Zoo vs. Wild Animal park confusion

[mhalpern]

Why does Disney offer an admission plus transportation ticket to the zoo but an admission only ticket (no transportation) to the Wild Animal Park? :confused3 Are they located near each other? They are separate admissions - correct? Can you do both? If we go I think we'd prefer the wild animal park but we need a way to get there.

[ScooterL]

What kind of Disney offer are you referring to? I don't know that Disney offers any kind of San Diego Zoo/WAP ticket other than the So Cal CityPass - and that certainly doesn't include transportation to any of the parks - you have to get there yourself.

The Zoo and the WAP are located ~40 minutes apart, so they are not close together at all. Separate admission is required for both. It's not really practical to try to do them on the same day - you'd end up missing a lot. If you can only do one, I'd recommend the Zoo - I think it's a more interesting variety of animals (including the pandas, koalas, and polar bears), and it's not quite so spread out so there's less walking. Depending on the time of year you go, the weather is probably a LOT better at the Zoo, too - it's closer to the coast so it's not as warm, whereas the WAP gets really hot (90s-100s) in the summer.

[mhalpern]

What kind of Disney offer are you referring to? I don't know that Disney offers any kind of San Diego Zoo/WAP ticket other than the So Cal CityPass - and that certainly doesn't include transportation to any of the parks - you have to get there yourself.



If you order your Disney package online one of the add-ons is the excursions. You can purchase tickets to Sea World, San Diego Zoo, Legoland etc. Some of them come with transportation and some don't.

Thanks for your advice.

[bumbershoot]

I don't know the answer.

But be sure to check out the costs doing it with a package vs just buying the tickets on your own.

Grayline (they run Disneyland Resort Express) has some tour/ticket packages you can buy directly through them.

Or you could just rent a car for the days you need it. There's an Alamo office right in DownTown Disney. That means you'll have to budget for parking wherever you go, of course (free parking at SD Zoo, and I'm not sure how things work at the WAP).

The zoo is right in San Diego at Balboa Park, but the WAP is a bit up the freeway from San Diego (and a bit south of Legoland, I believe).

[Monkey Monkey]

The WAP is about 30 miles southeast of Legoland. It's not really near anything, or on the way to anything.

http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF8&hl=en&msa=0&ll=33.20652,-116.586914&spn=3.547897,6.020508&msid=113819872304915779491.00046c18974e5fb2c44c5&source=embed

[tripletlyblessed]

The zoo is in downtown San Diego and the WAP is inland. They aren't near each other. The WAP has a lot more walking and to see most things you need to take the bus tour while. DDs prefer the zoo because they like to pick certain animals and then hunt for them while dh prefers the WAP because it is "more natural" than the zoo.

[sonnyjane]

The WAP is a unique experience, but if I could only pick one, I'd pick the zoo. The zoo has many more animals, more variety of animals, and they are easier to see. WAP admission includes ONE ride on the tram, so if you go on the tram ride and all the zebras are hiding for example, guess what? No zebras for you :( It is an awesome park with animals roaming "freely", but if you really want to see the animals up close instead of just a passing glance, the zoo is better. The WAP has walking trails where you can see some animals up close, but not all.

[speakupjc]

What is the WAP?

[Monkey Monkey]

What is the WAP?

San Diego Zoo's Wild Animal Park

http://www.sandiegozoo.org/park/

[mom2aredhead]

We loved WAP...
BUT, we splurged and did the Family Photo Caravan. It was absolutely incredible - up close and personal with a lot of the animals including giraffe feeding. Got there fairly early, rode the "Journey to Africa" tram first thing (highly recommend - gets VERY crowded) walked the rest of the grounds, then did our tour in the afternoon.
Not going to sugar coat - It was expensive ($90.00 Per person) but the entire experience was 2-1/2 hours, almost 2 of which were spent on the truck down in the exhibit. We're a family of 3 - probably cost-prohibitive for a larger family or group, but we loved every minute and it was worth every penny to us.