Staff very friendly and eager to make sure all is going well. Great place to bring children.

What do you do with kids on an extra cold night? Let's go to the aquarium that we have yet to visit despite living in Denver for ages now. Due to the cold, no lines for tickets. Great indoor activity. Fairly empty inside. Perfect evening. Prices are steep for parking and admission. It's a one and done activity for us. But it was worth the experience! We spent almost two hours there, taking our time to admire and learn. We really enjoyed seeing all the beautiful sea creatures - all varieties of fish large and small, sharks, jellyfish, stingrays (which you can pet at the end), two random tigers (not expecting that at an aquarium), turtles, snakes, lizards, frogs, etc. Only negative from our outing was the guy in the ticket booth. We brought out of town friends with us and it was freezing outside. He could see that we had kids and were all super cold. It would've been kind if he had said we could just go inside and wait for the husbands to come in with the wrist bands. As it turns out we just ran inside anyway to wait for them, but not very good customer service. read more

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I have to give the aquarium just 2 stars because, even though my kid had a blast & everyone and everything else was amazing and patient (especially the dude at this jellyfish touch tank), there was a staff member that was so rude to my FOUR year old that it ruined the experience at least for me. 1230 pm today at the No Bone Zone, little touch tank, and there was a lady who clearly did not want to be there. They were having so much fun, so excited to see everything as we are visiting from out of state and my 4 and 2 year old love all things animals. My son's grandma took him to the no bone zone and didn't realize it was a line, just saw an open spot and let him hop up. He immediately starts trying to touch, and the staff member was extremely rude to him. Instead of showing/teaching him how to do it she chose to say "k take a break you're not doing it right". She never said "hey there's a line, and I can tell him the directions with the next group"--that's all it could've took. Then of course my 4 year old son is excited, so he finally starts touching the sea animals correctly and is asking the lady the names of them. She rudely responded to him with the answers, talking under her breath and rolling her eyes. AT A FOUR YEAR OLD. He would say "excuse me" then ask another question, she repeated "I have to talk to other kids, not just you". I stayed out of it because maybe she was just having a bad day, and my son was unfazed, probably because he's four. She complains that everyone else needs a turn even though he was not even up there for more than maybe 2 minutes. What was really crazy was the next round of kids come and she is so nice to them. Answering everything, smiling. Next group, she's rude again. Only difference between mine & the 3rd group with the second group is that the second group of kids were white and the other group and my kids are minorities. Very unfortunate that my 4 year old experienced his first taste of bigotry. Luckily he doesn't even notice, but unfortunately I will remember forever. read more

The aquarium is fine and it's nice that we have the activity during winter in Denver. However, waiting almost an hour in line (with upset toddlers outside in the cold) to "check in" for a bracelet even though we bought online tickets ruined the experience a bit. The line to buy tickets in person was shorter than the line to check in for online tickets. What's the point? To make matters worse, there is a sign out front that says "skip the line and buy online". THEN after you get your bracelet you have to wait in another line to have your bracelet checked. My son had to resort to peeing in a corner outside because we couldn't access the bathrooms. Super frustrating way to begin the experience and it seems like we could simply scan a QR code at the door and call it a day. It's not a high security prison, it's a fish tank. read more

Downtown Aquarium - Long line - Museums Near Me - Denver, Colorado

So cool to go see , The Dolphin show was amazing, staff was really friendly , was able to pet a stingray , all around awesome place to visit. read more

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I went here tonight with the wife . Overall experience with food and aquarium I give it an 8.9/10 . Food was really good here which oddly enough is shocking ! The aquarium portion was fast I mean it took us maybe 25,30 minutes to walk the whole thing could have been longer but the otters weren't really out and the tigers were sleep we think. All in all I love this place and it gave balling ass baller vibes . Thank you Denver we love you like two buttnaked Polar Bears fighting over whale blubba... read more

