Need San Diego Zoo tips

[JungleBumCT]

Hi all-
My wife and I are taking our boys (4 yrs, 2 yrs, and 5 mo.) to San Diego Zoo on March 2. It's been years and years since I've been there. Anybody have any tips/advice/suggestions on how to make the day great? What should we do when? How's the food? Thanks!

[MousEarz]

Some of this is common sense stuff...

• Go during the week if possible. You'll have some school groups, but no weekend crowds. The 2nd is a Thursday, so I think you'll be good.
• Eat at "off" hours. Plan ahead & don't have lunch at noon.
• Wear comfortable walking shoes.
• Bring beverages & snacks of your own.
• Utilize the bus. It's the best way to get the "lay of the land" and see the majority of the Zoo. It's a big park with several hilly areas. You can take the entire guided tour, as well as take the Express Bus with the same bus ticket.
• See the shows if your boys have the patience to sit through them. They're not very long, and everyone always enjoys seeing animals close up.
• Speaking of animals close up, keep an eye out for "close encounters" during the day. These are the best if you can catch them. Keepers will bring animals out for you to see VERY close up.
• Be prepared for a line to see the pandas. SO cute, but there's almost always a line.

With regard to food, I'm a big fan of Albert's, the Zoo's sit-down restaurant that's located in the Treehouse area of the park. It's priced comparitively to any decent sit-down restaurant anywhere else and it's a great way to take a relaxing break from the park.

Check out www.sandiegozoo.org for more information about everything, including the full Albert's menu.

Not sure if any of this helped or not, though I do hope it did. Have a wonderful time. There's no better zoo on the planet, in my opininon.

[MAXandBELLESmom]

^said just about everything i was going to!

also if you want to bring some of your own food you are allowed, just no straws allowed. you can sometimes see the pandas from the skyride if the lines too long.
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[pixywingz]

see if you can skip over to santa barbara zoo as well...my kids actually liked that one better!

[xfkirsten]

Get there as soon as the zoo opens! It's very quiet then. If you go straight to the pandas first, there should be little or no line to see the baby panda (who is utterly adorable!).

[Hyperbole]

I worked at the Zoo up until a couple of weeks ago. Here's my advice:

Do the guided bus tour. Its well worth the money, you get to see everything, and then you can use the hop-on/hop-off bus the rest of the day. Great for your little ones.

Call ahead and see what the giraffe feeding schedule is. For a few bucks your kids can actually feed the giraffes some acacia branches!!!

Make time to see the orangs and siamangs... LOTS of fun!

As far as dining goes, with the age of your kids, I'd avoid Albert's. Its got great food, and is lovely, but IMO inappropriate for such little ones. I'd stick with Sydney's by the koalas. Great food, and its right near the puppet show.

No straws???? I've never heard this rule. In fact I can't see how it would be enforced! There's no bag checks at the Zoo like at Disneyland.

[MAXandBELLESmom]

Originally Posted by a_hyperbole

I worked at the Zoo up until a couple of weeks ago. Here's my advice:

Do the guided bus tour. Its well worth the money, you get to see everything, and then you can use the hop-on/hop-off bus the rest of the day. Great for your little ones.

Call ahead and see what the giraffe feeding schedule is. For a few bucks your kids can actually feed the giraffes some acacia branches!!!

Make time to see the orangs and siamangs... LOTS of fun!

As far as dining goes, with the age of your kids, I'd avoid Albert's. Its got great food, and is lovely, but IMO inappropriate for such little ones. I'd stick with Sydney's by the koalas. Great food, and its right near the puppet show.

No straws???? I've never heard this rule. In fact I can't see how it would be enforced! There's no bag checks at the Zoo like at Disneyland.

on our way in we had a soda in the stroller so, they will say something if they see it, its for the animals health, thats also why you dont see them there when you buy a soda(but i do remember way back when i was little they had paper straws that got soggy quick)
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[Hyperbole]

Originally Posted by MAXandBELLESmom

on our way in we had a soda in the stroller so, they will say something if they see it, its for the animals health, thats also why you dont see them there when you buy a soda(but i do remember way back when i was little they had paper straws that got soggy quick)
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Interesting. They give you regular old straws when you buy a drink at the Zoo... at least they did as recently as December. I can't imagine why you were told to get rid of it. There are plenty of other things that would cause the animals serious health problems besides straws (I used to work in the mammal department, so I am familiar).

[Tom Chaney]

Ride the Skyway. It's just like the one you remember at Disneyland.

[JungleBumCT]

Sweet! My kids will love feeding the giraffes! Thanks for the tips you've all posted. I love this forum!

So do you pay extra for the tour bus? And when is a good time to do the bus? When I was a kid we always did it first thing.

[Hyperbole]

Originally Posted by JungleBumCT

Sweet! My kids will love feeding the giraffes! Thanks for the tips you've all posted. I love this forum!

So do you pay extra for the tour bus? And when is a good time to do the bus? When I was a kid we always did it first thing.

Yes, there is a charge for the bus. I think it is $10 per adult. Kids may be $5 or free, but I can't remember right now.

Any time is fine for the bus, but I would recommend doing it first. That way you know what areas you want to go back and see again close up!

Have a wonderful trip!!!!

[Alan]

If they still have the moving walkways at the Zoo, use them to get back up the canyons and then enter each canyon from the top. It tends to make for easier walking and the less tired you and the rugrats are, the better.

[MousEarz]

Originally Posted by JungleBumCT

So do you pay extra for the tour bus? And when is a good time to do the bus? When I was a kid we always did it first thing.

You have two options with regard to paying for the bus. You can get a standard admission and pay for the bus inside...this will run $22/adult & $14.50/child (3-11) for admission, and then an additional $10/adult & $5.50/child (3-11) for the bus. OR you can just get their "Best Value" admission and pay $32/adult and $19.75 child (3-11); this gets you admission, bus usage and an aerial tram ride. Check the zoo's website too...sometimes they have Internet Only purchase deals that may save you a few bucks.

(Prices are from my last trip there...they may have changed.)

[Badgermann]

AAA sells SD Zoo tickets with the bus and round trip skybucket included, but I don't remember the cost.

As I saw in some other posts walk down the canyons and ride the moving walkways/tram bus back up to the top (tram bus is included in the bus tour cost). I will save you a lot of time and energy. Especially with the wee ones.

In terms of dining, the Treehouse cafe isn't bad, but the plus for it with my wife and I is that, you can find the tables that look down into the Panda enclosures, and watch them (and the line to see them) while you eat.

[EagleWings]

Check out the gift shop! I haven't been there in years but when my friend went she brought me back an ultra cool coloring book and some nifty Rhino stuffy.