Why The Seattle CityPASS Is Worth It

As I looked into attractions around Seattle, I knew that there were several places we needed to visit while we were in the city. I made the list, looked up the prices for everything, and realized that we could go to about 2 of the places I had listed. But then I learned about CityPASS. I’ve heard of services like this before, but I never thought the price was worth it, once I compared the prices for these attractions I knew we were getting them.

The Seattle CityPASS was incredibly helpful, convenient, and is such a money saver. If you aren’t familiar with services like this, you pay one free and get admittance into various attractions. I also learned that you can often skip the line when you are using CityPASS, which was a huge bonus. This is offered in cities all across the country, and I will absolutely be using them again.

Now for the specific Seattle CityPASS details:

You get a ticket for 5 different attractions, with 7 options total. There are 3 included in every pass: Space Needle, Seattle Aquarium, and Argosy Cruises Harbor Tour, then you choose either the EMP Museum or the Woodland Park Zoo then either the Pacific Science Center or the Chihuly Garden and Glass. We decided to go to the EMP Museum and the Pacific Science Center, which we loved, but there is more about that below

Space Needle

This was amazing. I had heard mixed reviews and that there were better views in the city, which may be true, but I doubt that those other locations supplied this experience. With the CityPASS we were able to enter twice in one day, so we went up as soon as they opened to get a good view of the city in the daylight. There was no line, and the elevator ride up was pretty slow which made for good photos. We did realize that there are a few different elevators and the others take half the time (40 seconds total)

 

The view was great, but it was the technology that sold us. All around the inside observation deck were 360 screens that you could see the city on any given day back to November 2014. Some of the screens had specific locations marked and you could zoom in really far to see what was marked. One of them was the helipad from the pilot Greys Anatomy episode, this was actually the roof of a news building right next to the Space Needle. Two other things that were really fun- there was a camera on the outside observation deck where it would take your photo and send it to you for free, and there was a wall where you could leave your name and location and it would add you to a map. Oh hey Volpes in Baltimore!

Later that night we used our evening pass to head to the top about 30 minutes before sunset. We were able to get some great photos, then grabbed a beer from one of the bars, sat at a table and enjoyed the view. I could have stayed up there forever, the view was beautiful

Seattle Aquarium

We were informed that this wasn’t like the typical aquarium in Baltimore or Georgia, it is more of a research center. Because of that, we weren’t really expecting much, but it ended up being very cool! As soon as you walk in there is a large fish tank that takes up the wall, and then a tide pool around the corner. This exhibit showed the changes of reef, seaweed, etc when the tide comes in and out, there were some fish as well but they weren’t the main focus.

As we walked further there were more tide pools but for touching and feeling, rather than just watching. It was so cool to see the difference in how the sea creatures looked as the tide was going out. There was also a HUGE octopus, and a “o” shaped jellyfish tank, they floated around following the water. Once we finished inside, we went out to the seal tank and watched them swim around. There were also Otters and other adorable little birds

Argosy Harbor Cruise Tour

This tour was awesome, and the perfect view of the city. I’ve mentioned this several times before, but I love seeing cities from the water. This also means that waterfront cities are my favorite. We hand’t checked cruise times before we walked there, but made it right in time and walked right onto the boat. It was a really windy day, but we sucked it up and sat on the top deck. If you decide to take one of these tours, I highly recommend sitting up top along the rail. Our cruise guide was very informative and we learned so much about Seattle!

There was a bar downstairs which was great since we went on St. Patricks Day, and were able to get some green beers. On the way back, we sat on the back deck to watch the mountains as we docked. There was beauty surrounding us!

EMP Musuem

Quite honestly, we had no idea what to expect from this. We decided to go to the EMP Museum instead of the zoo because it was right next to the Space Needle, and we were both really happy that we did. There were 3 separate floors of exhibits, some of them permeant and some of them changing. The first room we went into was full of video games that people had created, most of them were really unique and others I couldn’t even figure out. We then toured the guitar room, the Hello Kitty floor and ended up in the recording studio. There were countless rooms to record different instruments, or even record a full demo with guitar, drums, vocals, and keys. This was so interactive and cool.

Other exhibits included various things from fairytales and movies, my favorite being props from The Wizard of Oz. The set-up in these areas was so unique and thoughtful, there was something new at every turn. We really liked this museum and how different it was.

Pacific Science Center

This was also right next to the Space Needle, which worked out well. The outside of the Science Center looked really unique, and there were interactive things set-up for kids (and Dave) playing in the water. We have a Science Center in Baltimore which had some similar exhibits, but there was a huge emphasis on health and thinking throughout this Science Center. There was a huge room about balancing, fitness, and ways to build your health, and another focused on different ways to use math.

I thought the butterfly garden would have been my favorite, but I was so nervous about stepping on one that I was a little on edge throughout our time in there. I ended up sitting down while Dave explored. I really enjoyed watching the little kids get so excited about taking photos of the butterflies though.

Seattle had so much more to offer than we expected, and I really hope we can go back one day. Overall, our experience with CityPASS was incredible and we can’t wait to try it out in another city. If you are interested in learning more about the Seattle CityPASS or to see if they are in any cities you will be visiting, check out their website.

Have you ever tried CityPASS?

I did receive complimentary passes from CityPASS, but they did not influence my opinion of their services in anyway