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Food was great. No complaints on the food. Service looked little chaotic. In their defense, the aquarium was hosting 2 High School Proms the same night and the restaurant had a lot of the high school students dining in while other large parties were dining as well. So I do get it. High respect to the staff. read more

Downtown Aquarium - Broiled Fisherman's Platter - Museums Near Me - Denver, Colorado

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This was such a fun day with my grandson! Are aquarium is pretty small so adding this additional little fun piece grabbing lunch or dinner here was perfect! I made online reservations. I recommend doing so. The hostess was so sweet and accommodating and made sure we were sat right next to the water for the best experience. I love how fun the atmosphere is with the lighting and hanging fish! My grandson had a lot of fun food choices for his age! The reason I am giving it 4 stars is because the food was just okay...nothing spectacular. Service was good but my waitress was definitely spread thin! We would do it again! read more

Downtown Aquarium - Cool Shark Slushie collectible Cup - Museums Near Me - Denver, Colorado

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Ok, know before you go and set your expectations accordingly. You know admission is expensive because you can see what prices are from website. Is this a place you go multiple times a year? No. Will you see a lot of animals? Yes. Is the restaurant expensive? Yes. The food is decent. My burger was great actually. It's not a 5 star restaurant so if the food isn't exactly as you expected, just calm down. If you don't want to eat there, then don't. Bottom line, I like the aquarium, I would recommend you go at least once in your life. And stop bitching about every little thing. read more

Downtown Aquarium - Museums Near Me - Denver, Colorado

Really a wonderful aquarium plus some additional animals to view and meet. They also have a great restaurant. Lots of exhibits to entertain both young and old alike. Small aquariums to HUGE! Look at CityPass for discounts. read more

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Cool aquarium in downtown Denver. Parking was about nine dollars more or less be prepared to pay with a card only. Parking lot is conveniently located across the street from the aquarium. The aquarium is kind of small, but it is wonderfully themed and has a lot to look at. Me and my wife personally like taking our son been here since it was small and he could walk on his own throughout the entire aquarium pathway. read more

Overpriced. While still cool to see, mostly had fish. Didn't really have much else other things. We went when there were tons of adults and people didn't really make room for those with young kids. Hard to have the kids actually see. Not enough bathrooms and the gift shop was small, mostly had things not Denver related read more

Downtown Aquarium - Museums Near Me - Denver, Colorado

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Our family has had a membership for a number of years. As we are all adults, we normally come in the evening when it is less crowded. They are open until 9pm on Friday and Saturday and 8pm the rest of the week. On this particular day, I had come for a different purpose. My daughter was completing her first two open water dives for scuba certification. I went to the host station at the restaurant, explained why I was there and asked if I could have a reservation for 1 for about 15 minutes before they were to enter the water having the specific times from the instructor. Stephanie was able to put me down for one of the tables on the 1st level which is down some stairs right past the entrance. This was the area where they would be working on their skills. Bri was my server. I ordered a house margarita and the shrimp and crab dip. This dip has crabmeat, shrimp, poblano peppers, tomatoes, pepper jack cheese and comes with garlic bread or tortilla chips. I asked if I could go half and half with the bread and tortilla chips. While I snacked, I watched the dive instructor set up the area for the students. The margarita was pleasant and I sipped slowly as I was going to be there for a bit. I also had a water and a Sprite. Great service! I was able to watch the two dives before checking out and then waiting for my daughter to complete putting away her equipment. read more

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We decided to visit the aquarium today. It's kind of pricey but the kids enjoy it especially being in a land locked state they can enjoy the fish up close and personal as they normally would not have a chance to see them otherwise. Also I was surprised that they had times now to go in. Out of the many years I've been we normally just go in. We've never had to wait especially 45 minutes wait. While there we decided to eat at the restaurant. The timeframe we went it was busy and about a 10-15 minute wait. As we were sat Dalilah was our server. She was very short with us initially and wasn't too pleasant. My godson said he even saw her roll her eyes after she walked away to put our order in. If we weren't hungry I would have left. All in all we had a pleasant experience, not one we can do regularly mind you. ***From start to finish they awarded military discounts from buying tickets to the gift shop to the restaurant. That's not normal for entertainment establishments. Normally you only get a discount on tickets only. read more

