San Diego Wild Animal Park

I enjoy taking my kids to the zoo and I know they enjoy it as well. The San Diego Zoo is a great place to go, but beware, it can be expensive! Be prepared to pay quite a bit to feed the family and for snacks because nothing is cheap! The food sadly isn't that great either, but what you expect, its not a 4 star restaurant or anything. Make sure you wear good comfortable shoes and if you have kids 3 and under bring a stroller. Have a great time! more

If you're interested in seeing animals in more natural environments then you will probably enjoy the Wild Animal Park. While it would be impossible to maintain a completely wild setup with predators and such, this is as close as you could come in San Diego. Younger kids wont enjoy this as much as the zoo because your exposure to the animals is at much greater distances. They do have a petting zoo and other up close experiences including a bird flight show that is very impressive. more

The San Diego Zoo is a regular outing for us. The one time admission tickets are quite expensive, but the season passes are quite reasonable if you plan to go often and come with a magazine and coupons. My favorite part about the zoo is not only seeing animals (obviously) but walking through the beautiful grounds. The plants and vegetation are truly beautiful. The zoo is also hilly so it is a good workout for me strolling along with the kids. I love to walk around in there. On the downside are those awful tour buses. At several points in the zoo the pedestrians and the buses share the road, and this is not a good situation during the summer, where there seems to be one coming by every couple minutes. They are also very noisy and terribly smelly with the exhaust fumes in the area. Therefore, I definitely avoid the zoo during peak times because of those tour buses. Winter weekdays are really ideal times for the walkers and nature lovers. I find the food is not good at all so we usually bring a lunch. The food there is not horrible but it on the whole is not very healthy and quite pricey. The Skyfari is worth it at least once for the view. more

I had extremely high expectations when I paid my rather significant admission to the San Diego Zoo. I prepared myself to be astounded and amazed but never quite got that far. Is it a huge zoo? Yes. Are there a ton of animals? Yes. The catch is that for as "natural" as the zoo claimed its habitats were, I thought they still looked pretty contrived. The huge crowds and traffic jams combined with the uneven terrain and narrow walkways to make a tiring day for me. I would like to go back and give it a second try, but with local competitive alternatives at a fraction of the cost of admission to the SD Zoo (like Brookfield Zoo), it might be awhile. more

The Wild Animal Park is a great way to spend the day, but make sure you have a whole day to spend there. It is a bit of a drive to get there and parking costs $6. There is plenty of parking, but it fills up fast on the weekends. The Wild Animal Park has some great exhibits and the elephant show is great! Walking the park is tiring in the hot sun, since the park is very hilly. If you're not up for all of the exercise, take the train ride. The train ride allows you to see most of the park without having to walk around and is very informative. more

San Diego Zoo is the best zoo I have ever been to, in all of the world. The animals are very well kept. The zoo has strived to make their habitats as close to natural as possible and it shows. The enclosures are spacious and open air when possible. It is difficult to see the zoo in one day, as it is so large. I recommend coming two days in a row. If you only have one day, take the bus ride, it will show you the highlights of the zoo, but you'll still miss a lot of things. The pandas are amazing to see, you can get right up close to them, but sometimes there is a wait to see them, since they only allow a limited number of viewers at a time. The zoo has a fantastic reptile house with dozens of different species. The polar bears are great to watch and can frequently be seen swimming and playing. The animals always seem content at this zoo and it's evident that they are well loved and cared for. As far as shopping and dining go, the gift store are horribly overpriced, but some things can only be bought at the gift shops. If you don't have a lot of spare money, just don't even go in and look. I would not recommend eating at the zoo, the food is really not very tasty and is very expensive. Your best bet is to leave midday, get your hand stamped for re-entry and go somewhere else to eat. This is a good idea, not only to get better food and save some money, but midday in San Diego can get quite hot and a lot of the animals like to take to the shade and nap while the sun is hot. more

