove there on Sunday and stayed the night, left after experiencing day 2 of the park on Monday.

New to the Park: Wild Adventures just added a 4 million dollar addition to their park adding a water park called Splash Island. This was the most crowded part of the park while all the regular rides were pretty bare/short lines.

Animals & Animal Shows: This was, of course, my fiance and I's favorite part of the whole park. We loved the animals and shows about animals. The two BEST parts of the park were the "Tigers of Asia" show and the Safari ride. The other show was somewhat cool too, its called the "Creature Feature". These are all a pretty much *MUST SEE* if you are visiting Wild Adventures. I would just say, "move over Splash Island".
Here are a few pictures of what we saw:

This was one of the black bears. The exhibit was very difficult to get pictures.

This was a neat area where tigers could crawl into this space so people could get a close up look of them. They were huge!

This was on the safari. It was similar to animal kingdom in some ways because the animals were not caged in SOME parts.

Elephants!

This is the newborn baby giraffe.

Tortoise.

This was not part of an exhibit. The peacock was not in a cage. We just found this and I thought it was neat.

This was from the Creature Feature show. The parrot could have conversations.

Baby gator at the Creature Feature show. They let you take pictures with some of the animals after. Very cool.

Tigers of Asia show! I can't believe that guy got in the cage with all of them!

Day 2- Same Safari ride

Another elephant picture!

If you want to schedule a trip to Wild Adventures, its a good idea to check out their website.

The section titled "Park Info" has an option for "Lodging." If you call these hotels, some of them have deals with discounted tickets and room stay.

Thanks for reading.

♥jen