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Honestly the Downtown Aquarium in Denver was the low point of our Colorado trip this past spring. When planning our trip, we knew we wanted to do dinner at Casa Bonita on the way in and so we thought we'd plan something family friendly to explore in Denver the following day. Knowing that spring can be just about any kind of weather I thought the Aquarium might be a safe bet, and given that Denver is a good size city I figured it would be big enough to entertain us for a few hours and let the kids get their wiggles out so to speak. I reserved us timed tickets for around 10 am and was looking forward to it. Flash forward to the day of, and despite us taking a long time to pack up and get both kids out of the hotel, we were on track to make it just in time for our 10am spot. I don't know why, but on this particular Saturday morning the Aquarium was SO busy that when we got closer the traffic to park at the aquarium was backed up onto the actual highway. By the time we parked it was about 10am on the dot, but we were now faced with a massive line, and not just one line but two massive lines with no signage as to which line was for folks who had already purchased tickets and who needed to purchase tickets. After speaking with others in line everyone was frustrated and confused so while they held the spot for me, I ventured up to the front and saw a sign that suggested that one line was for ticket holders and one for folks that needed a ticket. We followed those rules and waited probably 20-25 minutes to get to the front, which just spit us out at the box office with everyone else - literally no difference for either line and honestly no reason for me to have pre-purchased our tickets and stressed about the timing. I was already annoyed, and then when I chatted with the box office worker she was like oh you'll be in the 11 o clock group and I said, well our tickets are for 10, and she said, 11, and gave me our wrist bands without allowing for any further discussion. It was about 10:30 and I couldn't believe the lack of customer service and inability to manage these lines on an average Saturday morning. We went ahead and walked in and got to the photographer, which is where you start. She very rudely told me we can't go in yet because we have 11am wristbands. I told her we purchased for 10am and she was seriously one of the rudest people I've encountered in some time. She took our photo mid conversation with her and we went to the ticket tearer, who had no problem honoring our ticketed time of 10am. At this point my husband and I were probably at below a 1 star for this place but it did redeem itself with some fun exhibits and entertainment for our 5 year old. The only reason it didn't bump back up to three stars is that it took us about an hour to do the whole thing and when we got to the end we were honestly shocked it was over. We were like where do we go now? Is that all? It's a very small aquarium for the price and for what is advertised. If they get their ticketing and parking figured out AND manage expectations better I think it could be a four star spot, but it's got some work to do. read more

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First visit to the Denver aquarium and we love all the animals! I took my 4 month old and she was so curious about all the things. There was definitely enough stimulation after an hour of walking around. They have some other cool events such as mermaids, tiger shows, educational tours, swimming with sharks, or you can even rent a space for birthday parties or conferences. The aquarium itself is a pretty decent size but the location of things is confusing. The main aquarium is through side doors and after you make your way through it exits you on the other side. There's no straight cut to the store. You have to exit and walk back past the ticket counter, past the main doors, and go into the very last doors under the restaurant. The gift shop was small and tight to get around with a stroller when it's packed. But there are lots of cute options for toys, trinkets, and stuffed animals. The restaurant looks pretty fancy but we couldn't see anyone dining. Parking lot is $8 and across the street. Not bad! Ticket counter: the lady that helped us wasn't too thrilled to be there, which wasn't great customer service. They do offer military discount so don't forget your ID! read more

