Spa At Moody Gardens Hotel

I haven't been here in years, and this place hasn't changed much. We did the aquarium and rainforest combo. It was pricey for two people tbh. The aquarium is really nice. I like how they have it divided by regions of the world. They have penguins! I wish it wasn't so dark though. The rainforest is humid, so be prepared. It was gorgeous and the birds and other animals were nice to see as well. Parking is free and plentiful.

We purchased tickets for the Colonial paddle boat online. When we got there with our four year old grandson we were told at the boat boarding that the captain called in sick and it wouldn't be going out. We never received an email or refund. We went to guest services and were told by two separate people, one a supervisor that a refund was not possible.

They would give us a rain check good for 90 days. We explained we are not from the area and are leaving tomorrow. Absolute refusal. My husband finally, after quite an argument got another supervisor. He immediately said, "ya, the boat isn't running, give them a refund." Why did we have to go through all that?

It's been years since our last visit. It's still quiet pricey for a family of 4, so be sure to have enough stamina to do all of it, otherwise save some money by only doing your most favorite ones (most likely Rainforest and Aquarium). We started in the Rainforest which was busy, but not too crowded so you could actually see birds, fish, bats and other wildlife while being able to smell the flowers and take pictures. Aquarium was next, again busy, but not overly crowded.

Lots of small children as can be expected. Up next was the Discovery pyramid, which was ok, focused a lot on sounds and music, but not all of the "hands on" instruments worked properly. Afterwards we went to the live dinosaur exhibit, which was pretty neat, especially since one of the kiddos likes Dino's. We had all the intention of going on the Paddleboat ride, but we were starving and were not going to spend outrageous money on some pretzels or stale popcorn. We did buy an overpriced bottle of water for $5!

The Moody Gardens has excellent, good, just okay, and lousy aspects. Becaue it has so many attractions each one needs it's own review. Weekend of June 16th-18th, 2022 was my 60th birthday trip to include my daughter and three granddaughters (11, 12, and 2 years old). I booked a Junior Suite which included a king bed and two pull out sofas. Certainly enough for our tribe.

The room was clean, ammenities were adequate, coffee maker, blow dryer, refrigerator, but no microwave. Come bedtime we pulled out the sofa beds to find NO bedding. And why bother because the mattresses were thinly covered springs. I would guess they were made Circa 1970's. I called the front desk and the gentleman on the phone said "Oh, I always tell my guests to have roll-aways because of how bad the pull-out sofas are" en quote.

So we were given two roll-away beds which completely took the space that would normally have been available by putting the sofa beds away. The Hotel Manager did comp me 20% off one night for the inconvience. The shower head is horrible. Don't try to set the temperature in your room because the thermostat, again circa 1970, is a ruse. Temperature is controlled by the hotel.

We had a balcony as well. Unless you are a smoker do not waste your money. There is no patio furniture. Fire ants live in the bricks, and tobacco filters and cigar remains were scattered on the floor. I recommend laying a towel down if you use the patio so you can see the ants before bitten. Would not recommend allowing children on it because of this reason.

The Palm Beach water park is for those that really do not care for water parks. We bought tickets online for our first day at Moody Gardens. I was told that Schlitterbalm was at least a 10-15 minute walk from Moody. That is a lie; it's literally on the property! So the best thing I can say about Palm Beach is the Lazy River. However everyone else feels the same because it is jammed packed.

The other attracions are about a 2-star, ,,a t best. The food is not edible unless you're starving. Seriously folks, just don't do it. Have food in you vehicle and eat before you go. IT'S NOT EVEN 1-STAR! The attractions of The Aquarium and Rain Forest get 5 Stars! PERIOD! The movies are good documentary type and held the attention of even our 2-year old.

Yes the pre-teens as well. Maybe they were being nice to grandma? Mogli was good too and 2000 Legues you get wet but it's fun! We didn't get a boat ride because the Captain decided to pull out early from the dock and left many of us wondering why. It was not full. I didn't do the Discovery but the kids said it was "okay". I could write more but here is my personal conclusion.

There are better hotels than Moody Gardens Hotel. Book your room somewhere else and buy your passes to the Attractions. Oh yes, one more thing. If you do go to Palm Beach water park DO NOT buy your tickets online. Buy them at the entrance because it saves about $12 per ticket. What a racket!

June 14, 2022 Gulf Coast Regional is here today for the people to give blood; thank you Moody Gardens commit for life

I stayed here for three nights with my granddaughter. The people were extremely nice and all so helpful. We absolutely had the best time! The water park was super fun the pool area was cool too. The only thing I didn't like was the food. Not great food. I ordered room service twice and both times disappointed with cold food. I did enjoy some local restaurants nearby.

