My daughter recently had a school break and I figured it would be a great time to pretend we are Denver tourists. Cassidy and I go downtown for holiday activities, attractions, and the arts frequently, but I was surprised how many of the museums we had not been to yet. The Denver CityPASS® includes:
· Denver Downtown Aquarium
· Denver Museum of Nature & Science
· Children’s Museum of Denver at Marsico Campus
· Denver Botanic Gardens
· Wings Over the Rockies Air & Space Museum
· Denver Art Museum
· History Colorado Center
The pass has a 3-, 4- or 5-day option, we tried the 3-day pass for $43.00 adult/$36.00 child tickets. The fine print with this deal is that you only have 7 days to complete all your museum entrances. When you are on a family vacation to see Denver, it would be easy to see all five. However, since this was a staycation, we only had time for three. Out of the list, we had only been to the aquarium and art museum for a Mary Cassatt exhibit. I think the pandemic, starting 9 months into us moving from Florida to Colorado, forced our family to do outside activities and adventures and what a great place to experience the great outdoors!
I gave Cassidy the choice of the three places she wanted to go on the list and to no surprise she said the aquarium (again), the Children’s Museum and the Science Center. Cassidy currently wants to be a hydrologist or marine biologist when she grows up, and I can see her interest at all three locations. Be aware that the aquarium is the only attraction that needs a reservation, but I suggest adding a few for the theater and planetarium at the Science Center. I planned three fun days around those choices, and we had a great time exploring our own backyard.
Denver Downtown Aquarium
First up, the Aquarium, but on a weekday instead of during the crazy holiday time of Santa & Mermaids or chaperoning a class trip, with a hundred other schools! My first rookie mistake was that I paid for parking at the lot directly across the street from the aquarium’s glass windows and skylights. I learned later in the week I should have parked in the shared lot between the aquarium and children’s museum since it is free to park (unless you are going to a Broncos game).
We arrived around 10:00, after the opening rush was over, but it also felt downright empty at the aquarium that day and I didn’t mind. We did need to show our city pass QR codes at the ticket booth to get wristbands for the aquarium, but otherwise we walked right in the entrance. We were quickly whisked into a shark’s mouth and up an escalator to begin our journey on the 2nd floor. I spent some time looking at the geography of the world’s oceans with Cassidy. She was able to stand back and see them well and my former Geography teacher’s heart smiled.
Off to the North American area, where the highlights were the alligator snapping turtle and the baby river otters. Unfortunately, the others were sleeping, but their nest is located behind glass in a dry part of their enclosure, so we were able to watch them as they snoozed. In hindsight, we should’ve gone back to the beginning before we left the aquarium to try catching them awake. Then we moved into the desert climate where my daughter rattled off a list of animal adaptations she’s been learning about in school. This aquarium has lots of great facts and questions on the walls, where parents can easily help turn their trip into more of an interactive field trip, without any prep work of their own. I love places like this, where you can help younger children make connections and older children can take a deep dive using the information around the exhibits. Don’t think you have to ask your children everything in there, just pick and choose high interest facts and questions. We learned that one-fifth of the earth’s surface is desserts… who knew it was that much?
We had to cross an area with a possible flood zone. Cassidy remembered this part from a school trip a few years ago, it made quite the impact. We waited for the tropical storm to roll through, and then crossed right after the flood waters receded. Then we entered what Cassidy called Nemo and Dory’s world and saw lots of beautiful reef fish. These are always the tanks I like the most because of the bright colors and tropical atmosphere. We investigated tanks at the wharf, the rainforest & coral reef before coming to two tigers! My daughter asked why they had tigers at the aquarium and not the zoo? It’s a valid question that I didn’t have an answer for at the moment. The two Sumatran tigers appear behind glass enclosures with a few spots to get pictures and look at the tigers from different vantage points.
Finally, we reached the large tanks where sharks and sawfish lurked. Coming out of the dark tanks and into the light, we found ourselves at a bright, beach oasis with a large touch tank to get your hands wet and touch a ray. This is the unofficial end of the aquarium and where parents can easily get taken for snacks, icee drinks in souvenir cups and photo booth pictures. My advice is to push through the distractions and head down the escalator to the restaurant. I often hate the food at museums, aquariums and zoos, but this restaurant is not to miss! The restaurant chain Landry’s Seafood took over four aquarium locations across the country and added these great steak and seafood restaurants where you can watch schools of fish swim by during your meal. Both Cassidy and I had such a great lunch we talked about it for days after! She had a kid’s meal with grilled chicken, rice, side and fruit and I had a seafood risotto special. There is also a bar and ballroom for special events in the aquarium. We have attended a brunch event at the aquarium during the holidays and the food was excellent then as well.
