Took a day trip from the Orlando area to the aquarium. I read that parking was an issue so we…read moreplanned to arrive right when they opened at 9am. I purchased our tickets the day before so that we could skip the line. I was a little surprised to see the aquarium nestled in between the cruise dock and the downtown Tampa area. The aquarium itself has no parking, but there are a couple if garages right next door. The one I parked at was $20 a day. Even at 9am, the parking garage was nearly full to my suprise. I showed my ticket barcode to the attendant, they take a quick family photo (the cheapest one is $29) and we were in with no wait. The aquarium has many exhibits in a fairly small space. It was fairly comfortable for thr first 30 minutes we were there, but it quickly filled up. We went on Friday hoping to avoid crowds, but it didn't seem to help. We spent about 2 hours visiting all the animals and my girls even got to touch jellyfish ans stingrays. They have helpful employees that answer your questions and seemed happy to be there. The gift shop and food options are extremely expensive and are comparable to Disney prices. We saw everything we wanted to see and left by 1130am. Tickets were $45 and parking was $20. I feel it was a little pricey for 2 1/2 hours, but we had a good time.

The Florida Aquarium is a clean, well-maintained attraction and a nice place for locals to escape…read morethe Florida heat or a rainy afternoon. Admission was $88 for one adult and one toddler, which felt a bit expensive for what was offered. We really enjoyed the coral reef exhibit and the large aquarium tanks. The octopus and jellyfish were definitely some of the most memorable animals, and my daughter absolutely loved the touch tank where she got to pet jellyfish. That ended up being one of her favorite parts of the visit Growing up in Florida and fishing most of my life, I'm already pretty familiar with much of the local marine life, so some of the exhibits weren't as exciting for me personally. However, my daughter had a wonderful time, which made the visit worthwhile. If you've visited before, be aware that a few things have changed. The outdoor penguin exhibit is gone, and the splash pad and playground have been replaced with a large turf area that has very little for kids to do outside. That was disappointing since those were some of the more unique family features. All of the animal exhibits are upstairs, while the downstairs consists mainly of the touch tank, gift shop, and restaurant. Overall, it's a smaller aquarium than what I remember from 10 years ago and we spent about an hour seeing everything at a comfortable pace. Overall, it's worth visiting once, but at the current admission price, I don't feel it offers enough value to visit regularly.

We love Coach Sherman and VAST! We started my daughter in Speed and agility training in…read morepreparation for her lacrosse recruiting year for colleges. We saw rapid improvement with each session in her form and quickness. We wholeheartedly recommend VAST!

Sherman and Carlan are AMAZING! It's hard to find gyms that are great for kids and this place is…read moreperfect. They're teaching them skills that will benefit them for a lifetime. All 3 of our kids are enjoying it and making progress.

Five stars for their birthday parties…read more We've attended a couple birthday parties here now and they're always a blast. The woman who leads it has always been the same (and I feel terrible for not knowing her name.) She is high energy, great with kids, and her super power is knowing every child's name. It's amazing! The kids are led through a ton of different gymnastics courses that pretty much any age can do. My son is four and loved it. It's interactive enough that they usually aren't just standing in line waiting but always moving. The room upstairs is then used for food and cake time. Then back downstairs for free play, which the children always love. Parents can keep their shoes on, which I appreciate. Kids are barefoot. They always take a group picture that they organize so the birthday party walks away with a wonderful picture.

I went to watch my grandson have his weekly gymnastics class, and it was quite an adventure. This…read morewas my first time, and I was surprised at how crowded it was for the kids, yet it was very organized. I went upstairs to the sitting area for watching the kids below. It was very crowed up there, too. The class started on time, and for a small group of 2 years olds, they really got a workout. (and the parent too) The rule is, no one on the floor without a teacher and for the little ones, a parent also participates as an extra helper. There was a routine that the group went through, which included fun and challenging activities. They use a balance beam, a rock wall, a zip line into a foam pit, and a bunch of floor exercises. My grandson was very happy to be there, and I was really happy to have been able to come see him burn off lots of toddler energy. The parking area was quite crowded but there was enough parking and there was also a swim school attached to the gymnastics building. (He also does swim lessons, which he also loves.) The facility is not very modern but then, it has everything at reasonable prices.

My son has been going here going on 3 years and he loves it. I am very pleased with the Sensei and…read moreeveryone who takes care of the kids here.

This is a great safe place for kids.My grandson has been going for 3 years now.All employees are so…read morenice and friendly.My grandson loves going .Has learned a lot.Has also met a lot if nice friends.

The staff is awesome. Instructors are super. They are very busy and the business is obviously good…read morebut they need to reinvest their profits into new carpet, air conditioning and overall cleaning. The carpet is moldy and filthy. Good pathogen breeding ground. No air conditioning (they could size a system to keep it at least 80f if they don't want to spend a lot) and add uv lamps in the ductwork air handlers to kill airborne pathogens for good measure. Additionally they need to be wiping down the equipment and the mats once a day. They could increase fees to cover this and the customer and staff experience will be much better and healthier.

What kid doesn't like to jump, climb and fly in the air? My daughter is having the best time when…read moreshe comes to learn. She is getting stronger and confident every time she learns something new. The staff seems to all be nice, there is plenty of viewing room to watch your child and I think the pricing is reasonable.

Why 5 stars? Because we will definitely miss taking our son here…read more --- --- --- As of this writing, our son is about 2.5 years old and had been going to Kiddie Academy since he was about 5 months. The only reason I say all of this in the past tense is because we just moved out of state. If not for that, we definitely would have kept him here indefinitely. Back when my wife was pregnant and we were touring all of the daycares in the area, we truly could not believe how expensive they were. Literally, the cost of daycare was the same as a monthly payment for a luxury sports car. Heck, it was even on par with my first mortgage. How does anyone afford this?! But fortunately, while still cheap by no means, Kiddie Academy was definitely the most affordable option in the area. And as first time parents, we *immediately* learned that not only was tuition worth it, but we were probably under-paying. Being able to leave our son in the hands of these lovely people for up to 50 hours a week was invaluably helpful for two working parents. We knew he was in great hands and we knew he was having a lot more fun at school than he would have been at home with us. If you're in the Carrollwood/Northdale area, be sure to stop by for a tour here before you decide on visiting another school. We are excited for our new adventure but sad for our son to leave his first group of best friends. This is my last review of a Tampa Bay business. I wanted to save a place that was incredibly important to us for my last review, and there was no place more crucial to our family than Kiddie Academy over the last two years. Now, it's off to writing about a million businesses in the Houston area!

Kiddie Academy Carrollwood is AMAZING! We have been taking our daughter there for the last year and…read moreher and us have loved it! The teachers and administrator Linda are amazing!