Very enjoyable lots of animals to see, well spaced out and the flow is excellent not too many spots where a lot of people bottleneck. Really enjoyed the penguins, seals/sea lions which were being fed at the time and in general just the leisurely pace to the exhibit. None of the animals seemed stressed which i always look for. Also enjoyed the look behind the scenes with the water testing exhibit and in general the folks who are there to provide additional information throughout. Well worth the money!

I just experienced the most blatant example of price gouging, extortion, whatever you want to call it. 12/2021, my husband and I purchased annual memberships, as we always do from Moody Gardens. There was a special flash sale of $80 each (regular $120) that we took advantage of. Previously, our annual memberships allowed for entry into the Palm Beach waterpark.

During Covid it appears that Moody Gardens change their pricing structure, now requiring an Annual Plus membership for entry. We noticed this before we came down to Galveston and were prepared to pay the $45 upgrade fee, per membership. We were shocked when the member services manager informed us that we needed to pay the $45 update fee PLUS $40 that's we saved during the flash sale.

This facility actually wanted us to pay $85 more PER PERSON today to upgrade our Annual Membership to an Annual Plus membership.which only cost us $80 originally. As long time members of this foundation, we are extremely disappointed in this attempt to price gouge $170 from us. Furthermore, the posted signage designates that the Annual Membership INCLUDED UNLIMITED access to Palm Beach.

There is no additional signage to exclude annual memberships and differentiate between annual plus memberships. The signage is dated effective December 2021. This is absolutely false advertising on behalf of Moody Gardens. -Kristin and Shawn Schulze

Spa When you visit this lovely spa. Be aware that the spa desk will tell you upon check-in that 20% gratuity is automatically added for your service provider. In reality providers get 15%. This is very deceiving and probably illegal. Spa is pretty though:

This was such a cool place! We did the zip line, rope course and went to the rainforest and aquarium! All neat places. The water part wasn't up for season yet, but we spent all day doing the other things. There were butterflies and beautiful flowers/plants at the steps and parking. The food court was nice with multiple options including a restaurant with buffet. I would definitely reccomend for families.

This place was so cool! The aquarium pyramid was our favorite, but the rainforest pyramid was really cool, too! A must-visit experience when you come to Galveston!

Definitely a must! Visit on a Tuesday $70 for all exhibits and it was not busy at all! The rainforest was the best! Neat seeing all the birds flying around and I read it was hot but it wasn't at all! It was misting inside for the animals so your hair will get messy; The aquarium had a lot of cool fish, sea lions, stingrays you could touch and even penguins!

The Dino alive was cheesy more geared towards young kids but still entertaining. The wings over the ocean in 3D was very cool! Definitely plan to be there all day and plan out your movie experiences as you don't want to miss those. Overall a GREAT day!

Can't compare it to there aquarium next store because that place was absolutely amazing. But the rainforest was cool too. Sadly there was a lot of construction going on so we could not go to the up stairs exhibit and also the end section of the place had a lot of construction too so nothing to see there either. We didn't see monkeys or sloths. But there where very beautiful birds to see.

The bats where so cool and cute there feeding trays where close to the windows so we could see them very well. The aquarium in the middle of the Forest had such beautiful stingrays they where lovely to watch swim around. I'm sure when they get done remodeling the place it will be very cool. But right now I think there is just too much construction at the moment to fully enjoy it.

The aquarium & rain forest at Moody were a fantastic break from the rain. We had a great day exploring. Sharks swam over our heads & we got up close & personal with the bats. The 4D movie was so cool.

It's pretty nice but pricey. Looking at $400 plus a night on a high demand day for a room with passes to the "entertainment". What I mean by entertainment is the 3 pyramids, boat, dino park etc. The hotel rooms themselves are decent with the online pictures being fairly representative. The overall resort itself is nice and has a lot to do. They have a heated indoor and outdoor pool.

When we went, they small water park was closed and I'm not sure if that was included or not. For an extra fee which is not part of the pyramid/entertainment package, they have a zip line - we did not do this. During they day ( not sure the cadence) they have activities for kids. In the early afternoon/late morning they have popcorn and cotton candy for kids.

And one evening, I recall a little "dance party" They also have several bounce houses which appear almost always be on for little kids and bigger kids. And they have ping pong out there too They have quite a few restaurants /bars which are all decent, a bit over priced, but have the convenience factor. It's good for 2 or 3 nights for a mini vacation. Worth a visit.

We really enjoyed our selves. It was a great family outing. The only complaint that I have is that the Dino's in the Dino's Alive exhibit need some TLC. Some are missing fingers, others have rips and some didn't seem to he moving right. Other than that, it was great.

