Mandalay Bay Shark Reef Aquarium Welcomes Its 10 Millionth Guest

The Shark Reef Aquarium at Mandalay Bay recently celebrated a remarkable milestone in its 10 year history – it welcomed its 10 millionth guest. The visit of this special visitor happily coincided with resort’s 10th birthday, making this event doubly special.

Julian Ruvalcaba, a first-time visitor to Shark Reef Aquarium, was the lucky 10 millionth visitor and as the fortunate winner, received the grand package prize. Ruvalcaba, from El Paso, Texas, was visiting Shark Reef Aquarium with his wife, Isela Garcia, and their two children, Mariana and Julian, when he was informed of the significance of his visit. “This is our first trip to Shark Reef. We decided to come because some friends highly recommended the aquarium. This is a great prize package and we’re excited about all of it, but mostly about our return trip to Las Vegas,” said Ruvalcaba.

The grand package prize awarded to the family includes a two-night stay in deluxe accommodation at Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino, tickets to Disney’s THE LION KING, Shark Reef Aquarium Annual Passes for the family as well as dinner at award-winning chef Michael Mina’s acclaimed STRIPSTEAK.

The Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA) also congratulated Shark Reef Aquarium on reaching these two milestones “On behalf of the AZA, we congratulate Shark Reef Aquarium at Mandalay Bay on achieving two great institutional milestones. Over the last 10 years, Shark Reef Aquarium has provided awe-inspiring animal encounters to each and every one of those 10 million visitors, imparting an educational and entertaining experience,” said Jim Maddy, president and CEO of the AZA.

Mandalay Bay’s Shark Reef Aquarium also has the distinction of being the first and only animal care facility in Nevada to be accredited by the AZA.