Anyone make it to academy of science today?

Mel-E-Mel

New member
Did anyone make it today? Took me 3 hours to get there cuz traffic was crazy and what happens........they run out of tickets! Aint that a bootch! Oh well maybe next time.
 
We made it. Woke up 6:00AM, made the 1.5 hr drive to SF and parked in the Sunset district (off Irving St) and walked the 5 blocks to the mass of humanity

Got in line at 8:00AM and finally made it in about 12:50. Had to exit the line once with my Orange Chameleon ticket and come back at 12:30, but break was needed for food/water anyway.

The facility was shiny clean. The steinhert was good, but alot of algae and not very many corals. Lots of fish in the Philippines reef which was enjoyable to view.

Turns out most if not all the clams and corals are on the top of the main tank rockwork so they can be illuminated from the massive lighting system but are only viewable from the 2nd floor. You can't actually see the clams/corals from the steinhart aquarium on the lower first floor. Rather strange design that most likely will have to be redesigned in my humble opinion.

The staff tried to handle the turnout but I think were just overwhelmed by the mob of people.

Was fun and it was a beautiful sunny day in SF Golden Gate park. But, not sure I'd do it again.

PS I took pictures with my cell phone camera but prolly not good enough to post. Hopefully others got some pictures they can post. Would love to see a wide angle view of the entrance and or the Philippines reef exhibit.

Scott
 
wonder if it'd be equally hectic if they didn't have free admission.

I'll try to swing by on a thursday afternoon or some odd day when there hopefully won't be as many people.
 
Left the house round 645 and parked on MLK by 19th. Made it into line aroud 7:50, and got in on the first wave of people :) I liked the entire place. I agree about the corals and clams, although it was nice seeing them while up above. I'll probably end up going mult. times with a membership, but not on rush opening weekends.
 
Yeah, i was looking forward to seeing the phillippines reef exhibit and everything else, we just ended up going to the de young museum and enjoying the nice day in the city.

I dont think it would have been as hectic if admission wasnt free but who knows.
 
ghetto cell phone pictures. someone pls post some nice pics!

Philippines reef exhibit - steinhart view (1st floor)

sandiegan - lucky you!! We missed being part of the initial wave by about 100 ft! And why we were given those orange tickets.

I think there will be other free days (like Wamu or should I say JPMorday day). But, membership sounds like a good idea...

phil-exhibit.jpg


Strawberry anemonies

strawberry.jpg


Kept shot

kelp.jpg


This is what it still looked like at 2:30PM or so when we finally left

exit.jpg


Scott
 
@ 4pm it was just as crowded if not more so. And they were trying to tell people that they were sold out for the day (no more tickets to give out).

BTW- in your pic kept = kelp.

I'd post some pics, but the gf hogged the camera the whole time so...we'll see what kind of shots she has.
 
dude we were about to leave for there but my bro-in-law let us know of the sea of people waiting to get in. I will go when the crowds die down....whenever that will be
 
No love here. 2+ hours to get there, another almost hour spent looking for a place to park, then no more tickets. If CAS would have been clear about how entrance was being handled I would have known not to even attempt it. Some blogs have reports of people being denied tickets as early as 1:30 PM. Luckily it was beautiful weather so we made a day of it in the park and also visited the flower conservancy.

Once I got a free coffee and then burned my mouth while drinking it; a nice reminder that nothing in life is truly free. This is another perfect example and it left a bad taste in my mouth too.
 
Yeah...we got there at 8am, too, Jake. Wish I had seen you. We parked in the Concourse, but by the time we found the end of the line, we jettisoned the idea and headed for Pier 39.

Glad you made it in:) Looking forward to seeing the guys' (Matt and Rich) hard work.
 
I got there early enough to be part of the first 4000 people they allowed in. I ran down to the aquarium first, but I learned that I probably should have grabbed tickets for the planetarium instead because the line just to get tickets was outrageous by the time I went to check it out.

First thing I noticed in the saltwaterwater tanks was how much brown algae is still everywhere. I guess in time that will all clear up. The cold water reef, on top of being very brown as well, looked like they dumped a truckload of metridium anemones in the tank without much care because the bottom of the tank is littered with not-so-healthy specimens. It sounds like I'm being harsh but these things were really sticking out to me. Other that that, the tanks were breathtaking. I've never seen such variety of fish and colors. The rainforest dome has an awesome Amazonian freshwater tank that I really enjoyed as well.
 
Got there by 8. line was crazy, from what I hear people were getting denied tickets by noon. Will have to go back when it dies down so I can actually enjoy the place.
 
I'm guessing that brown is simply diatoms from a new tank, just like what happens on our smaller tanks :D I seem to recall the 20,000gal tank at Howard St. also had that same problem for quite a few months.

Glad I didn't go though, at least a half a dozen times my g/f did the "can we go" bit and I told her no, it'll be crazy (this was between 10am and 2pm so if I said yes there'd be no chance), finally I told her to stop asking it's getting annoying, she got annoyed at me, then I showed her a news article later on (and some of this thread) with the 6 hour wait times, and people not being allowed in, and I knew I won that argument there :)
 
We got the around 10am and it was crazy getting there. When we reached the entrance to the park. We saw a guy holding a sign saying that the Academy of Science was sold out for the Day, and no longer issuing ticket of the rest of the day.

So, we turned around. Got something to eat, took the kids to Sony Metreon and headed back home.

I think I'll wait a month before I head over again. I'll just go to Jesus and Scott place to see their corals instead.
 
I was amazed that anyone actually wanted to go the opening day when admission was free - it was bound to be a zoo.

Matt said this in another forum and it makes much sense to me:

And you guys, there is no need to be "first" to see the place, really! Wait a while, go in a month, or two, or three. The exhibits are not going anywhere, and will look better as they age anyhow. Just like any reef tank these exhibits will take years to reach their full potential.

:D
 
I figured it would be crazy, but didn't think it would be that crazy. I would be curious to know how it was today?
 
Noted some tissue necrosis on some of the corals today, but I'm sure the tank is still settling down. All the clams looked good. The gorgonians were gorgeous in Caribbean reef exhibit.

http://picasaweb.google.com/charles.lai/CalAcademyOfSciences#

Didn't get a chance to get in to the rainforest exhibit since it was so crowded. We should have gone when we first entered at 11 am even though there was already a line by then.

I'd like to know the costs for all the MH lights over the coral reef exhibit.
 
Reefkeeper1, thanks for sharing a lot of Great pics. I like the feasting harlequin shrimps the best.
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13442252#post13442252 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Thales
I was amazed that anyone actually wanted to go the opening day when admission was free - it was bound to be a zoo.

Matt said this in another forum and it makes much sense to me:



:D


Word! Be patient, if all goes as planned we'll be looking at a Macro Reef:eek: , not some jive little "lagoon":eek:
 
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