They don't monkey around when it comes to building state-of-the-art habitats for it's animal residents. "Absolutely Apes" is a brand-new exhibit devoted to great and lesser apes from Indonesia. It provides a lush, naturalistic environment where arboreal orangutans and siamangs can climb, swing through trees, and share the same terrain as they would in the wild. Swing on by to observe the antics of their busy siamang family as they race through the upper reaches of their new home. Stay a while to observe the people-pleasing orangutans, who seem to be just as fascinated with Zoo visitors as visitors are with them! Open Daily more

For people who want to see animals living in a "natural" environment the San Diego Wild Animal Park is a great option. Be sure to take the tram ride which will allow you to see animals running free from a close distance. Depending on what time of year that you go you might see a variety of baby animals also. For an additional fee you can take part in a safari where you have the opportunity to feed some of the animals. This is a great place for kids and adults. more

The sister to the san Diego zoo, the wild animal park boasts a natural environment that allows you to see the animals in their natural settings, no cages. It is located fairly inland and as a result, takes a while to get there and it's extremely hot in the summer. The Wild Animal park is even bigger in grounds than the zoo. There are not as many animals but it is a unique experience where you probably won't find anywhere else. more

This zoo is huge. I've never tried to walk the whole thing, it's too tiring! But the san diego zoo is famous because it's so big and it has pandas! Come and see the baby panda and the grown up one. Luckily you can ride on the buses if you dont want to walk. they have buses that stop at certain stations, so you can get on and off as you please to go towards the exhibits you want to hit next. the zoo is very beautifully designed with its natural looking wildlife. definitely a great place to take the family! more

Go to the san diego wild animal park if you're looking for a good time. It is expensive but worth it to take the kids on the train tram ride and see all the wild animals in their natural environments. I highly recommend coming here versus the san diego zoo. It is in north county so someone living in south county, it is a little trip but worth it. Much better than the zoo. Of course the animals they have there are more limited than they have at the zoo but I liked it much better. Have fun! more

I know the san diego zoo is world-renowned but I didn't see it. I am originally from WI, we had a good zoo there and when I moved to san deigo the SD zoo was all the rage. I took my kids there and I was sadly disappointed. The grounds were beautiful but I thought it was hard to get around with 2 kids (hills and things far away like restaurants which were all located in one area). I also thought the exhibits were nothing to talk about. Of course we wanted to see the pandas and they couldn't even be seen. Coming from the midwest I was willing to pay the outrageous price to be admitted (over $20 per person) just to have a nice zoo experience. I was disappointed at how much I paid and how the zoo itself wasn't worth what I paid to be admitted! Go to the wild animal park if you want to see animals! more

My last trip to San Diego, as a family, we all decided to go to t he San Diego Zoo. It was fabulous! So much to see--it is an all day event. We were advised to wear COMFORTABLE SHOES and we did. I definitely recommend anyone attending to do the same! We had perfect weather and were able to see many different animals. We were lucky enough to see the giraffes frolicking around. They are such beautiful creatures. You might want to pack some snacks and drinks along with you in a backpack. This saved us a chunk of money because the snack bars were quite expensive. Overall, this was a wonderful trip and outing. We will definitely be back sometime in the future. I recommend going if you've never been. It is a wonderful learning experience for anyone of any age! more

