We took our granddaughters ages 6 and 8 to the Aquarium and had a wonderful, fun afternoon. Their favorite things were the otters, the seals and sea lions, the jelly fish, and the animal touching pools. They were underwhelmed by the "special kid's show" so you might want to skip that.
Use your guidebook to plan your visit because the staff did not seem to be that knowledgeable about where different events were located.
The food there is quite expensive so I would plan on bringing our own snacks and water next time. The concessions do not take credit cards.
The restrooms are very clean and well-stocked and even have built-in step-stools so little children can reach the sink to wash their hands.
Handwashing facilities for use after the touching pool were all non-functional so you had to either use Purell or find the rest-room (easy).
Parking garage is right across the street from the Aquarium entrance and is $7 (cash no credit cards) but you can stay parked there all day and dine afterward in one of the nearby restaurants. Bubba Gump's is across the street (easiest walk) and the kids loved the popcorn shrimp kid's meal but do not allow your waitperson to talk you into a blended lemonade for the kids unless you want to pay 8 bucks for a plastic glass that has flashing lights in it and tips over easily.

Best time to go...hardly anybody there!

Despite the 8,000 little kids yelling "I found Nemo" every five seconds, the Aquarium is one of my favorite places in town. I took two kids from Guatemala, who had never even been to a zoo, let alone an aquarium and it was almost overwhelming to see their sheer joy and wonder about being there. Anything else would be nitpicking. We all had a blast.

We had a nice time at the aquarium yesterday. It is worth $12 a person (goldstar discount), but not the $21 (aquarium price). There was also an additional cost of parking in the structure across the street for $7. We also received the an additional benefit of extended hours (close at 9pm rather than 6pm) by going on Memorial Day allowing us to leisurely stroll through the aquarium.

We spent 5 hours at the aquarium looking at each and every tank. There are some interesting varieties of fish and coral that I have never seen before. They had quite a few different varieties of sea horses including a pot bellied sea horse. I enjoyed the regional tanks for Northern Pacific and Southern California. The shark exhibit is no Sea World, but there is a variety of sharks and an underwater viewing station. There is also a Lorkeet bird enclosure that you can walk into and get up close and personal with the birds. The aquarium has signs up saying not to hold them, but I saw several people with birds perched on them and the staff didn't say anything.

Beware the children. Every time I took a step there was a child under the age of 5 that was either beating on the glass of the tank, splashing water in the touch pools, running, pushing past you to look in the tank, or screaming. They were all looking for Nemo and Dory as well (Finding Nemo) which I found sad that their only reference for fish life is that movie. Note to parents who read this: please only take your child if they are well behaved. Those of us who choose not to have children do not want your screaming child around us.

Overall I enjoyed my experience and took some great photos. I may go back in a year or two but only if I can get this type of discount again.

Pretty cool place for the price but not as enjoyable if you don't have kids.