The Dallas World Aquarium

The Dallas World Aquarium is one of those attractions that surprises even people who've lived in Dallas for years — a genuinely extraordinary hybrid experience that combines a world-class aquarium with a living Orinoco rainforest exhibit that houses free-flying birds, sloths, piranhas, and an ecosystem so immersive that parents forget they're inside a building.

The layout is the key to the experience. You enter at the top of a multi-level atrium that recreates a South American rainforest, and the first section involves looking up — because sloths, toucans, macaws, and other rainforest animals are moving through the canopy overhead. Children who visit expecting fish are immediately redirected by the encounter with a sloth hanging 15 feet above them.

As you descend through the rainforest levels, the exhibit transitions through different ecosystem zones — each with distinct animal life — until you arrive at the main aquarium section housing sharks, massive rays, sea turtles, and stunning reef fish in enormous tanks. The Orinoco section's 22,000-gallon tank is one of the most impressive aquarium exhibits in Texas.

Beyond the main exhibit, the Dallas World Aquarium houses manatees (one of the few places in Texas where you can see them), Magellanic penguins with feeding demonstrations, sea otters, and dozens of additional species across the facility.

Stroller access is possible throughout but the ramps within the rainforest exhibit are steep — a front carrier for infants makes the descent more comfortable. For all ages, this is one of the best aquarium experiences in the state, and the combination of rainforest and aquarium in a single building creates genuine wonder.