Seattle CityPASS Review – Our Time and Exploration in Seattle!
When Seattle comes up, I think of Fraiser, followed by coffee and the Space Needle. I haven’t thought about going on a friends trip to Seattle until some friends and I thought about visiting cities to try various Top Chef restaurants. We were’t going to fly to a city, try the restaurant, and immediately leave; we had to find some stuff to do, and with so many options (mostly food-related since we’re foodies), we decided to try out the Seattle CityPASS as this is our first time exploring Seattle.
What is CityPASS?
See some attractions for a fraction of the cost! The Seattle CityPASS allow you to see 5 top attractions at 42% off the regular price, but you’ll need to use it all within 9 days since the first attraction you see.
What do we get?
We knew we wanted to go up to the Space Needle and check out the Chihuly Glass Gardens. There is a separate pass for that, but the CityPASS comes with 5 attractions – comes with Space Needle and Seattle Aquarium, and you get to choose the other 3 out of a Harbor Tour, Museum of Pop Culture (MoPOP), Woodland Park Zoo, and Chihuly Glass Gardens.
What We Chose
- Space Needle
- Aquarium
- Chihuly Glass Gardens
- Woodland Park Zoo
- MoPOP
Brief Overview of our Experience
We did all these within a couple days. First day we did –
- Aquarium – reservations at opening time. Our tickets were scanned and we entered. There were more than just fish here as there were some otters and such. Good displays and fish/animal viewing. There are indoor and outdoor exhibits. Good if you’re into aquariums, but not much really stood out here. Gift shop was small and there could have been more.
- Chihuly Glass Gardens – this one was so beautiful! Not so many displays, but complete eye candy here. Beautiful glass, definitely popular as there were a lot of people. I took photos! The indoor portion and the outdoor gardens were great. There was also a small demo of glass blowing.
- MoPOP – this wasn’t what I expected it to be as I was bored out of my mind here. There were some cool stuff, such as indie games, displays of items from various movies, bands, etc., but I wasn’t into that stuff. Great spot if you are though!
- Space Needle – prob one of the better gift shops out of these attractions. Super popular and packed. The elevator ride up was pretty quick and you get to see a nice view. Lots of open glass on the sides and there are a lot of photo ops on the benches. Go all the way around to see all of the city! Go down one floor and there’s spots for food, drinks, etc. There used to be a restaurant here, but that closed in 2017 or something. This floor also had the glass flooring. So cool! I enjoyed it.
- Woodland Park Zoo – great spot to walk around and get a good amount of steps in! Couple entrances, so a couple gift shops here too. Selection is a bit slim though. Not many things to see during our time here as a lot of the had signs saying there wasn’t anything on this display and such. Bummer! Other zoos were definitely better, but it was nice to walk around and chat with friends here.
Chihuly Glass Gardens – My Fave CityPASS Option
Image gallery above! A lot of talent making these glass items. I had no idea this was what was at the Bellagio Hotel in Vegas (no clue of the artist/thing back them), but did recognize the art in some of the pieces here. The garden was so peaceful and beautiful. They also had a restaurant/bar there as well, but we didn’t partake in that. There’s also a nice view of the Space Needle from the glass gardens. The glass gardens, space needle, and museum of pop culture are all around the same area so we did that back to back.
Space Needle – Worth a Visit
Some people were evidently scared of heights, so this probably wouldn’t be worth the money if you’re really scared of heights or looking down from heights and from glass floors. I really enjoyed this though, which is rather interesting because I like going up to high places and looking down, but climbing down a ladder scares me so much.
So is the Seattle CityPASS Worth It?
Personally, no. I probably would have just gotten the Chihuly Glass Gardens and Space Needle package as those were the best in my opinion. It is a great thing to get to check out several Seattle attractions, more so if you’re going with children. CityPASS for kids are cheaper too, and more activities at the aquarium and zoo are more suited for them as well. So overall, it is a great deal in comparison to buying tickets separately, but I didn’t personally extremely enjoy most of these attractions. I had great company, so that made it super fun, but if I were doing this myself, I’d 100% just stick with the glass gardens and space needle.