Cassidy asked me if we could go to the play area behind the restaurant that she visited with her camp the summer before. I looked it up on the map to see it’s called Sharkey’s Fun Zone and told her to lead the way. She took me out a back entrance, where I thought we’d end up in the kitchen, but it opened to patio seating and a small playscape that was technically inside, but had a wall of open garage doors on this warm, sunny day. If Cassidy didn’t know this place existed, we never would’ve ventured this far back. Sharkey’s Fun Zone does not require an aquarium ticket or even food or drink purchase. There is A.C. for hot summer days and the doors are closed during the cold winter, but I thought it was a gem of a place. I wish I had found it five years ago when we moved, since Cassidy is just about too old/tall for it now. There are a few large sea animal structures for kids to climb in and slide down. Thankfully, she loves playing with children of all ages and had a gaggle of kids running an obstacle course, trying not to touch the sand (an under the sea version of the floor is lava). This was a great find!
We decided to leave so we still had time to see the 4D movie and peruse the gift shop. My girl loves a gift shop, it doesn’t matter what it is for, she will find a bracelet, gem or stuffed animal that she falls in love with in a window display! I make sure to plan some extra time to spend at the gift shop, since she loves all the shopping involved in travel and exploring. Shopping is not my thing, so I typically give her a budget or item number and find a corner to check my email without guilt. When she was little and still had to hold my hand, I had to set a timer or go 15 minutes before the store closed to hustle her out without spending a small fortune. Now I try to turn it into a lesson in economics and accounting and she tries to turn it into a marketing campaign and opportunity to work on her negotiation skills.
On the way out of the complex we stopped to see which of the two 4D movies were playing and since it was about an octopus, we stayed. Honestly, this was the only part of the aquarium experience we didn’t like at all! The theater is very small with 6-8 rows of seats that felt dirty. You pick up a pair of 3D glasses on the way in that also looked dirty and we exchanged ours at least once trying to find a cleaner pair. When the show started, it looked good visually, with a view of the underwater world of an octopus trying to catch a meal. I guess I didn’t know what a 4D experience really was, but be warned it’s a physical experience. You get splashed in the face with water many times throughout the short film, things come out from under your seat to make you feel like you are being grabbed by a tentacle and a circular spot in the chair pops out into your rib or back depending on how tall you are in the seat. It sounds overly dramatic, but neither of us liked being touched and squirted in the face and I’m not sure I’ll be trying 4D films in the future!
I wish the carousel outside the aquarium had been working, so Cassidy could end on a better note, but the whole day in general was a huge win. The Denver Aquarium is not very large, if you are traveling in Denver, you could do the Children’s Museum in the morning, then move over to the Aquarium restaurant for lunch and the Aquarium in the afternoon (do it in this order, since the Aquarium is open much later than the Children’s Museum).
Denver Museum of Nature & Science
A few days later, Cassidy and I went to the Denver Museum of Nature & Science. I didn’t realize that it was located in City Park, sharing the park with the Denver Zoo. The building is huge, don’t get nervous if you don’t find parking on the ground floor lot, there is a garage underground as well. This museum is open from 9:00-5:00 every day, and from 9:00-9:00 most Fridays. There are even free days where families are encouraged to attend the exhibits and events. We visited on a Friday, and it was packed! Between camps and families on break and vacations it was busy. It would’ve been more manageable if the teenage groups were better supervised and separated into different exhibits. As a former teacher and administrator who planned lots of field trips, these things always stand out to me. We did our best to avoid these large crowds and were flexible with our route around the museum.
The first main exhibit we entered was the Coors Gems and Minerals. Cassidy has always loved gems and minerals; moving to Colorado certainly has only made her interest grow. Every Colorado town or tourist attraction we visit has rocks and gems to be bought or sleuthed. This exhibit was fantastic, Cassidy could call each gem out by name and even read a few of the articles on the walls describing the mining process. Eventually this exhibit got overcrowded, so we finished up and went upstairs to the Edges of the Wild, North American Wildlife, South Pacific, Australia and Bears & Sea Mammals exhibits.