The San Diego Zoo has always held some kind of mystique for me. It is marketed as one of the best zoos in the country and I thought, for sure, it must be true given the solid reputation and the year-round good weather that would be inviting to many kinds of animals. Boy, was I disappointed. Sure, there were some great aspects of the zoo. However, I also found that the San Diego Zoo is not nearly as big as I expected, the variety of animals leaves something to be desired (unless you like deer) and some of the enclosures are not very humane. The other kind of odd thing about the San Diego Zoo is that there is a road running through most of the zoo used by the Zoo's bus tours and express buses. It was a pain to constantly have to monitor the children from stepping into the street and we had to cross the somewhat busy street multiple times to see the exhibits. The San Diego Zoo also has a very commercial aspect. There are lots of visible gift stores and restaurants throughout the park. There are craft projects kids can do for a price. The bus tours and gondola rides cost extra money. There was also a place where kids could jump on mini-trampolines and climb a rock wall for a price. I expected more of a serene environment and instead there were lots of additional places to separate my money from me. THE BUS TOUR I highly recommend taking the bus tour when you arrive as a way of getting acquainted with the zoo. Bus tickets are in addition to your admission ticket. There is a 35 minute tour available aboard a double decker bus. The wait to sit on the top part of the bus is longer than the wait for the bottom but the view is much, much better. We arrived mid-morning and waited about 20 minutes for a top floor seat although we heard the wait can top an hour. The bus takes you past about 80% of the enclosures. The bus driver also narrates the trip and had some pretty good information about the animals. After taking the bus tour, you can plan what you want to walk back to see more of. THE ZOO OVERALL AND HOW TO AVOID HILLS The first thing you will notice about the San Diego Zoo is that it is spread out and very hilly. There are a couple of outdoor escalators to help you get up some of the steepest hills. There is also a gondola ride between the back and front of the park (there is a small fee each way). If you don't want to hike hills, plan your visit so that you can walk downhill, then use the escalators to get back up. It also makes sense to take the gondola from the front of the park to the back of the park since the back of the park is on higher ground. Make sure to pick up a map. If you pay for the bus tour, you can use express buses throughout the park. They travel in a loop and make 5 stops that are clearly marked on the map. The zoo itself is quite large and spread out. While some enclosures are close together, others are quite separate from surrounding attractions (the pandas come to mind here). Although the number of actual animals on display is not overwhelming the size of the zoo requires a lot of hiking. It would take most of a day to see everything and allow time for a meal and resting. THE CHILDREN'S ZOO This was, by far, my favorite part of the zoo. It is located just near the entrance. A path winds through about 30 animal exhibits that are fairly close together. There are also a lot of hands-on exhibits. The sheep and goat petting area was a family favorite (the kids way outnumbered the animals who looked drugged). There was even a considerate family wash-up area right outside the petting area with lots of soap and sinks. The children's zoo also had exhibits to explore including a garden and a bug house with some really huge, creep bugs. The cages were well-labeled with animal information. I highly recommend this area for both children and adults. THE PANDAS The San Diego Zoo has a female and male panda. When we visited in August 2003, the female had just had a baby and neither mother nor child was on exhibit. The male was allowed to move to a private area for a nap so we did not get to see him either. The panda enclosure is about a 5 minute walk from the other exhibits. I understand not being able to see the new family, however it would have been appreciated if there was a sign near the entrance of the zoo so I didn't trek out of my way. OTHER EXHIBITS There is a very large collection of "horns and hoofs" which are deer, antelope, cattle and other 4 footed brown animals. I don't really appreciate all of the nuances between all the varieties of deer and could have skipped some of these exhibits. Polar Bears: The Polar Bears have a very large and considerate enclosure. There are plenty of viewing area and the exhibits around the back of the Polar Bear exhibit were also pretty neat. Elephants: Three large elephants are kept in a relatively small, inhumane enclosure with no opportunity for privacy. It really broke my heart to see them kept this way. Monkey Business: There is a decent collection of primates that were pretty active on the cool day that we visited. Cats: I love to watch the large cats in any zoo. The San Diego Zoo had a relatively small collection of these animals. There is one small tiger enclosure and another for a lion. OTHER THINGS TO DO BESIDES SEE ANIMALS We saw a 20 minute show called Wacky Science with Dr. Zoolittle in the children's area of the zoo. The show was free and quite good. The kids loved it. We didn't need tickets and the show occurred at the top of each hour. There was a trio walking around on stilts dressed like birds. It wasn't exactly a parade, but it was interesting to see. There was a band at the entrance playing pretty good music. They also had a kid's limbo contest. There was an area with a climbing wall and a mini-trampoline. It was $7 per child for 3 minutes on the trampoline which I forked over because my guard is down when I am on vacation. EATING I really don't like the overpriced, low-quality food found in tourist attractions. We brought a lot of food into the park and no one questioned us. We ate one meal at the restaurant near the entrance. There was only one person working the counter so the service was very slow. As predicted, the food was overpriced and low-quality. The only plus to eating in the zoo was that the kids' meal came in a plastic bucket that we brought home as a little memento of our trip. We also got sturdy plastic cups that could be reused. PARKING Parking is free in a large lot. You may have to park away from the zoo and hike. We were about 5 minutes away. There are no trams or other transportation to the entrance. SHOPPING Strangely, the San Diego Zoo has more shopping than my local mall. There was a huge shop near the entrance and other retail shops throughout the park selling animal-themed merchandise. The only annoying thing is that many gift shops were open air and, in some cases,you had to walk through a gift shop to exit an exhibit area. My kids, who usually don't ask for anything, became fixated with getting something because so much was on display everywhere we went. FINAL RECOMMENDATION I am going to recommend this zoo because we had a fun daytrip here. However, now that I have seen it, I don't think I would return. I didn't like the road running through the park and I didn't care for the commercial aspect. We have our own hometown zoo that is not as glitzy but is just as nice. more

