Disclaimer: Tennessee Aquarium gifted me two media passes, and tickets to the IMAX Theatre in exchange for my coverage of their accessibility.
Tennessee Aquarium Chattanooga is almost four hours from The Great Smokey Mountains in Gatlingburg, and it boasts two buildings, and its very own IMAX Theatre, which showcases amazing films about marine life. In this blog post, I’m going to be taking you through all of the incredible accessibility that my grandmother and I experienced during our time there so you will know what to expect before visiting!
Before I talk all about the accessibility that the aquarium features, there is one thing you must know before booking your trip — due to COVID-19 precautions, everyone must book the time they intend to arrive to the aquarium. This is called a ‘timed entry’ due to the aquarium being at limited capacity. Masks are also required throughout all exhibits. Now, lets dive in to the fun stuff
River Country
There’s two main buildings on the property that houses all the exhibits. After our tickets were scanned by the individuals at the front entrance, we were good to go! The first great accessibility feature we encountered was a huge, wide walkway that leads to the main elevator. This walkway was plenty big enough for a manual and power chair! Not to mention, they had huge signage on the wall at the end of the walkway to indicate where the elevator was located for those with visual impairments, which I appreciated so much since I can only see about 5 feet in front of me, and no have depth perception, nor peripheral vision.
The main elevator on the first floor takes you to 4 different levels. When we were directed to where the elevator was, we were told to go up to the highest level to begin our adventure so, we did!
First level — Lobby, Member Services, and Gift Shop
Second level — Rivers of The World exhibit, and Tennessee River exhibit
Third Level — Discovery Hall exhibit, Delta Country exhibit, and restrooms
Fourth level (final) — Cove Forest and River Otter Falls
Once we got off the elevator, there was animal prints spaced 6ft apart to adhere to social distancing, but honestly, it really helped my grandmother and I know which direction to go for the first exhibit! So, they were very helpful and I appreciated them a lot. I will admit, we actually got lost so we ended up going to River Otter Falls in the beginning instead of the inside exhibits, which was perfectly okay because it was so nice outside that day! The walkways in the Otter Falls exhibit were lovely! They were wide, and there was plenty of space for my wheelchair, and for me to remain 6ft from other people. The walkways were also either concreted, or “bridge” terrain, but smooth. I was able to navigate the entire exhibit with ease!
The otters were so cute! After we spent a little time with them, watching them play with each other, we went back to the elevator and went up to the 4th level to begin sightseeing!
One thing that I loved about this particular building was that, even though there were elevators on all the levels, they weren’t necessary! I was surprised because usually, at other aquariums, there are escalators that take you through big exhibits. However, that wasn’t the case here! There were stairs for those who wanted to use them, but for those who were unable to use the stairs, a huge ramp led you all the way down to the first floor! I was so excited. A huge ramp leading down each exhibit was something I had never seen before so it was a very nice surprise (even though the elevator told us about it beforehand!).
(I apologize in advance for the low lighting pictures! It was dark in most places on the ramp, so I used night mode on my phone to give you a general idea of how spacious everything was!).
Another accessibility feature that I loved and appreciated was that, after we exited an exhibit, the exhibit we would be entering next was highlighted in big bold letters. Which, as someone with a visual impairment, I was so excited about because I could actually see the exhibit name, even if I had to wait until I was right on top of it!
As we were going down the ramp, we stopped at each little exhibit and took our time. We saw different kinds of fish, turtles, and much more! It was super neat to see all the different types of marine life, especially those in our local rivers!
Another thing that I loved, but didn’t realize until later on as I was looking through my pictures of all the accessibility was, how much space there was between each exhibit on the ramp. Not only was there enough space to maintain social distancing, there was plenty of space for a manual chair, power chair, or both! I was able to maintain my distance, and not run into the exhibit itself because of little to no “wiggle room”.
After we made it to the final level, we were led to another outdoor exhibit, which also had plenty of space for those using mobility aids! This particular exhibit housed several species of turtles, fish, and even multiple alligators! This exhibit was pretty crowded towards the end, so we took our time in the less crowded areas until it cleared out and continued exploring! It was all outdoors and the breeze was really nice, so we definitely spent some time out there before heading back in!
After that, we went back in to two more exhibits. The entryway, and walkway to these exhibits was very spacious, and carpeted, so my chair rolled with ease! Mostly all of the exhibits either had carpet, or flat surface ground, so I never had to worry about getting stuck, which is a rarity for me. I loved that aspect, especially since there were so many different exhibits to see.
We then came to the exit of the building, which again, has a very wide space for those that use mobility aids, whether it is a wheelchair, or something else. The space is also carpeted so my wheelchair rolled smoothly until we were outside!
Ocean Journey
The second building that we went into was the last one with exhibits and that was ‘Ocean Journey’. This exhibit was indoor, and outdoor. I didn’t get many pictures due to the outdoor exhibit being a “loop around” circle. However, there was an elevator that you could take up to the outdoor exhibit, and there was also an escalator.
After we went back indoors, we went to more exhibits, which featured cute animals called penguins! I did not get pictures of this area’s accessibility due to it being a little crowded, and staying away from others. But, in order to get a closer look at the penguins, there is a ramp for individuals to use if they wish. We watched them play for awhile then we went to an exhibit with all kinds of ocean marine life! We saw several jellyfish, king crabs, and even an octopus! It was extremely dark in this area, so I unfortunately wasn’t able to get pictures of the accessibility here either, but, this space was huge, and plenty big enough for my manual chair, and a power chair should also have no issues navigating this space! It was so cool to be able to see all these animals up close, and not have to worry about tight spaces.
We were then off to their amazing IMAX Theatre!
IMAX Theatre
This building is across the street from the two main buildings with exhibits, and it houses amazing films about all kinds of different marine life in the oceans across the world. We got some popcorn, our 3-D glasses, and took the elevator up to the very top. We were practically in a row by ourselves, except for a couple that was 6ft from us. The space was huge! Big enough for my chair to fit comfortably, and for my grandmother to fit with plenty of space in between. We watched ‘Turtle Odyssey’ and it was my favorite thing of the day! I would recommend it to everyone!
Conclusion
Reading this back in a “preview” format, I realize that I have rambled quite a bit. However, I wanted to make sure I covered all the accessibility that the aquarium had to offer, especially the ramp in the first building! Who knew?! If you’re looking for wheelchair friendly places to visit on your next trip to Chattanooga, The Tennessee Aquarium is the place to go! Did I mention that the campus is huge as well??
Visit their website for all the latest up to date information on COVID-19 protocols, new exhibits, and more!
Follow their Instagram and Twitter for updates on special events and pictures of the marine life that call the TN Aquarium home!