Sophia loved holding the tarantula so much last year when we were in Denver for a dollhouse show that we decided we had to visit again this year. The only problem was that her hands were too cold and the spider wouldn't stay with her. While I was holding it, the lady handler informed me that tarantulas aren't spiders, which was news to me, and Wikipedia, and the spider book in their gift shop. I decided it just wasn't worth the argument. The rest of the Denver Butterfly Pavilion was wonderful though, it has the largest and most beautiful variety of butterflies I've ever seen.