We have recently took a one year family membership of Moody gardens. We think it is worth if you have kid/kids of any age. This membership includes unlimited access to IMAX theater, 4D- theater, Aquarium, Rain forest and Palm Beach. They have recently opened the Palm beach for weekends and would be open soon from the memorial day even on weekdays.
My daughter have really enjoyed the Aquarium. The Penguins were really fantastic and also the sharks. You will be amazed with the variety of sea life exhibited in this aquarium. When you enter the aquarium they have some fishes which are just like stones and one is allowed to touch and feel their scales. My daughter wants to go their every week.
The 4D theater is undoubtedly the most attracting feature as during the show they blow the wind, spills water on you and the vibrations in the seat which makes you scare at times. The show last time we had on water life was really interesting and informative. They change these movies once in a month or so.
Similarly the IMAX 3D as well as 2D movies are interesting as well as informative for the children. My daughter enjoyed the movie and particularly when it seems that sharks are passing just next to you. They have different shows at different times. They also have some scary movies in 7:00 p.m. show which we missed last time as we were really tired by 5:00 p.m.
There is so much in Moody gardens to be covered in a single day.
The rain forest is liked by all of us except my daughter as she could not bear the smell inside the place. But when you see the parrots and different birds just sitting in front of you in their natural poses, its a different feeling altogether.
Last but not the least is the Palm Beach, which also offers a separate membership for $25.00, if you don't want to spend $320.00 for everything. You can spend whole day swimming or just enjoying in the sun.
We could not explore the ridefilm, which is an additional simulated ride offered at Moody garden pyramids, so far as our daughter is still less than 4ft.
We would like to recommend it to every family to give visit to this interesting place at least once if they are in Houston or visiting Houston as a tourist.

Moody Gardens really has done a tremendous job with the rainforest pyramid, as well as IMAX and incredible aquariums. They also have a fun beach play area for kids where you can pull up a chair and watch the kids have tons of fun in the sand. It's a great attraction in Galveston and can certainly provide entertainment for the day.

If you travel to down to Galveston be sure not to miss Moody Gardens. You can expect a pretty full day of activities. Moody gardens’ roots began as an educational and recreational facility. Today the site includes an array of areas that include a convention center, a 450 room hotel, a 1.5 million gallon aquarium, a discovery pyramid which houses numerous science and space exhibits, the rainforest pyramid that is a learning center containing exotic plant and animal species from the rainforest, a beach area that has tons of crystal white sand that was shipped in from Palm Beach, and IMAX theater and many on site dining facilities. The Moody Garden Complex will have enough to keep all family members entertained no matter what their age. Every time that I have been to the Gardens I have checked out a different part of it, there is almost too much to do in just one day. You can experience the exhibits at you own pace or for groups of 20 or more you can have tour guide, which will guide your group through the exhibit. The center is open daily year round, opening at around 10 am daily and closing at either 6 or 8pm depending on the season.The best option for visiting the Gardens is to purchase a day pass, these passes allow you entrance into all exhibits, the price of a day pay is around $40, and you can also buy a two day pass that will run you around $50. Additionally, if you choose to do only one or two of the activities offered at the Gardens you can purchase tickets individually for a range of prices. You can visit the Moody Garden website for more ticketing options at www.moodygardens.com.I would recommend the gardens for anyone coming to visit the Galveston area, it is in my opinion a great experience for singles, and families, everyone is sure to walk away with a different experience.

We visited Moody Gardens on a rainy day. It was not well marked on the street signs (a small blue sign near the road sign was the only marking), but I had good directions, so I found it fairly easily. Moody Gardens consists of three large pyramids--a science discovery pyramid that was on music, the rain-forest pyramid, and the aquarium pyramid. In addition, they have a restaurant with picturesque views of the bay and landscape, an 8-story IMAX, a ride simulator, and a paddle-boat ride. Each part costs separately, or you can buy an all-day pass for $31. That is what we did.

We started in the rain-forest pyramid, which was great, with many tropical animals, and they did not appear to be in typical cages, but instead it seemed like you were in the rain forest, with sloths, macaws, bats, flamingos, crocodiles, piranhas, and more. We wanted to go back inside after we left, but your pass/ticket only allows you to go through once.

At 11:30am we saw our IMAX movie on sharks. They said that it was the most popular of the two choices. The other choice was about the Africa safari. It was a 3-D movie but did not hold my kids' attention. I think my husband liked it, but it was more informational than entertaining.

Next we headed to the aquarium. It is divided into regions of the world. I think it was my favorite part. I really liked the sting rays and the penguins. My daughter loved the touch tanks with horseshoe crabs, stingrays, starfish… We spent most of our time here.

Finally we went to the science pyramid. Both kids loved it the most and begged to go back. Exhibits feature how sound is made, a step-on piano, drums, guitars, etc. My daughter even sang karaoke into a microphone – she thought she was a star!

We were exhausted, so we decided to go home without riding the paddle boat or the ride simulator, but as we were leaving, I asked if we could come back tomorrow to complete our pass. They made a note of it on my passes and we came back the next day to finish our Moody Garden experience. The paddle boat goes out everyday at 2pm. It slowly tours the bay – I would not pay separately for the ride, but it was nice to do once. The ride simulator was set up for Halloween, and we decided to skip it so it didn’t scare the kids.

This is a relatively new facility comprised of three pyramids, each offering a different activity. The rainforest pyramid educates visitors about the environment and how to work to save our planet. The aquarium pyramid offers information about sea creatures.

There are three options for IMAX viewing. We saw the ocean IMAX. It became boring after awhile, but it was a good place to nap (the race car IMAX was sold out).