Merlin Entertainments, the world’s second largest visitor attraction operator, today announced the acquisition of the Underwater Adventures Aquarium in Minnesota, USA, from The Minnesota Aquarium LLC, for an undisclosed sum.Underwater Adventures is located in the iconic Mall of America in Minnesota and currently welcomes more than 600,000 visitors a year to its impressive displays of living marine creatures.
This acquisition underlines Merlin’s expertise in the operation of marine attractions. The company is already the world’s leading operator of aquaria through its SEA LIFE brand which welcomes over 10 million visitors a year to its 28 sites including its recently opened site at LEGOLAND in Carlsbad, California – the company’s first SEA LIFE location in North America.
Normally, I wouldn't pay much attention to this sort of thing. We don't cover aquariums, and even Mall of America's Nickelodeon Universe theme park isn't big enough to draw much attention on the site.
But, given the current state of the economy, I felt the need to shout: "Hey, look! A theme park company that's BUYING something instead of TRYING TO SELL!"
Yeah, that's all we got now. But, hey, Merlin, there's this other attraction company that does aquariums that you might want to take a look at....
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As for the aquarium, everything I have read about it suggests it is a bit pricey for what you get....maybe Merlin can make it better?
Now I have not been here in a while but from what I remember, I use to love this place when I was young so for all those parents with young ones out there who lives near MOA and can't afford a trip to Orlando, I would recommend it. They have quite a few attractions that are great for the little ones.
I have fond memories of the rides there as most were my first ever on any type of rides. These include the log flume and my first ever coaster, the Pepsi Orange Streak. I still have family up there and they tell me the park has added quite a few new attractions including more thrill rides so hopefully I could check it out once again someday.
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I say its a great thing! MOA, in my opinion, is a good deal!