Butterfly "Wonderland"

So a few months ago I saw that there was a new place opening up called "Butterfly Wonderland."  I was pretty excited because Chloe loves butterflies.   Almost as much as unicorns.  Well I thought today would be an opportune time to go, being that she had no school due to Veterans Day.  I knew the price was not cheap, so I expected something akin to a miniature Disneyland.  I had very high expectations.  I was a little worried that we would not have enough time to take in all the attractions since we got there at 3 PM and it closed at 5 PM.  

Let me tell you about Butterfly "Wonderland."

First you arrive at the ticket center, and fork out your weekly grocery budget for tickets.

$20 for adults.  $10 for children 3-11

Then they make you watch a 15 minute 3-D movie about butterflies.

And I was feeling pretty excited, like the movie was preparing us for something truly awe inspiring.  

(Macie kept trying to touch the 3D butterflies and saying she wanted to touch "real" butterflies.)

I kept telling her with anticipation, "just wait!! We are almost ready to seem them!"

Again, I am not sure what I was expecting.

Maybe a choreographed butterfly routine to  Chopin?

Afterall, it was $20.

After the movie we are led into another room where we got to see some paltry display of some cocoons and what not.

Then we were led to a special holding room where we were instructed how to treat the butterflies and their environment and finally the doors swung open and butterfly paradise awaited us!

We walked in to some measly sized atrium that instantly made me want to tear off all my clothes.

No, not because I had a sudden urge to become a flower child, and prance around naked with the butterflies.

It was because it was 90 degrees and 90% humidity in that room. 

And I was wearing a sweater.

In the movie, part of the migration was the butterflies ending up on a mountain in Canada.

I wanted to visit that habitat.

Not a sweltering rain forest.

I can't even imagine how they could get anyone in there in July!

I kept asking myself, is this all there is to see?

Alas, it was.(Unless you count the small room of Petco Fish and the plastic box with a tarantula and a scorpion.)

And Chloe screamed in horror if a butterfly even got close to her.  So much for enjoying the feeling of soft butterfly tickles on her shoulder.

The only way I could get her to stay in the room was to tell her if she twitched incessantly, the butterflies would not land on her.

And so she did just that.

 macie, surprisingly, was much more calm about the whole experience.  Except for when I told her I was not going to buy her a $4 hot dog from the snack bar.

Luckily they also had a gift shop that was probably larger than the actual butterfly exhibit.  They had some terrific things there.  Like this wind up turtle.  They were being sold for $5 which made me laugh out loud.  Even Disneyland doesn't have such insane markups, and Disney can get away with it.  However I don't see tour buses stopping off at Butterfly Wonderland any time soon.