A Sleepover at the Toronto Aquarium

Sleeping with sharks have always intrigued me and when I heard that the Aquarium of Canada had a family sleepover package on offer, I started poking around. However, kids needed to be at least four years of age to participate and so I decided to hold off until Little Monkey met the requirements. A week before she turned four, the lovely ladies at YummyMummyClub asked if Little Monkey and I would like to join them on their Overnight Reef Adventure and of course we said yes. This was our first mommy-daughter night away from the boys and Little Monkey was beyond thrilled to kick off her birthday week in an adventurous style.

Disclosure : We received a complimentary stay but as always, opinions are totally mine! 

I know this may not be for everyone and I’d like to highlight that I’m not the camping sort, which is why I was a bit hesitant when I heard that we had to bring our own sleeping bags or air mattresses with us! We have visited the Toronto Aquarium on a couple occasions and so I knew exactly what to expect but I must admit that their website does list everything out very clearly for first timers. Their list of what to bring is also very accurate, minus the mention of bringing a battery pack if you’d like to keep your phones and cameras juiced up! There are outlets but they’re a precious commodity so I highly recommend you bringing one (in fact never leave home without one is my motto!).

Once you book your family package ( you need at least one adult per eight kids) you receive a detailed email confirming your stay and providing you with all the details which is why I knew exactly what to bring. I was shocked that we needed our big suitcase and Little Monkey’s hand luggage for just a one nighter but the air mattresses were quite large and heavy. I highly recommend packing everything into one or two bags versus bringing a bunch of little bags, as you do have to move the bags through the aquarium and into the Dangerous Lagoon when it’s bed time. Wheels are your best friends folks!

I know  that I have a fair number of kid-free folk who read our blog so if you’re one of them screaming ” OMG I’m going to SO do this”… let me tell you that you need kids to do this. There are no adults only sleepovers right now – Little Monkey will gladly join you, so just holler! Cost wise it’s $100 per person (kids and adults are the same price) and it’s the same cost as an annual pass so you really do need to consider which option suits you best if you’re debating between the two.

On arrival we were greeted with smiles, wrist bands were placed on us and we were taken to a storage room where we were able to store our bags while we explored the Aquarium. We arrived at 8 p.m. and spent the next thirty minutes exploring and having our green screen picture taken (it was all part of the overnight package). Around 8:30 p.m. we all assembled for the Hands-on Activities in the Aquarium classroom and designed a Gyotaku printed cotton bag with different types of fish. We also received a lesson on recycling and caring for our environment. Shortly after that we went back to explore on our own until it was time for our mini group tours for a behind the scenes look. Yes we were able to go ‘behind’ the aquarium and see where the fish food was being prepped and learn how some of the fish are very picky eaters! Who’d have thought there’s some prima donnas in there?

Around 10:30 p.m. we all met at the cafe for a snack with the rest of the group. The night we stayed over, there were about 35 of us, I believe. That said, they do accept groups up to 50 people so things can get busy if there’s more people. I spotted families, dads alone with kids, moms alone with kids and even a set of grandparents who had brought along 5 kids on their own!! Super impressive indeed! I was also pleasantly surprised by the food options offered as we were able to load up on fruits, veggies, crackers, yogurt, cookies, milk, water and juice. Yes folks, coffee was available for parents and I really didn’t have to bring my own milk for Little Monkey after all!

Once we had our snack, we went back to grab our bags and brought it along for our story time. It was so cute watching all the kids snuggled up in their blankets listening to the story but once they got comfy, story time was over and it was time for us to get ready for the night. By this time the aquarium was closed to the public so it was just us roaming around, which was a bit errie and cool at the same time. Little Monkey and I took the very end of the converyer belt in our section and got comfy. We blew up the air mattress (luckily I didn’t need an outlet so it was easy for me to grab any spot) and then went to the washroom to get into our jammies and nighties. Bring your regular nighttime routine with you so that the kids realize it’s bedtime but don’t be surprised if your kid ends up crawling into spaces in their nightgowns!

Lights out happened fairly quickly and Little Monkey seemed tired since it was now 11 p.m. I was a bit anxious on how she’d do and if she’d wake up yelling for milk (which happens on occasion around 4 a.m.) and so I was eagerly poking my head to see if she had fallen asleep. The lights are turned off but you can watch the fish and the sharks swimming around and your mind just wanders….and wanders. It was a very peaceful moment and I slowly drifted to sleep. Only to be woken gasping for air and feeling my feet being dragged. I quickly woke myself up and figured I was in that inbetween semi concious stage between full-on sleep and being awake. It was 1:30 a.m. and so I tried to calm my nerves and just watched the water above me and the next thing I knew, it was happening again! The second time freaked me out and I looked around and everyone was asleep. At this point I was too riled up and even though I kinda sorta believe in ghosts, I refused to let my mind go there. I mean… we’re in an aquarium!!!! Also I hate sleeping alone and I clearly should have brought a double mattress and had Little Monkey cuddle up with me – what was I thinking? Needless to say I was poking around Instagram and Twitter (luckily the WiFi was working at our spot!) and it was soon 7 a.m. and lights came up for us to get our day started. PHEW! I know. I’m so weird!

We packed up our stuff, got into fresh clothes and then had another impressive meal of waffles, whip cream, fresh fruits and bagels. Not a shabby start to our day indeed! We then had the aquarium to ourselves and Little Monkey hung out at her favourite part  – the Discovery Centre. The best part about this package was that we had a good mix of exploring on our own and with others when it was open to the public. Baby Boy and the hubs came over around 9 a.m. and joined us there and the two kids ran around while I kept telling the hubs I needed to go home and sleep!

Would we do it again? Yes, because Little Monkey still talks about it four months later and while $400 for a family of 4 is a bit steep ( I can imagine spending the night in absolute luxury at some of our favourite hotels!!) I think the splurge is worth once in a while for a special occasion. Sleeping with the sharks is definitely a relaxing experience (minus my craziness!) and I dare you not to be amazed – and that’s coming from a non-fish person!

Would you sleep with the sharks if you had the chance?