The San Diego Zoo is an all day event! This zoo has the biggest array of animals yet including panda bears! And the mama panda just gave birth to its first baby this summer (2005). While you can't see it live in the Panda arena, they have a live video of the little one. And they are still yet to name him! Its a beautiful atmosphere but get prepared for a lot of walking. Try to bring your food too because its a bit pricey. more

I can't wait till the baby panda goes on display! this is a really great zoo for adults and for children. It is a lot of walking, but is definately worth the walk since you can't see it all on the trams. The exhibits are really nice, and the park is always super clean. Even though some animals that you want to see can be off exhibit at times, it is still a great place to just go and walk around. I have season passes, and love to go and just walk around and do some people, and animal watching. the food services are very overpriced, but I think its better pricing than the LA zoo. more

It's more exciting to be in the wild animal park than it is at the san diego zoo. In the zoo, everything is set right in front of you: "this is your zebra and this is your hippo." Your eyes would just have to scan the perimiters of the cage before spotting the poor imprisoned animal somewhere in the foilage. At the Wild Animal Park, you see them rome free in 1,800-acre animal and plant preserve. When your eyes finally catch a glimps of a rare animal, you get just as excited as if seeing it in the wild. Some things are just funner when not served to you on a silver platter -- and when you know that the animals being watched are happier. more

First time you walk through the entrance of San Diego Zoo, the first animal you would see is the pink flamingos (laughing). This is a great place to learn about rare species--species of the unknown and very unique. if you are in a need to visit this place more than once every week, I recommend for a membership pass. It's ten dollar less than one day admission which cost about $27 thus far. more

The San Diego Zoo is one of the biggest attractions of San Diego and it definitely lives up to its name. The actual zoo is huge and quite a hike if one plans on walking the entire area. Despite being a "zoo," it's not all about caged animals. Many animals are left in an almost natural like environment with little to no barriers between people and animal. Wandering around, you might see some exotic birds walking side by side with you. For those who don't have the energy or time to walk the entire zoo, it is highly recommended that you pay for the 40 minute bus tour in the beginning, which takes you around about 80% of the grounds. You can then hope on bus stops to take you to areas you want to spend more time at. Most notable is the Panda exhibit. While the line is always long, don't let it deter you. It is continuously moving so the wait isn't too bad. The pandas are beautiful, and you might just be able to see the new baby! more

Get that remote control out of your hand and drag your friends and family to the san diego zoo. It's one of the largest zoos in the world and has some great, expansive exhibits that don't leave you teary-eyed for the animals' life sentences. Don't forget your walking shoes, because the place is quite a hike. With all the different varieties of animals, and the numerous exhibits, you could easily spend several days there -- and that's not including the wild animal park down the way. It's a great place for little ones, but all the time on one's feet can prove too much for the really young ones, so don't forget your stroller. more