Santa Monica Pier or Long Beach Aquarium?

[lkohawaii]

For those of you have been to both which one is better to do between getting off the cruise and taking a flight home...to go to Santa Monica Pier or Long Beach Aquarium? My children are 8 & 2. We do live in Hawaii so sea life is not as fascinating to my kids as to others. Don't know exactly what's at Santa Monica Pier.

 

[disgirl]

I know you are looking for a comparison of the two and unfortunately, I have never been to the Long Beach Aquarium, but this past August, we just spent about 2 hours at the pier one Sunday evening. My dh got beautiful sunset pictures from there. From what we saw they have some musicians performing, mostly at the end of the pier. There are a couple of restaurants, a few rides, an arcade, a few game booths, and some merchants selling various things along the boardwalk. We just have one child, an 11 year old and although we did not encourage him to try any game booths or go on any rides (the next day we were leaving for Disneyland for 4 nights), he did spend some time and a few dollars at the arcade. He enjoyed that while dh stood on the pier and got his photos.

I hope this gives you some idea of what Santa Monica pier is about. Hopefully, others here will be able to compare the two and give you an idea of which is better in your situation. (time wise and distance from the cruise etc)

Good Luck and have a super trip!!

 

[Lollipop's Mom]

The one and only time we have been to CA was back when my daughter was 3. We went on a Hollywood tour that topped at the Pier. We only had 45 mins there and wished we had more time.
We went on that famous ferris wheel - and to this day - whenever we see it in a movie or tv show ( they seem to film alot of shows and music videos there!) my daughter screams - "IVE been on that!!!!!".
So if your kids get a kick out of things like that...go for the pier. I remember they were filming an episode of baywatch down on the beach too, so that was neat to see.

 

[safetymom]

We just did the Long Beach Aqua. I think there is lots to see and kids would get a big kick out of touching the different creatures.

 

[PryncessChrysty]

While the Long Beach Aquarium is very neat and something to be experienced, it isn't anything that is exclusive to Long Beach. There are aquariums in other cities, as well as parks like Sea World (which, IMO, is more worth it). Whereas the Santa Monica Pier is something that is exclusive to SM. Sure, there are other piers, but the SM pier is a landmark, full of history and it's a lot of fun. There are also a lot of fun things to do in the area for either before or after your visit.

I hope you have a great time, whichever you decide

 

[safetymom]

I have been to other aquariums across the country and thought that the Long Beach one was pretty near the top of my list.

It is an easy ride away from DL if you aren't familiar with the area.

 

[lkohawaii]

Thanks everyone...you know being that we'll be in DL for 4 days before the cruise maybe I should just make it to both. We live on an island where we take the sea and the animals for granted...but we don't have anything like a big pier. So, I guess I'll have to go there and maybe we'll have to make it a point to go down to Long Beach also. My DD loves Sea World. How long does it take to get to Long Beach aquarium from Annaheim?

 

[PryncessChrysty]

I would say about 30 minutes from Long Beach to Anaheim with California traffic. They aren't really far apart, though.

 

[CruisingCA2005]

My kids (8 & almost 3) love the Long Beach aquarium. We have annual passes there. IMHO, it's so much better than the Waikiki aquarium.

Depeding on what time your flight is, you'll probably have time to visit both attractions.

You can buy discounted tickets from Costco (20% off) or costco.com or get 10% off admission for up to 4 people by using your AAA card at the ticket window. There's a coupon at Subway restaurants for a free child ticket with purchase of adult ticket (for a limited time).

 

[smcbaker]

We really enjoyed it when we visited last June. Took a Saturday off, figuring it would be pretty crowded at DL that day. We got out hands stamped mid-day and walked across the street for lunch at Bubba Gump's and then went back, saw the 3-D movie and spent the rest of the day petting the stingrays. My son really loved it. While I certainly haven't been to all of the aquariums across the country, the only one that I've visited that surpasses this one in the one in Monterey Bay!

 

[lkohawaii]

O.K. guys you convinced me.....How much time do I need to plan for at the aquarium? Yes, our Waikiki aquarium has much improvment to be made. We just go to Sea World to see all the animals. I loved Monterey so maybe Long Beach will be a close second.

 

[safetymom]

We took about 2 hours at the aquarium and then went to the Shorline Village and had lunch and walked around in the shops for another couple of hours. There is a free shuttle and you could also go over to the Queen Mary.

 

[lkohawaii]

Safety Mom- so 2 hours is enough?

 

[iceskatejen]

I went to the aquarium several years ago and I was there a good 4 or 5 hours. I probably spent about an hour of that with the stingrays alone because they were so friendly and love attention. They have lorrikeets there now (necter-drinking Aussie parrots) and I love those so I would be spending at least 30 minutes with them, too.

 

[safetymom]

We could have spent more time but we saw everything in 2 hours.

 

[smcbaker]

Really depends how thorough you want to be and whether you want to relax as you visit or go through it more quickly. It's not a whole day experience, in my opinion, but we spent a good 4 hours. It was a nice day so we spent lots of time checking out the stingrays and enjoying that and the shark tank. Everything was convenient - parking, dining - so you shouldn't need lots of time for that. I wouldn't want to rush through so I would plan for about 4 hours, my opinion.