Here's my review of the zoo I put on Tripadvisor. It's pretty detailed but maybe it will help.
“Was expecting the best of the best but....”
......it wasn't unfortunately. My daughter wants to go into zoology so we have been to so many zoos across the country and this zoo was a big bucket list item for her. I was expecting to be blown away but I wasn't. Not that it was bad at all (I did have a few issues which I'll list below) and we had a really fun time and it's a really nice zoo but I don't think it was the best zoo I've ever been to for the reasons I'll list below.
I'll start out with the positives:
1. The best thing this zoo has is the amount and variey of animals. You'll be hard pressed to find a zoo that has as many animals as you'll see here.
2. They are very tourist friendly....lots of entertainment and educational employees walking around. We saw puppets, a band, talked to random volunteers. There always seemed to be plenty of extra activities to keep you busy.
3. The weather - obviously it's San Diego so you'll have picture perfect weather. No rainy, hot or humid days to worry about here.
4. Lots of shade - a great deal of the park is shaded so if you are hot or need a rest, there are plenty of places to take a break or leisurely stroll out of the sun.
5. Active animals - I felt like the zoo had very active animals compared to other zoos we've been to.
6. Skyfari - this was a great way to travel across the zoo.
Negatives:
1. Size of zoo and exhibits: I mentioned above about how they have every animal you can think of. That's great and all BUT I feel like too many of the exhibits were way too small. I feel like for the amount of animals and variety this zoo has, they should have WAY more space. The Columbus Zoo for example is almost 4x as big.
2. Layout/Signage: Let me start out by saying that I am one of those people that has a natural sense of direction. I almost never get lost and am good with maps and figuring out where to go in general. With that said....I have never seen a more poorly laid out section of a zoo especially compared to the signage and the map. I can't even tell you how many times we got so turned around in the middle section of the zoo. We would come to a fork and it would have pictures of animals with arrows pointing down one path and then different animals with arrows pointing down another path. So you'd pick one and then you'd come to more paths coming off of that one that weren't labeled. And then you'd end up somewhere you weren't wanting to go or back where you started or somewhere you had already been. Nothing seemed to match up with the map or the signs. It got to the point I was ready to scream I was so frustrated. We saw many other people standing looking at maps and signs trying to figure it out as well. I was extremely disappointed in this lack of planning on the zoos part.
3. Buses: We were beyond irritated at the buses driving around on the paths and the employees constantly telling people to move over. It got old really quick. I felt like we were here to walk around and enjoy the zoo, not constantly having to get out of the way for the tour buses to go by especially in the more compact areas where it was more crowded and you couldn't easily walk on the sidewalks. Another poor planning piece in my opinion.
4. Panda Exhibit: We did not like the way they herded you through the panda exhibit. It was so tight and crowded and the employees were constantly telling people to move along. You either had people rushing through pushing you along or people that would stop for a long time and wouldn't move. I feel like if they just opened it up like other exhibits way more people could fit and come and go as they wish. Especially if you have a child that is obsessed with pandas and was really looking forward to seeing them. It was disappointing to be rushed through the exhibit and couldn't even stand and watch for a few minutes.
With that said, we had a really fun time and enjoyed our visit to the zoo. We may be a little more critical than most people because like I said, we go to a lot of zoos but I was just expecting it to be the "perfect" zoo and it wasn't. It was a really nice zoo but not the best in my opinion. I've seen a lot of complaints about the price but that actually wasn't one of mine. It wasn't that much more than other large zoos and you are in Southern California in a high tourist destination so the price was to be expected. I definitely do recommend going though if in the area if you love zoos/animals and I'm sure you will have a great time.
