Three price rules on one page
Aquarium Aglow runs 28 select nights from November 20 to December 31, 2026, at the South Carolina Aquarium on Aquarium Wharf. Entry starts at 5:30 p.m. and the last slot is 7:30 p.m. Guests stay until 9 p.m., and until 9:30 p.m. on December 31.
The ticket page carries three rules. Early bird pricing takes 15 percent off through October 31, 2026, applied at checkout. Member pricing takes 20 percent off once a buyer signs in, and the page describes it as all season long. The page states that the offers cannot be combined.
What the two discounts are worth
A lower date starts at $25.95 for an adult. Fifteen percent off returns $22.06. Twenty percent off returns $20.76. The gap is $1.30.
A standard date starts at $29.95. The same two offers return $25.46 and $23.96.
The early bird rate carries an end date of October 31. The member rate carries none on the page. A member who books after October 31 keeps the larger of the two cuts.
The 28 dates split nine, eighteen and one
Nine dates start at $25.95 for an adult and $21.95 for a child. Eighteen start at $29.95 and $24.95. December 31 starts at $39.95 and $34.95, and early bird pricing does not apply to it.
Seven of the nine lower dates fall on a Sunday or a Thursday: November 22, November 29, December 3, December 6, December 10, December 13 and December 17. The other two are the Friday opening night of November 20 and Wednesday December 16, which the Aquarium sells to adults only.
The gap between a lower date and a standard date is $4 on an adult ticket and $3 on a child ticket, which runs $21.95 against $24.95.
The entry time carries its own step
Each night offers six entry slots between 5:30 and 7:30 p.m. The first three cost $28.95 for an adult on a lower date and $33.95 on a standard date. The last three carry the starting price, at $25.95 and $29.95.
The step between the early window and the late window is $3 on a lower date and $4 on a standard date. The page marks value selections with a blue star. December 31 runs six slots from 5:30 to 8 p.m., each at $39.95.
The three dollars on the day
The ticket page states that all tickets, member tickets included, rise $3 on the day of the event.
$28.95 for the 5:30 slot on November 22 is the $25.95 late-slot price with $3 added. The page publishes the two rules without joining them. Confirm the figure at checkout.
The group rate prices daytime only
The Aquarium publishes one group rate. It needs a minimum of 15 paid people, with adults at $27.95 and children aged 3 to 12 at $22.95. Toddlers enter free, and group tours are self-guided.
That rate covers a daytime visit. A text search of the Aglow page returns the word group in the site menu and in two image alt texts, and no group term in the event copy. A party of 15 or more pays the per-person price on an Aglow night.
The room side of a Sunday
The Aquarium publishes no hotel partner and no room block for the event.
The per-night comparison that exists for Charleston is the Charleston Conference card, which lists 24 properties with group rates on a group deadline of October 1. That deadline has passed, so the card stands as a published record and not as a bookable offer.
Three of its lines carry a day split that matters here. Meeting Street Inn lists $229 for Sunday to Friday against $369 for Friday and Saturday. Indigo Inn lists $299 against $369. The Vendue lists $339 for Sunday to Thursday against $439 for Friday and Saturday.
Four of the nine lower Aglow dates are Sundays: November 22, November 29, December 6 and December 13. A Sunday visit takes the $25.95 starting price and the cheaper room column. A Friday visit takes the $29.95 starting price and the $369 or $439 column.
The published room gaps are $140 at Meeting Street Inn, $70 at Indigo Inn and $100 at the Vendue.
The ask that survives both pages
The Sunday column and the Friday column describe the same room at the same address, and the card prints both on one line. A buyer with no membership can still pick a lower date, because four Sundays carry the lower ticket price and sit inside the lower room band.
Ask the property for the Sunday figure on the Friday nights of December 4 and December 11. Those two Aglow dates fall in the expensive column.
What the ticket price does not cover
Refunds appear in one place. Aquarium Aglow runs rain or shine, and a weather closure that shuts the Aquarium triggers refunds for ticket holders scheduled on those dates. All other sales are final, and the Aquarium honours only tickets bought through its own site.
Parking sits in the city-run Aquarium Garage at 24 Calhoun Street. The garage takes credit cards only and charges pay-to-park rates. The event page prints no garage rate.