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If you haven't been here, it's the type of place you come once. Here's why: 1) It's insanely overpriced for the experience. $29.99 (ugh, just say $30) for adults and $27.99 for seniors (-_-) to just walk through the exhibit is insane. Considering the exhibit is a wandering walk through the aquarium, some live exhibits (with tigers and otters) and the recreated desert flash flood area. a. There are offers galore for you to up the amount of money you spend, by adding on additional parts to a package. A soda? 4D movie? Only $10 more in admission per person. For $20 more.... Blah blah blah. b. Your picture is snapped at the beginning, only to be offered at the gift shop for $30 - like really? This whole picture taking process slows the entry line wayyyyy down as well. c. The more people you have, the cheaper it can be with group rates, but be prepared to spend a pretty penny in this place. 2) Mid-week or weekend, this place is packed to the brim with kiddos. If you're looking for a chill walk (like we were) to beat the heat and see some cutie fish along the way, this is NOT the place for you. We were consistently bumped into by kids running by , literally screaming and the fish feeding area was 50 people deep. Just no. 3) There is only 1 bathroom - which is on the main level. So, if you follow the lines through the entry, to the photo taking spot, up the escalator to the exhibit - you will have to take the elevator, or open the "emergency exit" doors, as on of the staff members did up there to utilize the stairs to head back to level one. Annoying. 4) Parking is $8 if you choose to utilize the lot across the street - which is the most convenient, just FYI. 5) Although we went through the entire exhibit, read about different fish, stopped to watch the tigers play, and read the little signs throughout - it's about an hour to hour and a half max, experience. Sure, it allowed us to stay cool on a 100 degree day and killed time, but for $65 - yikes. 6) There is a restaurant attached - but it fills up fast. Something about eating seafood at a aquarium just doesn't sit right with me, but it was packed, with people hanging and sitting on the stairs near the gift shop to kill time. If you come, do yourself a favor and make reservations ahead of time. The choice to come here is yours, but I won't be returning, read more

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2 reviews: one for the aquarium, one for the restaurant Aquarium: we're visiting Denver for the first time and were looking for things to do in the city, so we decided on the aquarium. We arrived at 10:00 am on a Tuesday, which is when they open, and were shocked at the long line that had already formed! What time did these people get here?! Spring break, maybe? Full disclosure, we're anti-crowds and get annoyed with big groups pretty quickly. But we decided to persevere. We learned that you can buy tickets online or at the window and I think a lot of people had done the online thing. We waited in line 15-20 minutes and when we bought our tickets, they gave us an entry time of 10:45, presumably in an effort to stagger the entry of the massive crowd. We killed time by walking around the nice trails outside and watching the Canada Geese fly by. At 10:45 we went in. It's a nice aquarium, well done, maybe a little smaller than most aquariums I've been in. But it was so crowded, we could barely look. No one was rude and even most of the kids were well behaved. It was just a LOT of people in a small space. We kinda hurried through it. It's a little odd that they have tigers - very unexpected in an aquarium. Summary - nice aquarium, very well done, nice employees, but SUPER crowded. Restaurant: at the end of the aquarium tour, we saw the restaurant and decided to stop in for lunch. It was nowhere near as crowded and were seated immediately next to the fish tanks/aquariums which were nice. I got the Louisiana Cajun Pasta and my husband got the Fish and Chips, minus the slaw. We were very pleased with both our orders! The pasta had chicken, sausage, and shrimp, and the garlic bread was very thin and crunchy. Service was friendly and very good. By the time we left, the place had filled up so I was glad we got there when we did. Summary - good food, good service, nice atmosphere/decor. Highly recommend! read more

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Very nice, clean an beautiful aquarium must sit the the 4D show its worth the extra couple of dollars read more

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Had a fine time in the aquarium, felt like there was just enough exhibits to go through. Always enjoy the visual and educational aspect of aquarium. Also had access through the city pass and didn't have any issues to utilize it! Parking is paid in the lot right across though, which is the reason for a slightly lower rating. read more

