see the city and save with CityPASS :: review

Last week my kids and I had a chance to go to Atlanta for a few days. We were hoping to go to the Georgia Aquarium and the World of Coca-Cola and after looking at our options, I realized that CityPASS could save us quite a bit of money. CityPASS booklets are a pre-paid set of tickets to some of the top tourist attractions in some of the largest cities in North America. Each CityPASS booklet contains easy-to-use tickets that have been bundled, resulting in a great discounted price for you! Once you start using your CityPASS booklet, you have nine days to use all of the tickets. But that won’t be hard to do because you’ll be ready to hop over to the next attraction! And when you get there, there’s no need to wait in line. Once you have your CityPASS, you can skip the ticket window and head straight for the entrance.

The Atlanta CityPASS options include: the Georgia Aquarium, the World of Coca-Cola, either Zoo Atlanta or the Atlanta History Center and the Margaret Mitchell House, an Inside CNN Studio Tour, either the High Museum or Fernbank Museum of Natural History. We only had 2 days in the city and ended up having to miss out on the CNN tour but we packed as much fun as we could into our days!

At Zoo Atlanta we were able to see the new panda cubs – the only twin pandas in the United States – and several of the new gorillas. When we redeemed our CityPASSes at the gate, I was pleasantly surprised when I found out that it included an unlimited rides wristband that allowed us to ride the train and the carousel as well as climb the rock wall.

The next morning we got up bright and early and were the very first people in the Georgia Aquarium, a decision that we did not regret! We were the first ones at the touch pools where we were allowed to reach in and feel the rays and sharks. Later we also got to touch sea stars and anemones and sea urchins and sea snails! After that we rushed over to the spots that tend to get crowded quickly. We went through the walk-through tunnel and the Ocean Voyager viewing window.Because so many local schools were on spring break it was packed by lunch, which was just about the time we were finishing up. We were able to catch the dolphin show right before leaving. No pictures are allowed in Dolphin Tales but I wish you could have seen my sweet girl’s eyes sparkle!

We grabbed a quick lunch at Pemberton Cafe, which is between the Georgia Aquarium and the World of Coca-Cola, and then headed in to see all things Coke! I love seeing all the Coca-Cola memorabilia. And I’m a sucker for a good Coke commercial, and I’ll admit that I teared up a little when we watched it on the giant screen. My daughter loved meeting the polar bear and my son really loved seeing the vault that holds the only written copy of the original coke formula. My favorite part? The Taste It! zone where you can try all the varieties of drinks that Coca-Cola produces across the world. It is possible that I told my children that Beverly was the Best!Drink!Ever! (In case you’ve never tried Beverly, it is not particularly palatable for many people. It has a very distinctive aftertaste.)

And then we squeezed in a fun afternoon at Fernbank Museum of Natural History. We did a quick run-through of the Georgia natural history area and then landed with the dinosaurs. We didn’t spend a whole lot of time in either of those exhibits because when we entered, we found out that there was an IMAX movie (also included with the CityPASS) starting soon that we wanted to see! I had no idea that lemurs had such an interesting history! And? They’re adorable.

But our favorite part of Fernbank was  NatureQuest. It’s set up like the best kid’s clubhouse you could have dreamed of as a child. There’s a giant tree that has a climbing area inside it. There’s a clubhouse with fancy toys to play with like microscopes and time-lapse image mover. There are too many cool things to even begin to list. Just go watch this quick video. Seriously a fun play (and learn!) space for kids of all ages!
Overall, we saved about $30 per person by using CityPASS vs. buying all the tickets (and extras) separately! And I loved that it was so easy to use. Every time we got to a new attraction, we went right up to the ticket window for CityPASS users (which were usually well-marked) and didn’t have to wait in line at all!

Not close to Atlanta or planning to come visit? Good news! CityPASS isn’t limited to here! You can also enjoy the benefits of CityPASS in Boston, Chicago, Houston, New York, Philadelphia, San Francisco, Seattle, Southern California, Tampa Bay, and Toronto.

Atlanta CityPASS, adult: $74
Atlanta CityPASS, child: $59

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