These are large animal displays that reminded me of shoebox dioramas we used to make in elementary school, but on a much grander scale. These displays and the insect dioramas really need to be updated; they are showing their age. What was once interesting to children on field trips is not today, they need more interaction and stimulation. Children are not going to walk through and read about all these animals or take advantage of the amble seating area. Speaking of seating, we were looking for a water fountain and happened upon a large study and rest area overlooking City Park with the most beautiful view. This area reminded me of a library study zone and was very quiet. Cassidy quickly dismissed it, but I could see working in this area especially when the weather was bad outside.
Lunch at the T-Rex café was disappointing after the amazing meal we had at the aquarium. Hindsight being 20/20, we should’ve traded it for a picnic in City Park and just had an afternoon snack in the coffee shop if needed. In all reality, the T-Rex café was fine and offered a wide range of BBQ plates, Asian noodles, pizza, a salad bar and the usual kids menu mix and match items, but it was cafeteria style. After lunch we headed to Space Odyssey to play around in the interactive areas. Since we chose the Denver Museum of Nature and Science from the CityPASS list and showed up on a whim. I really underestimated how much time it would take to do a majority of the exhibits, movie theater and the Planetarium. This was an area I really should’ve planned for a bit better, not my normal MO. There are numerous space shows playing throughout the day, but need a ticket to reserve and pay an additional $7 per seat. The Museum is open late on Friday nights, for laser light shows and special events in the Planetarium. I plan to get my husband Planetarium tickets to see Dark Side of the Moon.
Expedition Health was another exhibit I thought was well done and my daughter was engaged the whole time. Cassidy grabbed a card to create an identity on the way into the exhibit and she was able to keep track of her stats from experiments on physical strength, endurance and mind tricks. This area was also very crowded and some of the parents had to step in and run the activities a bit, which would be nice to have staff members doing, especially all the young volunteers working in the museum. Children can also observe a working lab, from behind glass, and get to see a real-world application of school science labs and experiments. There were educational activities that taught about sun exposure to the skin and a game of mental Olympics with a fellow museum guest. Cassidy was so excited that she won, against an older boy! After turning in our cards and cleaning our hands from touching a million surfaces we skipped the Infinity Theater.
This is another area I should’ve researched better because you need to reserve a seat at the show you want to attend and pay an additional $10. Currently a show about sea animals and Antarctica is playing 4 or more shows throughout the day, but if you have a young child the Sesame Street show only plays at 10:00 a.m. It is worth planning around if you have a toddler or preschooler, since it will be perfect for their academic level. As a former educator, I always advocate for Sesame Street. It is the single best use of screen time or TV learning in this humble teacher’s opinion. It teaches letter recognition, phonemic awareness, phonics and number sense that children need to understand before being able to access education and their world. I’m stepping off my Sesame Street soapbox now!
Then we headed up to the third floor to the interactive Mysteries of the Ice Age traveling exhibit. The features of this exhibit were stimulating and we enjoyed learning more about the Scientific evidence the Ice Age still has on our world today. We got to see many fossils and artifacts which would be great ways to connect with different children in an area of their interest. There were also numerous attractions with screens that tested kids’ knowledge of the Ice Age.
We headed to the Egyptian Mummies exhibit while our eyes adjusted to the light of the museum again. I always love Ancient Egypt exhibits and have been fortunate to have visited The Great Pyramids in Giza and attended some of the world’s best Egyptian Antiquities Museums. This area really disappointed both Cassidy and me, it seemed old and did not draw kids attention anymore, which is really a shame since mummies and pyramids have captured kids’ interests for generations. We didn’t spend long in the Egyptian area, honestly there wasn’t much to see or do. We took a quick walk through the third floor Natural history exhibits of Explore Colorado, Birds of the Americas, Botswana Africa, South America, Northern and Rare Birds.
Finally, we finished off in the gift shop (as usual) choosing a flying squirrel and shiny shelled turtle stuffy. Cassidy could’ve spent hours looking at all the cool rocks, gemstones, toys and jewelry, but we were in a rush to get to a concert that night. I would visit again when an interesting new traveling exhibit arrives, but I would book a planetarium show and my daughter’s choice of Infinity theater show as well.
