KANSAS CITY, Mo. — If you’re desperate to get out of the house and find new ways to keep the kids busy, good news! Some Kansas City entertainment venues are now opening their doors.
But there are definitely some things to know before you go.
Fish, sharks and stingrays are swimming away at Sea Life Aquarium in Kansas City. Now, all those creatures are once again seeing people come visit them.
“You’ll come in a safe environment and be able to enjoy our wonderful sea creatures that we have the same as always,” Shannon Wallace, marketing manager for Sea Life Aquarium, said.
But the aquarium is implementing some changes to make the visitor experience safe during the pandemic.
“We’ve actually shifted to contactless payment, so guests are encourage to buy tickets online. We’ve also implemented a lot of social distance signage, and we’re also following a very strict cleaning regimen right now,” Wallace said.
You’ll also find extra hand cleaning stations, staff wearing masks, and the aquarium is limiting the number of guests inside. Mom of two Cassie Anderson is glad to see the safety steps and says her kids couldn’t wait to get out of the house.
“Usually when we come here, it’s really busy, so it’s been nice just letting them explore and do things they want to do at their own pace,” Anderson said.
Just down the street, Union Station is pretty quiet. But on the lower level, Escape Room Kansas City is already getting bookings from families ready for an hour of fun.
“Even though we’re opening back up, keeping precautions in place and going above and beyond trying to make people feel good about it,” Escape Room Kansas City general manager Shane Sachs said.
Escape rooms have lots of items that get touched, so staff are blocking off extra time to sanitize everything between groups. They’re also wearing masks, limiting group sizes and not booking separate groups in the same room together.
“We want them to come out and just hang with us through the different changes that’ll be occurring,” Sachs said.
Sea Life will donate a free ticket to a health care worker if you tag the aquarium on social media when you visit. Escape Room KC also has a discount code on its Facebook page if you book a future game before midnight Friday.
Union Station will start reopening the rest of its attractions, like Science City and the planetarium, on June 10.
READ: Here’s what’s reopening and when for Kansas City metro residents
