Last Saturday we set out for Adirondack Animal Land. The plan was simple: pile in the car, head up to the foothills, and spend the day with the kids among the animals.

By the time we reached Schaghticoke, it was clear the weather had other ideas. The rain was coming down hard—hard enough that we hydroplaned twice on the drive. We slowed down and used our hazard lights when the rain was coming down so hard we could not see, it was one of these times that my wife noticed they put out an update on Facebook: Adirondack Animal Land had been closed for the day due to weather.

We had three kids in the car who had been promised animals. Turning around felt like admitting defeat. But sitting in a parking lot watching the rain wasn't an option either.

That's when my wife pulled up VIA Aquarium.

By the time we arrived the rain had stopped. We entered through a door that had an ocean-themed mural painted on the outside. The door led to a dimly lit hallway which led to the mall. Inside, it's a blue-lit world where the walls are glass and the inhabitants swim in circles. The kids pressed their faces against tank after tank—clownfish, tangs, a massive crab that looked like it could pinch a finger clean off. There was a tunnel you walked through where fish and other aquatic life would swim around you. The real winner here for the kids were the sharks.

The place is smaller than the big-city aquariums, but that turned out to be a feature, not a bug. We weren't marathon-walking through cavernous halls with crowds. We moved at the kids' pace. They asked questions. They lingered. They actually saw things instead of being swept along in a current of foot traffic.

We spent about an hour and twenty minutes inside. That was enough to see everything at a relaxed pace, but it also drove home just how compact the space is. For the price — $104 for our family on a weekend — I had expected something larger. It's not unfairly priced for what you get, but you should know going in: this is not an all-day experience.

To be fair, if you went slower and really lingered at each tank, you could stretch it out for hours. But that's theoretical. In reality — especially with children who want to jump from one thing to the next — you'll move through faster than you think. We tried to slow the kids down as much as possible, but with an energetic, curious three-year-old boy, we could only go so slow.

One practical note: tickets run more expensive on weekends. Adults (13+) are $24 on weekends versus $21 on weekdays; kids (3-12) are $16 versus $15. We had three adults and two kids in our group, so our weekend total was $104 before tax. On a weekday, that same group would have been $93—a solid $11 difference. Not a dealbreaker, but worth knowing if you're bringing a whole crew.

Like every aquarium I've ever visited, VIA dumps you out into a gift shop at the end. Stuffed sharks, plastic sea creatures, branded water bottles—the whole nine yards. The kids looked; we didn't buy anything. They've got enough stuff.

By the time we left, the rain had slowed to a drizzle. We grabbed some food nearby and headed home. The kids were talking about sharks and pufferfish and whether the giant crab was actually a spider. Nobody mentioned the animal park we never reached.

Sometimes Plan B works out better than Plan A ever could have.