Hellobee Boards

@threeplusme: Wow! That's something I'd definitely call in advance about. My 2.5 year old had definitely can't walk the whole aquarium (she had a gross motor delay so has really only been walking for about 6 months), and would never agree to be worn for several hours.

@Ms.Mermaid: @hitchhiker: @Anagram: Thanks! Yeah, I was totally counting on people being out doing spring/Easter-y things and not going to an indoor venue, but with thunderstorms forecast....who knows. We were thinking to aim for early (and not sure if it was a good idea to get kids up at 5 AM, drive, then take them for a full day activity)...but maybe we'll play it be ear and send someone over to check out the crowds around 4 or so. My SIL lives super close by, so that won't be a problem.

@Mrs. Lemon-Lime: Thanks! I'll report back with any tips!

@Pollywog: Thanks! We had to book tickets a bit later than we'd hoped, so may pop into Port Discovery first. Sorry to hear your DS was scared - I was just saying to DH "Let's not worry, the kids don't care if it's crowded!" - so much for that theory!

@threeplusme: Just popping back to thank you for saying this! I never would have even thought to check that, and I'm planning very differently w/o the stroller. She's small - 31" and 24 lbs, so as long as she's cooperative, it won't be awful to wear/carry her a portion of the time - I stopped wearing her a few months ago to force her to walk more, but she still loves for me to carry her. Fingers crossed! We'll probably do as @Ms.Mermaid: suggests and use the stroller to get to the Aquarium, then check it with our raincoats/Ergo if they have a hiking carrier available when we get there!

@Ms.Mermaid: @Pollywog: @threeplusme: Thanks so much for your tips - they made our trip a snap! kids had fun and even hubby (who hates crowds and therefore is reluctant to do zoos/museums) admitted he liked it.

@lady baltimore: we went and had a good time! Thanks for asking! We had 12:15 tickets, and 2.5-3 hours was enough to feel like we saw everything! It was definitely busy, but no worse than any other popular attraction. Certain exhibits were more crowded (touch tanks, jellyfish right after a dolphin show let out), but my kids weren’t bothered, and I decided not to be either . We spent a long time up close and personal with the puffins with almost zero crowd, and hit a feeding time in the walk-down part of the reef without crowds as well. I think if we’d been trying to read all the signs we would have been frustrated, but I promised my oldest to get a few library books so she could do “research” at home, and read them some facts from the app.

To be fair regarding prices, I guess it’s that way for everything - we were NYCZoos members when we lived in Brooklyn because we lived right by the Prospect Park Zoo. But without that membership, Bronx Zoo fees are crazy high! It’s just sad because being a big city with all income levels, I think of how many local people probably can’t afford to enjoy it! Hopefully those kids get to go o subsidized school field trips!

@Mrs. Lemon-Lime: When you go, download the app! It has maps, activity times, facts about all the animals...it’s super user friendly abseil even give helpful tips based on your location if you allow push notifications! I’m forgetting how old your child is w/o looking under your name and losing this post, but if he’s under 4-5, plan on carrying him a bunch because a number of exhibits are a little high, then having him walk through the floor to ceiling glass exhibits- my littlest was so tickled to be far to face with puffins, turtles, and fish bigger than her. She also loved the jellyfish (and learned to say jellyfish!) but had to be lifted up for most of that exhibit. Regarding timing, we went right at lunchtime - we headed straight to the dolphin show, but if we hadn’t, we might have hit a few more exhibits with less crowds. I looked at available tickets online, and feel like there was a bit of a lull in entrances from 12:15-1 while people had lunch and a lot of the morning admissions were leaving: