Proper Etiquette About a Party Location

Address the invite to the child, with *parents and siblings who wish to attend are welcome to do so at their own expense.
I can't imagine adults expecting to stay and be entertained at a child's birthday party but you never know these days.
Be clear up front their will be no shopping in the gift shop. You can announce this at the beginning of the party, no need to put it in the invite. Walk right on through without stopping and have the parents meet you out front.
If anyone wants to shop they can go back inside with their parents after the party. No way would I want to deal with and manage that!

Gift shop a problem. Just have the party at home. Believe it or not, those are some of the best parties.

I cannot imagine any adult expecting you to buy a toy in the gift shop for each child.
I like the idea for this party and it seems like a really good price. I think my only concern as the party host is making sure you can manage all the children in the gift shop, making sure they are not breaking things or being wild, so I would just make sure you have at least one other adult there to help run things and make sure to tell the kids ahead of time, "Ok, we are going into the gift shop to wait for your parents, you are welcome to look at the toys but please be careful not to break anything!" I think this makes it clear that you are not buying toys for them as well. It might also help to have a small goodie bag to distract. Maybe something fish themed? A little box of goldfish crackers or swedish fish? Not sure what age these kiddos are.

No, you are NOT expected to pay for things in the gift shop. I don't know where that idea came from.

Your invitation MUST BE CLEARLY worded.

Johnny is invited to Max's birthday party at the Tampa Aquarium on Saturday, October 26th at 1PM. Please plan to pick Johnny up at 3PM in the gift shop.

We will serve pizza, ice cream and cake.

If parents tag along? No. You don't pay their way. You are paying for Johnny. If they CHOOSE to stay - that's THEIR CHOICE.

I would do the tour...sounds great and the kids will love it. What I would do is including the following wording somewhere on the invitation:

"We will be providing the kids with a tour of the aquarium. Following the tour, the kids will be able to feed the stingrays and baby sharks for which we will provide the food. If you would like your child to purchase items at the gift shop, please plan accordingly."

I would also maybe have a party bag available to give out (with aquarium/sea life related trinkets) in the party room.

How much is a bucket of fish food? I can't imagine it is that bad and each kid can grab a piece and feed them.

I wouldn't worry about the gift shop, and you don't have to buy the kids anything from there! Just make sure you have enough help and remind the kids not to touch anything as you walk through.

I would not ask any child to bring money for the gift shop because that is going to pose a problem with those kids who did not bring money. Plus you will have to wait around while they make a purchase and perhaps help multiple kids with purchases. Too much of a headache!

As you walk through the gift shop to the party room, be sure to remind the kids to hurry through so you can do pizza and cake (or whatever it is you brought) and that will help them focus. You could also say "hurry through kids, we're going to do cake and your goodie bags are waiting in the room!"

My daughter went to several parties at a pet store where they gave the kids coupons for a free hermit crab at the end. Of course you get the free crab but you have to buy the $20 kit to take care of it! Parents are good at saying "no" and there weren't very many problems, even though many of the kids were begging for the free hermit crab at the end!

You don't have to buy the kids anything from the gift shop. Just move them through and on to the cake and presents!

That sounds like a good party. I would not pay for parents. I would specify "drop off" and "pick up" times on the invitation so the parents are aware that they are not also invited to the party. I would probably splurge for some fish food for the kids to feed the stingrays and baby sharks if it was within my budget. I would not recommend having kids bring money to buy gift shop items. Have your loot bags ready if they start asking for stuff. (I never buy my kids stuff at the gift shop, so they certainly would not expect the party host to buy them something!)

If you end up in the gift shop then make sure you have enough adults to keep kids rounded up and move them through quick. Or maybe instead of a goodie bag (if you were planning one) you could have an item picked out ahead of time that each kids gets so you hand them that as they are exiting. I am sure thay have something small that you could give each kid that would only cost $1 or $2. ea. I like the idea of saying siblings and parents who wish to attend will be at their own expense on the invite so its out there and there are no questions.

It's no different then if you have your kid's party at a LegoLand Discovery Center and pick up is in the gift shop.

Sounds like fun. And it's cheap. Get pizza and a cake and you're all set. And favors will be easy since you have a theme.

This is why I'm a fan of old-fashioned at-home parties.

But, no you do not pay for adults nor siblings. Have an adult friend at the head and at the tail of the line to move the kids along. Don't allow ANY kid to shop. If you do, then that other kids pout that they did not get anything. Also the shopping kids will hold up your party from continuing.

The price is excellent. I set a total price and divide by the individual price to figure out how many people can attend.

I don't think for a minute you are expected to buy something from the gift shop.

Maybe you can find a food price on the web. Maybe each kid can have a solo cup of food.

You are not obliged to buy each child a trinket from the gift shop but I would include food to feed the stingrays/sharks.
I would think the food would be something that would be included with the tour but it looks like it is not from your description. You can plan ahead and have the gift bags include whatever trinket(s) you want to include and one "serving" of food as a part of your goodie bag. If they want more than that then they have to pay themselves. I don't know how the food is dispensed. Since it is your friend's place, maybe you can print up coupons that says this is good for one "serving" of food and you pay the amount in one transaction for the amount of those servings.
If you are dead set on not paying for the food then say something specifically in the invitation that food to feed the animals will cost X amount if you want to feed them, please send your child with funds. There is a small gift shop at the aquarium, if your child would like to purchase something please send funds for them.
You are not obliged to pay for the adults but if you are inviting them to join it's common courtesy to pay for them. Again, if you don't want to pay for the adults you need to clearly state in the invite that you are paying for Johnny and that parents are welcome to come as well but it will cost X amount for them to join.
If you don't want to pay for all the extras, I would have the party at a place that does not involve all the extras in the first place.

Put in the invite that the tour lets out in the giftshop (a warning LOL). Heck no, you're not responsible for what the kids want to buy.

Parents pay for themselves, I would say - but maybe ask your friend what she's seen in the past.

Tell the kids no. When they get picked up they can ask their parents to purchase them something.

It sounds like a good thing for your friend! Good marketing to end in the gift shop..

Updated

Tell the kids no. When they get picked up they can ask their parents to purchase them something.

It sounds like a good thing for your friend! Good marketing to end in the gift shop..

You absolutely do not have to buy the children gifts in the gift shop, especially since they will be overpriced. Is the tour before or after the time in the party room? If the tour is first, as soon as it's over just announce that you're heading to the party room for cake and ice cream and to climb around. It should get them moving.

If anyone specifically asks for a toy, simply say "I'm sorry, we're not buying anything today. Let's go have some cake."

If you don't want to pay for parents, you must specify on the invitation to drop them off and what time they should return to pick them up. Make it clear that you only want the kids. However, if a parent does come, you should pay for them. Absolutely do not pay for uninvited siblings that the parents bring along (and, if they ask, you are free to say that siblings cannot attend and that's partly why it is a drop off party).

Do not tell the parents to send cash for the gift shop. The kids can beg themselves when they get picked up. Chances are, by then, they will have had so much fun in the party room that they will have forgotten.

Finally, if the party room is before the tour, figure out exactly when the tour will end and tell the parents to arrive 10 minutes earlier than that to pick up their children. Say that the tour ends at the gift shop and they can meet you just outside of it (don't say inside because they may feel more pressured to buy then).

If they want to buy a souvenir they need to bring their own money. You pay for the tour for the kids, a cake and some ice cream, maybe a couple of pizzas. That's enough.
You are not obligated to feed or pay for the tour for parents.

Sounds like a really neat place to have a party!

I would find out how much the food for the stingray/baby shark tank costs, and factor that into the total cost for the party.

I wouldn't buy them trinkets from the gift shop, though.

If you didn't want to pay for parents/siblings (and I totally understand your hesitation), just put on the invite something like "Parents and siblings are welcome to come on the tour at their own cost. (Adults $7.75 each, children $5.95 each.)"

When you get to that room, pass out the appropriate amount of fish treats to the party guests, and tell the kids when the food is gone, there isn't any more to feed the fish.

Tell them that the gift shop area is off limits... and have an extra adult on hand to herd the wandering kids BACK to the group. When they finish feeding the fish/touching, have them sit in a clearly defined area AWAY from the gift shop.

When they are through with that room, go on to the party room and have the cake and such.