Downtown Aquarium - Museums Near Me - Denver, Colorado

Great Aquarium! So many fish and exhibits. The layout is easy to navigate, many varieties of fish and exhibits. Well kept. Clean and family friendly. We went with the Denver City Pass and it was well worth the visit. Parking was $8 and across the street. read more

I took my 6 month old here as something to do while husband was at work. The baby LOVED it! He was shrieking and laughing the whole time. We spent about an hour and a half there. We were a little disappointed that you can only see the mermaids on Friday's and didn't get to see them. For us it was worth it, but if you have older kids it might not be worth it. The price is a bit expensive for how "small" it is. read more

Downtown Aquarium - Museums Near Me - Denver, Colorado

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If you're visiting Denver or hosting out of town guests please use City Pass dot com and get multiple attractions for a discounted price. Much cheaper than just going to Downtown Aquarium for a single visit. Downtown aquarium is a wonderful place to visit. Although the experience feels smaller than most aquariums it gives you good insight on the aquatic wildlife around us. Too bad they don't half curators near some of the hotspots. Instead they have screens and information placards. Kids don't want to read but they would certainly listen if something is throwing out facts and such. I have been at all hours of the day and recently I went mid-morning when the tigers were out and about. That was definitely a sight to see! They have cichlids, arowanas, turtles, sharks and more. Bring a pair of good comfortable walking shoes for sure. Parking is across the street and the box office is a short trek from there. Expect to hear kids scream "Oh wow" a lot and enjoy the tunnels and massive tanks as they have more than one! Good for kids and kids at heart! read more

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Everyone loves an aquarium! The wait to pay when you get there is in the direct sun, so id recommend pre purchasing the tickets to avoid that, and the do have capacity limitations, so you may have a short wait. Parking is across the street and it's $8 There weren't any exhibits closed or out of order, the place was well maintained and a great experience! read more

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Fun Aquarium and actually good food!! We did a loop through while my toddler was napping- she woke up- hungry, so we headed down to get lunch. It was convenient that they offer a more chill area for lunch at the bar as opposed to waiting to sit in the dining room. Same menu, quicker and more casual. The blackened fish tacos were actually delicious and the kids meals are large and offer a side like veggies! Solid!! Not totally overpriced either. If you're at the aquarium it's worth it! read more

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It's nice to see Denver has an Aquarium but overall felt it was rather pricey, ($26.99 for Aquarium Exhibit only). Especially since we were in & out in about an hour. Parking was available for $8 the day we went. The staff was friendly & welcoming. In addition to the exhibits there was a large gift shop with a Build-A-Bear-Workshop & a restaurant too. We didn't eat there but the menu looked good. There were lots of tanks filled with all kinds of beautiful fish, some very small others quite large. A few of the tanks with smaller fish were densely packed but you could still see the brilliant colors. Some of the tanks needed cleaning on the inside & there were areas that needed repainting. Seating for viewing was limited, with just a couple of benches through-out. Parts of the walkway could have had better lighting, very dim in spots. The Sting-Ray exhibit was awesome & we were quite surprised to find Tigers! Two male Tigers, named Rudi & Luhahn. The Aquarium had some hits & misses but overall I'm glad we took the time to visit. read more

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It was such a nice place to visit, unfortunately the staff was rude! Made my students feel uncomfortable. As a Tour Director, I would not recommend this place for any students or student groups over the age of 15. I visit attractions all over Denver and this place is just not it. Not worth it for the reasons mentioned. Next time the staff should be more professional in approaching minors. read more

Got a reservation for 6:45 and haven't been seated in over 30 minutes . Would not recommend

I'm the Denver Aquarium's biggest fan. Even as an adult, this place speaks to me. There is a very impressive lineup of fish from essentially every region of the world. You get fantastic viewing with most exhibits and come on, they got tigers - that's dope. Last thing I'll say is the happy hour is phenomenal. Insane value and a good view of some salt water fish at the bar. read more

