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Landlocked Midwesterners craving a summer day at the beach will find oceanic fun at local attractions.
This summer, Kansas City’s quintessential summer destination, Kansas City’s Starlight Theatre, hosts the best Broadway entertainment with starry nights, great food and light-hearted laughter, unmatched performances and memorable music. The family-favorite Disney’s Little Mermaid (showing July 23-28 at 8:00 each evening) takes audiences to a magical kingdom beneath the sea. The Little Mermaid is a hauntingly beautiful love story for the ages. The score features the classic songs “Part of Your World,” “Kiss the Girl” and the Academy Award-winning “Under the Sea.” Your family will fall in love with the magic for the first time—or all over again!
Meet sea animals face to face at Sea Life Aquarium, a favorite local attraction taking guests under the sea on a 2- to 3-hour journey from the fresh waters of the Missouri River, into the mighty Mississippi River, then out into the warm, blue, coral-strewn waters of the Caribbean Sea, ending in the deep, dark abyss of the Atlantic Ocean. Come nose to nose with sharks and enjoy astonishingly close views of everything from starfish and seahorses to graceful rays. A favorite is the tropical ocean tank with a walk-through underwater tunnel.
If adventure is what you crave, Science City at Union Station offers a summer exhibit, Real Pirates: The Untold Story of the Whydah from Slave Ship to Pirate Ship, that is sure to captivate imaginations with real-life tales of adventure and intrigue. Using artifacts recovered from the wreck of the slave ship turned pirate ship in the 1700s, the exhibit portrays the true story of pirates on the open sea, a story “more compelling than anything dreamt up by Hollywood.”
For fun building sandcastles and swimming, read our guide to Kansas City area sand beaches at area lakes and boat rental information. Or, discover area pirate parks where children enjoy playing aboard pirate ship-themed playgrounds at many of the Best Parks in Kansas City.