Florida Aquarium vs Mote aquarium?

[Fabooliss]

We have 2 days after our Disney vacation in February and we want to hit a beach and see a bit of Florida. We think we are going to rent a car and drive to Tampa.
I have read about Florida aquarium and its ecotour as well as the one out of the Mote aquarium. Has anyone experienced either? Any recommendations for our 2 and 5 year old? (Is it worth the extra drive and extra hotel $ to Sarasota for the Mote aquarium)
Thanks!

 

[Fabooliss]

Anyone?

 

[Jane E.]

My vote is for seeing the Florida Aquarium. Its geared more for "edutaining" children. Mote is more of a research facility. Its been years since we took the children to either but we spent more time at the Florida Aquarium. On the other hand Mote does a nice boat trip which must be reserved in advanced for extra $. You may want to compare websites to see which would work out the best for your family. http://www.flaquarium.org/html/l1/l1_explore.html and http://www.mote.org/


Have a great time!

 

[gzacharias]

Definitely Florida Aquarium. I have an annual pass to it and my young children love it - if it's warm out (that can be anytime) check out the outdoor splash area (complete with a large pirate ship, water cannons, huge climb-on dolphin and manatee misting sculptures, etc.) I've also been to Mote and it is much older and smaller. On the plus side it has a seperate rehab center with resident manatees and large turtles (you won't find those at Florida Aquarium.) That's about the only advantage of Mote - Florida Aquarium is much larger and has shows, animal encounters, etc. with unique things like leafy sea dragons and African penguins.

The Tampa Entertainment book usually has buy one get one free tickets for the aquarium...

Enjoy your visit to Tampa! We also have Busch Gardens, Lowry Park Zoo (ranked the top family zoo in the country), and gulf beaches (in St. Pete and Clearwater) just 40 minutes away.

Gzacharias

 

[Amity 3]

the Florida Aquarium. a portion of it is a real, living Florida ecosystem indoors. they have touch tanks for the kids to pet stingrays, starfish, etc. the outdoor water play area is cool for the kids, and the cruise ships dock right there. it's got a restaurant with hot dogs, salads, chicken nuggets, etc.

MOTE's cool, but it's more of a research facility with a smaller museum. they do great work with animal rescues and rehab.

 

[Fabooliss]

Thanks! I had looked at both websites, but couldn't tell which I liked better. We are looking for a "Florida experience" rather than a generic zoo experience as well.
Actually, I kind of thought Florida Aquarium looked better but the ecocruise out of Mote looked better than the one out of Florida Aquarium.
Given the driving time and hotel price difference, I think we'll go for Tampa.
Is there somewhere close we can see manatees if they don't have them there?

 

[Amity 3]

the Florida aquarium doesn't house manatees. the nearest place would be the Lowry Park Zoo, which has a manatee rehab facility. in February to see them in the wild, you'd probably need to drive down to Apollo Beach to the viewing deck at the TECO plant.

 

[GoofyGirlnPrincessV]

We live near Mote Marine and it is very tiny and not a lot to do. I would suggest the other aquarium.

We have 2 days after our Disney vacation in February and we want to hit a beach and see a bit of Florida. We think we are going to rent a car and drive to Tampa.
I have read about Florida aquarium and its ecotour as well as the one out of the Mote aquarium. Has anyone experienced either? Any recommendations for our 2 and 5 year old? (Is it worth the extra drive and extra hotel $ to Sarasota for the Mote aquarium)
Thanks!

 

[NotUrsula]

There is a third option, the Clearwater Marine Aquarium. It is also a research and rescue facility, like Mote. There are no big underground-window tanks, and no fancy media presentations or play areas. What they do have are several large rescued marine animals, including dolphins and sea turtles, and also some river otters - no manatees. Kids can get very close to the animals; about 6 feet in some cases. It is a research facility, and they are very good about answering any questions that kids have, no matter how long it takes.
They also do boat excursions. http://www.cmaquarium.org/
(They also have a mounted giant squid -- amazingly huge. It's encased in lucite.) My son likes CMA best of all, but he's very interested in the care of the animals.