Children’s Museum of Denver at Marsico Campus
The Children’s Museum of Denver at Marsico Campus is located on the far side of the Aquarium and shares a parking lot. As said earlier, both attractions could easily be seen on the same day, but my advice is to go to the Children’s Museum first, since their hours are only 9:00-4:00 daily. The museum has 3 floors of play fun, plus an outside area that all fall into the categories of Imagine, Investigate, Explore & Create for children of all ages. This is a great place for moms with children of different ages and stages or for meet ups with different age groups.
First, we skipped over the indoor climbing area on the first floor for the dramatic play areas with a fire station and veterinarian’s clinic. These two areas were my daughter’s favorites and she met lots of friends while playing at the animal clinic, which made it all that much more fun. Then we went upstairs, checked out the upper climbing area that turns into a camping spot with tents, stuffed forest animals and even campfire supplies. Upstairs had a quiet library area called the book-nook, which also had a puppet theater and puppets that Cassidy really enjoyed. We came back to this spot three times, when she wanted a bit of a rest or some quiet. This many children having fun is a loud experience no matter where you are in the museum. This floor also has a large farmers market & kitchen area for dramatic play.
For the kinetics area there was a giant ball area to experiment with the levers. The assembly plant looks like a small Home Depot workshop with stations using recycled materials and kids’ versions of tools. Three projects are on display with directions to try to replicate or your child is welcome to create their own project. I think this area didn’t get as much of our attention since the bubble room was located directly across the way and that was by far Cassidy’s favorite place that we revisited often throughout our day. There were stations to make large bubbles, blowers to create bubble masterpieces and even a full-size bubble maker that looked like a shower but allowed the kids to take the vantage point of being inside a bubble. Down the opposite corridor was the Art studio and teaching kitchen. With my typically artistic daughter, I thought we’d spend lots of time in the art studio and might even want to paint a piece of pottery. I was surprised that she didn’t seem interested in this area much and just did a quick walk through to see what was there. This was a great art studio and a wonderful place to put a smock on kids and let them go to town with paint and clay.
After following a waterfall through the atrium stairs, we found an energy area where kids were creating and testing air rockets by launching them inside a wind tunnel. We also saw a giant light bright activity, where you could swap the different colored lights to create a picture or pattern. Then we investigated the water play area, which is just up my daughter’s alley. She was in 7th heaven! After an hour of water play, we went outside to see how fun that was, but ended up back in the water play area again later.
Joy Park was located right outside the water play zone. It had sand areas with tons of toys to play with in the sand. Chalk play and a stream to wade through on warm days is outside as well. I’d bring a small towel and water shoes in the future so that Cassidy could enjoy this area a little more. Outside, there was also a huge climbing area, up the metal-scape that can be seen from the highway. I couldn’t believe that the kids could climb that high in the equipment and Cassidy was proud of herself (and a little shook) that she was at the top. They did have to wear helmets, which was good because Cassidy said she hit her head a bunch of times while in there.
Once again, we finished our visit with a trip to the gift shop and I gave into adopting a husky stuffed animal, where you get to choose a collar, blanket & toy to go with the animal and carrier. I think I spent more on gift shop items than on the actual CityPASS tickets! We checked out the café market, but it was disappointing. We saw lots of families bring picnic baskets and eat in the outside area at a picnic table or the playground area in front of the main entrance. I think both ideas are better than relying on that silly market. After remembering our amazing lunch at the aquarium earlier in the week, we decided to go back for a second lunch at the Aquarium restaurant. We got to sit right next to the tank with an unobstructed view of the fish. I had another great meal with coconut shrimp and my daughter had a great kids’ meal with fish sticks, rice, mac & cheese and fruit. We played at Sharkey’s Fun Zone again for a little bit and finished off our day at the playground outside of the Children’s Museum parking lot before heading home. We were there on a Broncos game day, and I’m glad we got there earlier so we weren’t mixed in with Broncos traffic, but it never took over the whole lot. Even when we were leaving and the game was still going on there were lots of open spaces for parking.
The Denver CityPASS® was a great adventure and saved a lot of money for Cassidy and I to enjoy these attractions. I plan to get it again, especially when friends or family are in town visiting and want to see some of the attractions. We’d still like to visit the Botanic Gardens in the Spring and I hear both Wings over the Rockies Air & Space Museum and the recently renovated History Colorado Center will be great to visit as well. After such a value driven experience, I went back to the CityPASS® tickets app and found some other cities that I’d like to try CityPASS® tickets for in the future, such as Boston or Philadelphia.
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