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Saturday at about 1 PM it was extremely busy. Parking was a little challenging for some. One side is self service so you must pay by credit card. For some reason please couldn't get the way their credit card should go making the wait longer then it should have been. No attendants so no assistance for those folks. They may want to invest in a tap system. Even if you purchase tickets or in my case WON tickets still go to box office to get wrist bands to enter the next line for entrance. However depending on what time you arrive at this point there are times slots they give you to enter. We dined at the restaurant not knowing this so we may have wasted time by not reserving a time before we sat down to eat. read more

Had an amazing time here! Was our first time and Bri was our server, she was super helpful and nice! Food was great would recommend again

Please don't support this business! If I could give it zero stars, I would. Seeing the tigers in this aquarium was so upsetting. They don't belong there! It is a terrible and completely unnatural environment for these beautiful animals. They have no outdoor space, and you can tell that they're stressed. Just horrible! There are sanctuaries ready and willing to take them in. Let them live out their lives in peace and dignity. I would never return to this aquarium and will continue to tell others what's going on there. Check out all the other reviews on Google, Reddit, etc. regarding these poor animals' situation. Even former employees of the aquarium describe the poor conditions. Notice the copy/paste responses by the business to these negative reviews. If you have a compassionate heart, please don't patronize this business until they re-home these magnificent and mistreated tigers to a wildlife sanctuary. And if you feel so inclined, it would be great to add your name to one of several petitions to free these beautiful creatures. read more

The Aquarium was just okay. It took me less than 40 mins to walk through. It's a lot smaller than I anticipated. The restaurant is pricey as expected but the food actually was pretty good. Overall, it's a one time experience for me. read more

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So glad we decided to visit the aquarium n to our surprise this restaurant was in side as well and it does not disappoint! We are Landry's memebers but never been here . When I come back to Colorado I will be visiting here again read more

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Nice and unique place to have a family Easter brunch. The omelette was perfect. Excellent service, thanks Kara! read more

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This place is so cool. Nice aquarium views. Food was good/ Service was great. I enjoyed it a lot. read more

Decent size Aquarium with small to medium size sea life beings. Very easy check in process if you purchase tickets online, else need to buy them from the counter. There are few large glass wall areas and glass tunnels to enjoy the sea life. They facilitate scuba diving into the water tanks to spend time the fishes. They have few animal patting/feeding shows for kids. Right before exit, they have a pool filled with strings rays for kids to interact with. Other than fishes, they have couple of tigers which they got from Dallas. There are specific hours to watch the when they feed the tigers. They have a nice big gift shop. They have Starbucks drinks shop inside too. read more

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This is pretty good zoo in the heart of Denver. We parked near Larimer square and walked which was around 23min. Was able to take a pretty scenic root to get here. Tickets were 27$ on a Sunday so not too expensive. What we noticed was this place was very artistic with the type of enclosures the animals were in and very family friendly habitats. Some animals weren't out when we went (like the tigers) At the end there is even a touch tank where you can tour h sting ray's and moons jelly's! Would recommend for a family trip. read more

Downtown Aquarium - Close up fish - Museums Near Me - Denver, Colorado

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First time coming to Denver and wanted to try a unique restaurant in the area. I thought the aquarium setting was super cute to have dinner in. Had a view of the fish tanks! It was pretty empty when we went so that was nice. Ordered drinks and food, the food was amazing! I loved the Louisiana Cajun pasta that I ordered. Such a delicious dish. My partner got the chicken fettuccine that was good too. Would definitely come back to try another entree. read more

Downtown Aquarium - Louisiana Cajun Pasta - Museums Near Me - Denver, Colorado

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Spent over two hours looking at all the beautiful fish. They have many areas with different types of exhibits. You wind your way through open areas with trees and foliage and then other areas that are cave like. I was impressed with the many different species. At the end I was able to feed and touch stingrays. There is also a restaurant inside, although I did not eat there. read more

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