It was an awesome experience! I have visited a few aquariums before but this was the best. The only downside is the tickets are really expensive. I wish there was a student discount on offer.

Family friendly, the kiosk was confusing trying to figure out which ticket gets you into which items, finally looking Ike's it up online. Loved the rain forest pyramid was amazing. The staff very helpful in show us the animals The aquarium pyramid was good really liked the jelly fish display. Rode the boat. It was nice but kind of a disappointment. Out and back no explanation and the bar was closed.

I want to give this place a 5 star because I really liked it. Their staff though bring it to a 3 at best. First there is kiosks to self purchase things, but I was trying to figure out if we wanted the more expensive all inclusive deal. He was less than helpful. Also, we made comments about how we were reading 20,000 leagues under the sea by Jules Verne and he said the show was not about that.

He then spent two minutes describing the show. We went to the show and it was 100% NOT how he described it. It also is very much based on the book. Super weird. Repeatedly, when I would ask staff questions they were unable to answer. Not one staff person was accommodating. $70 is like 1/2 the price of Disneyland but not a tenth of the service. Aquarium 5 stars! Rainforest 5 stars! They just need to train their staff better!

This place is a must see! The Rain Forrest is so Stunning as well as the Aquarium. Was disappointed they didn't have the boat going! It was a great day! Possibly too many waves. They had a dinosaur exhibit and the kids enjoyed it. The movie theater was big and comfortable. Must try this place at least once. We loved it. Worth the money we spent!

This place is great! It's really good for young children but we enjoyed it as well. A lot of great educational things and amazing animals. The place is kept very clean and friendly staff. Glad we went while on our vacation from Colorado.

Staying Houston for more than ten years but never got a Chance to visit Moody Gardens. Finally this holiday season we booked the Moody garden resort with the pyramid passes and it was absolute FUN. The resort is really good, well maintained. We didn't try their room service so no idea about that but staff at the reception and at the restaurant down stairs were friendly.

We were there with group of friends so we had a blast at the pool (indoor and outdoor). The rainforest pyramid is fantastic, a must go. The aquarium pyramid was good too. Didn't like the 3D/4D shows as much. Discovery pyramid was okay. We also did the holiday lights trail which was okay, didn't have very many themes. If we decide to go back we will try it in summer and mostly will go for a day because everything that needs to see can be covered in a day.

I've been here in Galveston for a year now and Moody Gardens has become my favorite place to walk! I load up my hubby in his wheelchair, hitch up Oreo (our pet dog), and off we go. The walking paths do have some inclines so I definitely get my exercise, but it so worth it. The path winds through lovely butterfly gardens and along the waterway.

If I take all the paths, I can actually get a whole mile in! And Christmas! OMG - you have to go at Christmas. The walking paths are beautiful with lights, music, and Christmas decor.

A beautiful place to visit. My son and I enjoyed seeing all of the animals and plants. We loved the penguins. They were so playful and cute. Will definitely visit again.

First time here, mid-November, and we practically had the place to ourselves! We started off at the aquarium which was very well done. Somewhat small but they pack it in with so many animals. And for COVID, they have a good route mapped out for everyone to stay safe. The rainforest is amazing, especially entry through the rainforest canopy. I think it would be helpful to have a guide to point out animals as it's pretty tough to spot anything on your own, but birds and fish are plentiful.

I would give the Discovery museum a pass because it seemed a bit dated, and much of the equipment seemed in disrepair. I missed all the movies because we got here around 1pm and were distracted by all the other attractions. Mommy (& daddy) Wednesday meant we got the value pass at $30, but you have to have 1 kid per adult. I don't think I would pay more than that for the day as prices are somewhat steep otherwise. An individual pyramid is $36.

Been coming here for years (since I was a child and now in my 30's), and I still appreciate the park. It's a bit touristy (food options are very priced, and there's huge gift shops in every building), but it's still an inviting venue. Everything is clean & well-maintained, and the plants & animals seem to be cared for. The theater features & discovery museum are heavily geared to children, so it's a great time spent with family.

The aquarium houses a variety of sea life (penguins & sea lions are the ones to note), and the rainforest showcases many live plants & birds. There isn't much stimulation, so it can get rather dull for those who want more thrill. Otherwise, adults can still appreciate the scenic walk arounds and a lengthy ferry ride with the admission. With over a handful of exhibits & shows, the all-Inclusive value pass is the best bargain.

Just keep in mind that you're likely going to spend your entire day there, if you want to check everything off the list. You'll also want to pace yourself accordingly & keep track of the time, as some things are on a strict schedule and the park is only open from 10am to 4pm. If you're in Galveston, it's worth checking out at least once.