Animal Crossing aquarium tour coming to the U.K.
Five Sea Life aquarium locations in the U.K. will host an interactive “Animal Crossing: New Horizons”-themed tour in 2025, featuring character meet-and-greets and exhibits themed around the beloved Nintendo title.
The aquarium tour opens in Sea Life: Manchester on Feb. 8, 2025, and then will visit four other Sea Life locations before concluding on Aug. 31. Here’s a list of all of the locations and their associated dates:
- Sea Life Manchester: Feb. 8 – March 9, 2025
- Sea Life Birmingham: April 12 – May 11, 2025
- Sea Life Brighton: May 24 – June 15, 2025
- Sea Life London: June 30 – July 27, 2025
- Sea Life Chessington World of Adventures Resort: Aug. 1-31, 2025
This tour marks the first of its brand in the United Kingdom. Nintendo has collaborated on live aquarium tours like this one for the Animal Crossing franchise since 2021, beginning with Japan and then branching out to a national tour in the U.S. this past summer. The final two museums of the American tour — Adventure Aquarium in Camden, N.J. and Tennessee Aquarium in Chattanooga, Tenn. — will finish their “Animal Crossing: New Horizons” exhibitions on Feb. 12 and 28, respectively.
The Sea Life version of the aquarium tour involves exploring the “Sea Life Islands” with the help of a tour guide pamphlet. Visitors will have the opportunity to meet Animal Crossing island residents Aurora and Octavian while learning more about the aquarium’s diverse marine life. The tour also includes a sea creature fossil dig, kiosks to collect character stamps from, and a character meet-and-greet with Tom Nook and Isabelle.
“Animal Crossing: New Horizons” is a life simulation video game set on a deserted tropical island where players can develop the land and build homes for the game’s colorful animal inhabitants. The game has sold over 46 million copies internationally since its launch in March 2020.
Fans of the Animal Crossing franchise will look forward to searching for Gulliver the seagull on the aquarium tour, a character best known for his many shipwrecks and tendency to wash up on the shores of nearby islands. “Animal Crossing: New Horizons”-themed merchandise will also be available in the aquarium gift stores.
The tour reflects one of the Animal Crossing franchise’s mini-games, which involves the play collecting sea life of all shapes and sizes for their island’s museum curator character, Blathers. It has not been confirmed whether Blathers will be involved with Sea Life’s aquarium experiences yet, however.
To learn more about the aquariums’ tour experience and schedule, visit Sea Life’s website or the Nintendo event page.
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